As she continues to protest her innocence, Erin Patterson was seen by the outside world for the first time in 11 months last week.
Appearing via video link from Melbourne’s Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, where she is currently serving three life sentences, she cut a sombre and solitary figure as the court heard how she is confined in her cell for up to 23 hours a day and has visits with her children via video.
But apart from her legal team, Patterson didn’t have any supporters in court for what was set to be a two-day hearing.
Yet, Woman’s Day has learnt that behind the scenes, the killer’s only friend was watching the livestream from afar.
Social worker Ali Rose has remained loyal to Patterson through the court case that saw her convicted of three murders and one attempted murder in July 2025.
She was seen shedding tears when Patterson was found guilty, telling the press that she was “saddened” by the outcome.
Now, behind the scenes, Ali has reportedly been helping support her incarcerated friend.
“Ali is probably in a unique position because Erin trusts her,” a source close to the woman tells Woman’s Day.
“She has quietly taken care of a lot of the practical things around Erin’s life.”
On Reddit, a user claiming to be Ali’s friend slammed the backlash she’d received after being dubbed a “groupie” for her loyalty to Patterson.
Under the anonymous username NoCover8820, they wrote last year about wanting to “set the record straight”.
“Ali really believes that everybody should have somebody in their darkest hours even if that person is guilty of a heinous crime,” they shared, adding that for two years she “supported Erin, her children, kept her home looking immaculate and sacrificed her time to just be a kind human being.”
FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
However, Patterson’s Leongatha house now stands empty. Thought to be worth around $1.1 million, it has an order on it from the Supreme Court which prevents its sale.
According to neighbours, Ali still visits occasionally, although the property is now showing signs of wear and tear without a full time resident.
The Australian reports the home’s gate was damaged during a break-in, bark from nearby trees has gathered on the roof, moss is growing on the pathway and local kids have built a fort adjacent to the property with a couch, chair and empty beer bottles visible.
Patterson, 51, who currently has a non-parole period of 33 years, is desperately hoping her fight for freedom will see her back in what she once described as her “forever home” soon.
SOLE SURVIVOR
Seated just behind the prosecution, the sole survivor of Patterson’s mushroom lunch watched last week’s proceedings with arms crossed and a grim expression.
Ian Wilkinson attended Patterson’s trial last year and was back in court as her defence team argued her convictions should be quashed, arguing the trial represented a “catastrophic” failure of the justice system because jurors stayed in the same hotel as police and prosecution.
The state’s director of public prosecutions argued, conversely, that the sentence handed down was “manifestly inadequate” and should be extended.
They want Patterson to be jailed for life without parole.
All the while, Ian, whose wife Heather died after eating Patterson’s poisonous lunch, watched on with his daughter, Ruth Dubois. Don Patterson’s brother Colin was also in court.
Ian, a Baptist pastor, who spent seven weeks in hospital following the fateful lunch, said last year that he has forgiven Patterson for trying to murder him.
KILLER IMAGE
Courtroom sketch artist Anita Lester last captured Patterson’s likeness during the 2025 trial and was present at Melbourne’s Victorian Court of Appeal last week to do the same.
The images produced show that the killer hasn’t changed much in the past year.
“Her hair is a bit longer and she was wearing her glasses which she often does when she’s in her studious mode,” Anita told Woman’s Day just hours after completing her first sketch.
On the second day of court proceedings, Patterson was seen showing a rare sign of emotion, shaking her head and saying “no” as the prosecutor made their argument.
EX-HUSBAND TELLS ALL
In April this year, Patterson’s ex-husband Simon announced through his spokesperson Jessica O’Donnell that he was working on a memoir that would allow him to tell his side of the story in his own words.
While details of the upcoming memoir are scarce, it’s expected the book will reveal what Simon’s relationship with Erin was really like, and how his family are coping three years on from the tragic death of his parents and aunt.
“People are expecting the memoir to be explosive, but Simon’s focus is likely to be on setting the record straight about his own experience,” an insider told Woman’s Day.
“There has been so much speculation and commentary surrounding the family that he wants to explain what life was actually like from his perspective.
“Simon has had to watch a lot of claims and opinions about himself and his family play out publicly. If he does address them in the book, readers could get a very different picture from the one they’ve formed from headlines and social media.”
But, the insider revealed Simon’s highly-anticipated memoir will also be respectful of his children’s privacy.
“His relationship with the children will be one of the most closely watched parts of the memoir. Simon knows people have been asking questions about how they are coping, and he may want to explain what he can, while still protecting their privacy,” the insider said.
“There’s a sense that Simon doesn’t want the memoir to become a mud-slinging exercise. But that doesn’t mean he’ll shy away from difficult subjects. If he feels there are misconceptions about him or his family, this could be his opportunity to put his side of the story on the record.”
LIFE ON THE INSIDE
During Patterson’s appeal hearings, the court got a new glimpse into her life inside Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, where she is locked up in the prison’s solitary confinement wing known as the Gordon Unit.
The Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions, Brendan Kissane revealed that Patterson is being kept in the Gordon Unit for her own safety, and is subject to monthly reviews.
“The characterisation of her confinement in the Gordon Unit as one of solitary confinement is again not consistent with the evidence,” he told the court.
“There was evidence that she had, and she may not have taken this up necessarily or at all times… but she did have access to the library, she had access to the leisure centre. Albeit that access was more limited to the Gordon Unit than in the Murray unit.”
Along with the leisure centre and library, Kissane also revealed Patterson enjoys regular video visits with her children, has access to counselling services and can also speak with a chaplain.
Previously, a former inmate at Dame Phyllis Frost described the cells in the isolation unit as a “box smaller than our toilets”, and likened the conditions in there to “torture”.
“We were going days without water,” former inmate Ashleigh Chapman told The Saturday Paper.
“We were getting quite sick and a lot of us had lost weight.”
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