Speaker 1: Please stand.
Speaker 2: For the first time ever, the Supreme Court of Victoria
Speaker 2: allowed a television camera to broadcast sentencing the hearing for
Speaker 2: convicted triple murderer Aaron Patterson for.
Speaker 1: The attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson. I sentence you to
Speaker 1: twenty five years imprisonment for the murder of Heather Wilkinson.
Speaker 1: I sentence you to life imprisonment for the murder of
Speaker 1: Gail Paterson. I sentence you to life imprisonment for the
Speaker 1: murder of Don Passon. I sentence you to life imprisonment.
Speaker 2: When Justice Christopher Bill sentenced her to life in prison,
Speaker 2: it was the conclusion of a story that has captivated
Speaker 2: Australia for more than two years.
Speaker 3: Oh, it was a big moment. It was a really
Speaker 3: big conclusion to this has been building up. It's amazing
Speaker 3: to think it's stretched over two years now.
Speaker 2: Investigative journalist Lucy Morris Marr has been following the case
Speaker 2: ever since the fatal mushroom lunch in Leam Gaffa in
Speaker 2: July twenty twenty three, where Aaron Patterson served to beef
Speaker 2: Wellington laced with poisonous deathcat mushrooms.
Speaker 3: To her, I think the whole of Australia. They are
Speaker 3: watching that live. Of course, it's also a historical moment
Speaker 3: today because the Supreme Court of Victoria has never broadcast
Speaker 3: a sentencing live or anything live like that. But as
Speaker 3: much as the media have gone through this and covered it,
Speaker 3: it's nothing like the families, you know, the relief they
Speaker 3: must feel today having gone through all that themselves, and
Speaker 3: I know for them this has been absolutely exhausting.
Speaker 2: I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to seven.
Speaker 4: AM today Walkley Award winning journalist and author Lucy Morris
Speaker 4: Mark on the impact of Aaron Patterson's crimes and whether
Speaker 4: the victims and families will finally have some closure.
Speaker 2: It's Tuesday, September nine. Lucy Erin Patterson has just been
Speaker 2: sentenced to life in prison with a minimum prison period
Speaker 2: of thirty three years. There were many aggravating factors that
Speaker 2: the judge spoke about when he handed down that decision.
Speaker 2: One was her lack of remorse. He mentioned that several times.
Speaker 2: So tell me what you were thinking as you heard
Speaker 2: him lay that out.
Speaker 3: Of course, you know, with a judge, you know, naturally
Speaker 3: he doesn't ever say his opinion. Really, he did seem
Speaker 3: very taken by the victim impact statements a couple of
Speaker 3: weeks ago, where seven members of the hugely extended families
Speaker 3: stood up and read their victim impact statements, and he
Speaker 3: did say, you know, this is a tsunami of pain
Speaker 3: and grief, and that got the sense of how he
Speaker 3: was feeling. But of course, then to hear him lay
Speaker 3: out in detail Erin's planning, her lies, and the way
Speaker 3: he did it with such clarity, it just really reiterated
Speaker 3: that the jury made the right decision.
Speaker 1: The prosecution submits, and your council concedes that your offending
Speaker 1: falls into the worst category of offending for these offenses,
Speaker 1: and that you should receive the maximum penalties for your crimes.
Speaker 1: I agree for reasons that I will come to in
Speaker 1: due course.
Speaker 3: And he was very scathing at times.
Speaker 1: Naturally, not only did you cut short three lives and
Speaker 1: cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson's health, thereby devastating the
Speaker 1: extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on
Speaker 1: your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents.
Speaker 3: You know, he said this crime was premeditated and planned.
Speaker 3: He made the absolutely clear. He clearly outlined each aspect
Speaker 3: for example, looking at death caps on I Naturalist's website.
Speaker 1: That is a website on which people can post and
Speaker 1: view sightings of death cap mushrooms, amongst other things. On
Speaker 1: the twenty eighth of May twenty two, you access the
Speaker 1: I Naturalist website and navigated to its worldwide map in
Speaker 1: relation to sightings of deathcap mushrooms.
Speaker 3: She bought a dehy tractor. She took pictures of what
Speaker 3: experts later said look like death caps in that de
Speaker 3: hopereta and sent them on her friend group with the
Speaker 3: true crime friends that she'd made on Facebook.
Speaker 1: You photographed forage mushrooms on the trays of your dehydrator.
