Why Kathleen Folbigg, woman who spent 20 yrs in prison for killing her four babies, has now been pardoned

A woman that had been dubbed Australia’s ‘worst serial killer’ has been freed. Kathleen Folbigg, who spent 20 years in prison for killing her four children, was pardoned after new evidence has emerged. Let’s take a closer look at who Folbigg is and what happened in her case: Who is Folbigg? According to ABC, Kathleen was born in 1967. Kathleen’s father murdered her mother before her second birthday – leaving her a ward of the state – until she was adopted by a couple in Newcastle. In 1985, Kathleen met her soon-to-be-husband Craig Folbigg. They married in 1987. Two years later, Kathleen gave birth to their first child Caleb. But just a few days after he was born, Caleb would be discovered dead in his crib. According to EuroNews, Kathleen discovered her son wasn’t breathing when she got up one night to go to the bathroom.

“There’s something wrong with my baby,” Kathleen yelled.

Her cries awakened Craig who rushed in. They attempted to revive Caleb and called an ambulance but it was too late. Sadly, more were to follow. In 1991, Kathleen gave birth to Patrick – this child would be found dead at eight months old. In 1993, their daughter Sarah died at 10 months. In 1999, their child Laura died at 19 months. Craig could take no more. According to EuroNews, the trauma of the children’s deaths devastated the couple’s relationship. Craig and Kathleen decided to divorce. But then Craig came upon Kathleen’s personal diaries. What she’d written in them shocked Craig to the core. In May 1999, Craig gave Kathleen’s private journals to the police, as per ABC. In 2001, Kathleen was accused of smothering her children to death and charged with four murders. She insisted that she found three dead while going to the bathroom and the fourth when checking on the child’s wellbeing. Kathleen’s trial According to BBC, there was no physical evidence that Kathleen had hurt her children. It was the diaries then that would become the key piece of evidence against Kathleen.

They argued that Kathleen’s diaries contained admissions of guilt.

According to ABC, Kathleen wrote, “This was the day that Patrick Allan David Folbigg was born. I had mixed feelings this day. wether [sic] or not I was going to cope as a mother or wether [sic] I was going to get stressed out like I did last time . I often regret Caleb & Patrick, only because your life changes so much, and maybe I’m not a Person that likes change. But we will see?” Kathleen also made entries such as “my guilt about them all haunts me”; “what scares me most will be when I’m alone with the baby” and “obviously, I’m my father’s daughter”. Prosecutors told the jury at her trial that the similarities among the deaths made coincidence an unlikely explanation. According to CNN, the prosecution argued that the chances of four babies in one family dying of natural causes before age 2 would be akin to ‘pigs flying’. Throughout the trial, Kathleen steadfastly continued to maintain her innocence. But the jury agreed with the prosecution and found Kathleen guilty. In 2003, Kathleen was given a jail term of 40 years. [caption id=“attachment_12695902” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Kathleen Folbigg was in 2003 sentenced to a prison term of 40 years. Image courtesy: YouTube[/caption] A ray of hope In 2018, professor Carola Vinuesa of the Australian National University got a call from a former student asking help, as per Sydney Morning Herald. The student wanted the immunologist to look into Kathleen’s case. “As a mother, I cannot think of a more worthy cause,” Vinuesa told Kathleen’s lawyers over email. Vinuesa and her colleagues began mapping Kathleen’s DNA in an attempt to explain why her children would pass away suddenly. What they found shocked them.

Kathleen’s DNA contained CALM2 – a rare mutant gene.

