GUILTY Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 *Arrest* #20

[MrJ]

I care much less about the murderer’s mental health than I do the generations of family left broken and traumatised over these most senseless and hideous crimes.

 

[MaxDecimus13]

IMO CMandy handed EP a defense but she wouldn't take it!

If she could have mustered even an ounce of real or faked remorse, she may have bought doubt from the jury and leniency from the judge.

But she didn't. She just overworked the court recorders with her long-windedness, spun stories that the Prosecution couldn't challenge or refute (which means none of it was EVIDENCE or CMandy would have had witnesses to support it) and managed to say a whole lot of nothing, never once providing a single convincing word that she cared about the violent deaths she caused.

Monsters walk among us. This one shouldn't, not anymore. Ever.

JMO

It's scary to think that had she not decided to take the stand, she might be a free woman now.

Mandy did a bizarrely successful job of keeping out damning pieces of evidence and sewing possibilities of doubt in some of the medical and technical evidence.

Maybe it would have been enough anyway, but she stood up and just concocted far-fetched stories and outright lies. I wonder also whether her demeanor helped answer the question in the jurors minds of whether this person could really have done it.

 

[Marg944]

Erin Patterson urged to chat through mesh fence to convicted terrorist cellmate Momena Shoma​

“The court heard both Patterson and Shoma were aware of their ability to communicate through the fence.

But Mr Mandy said during Patterson’s 14 months in isolation, the pair had either opted never to speak or not been outside at the same time

“She has never spoken one word to that other prisoner,” he said.

Ms Hosking replied: “I can’t deny that, I have no further information on that point. It could be (Shoma) or (Patterson) not wishing to have that conversation.”

The court heard the “other prisoner” — Shoma — was in isolation full time because “they’ve attacked other prisoners while they’ve been in custody”.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/erin-patterson-urged-to-chat-through-mesh-fence-to-convicted-terrorist-cellmate-momena-shoma/news-story/fe7e2b6b9c32f7afb13083a40bf6d154

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Because she's isolated, I suppose she gets more 'benefits' - even the hair straightener would be considered a 'weapon' in a gen-pop prison population. IMO

What does an isolated prisoner need a hair straightener for anyway? Who's looking at her hair!?

Or is that for court appearances?

 

[vls12345]

Sole survivor of Australian mushroom poisoning grieves loss of wife and friends

Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of a deadly Australian mushroom poisoning, says he feels only half alive after losing his wife and two close friends

www.wsbtv.com

 

[Detechtive]

I’m not a legal person, but even I was shocked. What’s Erin even paying for? She should have just self-represented. IMO

He has to be seen as reasonable. It’s a baseline for what the crime deserves. He’s trying his best to get her a reduced parole period, he’s doing his job. She’s looking at LWOP or at least 35 non parole period.

 

[Corina]

What is a "shiv", please?

 

[Deleted member 367982]

The longest non parole period handed out in Western Australia was when Bradley Edwards was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years for killing two women.
I was surprised Mandy suggested a 30 year non parole term for his client because that doesn't leave the door open for appealing anything he could call a manifestly unjust period and I believe the door was firmly closed on appealing what happened in the trial especially after the judge spent a few days giving directions to the jury.
So whatever she gets that should be the last we hear from Erin herself.

 

[Marg944]

What is a "shiv", please?

“A shiv, also chiv, schiv, shivvieor shank, is a handcrafted bladed weapon resembling a knife that is commonly associated with prison inmates.

Since weapons are prohibited in prisons, the intended mode of concealment is central to a shiv's construction. An especially thin handle, for instance, makes it easier to conceal in available cracks or crevices in the prison's construction, or in stacks of objects, such as books, permitted to the prisoners; however, this can also render the shiv difficult to grip and wield.”

Shiv (weapon) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Monstradamus]

He has to be seen as reasonable. It’s a baseline for what the crime deserves. He’s trying his best to get her a reduced parole period, he’s doing his job. She’s looking at LWOP or at least 35 non parole period.

Not sure why he needs 2 weeks to think about it. Could have had the Sentencing Hearing today and put us all out of our misery.

 

[drsleuth]

Not sure why he needs 2 weeks to think about it. Could have had the Sentencing Hearing today and put us all out of our misery.

IMO The judge needs the time to actually write the judgement & that judgement should be published soon after he hands down the sentence.