Speaker 1: The images were found by investigators on a Samsung tablet
Speaker 1: later seized from your home.
Speaker 3: She invited Simon Patterson to the infamous lunch, saying she
Speaker 3: had an important medical news, which of course we now
Speaker 3: know is lies.
Speaker 1: Simon and you exchanged messages. Simon's read quote, Sorry, I
Speaker 1: feel too uncomfortable about coming to the lunch with you, Mum, Dad,
Speaker 1: Heather and Ian tomorrow, but I am happy to talk
Speaker 1: about your health and implications of that at another time.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to discuss on the phone, just let
Speaker 1: me know. You replied five minutes later, quote, that's really disappointing.
Speaker 1: I've spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow.
Speaker 3: And the judge said he accepted Ian Wilkinson's evidence that
Speaker 3: she served guests on gray live plates and hers was
Speaker 3: on a small plate, which was a huge part of
Speaker 3: the trial. You know, it just went on and on
Speaker 3: and it really reminded those watching live exactly how elaborate
Speaker 3: this crime was and intentional. H Yeah.
Speaker 2: And he also said that it was clear that she
Speaker 2: had wanted her guests to suffer. She would have known
Speaker 2: the effect of poisoning with death cat mushrooms, and he
Speaker 2: described her what she'd done as falling into the worst
Speaker 2: category of murder and attempted murder. So what did you
Speaker 2: make of his characterization of how serious her crimes are?
Speaker 3: Absolutely correct. I mean during the trial, I was very
Speaker 3: moved and it was very difficult to listen to the
Speaker 3: suffering involved in terms of those poor people, the initial
Speaker 3: gastro symptoms, which became more and more extreme as the
Speaker 3: hours went by, and then their time in hospital was
Speaker 3: as medics desperately tried to save them. Their organs were
Speaker 3: basically filling with fluid and it was that actually a
Speaker 3: reminder that violent crimes don't always have to evolve a
Speaker 3: knife or a gun. This was a very nasty, violent crime,
Speaker 3: and as he said, she intended to kill them all,
Speaker 3: and she showed no pity for her victims. Another quote
Speaker 3: he said was you followed through on your lethal plan,
Speaker 3: which was actually a quote as he noted from Heather
Speaker 3: and Ian's daughter Ruth de Bois, as.
Speaker 1: The Wilkinson's daughter Ruth Dubois remarking her victim impact statement,
Speaker 1: you quote followed through on your lethal plan. Your lunch
Speaker 1: giars each suffered severe gestro intestinal illness on the Sunday
Speaker 1: and Monday prior to being sedated and mechanically ventilated. Their
Speaker 1: suffering was protracted.
Speaker 3: Because maybe if she said yes, I forage, and they
Speaker 3: would have realized there was a chance that they could
Speaker 3: have consumed death caps or another seriously poisonous mushroom. They
Speaker 3: could have had an antidote or the medication that people
Speaker 3: can have to protect from liver damage. So she carried
Speaker 3: on the cry in those following days, and he said
Speaker 3: their suffering was substantial. It was enormous betrayal of the
Speaker 3: trust of your victims. All had been good to you.
Speaker 1: Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that,
Speaker 1: they had all been good to you and your children
Speaker 1: over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony.
Speaker 3: Very damning, very scathing, and wrote me so.
Speaker 2: And one thing that Justine Spiel pointed out was that
Speaker 2: we still don't know why Aaron Patterson did what she DIDs.
Speaker 2: Motive was never established, he said, and he was talking
Speaker 2: directly to her.
Speaker 3: Only you know why you did this.
Speaker 2: So given that, do you think that we're just going
Speaker 2: to see endless speculation here about what her motive was.
