Kathleen Folbigg, 55, an Australian mother of four, jailed for 40 years for killing all her children, has been pardoned and freed based on new scientific evidence.
Her sentence was earlier reduced to 30 years, of which 25 years was without an option of parole, on appeal and she spent 20 years in Clarence Correctional Centre before her release on 5 June, 2023.
She was sentenced in 2003 and her lost appeal was concluded in 2005.
The children, aged 19 days to 18 months, died between 1989 to 1999 and she was accused of smothering them. If not, how could they all suffer Sudden Infant Death Syndrome the way they did.
She was found guilty of murdering Laura; 18 months old in 1999, Sarah; 10 months in 1993, Patrick; 8 months in 1991 and manslaughter of Caleb; 19 days old in 1989.
Kathleen Folbigg, despite maintaining her innocence, was called “worst female serial killer,” “Australia’s worst mother,” “baby killer” and “most hated woman” in Australia.
Her husband, Craig Folbigg, testified against her in court and dutifully, handed over her diary to the investigators. In it,, she was lamenting the deaths of the children saying they go after one another and it was admitted in evidence against her.
Apart from the loose contents of the diary, there was no conclusive evidence against her. She called emergency services when she noticed that two of the children had difficulty in breathing while the other two died in their sleep.
The case was largely based on British paediatrician, Roy Meadow’s law, which was discarded in the Commonwealth in 2004. It states that: “One sudden infant death is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder until proved otherwise.”
However, a scientific study of Kathleen Folbigg’s genome in 2019 showed that she has a gene mutation associated with a heart condition that can lead to sudden death in children.
This gene, CALM2 G114R, that occurs in one out of 35 million people, was also in the gene sequence of two of her children, Sarah and Laura. Both had a medical history of heart problems.
Caleb and Patrick did not have this gene but have another mutant gene, BSN, which can cause severe epilepsy in mice with a suspected association, but an unproven link, in human beings.
The death of her children may therefore, be of natural causes.
In March, 2021 ninety Australian scientists petitioned the governor of New South Wales, Australia, Margaret Beazley KC, to pardon and free her. Among them are two Nobel laureates, Elizabeth Blackburn and Peter Doherty, as well as the President of the Australian Academy of Science, John Shine.
The governor forwarded the Petition for Mercy to a Judicial Inquiry headed by retired Justice Thomas Bathurst KC, who recommended a pardon based on the new scientific evidence.
Kathleen Folbigg says she is thankful to the governor and science for her release and says she loved her children and bears no grudge against anyone.
However, for the guilt to be cleared and for her to be paid compensation for wrongful imprisonment, the report of the Justice Thomas Bathurst inquiry has to be sent back to the Appeal Court with a request that it changes its earlier verdict from guilty to not guilty.
Jurists say this may take a few years based on the speed of the judicial process in Australia.
