Science was a key element in Kathleen Folbigg, known as “Australia’s worst serial killer”, being acquitted and released after 20 years in prison.
She was convicted and jailed in 2003 for the manslaughter of three of her children Patrick, Sarah and Laura and the manslaughter of her eldest son Caleb.
What happened?
Kathleen’s four children died in infancy over the course of ten years, between 1989 and 1999, between the ages of 19 days and 19 months. She was convicted of choking the babies. However, Kathleen has always pleaded not guilty, claiming that the children died of natural causes.
In 2015, a coroner said there was no evidence of a homicide. And new evidence has shown the cause of the deaths is unclear meaning they could be due to natural causes.
Kathleen was released and discharged on Monday (5). in New South Wales after 20 years. Last week, New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley told reporters that new scientific evidence cast doubt on her culpability for the deaths of her children.
Kathleen has always maintained her innocence. Image: EPA
And what role does science play?
Former judge Tom Bathurst led a second inquiry into the case after 90 scientists and doctors signed a petition calling for Kathleen’s release. Among them are two Nobel Prize winners.
Medical evidence points to genetic mutations. Science would have discovered a genetic mutation in Kathleen and her two daughters, Sarah and Laura. There is a suspicion that this mutation would have led to her natural death.
Variants can be responsible for deaths. In an interview with the BBC in 2021, Australian National University professor of immunology and genomics Carola Vinuesa claimed that this variant is contained in a gene called CALM2, which is responsible for coding for calmodulin (a protein found in the brain and heart). be responsible. This could lead to sudden cardiac death.
The results were published in the journal Europace. Other known CALM variants are responsible for causing cardiac arrest and death in sleeping children. Myocarditis is also mentioned as a possible cause of Laura’s death.
Caleb and Patrick would have another genetic mutation, differs from mother and sisters in BSN gene. Studies in mice revealed that this variant could be responsible for the development of fatal epilepsy. In the case of Patrick, the attorney responsible for the investigation, Sophie Callan, speaks of the possibility of an “underlying neurogenetic disorder”.