According to prosecutors, her children died between the ages of nine weeks and three years from asphyxiation at the hands of Ms Folbigg, 55, who has consistently denied these allegations, claiming that each of her deaths was linked to a natural cause.
New forensic evidence
By 2021, dozens of Australian and foreign scientists had signed a petition for Ms Folbigg’s release, arguing that new forensic evidence suggested the unexplained deaths were linked to rare genetic mutations or birth defects.
New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley announced on Monday that Ms Folbigg was pardoned after a year-long investigation that cast “reasonable doubts” about the cause of the deaths.
She was released from Grafton Prison, which is about a six-hour drive north of Sydney, on Monday morning.
Medical causes revealed
In the absence of solid forensic evidence, prosecutors had argued that it was extremely unlikely that four children had died suddenly and without explanation. But retired Judge Tom Bathurst, who led the inquiry, said subsequent investigations revealed medical causes that could explain three of those deaths.
According to Mr Bathurst, Sarah and Laura Folbigg were carriers of a rare genetic mutation and Patrick Folbigg certainly suffered from an “underlying neurological pathology”.
Given these factors, the judge ruled Caleb Folbigg’s death non-suspicious. He added that he couldn’t accept that “Ms Folbigg was anything but a caring mother for her children”.