Good afternoon, readers. Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of Erin Patterson’s mushroom poisoning, has told a court he only feels “half alive” without his wife, Heather, who was one of three guests killed by the deadly lunch in 2023.
Patterson’s plea hearing began today after she was found guilty on 7 July of murdering her estranged husband Simon’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather, his aunt. A Victorian supreme court jury also found Patterson guilty of attempting to murder Wilkinson, whose victim impact statement was the first of seven read in court today.
As well as giving loved ones of the victims a chance to tell the court how the crime affected them, the two-day pre-sentencing hearing also gives the prosecution and defence the opportunity to make arguments about factors the supreme court’s Justice Christopher Beale should take into account when sentencing Patterson.
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