2023-06-05 06:54:09
Kathleen Folbigg, now 55, was found guilty in 2003 of killing her four children. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison and would not have been released until 2028 at the earliest. She always maintained her innocence. The children had all died suddenly over a ten-year period (1989-1999) between the ages of 19 days and 19 months. The case had caused a stir. The mother was dubbed “Australia’s worst serial killer”.
However, new scientific findings have now shown that the two boys and two girls may have died of natural causes, as the convict had claimed, New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley said on Monday.
Rare genetic mutation inherited
A new investigation had been launched following the woman was found to have passed a rare genetic mutation on to her two daughters. This can lead to cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death. Almost 100 scientists and doctors then petitioned for the case to be reopened, listing possible medical reasons for each of the four deaths.
Former Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, who led the inquiry, said: “I have come to believe that there is a reasonable doubt as to Ms Folbigg’s guilt for each of the offenses with which she was initially charged”. One of the sons may have died of a neurogenetic disease such as epilepsy.
The original trial was purely circumstantial, on which the experts interviewed disagreed. At the time, the prosecution considered it unlikely that four children would die of natural causes. The mother’s diary entries, which were taken as an admission of guilt, were probably due to the woman’s grief and desperation, it is now said.
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