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“We did the first test and found a [gene] variant that looked very suspicious… even then in November 2018, we thought this [a] very high likelihood, if found in the children, to be the culprit,” Vinuesa told the BBC. While the genetic condition itself is extremely rare, those with it have a high chance of dying. One report showed nearly 30 per cent of a group who carried the disease died. Contrary to the prosecution’s arguments, science found that the chances of two of Kathleen’s children dying were rather high, as per SMH. A new inquiry brings freedom In 2022, an inquiry headed by retired judge Tom Bathurst began examining the latest scientific evidence in the case. Bathurst conducted the inquiry into Folbigg’s guilt based on a petition signed by 90 scientists, medical practitioners and related professionals that said it was “based on significant positive evidence of natural causes of death”. Lawyer Sophie Callan told the court expert evidence in the fields of cardiology and genetics indicated that the CALM2-G114R genetic variant “is a reasonably possible cause” of the daughters’ sudden deaths. Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, was also a “reasonably possible cause” of Laura’s death, Callan said. For Patrick, Callan said there was “persuasive expert evidence that as a matter of reasonable possibility, an underlying neurogenetic disorder” caused his sudden death. The scientific evidence created doubt that Kathleen killed the three children and undermined the argument made in Caleb’s case that four child deaths were an improbable coincidence, Callan said. Craig told the inquiry the implausibility that four children in one family would die of natural causes before the age of 2 was compelling grounds to continue treating the diary entries as admissions of his former wife’s guilt. But Callan said psychologists and psychiatrists gave evidence that it would be “unreliable to interpret the entries in this way.” Kathleen had been suffering a major depressive disorder and “maternal grief” when she made the entries, Callan said. Bathurst for his part described the scientific evidence as “quite exceptional”, according to Sydney Morning Herald. Bathurst said Sarah and Laura Folbigg possessed a rare genetic mutation, while Patrick Folbigg may have had an “underlying neurogenic condition”. Given these factors, Bathurst found the death of Caleb Folbigg was also no longer suspicious.

He said he was unable to accept that “Folbigg was anything but a caring mother for her children”.

As per CNN, Bathurst, with regards to the diaries, concluded that the “evidence suggests they were the writings of a grieving and possibly depressed mother, blaming herself for the death of each child, as distinct from admissions that she murdered or otherwise harmed them.” On Monday, New South Wales Attorney-General Michael Daley announced that Kathleen had been pardoned after the inquiry found “reasonable doubt” surrounding the convictions. “This has been a terrible ordeal for everyone concerned, and I hope that our actions today put some closure on this 20-year matter,” he told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_12695932” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] New South Wales Attorney-General Michael Daley said Kathleen Folbigg had been pardoned and released after being advised that there was reasonable doubt about her guilt based on new scientific evidence that the deaths of her children could have been from natural causes. AP[/caption] The pardon was seen as the quickest way of getting Kathleen out of prison, and a final report from the second inquiry into her guilt could recommend the state Court of Appeals quash her convictions. Australian state governors are figureheads who act on instructions of governments. Daley said Bathurst had advised him last week there was reasonable doubt about Kathleen’s guilt based on new scientific evidence that the deaths could have been from natural causes. “There is a reasonable doubt as to Ms Folbigg’s guilt of the manslaughter of her child Caleb, the infliction of grievous bodily harm on her child Patrick and the murder of her children Patrick, Sarah and Laura,” Daley told reporters. “I have reached a view that there is reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Ms Folbigg of those offenses,” Daley added. CNN quoted Daley as saying he knows some will find it hard to accept this. “There will be some people who have strong views. There’s nothing I can do to disavow them of those views, (and) it’s not my role to do that,” he said. “We’ve got four little bubbas who are dead. We’ve got a husband and wife who lost each other. A woman who spent 20 years in jail, and a family that never had a chance. You’d not be human if you didn’t feel something,” he said. Kathleen, now 55, was released on Monday morning from a prison in Grafton, in the north of New South Wales state. “The theory that she had killed her children had no evidence. The only evidence was circumstantial, because she was the one finding them dead,” Vinuesa told Euronews. “She is very grateful, not only to us - the scientists - but also to her lawyers, who have done most of the work for free,” Vinuesa added. While the pardon lifts Kathleen’s prison sentence, she would need to apply separately through the court system to have the convictions overturned, a process that could take “two or three years”. The Australian Academy of Science, which helped to spark the inquiry, said it was “relieved” to see justice for Folbigg. Kathleen’s friend Peter Yates said he was “absolutely delighted”. “What we’re particularly pleased about is that he’s given Kathleen a full pardon,” he told national broadcaster ABC.   “That means that she’s free to live her life as a normal citizen and that makes a big difference to her.” But Kathleen’s former husband Craig remains unconvinced. His lawyer Danny Eid said Craig’s views on Kathleen’s guilt have “not changed whatsoever.” “Ms Folbigg has not been acquitted of the crimes, and her convictions are not displaced,” Eid told CNN. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.