Speaker 3: Yes, unless she ever confesses, which it doesn't look likely,
Speaker 3: we will never know. I mean, of course, the speculation
Speaker 3: there was a fallout. He did mention the family fall
Speaker 3: out briefly when she was seeking support from Don and
Speaker 3: Gail Patterson regarding her strange husband, Simon's lack of paying
Speaker 3: child support for a short time. And there's speculation that
Speaker 3: she held onto that grudge even though it was seemed
Speaker 3: to be resolved, and that she really held that in
Speaker 3: But of course we heard when the pre trial suppression
Speaker 3: order was lifted, we heard that, you know, Simon Patterson
Speaker 3: alleges that she tried to poison him on several occasions
Speaker 3: and made him extremely unwell. But you know, clearly she's
Speaker 3: in the right place. Is a very serious crime. This
Speaker 3: is a serial killing crime and one that we thankfully
Speaker 3: don't see very often in Australia. But she has been
Speaker 3: given these life sentences. And yes, it's thirty three years
Speaker 3: in prison, non parole period, but actually, if you break
Speaker 3: it down, Ian Wilkinson's attempted murder was twenty five years,
Speaker 3: the killing of Heather Wilkinson life in prison, Gail Patterson
Speaker 3: life in prison, Don Patterson life in prison. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you added all that up, it would come to
Speaker 3: like one hundred years. But she can only do what
Speaker 3: she can do. So it's being done concurrently, and it's
Speaker 3: a life sentence with a non parole period of thirty
Speaker 3: three years, but she'll be eighty three. Will she live
Speaker 3: to see that? We don't know. It's not exactly conducive
Speaker 3: healthy conditions where she's being held.
Speaker 2: Coming up, why the sole survivor of Erin Patterson's poisoned
Speaker 2: lunch has offered forgiveness Lucy In setting Aaron Patterson's non
Speaker 2: parole period, Justice Bill spoke a lot about this being
Speaker 2: one of the biggest points that he had to make
Speaker 2: a decision on. So tell me about the considerations that
Speaker 2: would have gone into his decision.
Speaker 3: I think with the non parole period when there was
Speaker 3: the pre sentencing hearing in the last few weeks we've had,
Speaker 3: there was a lot of argument between the Crown and
Speaker 3: the defense bearer ser Colin man dysc in terms of
Speaker 3: should there be a non parole period. The Crown we're
Speaker 3: pushing no, she should die in jail. And in the
Speaker 3: end the judge said the reason he gave her a
Speaker 3: non parole period. So for example, you could call that
Speaker 3: a shred of light that one day, at eighty three
Speaker 3: years old, she could have some kind of freedom if
Speaker 3: she makes it that long, he said. He took into
Speaker 3: consideration Erin's life in the Gordon Wing of Dame Phyllis
Speaker 3: Frost Center. Now this wing's quite infamous. It is the
Speaker 3: most serious isolation wing where generally they're in their cells
Speaker 3: for maybe twenty two hours twenty three hours a day
Speaker 3: and they don't really mix with each other. They only
Speaker 3: mix with staff. So even though she's in theory allowed
Speaker 3: out of herself, sometimes she doesn't get out. But they're
Speaker 3: saying due to the forthcoming documentaries, books, etc. Her notoriety
Speaker 3: will go on, and they're worried that she would be
Speaker 3: attacked effectively in prison. So he took that into consideration
Speaker 3: in terms of giving her that non parole period, because
Speaker 3: he accepts that that's not really standard to keep someone
Speaker 3: in segregation. In fact, the UN suggests it should only
Speaker 3: be fifteen days at a time, and she's facing many
Speaker 3: years at a time in this situation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, given that, given that it is in breach of
Speaker 2: you and guidelines, how long is a situation like that
Speaker 2: likely to go on for? Like you would hope, well,
Speaker 2: you would think that it might change.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I suppose while we're in this frenzy. We've got
Speaker 3: the Stand documentary coming out, there's books coming out from
Speaker 3: multiple publishers. There's going to be so much attention on this,
Speaker 3: and so I think therefore her own safety, I think
Speaker 3: it will be for the foreseeable future, might be you know,
Speaker 3: a few years, five years, she might be able to
Speaker 3: go back and be in the more general area and
Speaker 3: have despite what she's done. We're a humane country and
Speaker 3: we treat people appropriately, and I think that's important for
Speaker 3: us as a society, and so she will be treated
Speaker 3: as appropriate for her status at that point. The murders.
Speaker 5: Here today is to give some well earned thanks firstly
Speaker 5: to Victoria Police, in particular the homicide squad and the
Speaker 5: team led by Detective Stephen epping Stall and.
Speaker 2: Ian Wilkinson, who was the only person to survive that lunch.
Speaker 2: He was there today and he spoke briefly outside of court.
Speaker 2: He thanked police, he thanked prosecutors. So tell me a
Speaker 2: bit about the impact of all of this on him,
Speaker 2: as well as the other community members, family members, friends.
