Eight Weeks. And Still Waiting.

The Erin Patterson Appeal — An Outcome Yet to Be Delivered

Wednesday 14 October 2026 marks eight weeks since three judges of the Victorian Court of Appeal began hearing appeals relating to Erin Patterson's convictions and sentence.

On 19 and 20 August, the Court of Appeal heard arguments from Patterson's legal representatives seeking to overturn her convictions, while prosecutors argued that the sentence imposed following her trial was inadequate.

Patterson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years. The prosecution is seeking a sentence that would remove the possibility of her eventual release on parole.

At the conclusion of the two-day hearing, Justices Lesley Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd reserved their decision.

Eight weeks later, the wait continues.

There is no announced date for the delivery of the judgment. The judges must consider the arguments presented before determining the outcome of both appeals, a process that may take weeks or months.

I attended both days of the appeal hearing at the Supreme Court in Melbourne, having previously spent much of the original trial observing proceedings from the public gallery in Morwell.

For me, the outcome has another significance.

Many people have asked when Pray for the Prey — Inside the Trial of Erin Patterson will be published. It's a question I wish I could answer with certainty.

Having attended the appeal hearing firsthand, I am committed to including its outcome in the final pages of the book. Until the judges deliver their decision, those pages remain unfinished.

The book is close to completion, but its publication date remains dependent upon a decision over which I have no control.

Some chapters simply cannot be written until the story unfolds.