Kathleen Folbigg and her team of lawyers are now seeking “substantial” compensation from the state government for the years she spent in prison.
Twenty years after being found guilty of murdering her four children, Kathleen Folbigg has been acquitted by an Australian appeal court. This same court of appeal also overturned his conviction.
Kathleen Folbigg, now 55, was previously pardoned by the New South Wales state government and released from prison in June, after a Spanish scientist successfully proved that her four children had could have died of natural causes, as she had claimed.
She was nicknamed “Australia’s worst serial killer” after being convicted in 2003 for the murder of three of her children and for involuntary manslaughter in the death of the fourth.
Prosecutors said her children, aged nine weeks to three years, were smothered by Kathleen Folbigg, who has always denied the allegations, saying each death was due to natural causes.
On Thursday, the courtroom erupted in applause and Kathleen Folbigg burst into tears when she heard the words she expected from Chief Justice Andrew Bell.
“Although the trial verdicts were reasonably constructed on the basis of the available evidence, there now exists a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Kathleen Folbigg.”said Andrew Bell.
“Kathleen Folbigg’s convictions should be overturned“, he added.
Outside the court, Kathleen Folbigg thanked her supporters, her lawyers and the scientists who exonerated her, in particular the Spanish scientist, Carola García Vinuesa, initiator of the investigation which allowed Kathleen Folbigg to be exonerated.
“For nearly a quarter of a century, I faced disbelief and hostility. I suffered abuse in all its forms. I hoped and prayed that one day I would be able to stand here with my name cleared”confided Kathleen Folbigg.
“I am grateful to modern science and genetics for giving me answers about how my children died”she added, with tears in her eyes.
How could a Spanish scientist play a role in this affair?
The first to die was Kathleen Folbigg’s 19-day-old son Caleb. One night she woke up to go to the bathroom. She examined her baby and noticed that he was not breathing.
She then lost Patrick when the baby was just eight months old. Sarah, 10 months, and Laura, 18 months, later died. Two of the children died from sudden infant death syndrome.
Kathleen Folbigg always maintained her innocence, but no one believed her story until a Spanish scientist decided to help her.
“The theory that she killed her children was based on no evidence. The only evidence was circumstantial, because she was the one who found them dead“, explains Carola García Vinuesa to Euronews.
“Kathleen Folbigg is very grateful, not only to us – the scientists – but also to her lawyers, who did most of the work for free”she confides.
After seeing the case on television and knowing that up to 35% of sudden deaths can be explained by genetic factors, Carola García Vinuesa called her colleague, geneticist Todor Arsov.
They decided to compile a list of genes that could cause sudden death. The next step in their scientific investigation was to visit Kathleen Folbigg in prison and sequence her genome.
“We discovered that there was a mutation in a gene that codes for calmodulin, and this is one of the best-known causes of sudden infant death syndrome.”indicates Carola García Vinuesa to Euronews.
ADVERTISEMENTCarola García Vinuesa’s team found a genetic mutation in two of Kathleen Folbigg’s daughters, while the other two children suffered from severe epilepsy and breathing difficulties.
Experts said myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, was also a possible cause of Laura’s death, and Patrick’s sudden death may have been caused by an underlying neurogenetic disorder.
The inquiry, which recommended the pardon and acquittal of Kathleen Folbigg, was launched following a petition signed in 2021 by 90 scientists, including two Nobel laureates, doctors and relevant professionals, who argues that these new elements should be taken into account.
When asked about the result, Carola García Vinuesa is ultimately satisfied, but she looks back with a bittersweet feeling.
“Scientifically, it was a challenge. It was a very difficult, intense and sometimes painful process”she specifies, to Euronews.
ADVERTISEMENTAs Kathleen Folbigg breathes a sigh of relief, her estranged husband, Craig Folbigg, the father of her four children, whose suspicions sparked the police investigation, has requested a new trial.
“It would be the fair thing to do. Present all this so-called new evidence to a jury and let them decide his guilt.”said Craig Folbigg’s lawyer, Danny Eid.
Separately, Kathleen Folbigg’s lawyer, Rhanee Rego, said her legal team would now seek “substantial” compensation from the state government for the years she spent in prison.
