Kathleen Folbigg (56) spent 20 years behind bars for the alleged murder of her four children. Now she is a free woman: Folbigg, once considered “Australia’s worst serial killer”, has had her conviction overturned.
The evidence from the woman's original trial was unreliable, Andrew Bell, president of the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, ruled on Thursday (local time).
Folbigg was found guilty in 2003 of murdering her four children. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but the sentence was later reduced. She always maintained her innocence. The children died suddenly over a ten-year period (1989-1999) between the ages of 19 and one and a half years. The case caused controversy.
Folbigg with his lawyer Rhanee Rego at the Sydney Court of Appeal
Photo: Dan Hibrechts/dpa
In the absence of forensic evidence, prosecutors argued that it was extremely unlikely that four children would die suddenly and without explanation. He also referred to the mother's diary entries, which, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, could be understood as confessions of guilt.
Forgiveness because of new discoveries
In June of this year, the woman was pardoned and released from prison. Scientific findings showed that the two boys and two girls may have died of natural causes, she said.
A new investigation was launched after it was discovered that the woman had passed on a rare genetic mutation to her two daughters. This can lead to cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death. The case was then reopened.
Read too
Outside the Sydney courthouse, Kathleen Folbigg said she was grateful for modern science and genetics, which have now provided answers to the question of how her children died. “However, even in 1999 we had legal answers to prove my innocence. But they were ignored and rejected. For almost a quarter of a century I faced disbelief and hostility.”
“Australia’s biggest miscarriage of justice”
Folbigg's lawyer, Rhanee Rego, said after the acquittal that her client was now entitled to “significant” damages. After Folbigg's release, the lawyer made serious accusations against the Australian judiciary.
Instead of conducting an investigation to determine the children's cause of death, “we threw her in prison, locked her up and labeled her Australia's worst serial killer,” Rego said in June. The judicial system “let Folbigg down” at every step of the way and it took a long time for her case to be reopened.
The Australian Academy of Science described Folbigg's conviction as “Australia's biggest miscarriage of justice”.