Australian court orders Erin Patterson never to be released for death cap mushroom poisonings

MELBOURNE, Australia — An Australian appeals court on Friday decided Erin Patterson must remain in prison indefinitely after determining her 33-year, non-parole sentence for poisoning four relatives with death cap mushrooms was unjustly lenient. The Victoria state Court of Appeal dismissed Patterson's claim that her convictions for murdering her estranged husband and attempting to murder him were incorrect.

Prosecutors argued at the August appeal hearing that Patterson should never be eligible for parole. Initially sentenced last year to three life terms for murder and an additional 25 years for attempted murder, Patterson can still appeal the verdict to Australia's High Court, which is her final appeal option.