He needs to take into consideration all of yesterday's info.

I think we are lucky it's only 2 weeks

 

[Kemug]

It will probably be 100's of pages.

 

[JBowie]

Not sure why he needs 2 weeks to think about it. Could have had the Sentencing Hearing today and put us all out of our misery.

Judges usually have a number of cases/matters in hand at any time, so they need to divide their working hours accordingly. Also, judgments need to be considered, make references to relevant previous cases and judgments and be written unambiguously so that they cannot be challenged on legal grounds because of errors, etc.

 

[Kemug]

Since the Menendez brothers haven't killed anyone for 36 years, and are still deemed too dangerous to society to be released, I fail to see how EP can be considered any less dangerous.

 

[Ellery84]

Not sure why he needs 2 weeks to think about it. Could have had the Sentencing Hearing today and put us all out of our misery.

Case law takes a while to go through.

 

[Deleted member 363451]

"Mr Mandy told the court Patterson's proximity to Shoma left her concerned for her safety."

Oh, the irony....

Grim details emerge about Erin Patterson's isolated prison life

Patterson, 50, was found guilty of poisoning three of her in-laws - and attempting to kill another - with a lunch laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2023.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Hear Erin Patterson's victims’ statements in full​

The Australian

 

[HoneyBunOne]

Holy cow, I've just gone through pages and pages from the last thread, only to come here and discover I've got 11 more pages to go through. Forgive me if I don't right now.

My thoughts on recent events - I'm hopeful the victim statements will show just how much destruction Erin caused, and the far reaching impacts. On that front, there are many more not being read out in court, the figure is something like 27 statements in total from memory. Are there rules around who can write one and have it used in the sentencing process? Obviously you have to be impacted in some way, but beyond that, are there any limitations as to WHO can write one?

As for her life in prison, cry me a river. There are vulnerable people in Victoria without a roof over their heads, unsure of their next meal, no access to TV, computers, books etc. Certainly no access to a leisure centre or pool. Granted, there are a few down sides to Erin's circumstances, but homebodies like myself already live similar lives, with our TV's & computers for entertainment, spending our days crafting and only going outside if we have to. Speaking of computers, surely there is no access to the internet available on personal devices? Surely??

As for her suddenly pulling the "Asperger's/Austism" card, don't even get me started. Why face up to what you've done when you can claim all these sudden ailments and excuses as to why you were compelled to see this crime through to the end? It's offensive to those who have these conditions, as there are countless people who are on the spectrum and manage to not plot multiple murders over months and years.

All my thoughts and opinions only.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

I struggle with change and enjoy having a routine. Do I get to label myself with my choice of diagnosis and use that as an excuse for whatever bad behaviour I choose? Yeah, didn't think so.

 

[IBR]

SP and his family are good people. Never could SP have fathomed that EP would be willing to murder people with whom she had no issue.

EP lives with no remorse, but left SP with a lifetime of unfair guilt, that he should somehow have known the expanse of her venom, and predicted she'd poison anyone and everyone in her petty path. What a horrid thing to do to a deeply feeling person.

Contrast that with what EP did do and what she would have done. With SP's already compromised digestive tract, what would a poisoned BW have done to him? Fatal for sure but between ingestion and death -- SHE is inhumane, arguably inhuman.

She didn't get rid of the dehydrator on the first run IIRC. If SP wouldn't come to her lunch and wouldn't partake in the leftover BW, IMO she wasn't going to stop. She had more DCs to collect, dehydrate, powderize and serve.

EP doesn't feel remorse; IMO she believes she's RIGHT. STILL. SP and anyone who supports him, on her list.

She is vindictive, a poisoned personality who will hold that position, allowing it to fester, and -- if she is granted access -- will kill again. She plays the long game.

I pray she is sentenced to life without parole. If the judge grants her a sentence with parole, IMO he is sentencing SP, the children and their supporters a life sentence, whereby they will have to keep an eye on the parole schedule, prepare for and attend parole hearings in order to keep her in custody. Her potential freedom is an impediment to their peace, safety, and recovery.

SP's powerful impact statement shows what a good man he is, focused rightfully on his children, something EP is incapable of. She never once calculated the cost of her actions on them.

I hope the judge denies the possibility of parole and insodoing gives SP and what's left of his family that small piece of freedom.

JMO

Very, very well worded!