Speaker 3: Ian Wilkinson look I remember seeing him at the pre
Speaker 3: trial hearing for the first time. Was the first time
Speaker 3: he appeared in court. That was last year in the
Speaker 3: Supreme Court in the William Street in Melbourne. I was
Speaker 3: absolutely blown away by his presentation. He was just so
Speaker 3: poised for what had happened, including loss of his wife.
Speaker 3: He appeared at the trial. He was very strong, he
Speaker 3: got the facts out, he didn't waiver, he wasn't overcome
Speaker 3: by emotion. Again, extremely impressive carriage. It was only when
Speaker 3: he came to do his victim impact statement two weeks
Speaker 3: ago that he did break down as he talked about
Speaker 3: Heather's character and she sounded such a wonderful person, absolutely
Speaker 3: lovely mother and grandmother who helped her local community, helped family.
Speaker 3: And he talked of the loneliness, the isolation, the despair
Speaker 3: of being a new widower. He called himself suddenly single,
Speaker 3: like at that age, you know, his early seventies, and
Speaker 3: he broke down, but he still carried on. He got
Speaker 3: through that statement. He had took deep breaths, he paused,
Speaker 3: and then of course his daughter, Ruth Dubois, another incredibly
Speaker 3: impressive lady, who said how much she missed her mother,
Speaker 3: and poignantly she said she was somebody I trusted with
Speaker 3: both the best parts and worst parts of myself, knowing
Speaker 3: there'd be no judgment. I was really connected to what
Speaker 3: she said, and I really realized the loss, and that
Speaker 3: really was emotional. And then of course there was many
Speaker 3: other statements made, in fact, altogether lodged with the court.
Speaker 3: There was twin eight victim statements. The judge was clearly
Speaker 3: very moved by that, and he said this has affected generations,
Speaker 3: plus their friends, plus the community. He took that into
Speaker 3: consideration with the sentencing.
Speaker 2: And so Aaron Patterson now has a month to ludge
Speaker 2: an appeal either against her sentence or her conviction or both.
Speaker 3: So does that seem like a thing to happen. Well,
Speaker 3: it's up in the air at the moment. She now
Speaker 3: has exactly twenty eight days from today, as you mentioned,
Speaker 3: to appeal either against conviction or sentence. So it will
Speaker 3: be very interesting. Her barrister, Colin Mandy, didn't comment. He
Speaker 3: was surrounded by media as he left the court today.
Speaker 3: It was interesting there was one point in the judge's
Speaker 3: speech where I felt, yeah, he may seemed to suggest
Speaker 3: she shouldn't appeal. He pointed out that Ian Wilkinson had
Speaker 3: offered her his forgiveness and the quote that Ian Wilkinson
Speaker 3: said it was for all those harms done to me,
Speaker 3: with full confession and forgiveness. And it was interesting the
Speaker 3: judge mentioned that it was perhaps he was saying, you know,
Speaker 3: don't appeal, don't put these people through that, and you
Speaker 3: make yourself a better person, which is what Ian Wilkinson did.
Speaker 3: But look at this point, she's got thirty three years
Speaker 3: ahead of her before she's out. That's if she survives
Speaker 3: that long in those conditions, and so I think she
Speaker 3: probably will appeal. Like she's never confessed, she's put everyone
Speaker 3: through a lengthy trial, so we'll have to just see,
Speaker 3: but I wouldn't be surprised because she literally has nothing
Speaker 3: to lose.
Speaker 2: Well, Lissie, thank you so much for be at time today,
Speaker 2: Oh my pleasure. Also in the news today, Liberal MP
Speaker 2: Alex Hawk has called on just into Number tip a
Speaker 2: Price to apologize for the real damage her comments have
Speaker 2: caused the Indian Australian community. Price claimed with that evidence
Speaker 2: that the federal government was bringing in migrants to win
Speaker 2: votes and named the Indian community as an example of that.
Speaker 2: The fall that has caused Opposition leader Susan Lee to
Speaker 2: attempt damage control with the Indian Australian community holding roundtables
Speaker 2: and taking a public tour through Little India. And The
Speaker 2: Australian Conservation Foundation has appointed former Greens leader Adam Bant
Speaker 2: as the organization's next chief executive. Band, who unexpectedly lost
Speaker 2: the seat of Melbourne the May election, will replace longtime
Speaker 2: ACF CEO Kelly O'shannessy, who announced earlier this year that
Speaker 2: she was resigning. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.