Where Is Erin Patterson Now? Inside Her Life 2 Years After Killing 3 People with Poisonous Mushrooms By Emily Blackwood

On July 29, 2023, Erin Patterson invited four members of her ex-husband’s family over for lunch. Within a week, three of them were dead, and one was hospitalized.

Though the Australian mom told police that their deaths — caused by eating Beef Wellington that had been laced with lethal death cap mushrooms — were a tragic accident, evidence led them to believe it was premeditated murder.

Before the incident, Erin allegedly invited her ex-husband, Simon Patterson, his parents, Don Patterson and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather Wilkinson and Ian Wilkinson, to her home in Leongatha, Australia, to discuss a medical issue. Simon declined the invitation. 

CNN reported that she then lied to her guests about being diagnosed with cancer and used that reasoning to ensure that the two children she shared with Simon would not be in attendance. 

All four guests were hospitalized, and Don, Gail and Heather (who was Gail’s sister) died within days. Ian spent several weeks at the hospital recovering from his injuries. 

Authorities arrested Erin four months later and charged her with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder, three of which were linked to separate instances in 2021 and 2022 involving her ex-husband. The charges involving Simon were later dropped. 

Though she pleaded not guilty, a jury convicted her of all counts in July 2025. 

So, where is Erin Patterson now? Here’s everything to know about the mushroom killer’s life behind bars two years after she poisoned four of her ex-husband’s relatives. 

Who is Erin Patterson?

Prior to being convicted of triple homicide and attempted murder, Erin worked as an air traffic controller and owned a secondhand bookstore in Western Australia, per Australia’s ABC. She welcomed two children with her ex-partner, Simon, before they separated in 2015. 

Though the former couple remained close in the years after their separation, their relationship allegedly became strained when Simon stopped paying for their children’s school and medical fees following a change on his tax return. This move upset Erin, and Simon’s relatives claimed that she distanced herself from his family after that.

In some online messages she had written to friends, which were shown in court, the Australian mom described his family as a “lost cause” and claimed that she wanted “nothing to do with them.” 

What was Erin Patterson accused of?

In November 2023, police arrested Erin on three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Authorities alleged that she knowingly served Amanita phalloides — some of the most lethal mushrooms for humans to ingest, per CBS News — to Heather, Ian, Gail and Don that previous July. 

Days after the lunch, Heather, Gail and Don had died from the meal, and Ian was critically ill. 

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“I’m devastated,” Erin said at the time of their deaths, per the Associated Press. “I loved them. I can’t believe that this has happened and I’m so sorry.”

Victoria Police also alleged that she attempted to poison her ex-husband on three separate occasions before the July 2023 lunch. However, those attempted murder charges were later dropped.

What was Erin Patterson’s sentence?

In September 2025, Erin was handed three life sentences for the deaths of Gail, Heather and Don, and was granted no parole for 33 years, CNN, the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

She was also sentenced to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of Ian, which was determined to be served concurrently with her life sentences. In his victim impact statement, he remembered his late wife, Heather, as full of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.”

“It’s one of the distressing shortcomings of our society that so much attention is showered on those who do evil, and so little on those who do good,” Ian told the court, per the BBC, adding that he only felt “half alive” with Heather gone. 

Where is Erin Patterson now?

Erin is held at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum-security women’s prison in Melbourne. She remained there following her September 2025 sentencing, per The Guardian. The BBC reported that she will be eligible for release in 2056, when she is 82 years old. 

When asked why he spared Erin the harshest penalty of a life sentence with no parole, Supreme Court judge Christopher Beale told ABC that he took into consideration the harsh conditions she already faced in custody as well as the possibility of solitary confinement “for the foreseeable future.”

He told the Australian outlet, “In my view, the only scope for making them count is by the fixing of a non-parole period.” 

The Guardian reported in August 2025 that because of her notoriety, Erin had been essentially held in solitary confinement for over a year and spent about 22 hours a day in isolation. She reportedly has spent most of her time crocheting blankets. 

Though she maintained her innocence throughout the investigation and trial, CNN reported that Erin has not yet filed an appeal and has until midnight on Oct. 6, 2025, to do so.