Erin Patterson, the Australian woman imprisoned for life for the mushroom murders, has submitted a petition challenging the guilty verdicts.
The 51-year-old was convicted of murdering three relatives and seeking to fatally harm a fourth person with a lethal mushroom-based lunch at her residence in the Victorian region in that year.
Under Australian law, appeals do not happen automatically, and her defense lawyers had to convince the higher court that it's possible there were procedural faults in the court proceedings.
Patterson's appeal was officially lodged on Monday, following the court granting her attorneys the green light to contest the findings.
The grounds of the appeal remain undisclosed.
Claims of Innocence
Over the course of the lengthy trial, Patterson repeatedly stated she was not guilty, asserting that the incident was a tragic mistake, and she had not intentionally included toxic mushrooms in the prepared lunch she prepared and offered for the midday meal.
Her husband's parents the Patterson couple, each seventy years old, and the sister Heather Wilkinson, in her mid-sixties, passed away following the food.
Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, survived after recovering from unconsciousness, and continues to experience health issues associated with the poisoning.
Court Finding
After seven days of deliberations, the twelve-member jury delivered their unanimous decision - guilty on all charges.
She was handed among the lengthiest jail terms imposed on a female offender in Australia - imprisonment for life, with no chance of release for at least 33 years.
That means Patterson will be in her eighties prior to being eligible for parole.
Legal Challenge
Now she will have the opportunity to contest the court's verdict.
The four-week period to file an appeal ended on October 6th, though an updated legal provision, giving legal teams an extension without having to provide reasons, provided her legal team extra days to lodge the paperwork.
Trial Details
There was significant public attention in the poisonous fungus incident, and a media frenzy engulfed the compact court in the provincial area of that location during the trial.
Throughout two months of witness accounts, the jury heard evidence implying Patterson had gathered death cap mushrooms in local communities and lured her victims to the fatal meal with deceptive claims that she suffered from cancer - before trying to conceal her crimes by deceiving authorities and disposing of evidence.
Her separated spouse, Simon Patterson, had likewise been requested to the gathering but cancelled at the last minute, to some extent because he felt that his wife had been trying to poison him over a long period.
Previous Incidents
Following the trial, it became known that he had become extremely sick after eating multiple dishes she prepared previously that he experienced unconsciousness, a large part of his bowel had been surgically removed, and relatives were informed to say goodbye to him multiple times as he was not expected to survive.
Ongoing Status
Patterson resides in a all-female penitentiary - the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in that urban area.
During her sentencing, the judicial officer stated to those present she spent most hours daily in her prison room, with no communication with other detainees due to her "major offender status".
The judge noted that Patterson's reputation and the extensive attention in the case meant she would likely "stay as a well-known convict for many years to come, and, as such, stay vulnerable from other incarcerated individuals".
