An Australian woman has been jailed for life, for murdering three relatives and trying to kill another with a toxic mushroom meal.
Erin Patterson, 50, will be in her 80s before she can apply for parole a chance of release set for at least 33 years.
This is the jail term, one of the longest ever handed to a female offender in Australia.
A Supreme Court judge said Patterson's crimes were the "worst category" for offending and involved an "elaborate cover-up".
Patterson killed her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, after serving them a toxic beef Wellington at her home in Victoria in 2023.
Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, survived the lunch after recovering from a coma and has ongoing health issues related to the poisoning.
Patterson's estranged husband Simon Patterson was meant to attend the lunch too but cancelled at the last minute, unsure of his ex-wife motives.
Patterson has long maintained her innocence, saying the toxic death cap mushrooms in the dish she prepared were accidentally added and that she never intended to harm her relatives.
She will serve three consecutive life sentences for the three murders and 25 years for the attempted murder of Mr Wilkinson.
During his sentencing remarks, Justice Christopher Beale said the gravity of Patterson's crimes meant he must impose the "maximum penalty".
Prosecutors had argued that the mother-of-two should be sentenced to life in jail with no prospect of release - the harshest punishment available in Australia.
Justice Beale agreed the crimes were the worst of their kind, but said his decision to allow parole was influenced by the "harsh prison conditions" Patterson faces in jail - including 15 months spent in solitary confinement so far, at a female maximum-security prison of 22 hours in her cell.
