A woman was sentenced to life in prison for feeding her family a dish that contained toxic mushrooms. Three people died and another was sickened.

Erin Patterson, 50, was sentenced to life in prison but may be released after she serves 33 years behind bars, the BBC reported.

Patterson will be in her 80s before she can be asked to be released.

Don Patterson and Gail Patterson, her father-in-law and mother-in-law, were killed, as was Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, when they ate a beef Wellington made by Erin Patterson.

The deadly lunch was served in July 2023, The Washington Post reported.

Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived but had been in a coma and is still having health issues, the BBC reported.

Erin Patterson’s husband, Simon Patterson, was also supposed to have eaten the tainted meal, but canceled the day before, according to the Post, partially because he thought she was trying to poison him for several years.

She said the death cap mushrooms that were in the dish were accidentally added to the meal and that she did not intend to hurt her family.

But prosecutors said she researched the mushrooms, bought a dehydrator to help her hide them in the dish and invited her family to her home for lunch, claiming she had cancer, the Post reported.

Prosecutors said she threw away the dehydrator and claimed to have bought the mushrooms at an Asian grocery store.

Erin Patterson was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for each of the three murders, and another 25 years for the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, the BBC reported.

Prosecutors had asked for life with no parole, but the judge, citing “harsh prison conditions," including 15 months she has already spent in solitary confinement and her safety, for his decision to allow the possibility of parole. He did note during the sentencing that she “showed no pity” for the people she killed.

No motive was provided by the prosecution as to why she killed her in-laws, the BBC reported.

Erin Patterson has less than a month to appeal, the Post reported.

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