Regional trial date set for accused triple murderer

Tara Cosoleto |

Erin Patterson will stand trial in April 2025 accused of three murders.
Erin Patterson will stand trial in April 2025 accused of three murders.

Accused triple mushroom poisoning murderer Erin Patterson is due to face a Supreme Court trial near her home in regional Victoria. 

Patterson, 49, is charged with the murder of her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.

All three died in hospital days after consuming an allegedly deadly mushroom meal at Patterson’s Leongatha home, in South Gippsland, on July 29, 2023.

She is also accused of the attempted murder of her ex-husband Simon at the lunch, and on three occasions dating back to 2021, as well as the attempted murder of Ms Wilkinson’s husband Ian, 68.

Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell (file image)
The Supreme Court will sit in Morwell for Erin Patterson’s trial. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Mr Wilkinson spent almost two months being treated in the Austin Hospital, including in a coma.

Patterson pleaded not guilty to the three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court on May 7.

She appeared via video link in the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Wednesday for a pre-trial hearing. 

At the start of the hearing, it was confirmed Patterson’s murder trial has been listed to start on April 28, 2025 in Morwell in the state’s east. 

AAP