Overview

• Ian Wilkinson told the Victoria Supreme Court he feels "half alive" after losing his wife and closest friends, offered Patterson forgiveness for harms to him, and detailed lasting health problems after a liver transplant.
• The court received 28 victim impact statements, with seven read publicly, including one from Patterson’s estranged husband Simon describing their children’s trauma and the toll of intense media attention.
• Justice Christopher Beale called the offending "horrendous" as prosecutors pressed for a life term without parole and the defense argued for parole eligibility, with a reported benchmark of 30 years raised in court coverage.
• Defense submissions cited psychiatric and neurodevelopmental issues, which the judge and prosecutor questioned as unsupported hearsay, while the hearing continues into a second day.
• Sentencing is scheduled for September 8 on three murder convictions and one attempted murder relating to a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms, and Patterson will have 28 days after sentencing to appeal.