We’re bringing you the best episodes of 2025 before your Morning Edition team returns mid-January. 

Well, the mushroom murders was the criminal case of the year and in this episode, we take you inside the court on the day Erin Patterson was sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Patterson received a triple-murder conviction for the now infamous lunch of beef wellington that a jury trial found she laced with death cap mushrooms and served to her in-laws.

Since we recorded this episode with court reporter Erin Pearson, Patterson has applied for leave to appeal her convictions, which is yet to be decided. But this episode addresses the big question after the sentencing, which was why she was granted the opportunity of parole.