An Australian woman has been sentenced to life in prison on three counts of murder committed using a lunch laced with poisonous mushrooms, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The convict Erin Patterson will have to serve at least 33 years of her life sentence, after which she will be eligible for a parole hearing.
In his reasoning, Justice Christopher Beale of the Supreme Court of Victoria cited “aggravating circumstances“, including “substantial intent“ in poisoning and “gross breach of trust“.
In July this year, Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
The crime was committed in July 2023, when the convict served beef “Wellington“ to her former father-in-law and mother-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, to Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and to the latter's husband Ian. The first three died in hospital a few days later, and the fourth was admitted in critical condition, but survived.
As world agencies reported during the trial, the poisoning was carried out with green fly agarics.