Kathleen Folbigg was convicted of the deaths of her four children 20 years ago, but a court decided to acquit her after she was proven innocent.
This woman had to bear the title of supposedly “Australia’s worst serial killer and mother” because her children died between 1989 and 1999.
Little Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura died suddenly when they were babies between 19 days and 18 months old.
Authorities decided to charge her for allegedly suffocating the children, and in 2003 she was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Although there was no forensic evidence, prosecutors used his diary to prove his alleged guilt.
All these years she struggled to prove her innocence of a crime that she did not really commit and that completely destroyed her.
“For almost a quarter of a century I faced disbelief and hostility. I suffered abuse in all its forms,” Folbigg explained.
This mother always said that her children died of natural causes; but unfortunately he couldn’t prove it in all these years.
How did the babies die?
Kathleen’s painful story began on February 20, 1989, when she discovered that her baby Caleb was not breathing.
That night she shouted to her husband Craig Folbigg what had happened, but sadly the child died when he was only 19 days old.
But on February 13, 1991, history would repeat itself when his son Patrick also died suddenly, despite having been diagnosed with brain damage, partial blindness and epileptic seizures.
As if it were a curse, this family had to endure a third death: their daughter Sarah. The little girl was ten and a half months old when she was found blue and motionless.
Six years later, on March 1, 1999, their fourth daughter, Laura, died at 18 months old after her mother put her to sleep for a nap.
The strange deaths led authorities to investigate them for child murder. It was initially assumed that Caleb and Sarah had died suddenly; while Patrick has had epileptic seizures in the past.
However, Laura’s cause of death remained “unclear”, raising many doubts about how the babies died.
Kathleen Folbigg has proven her innocence
The case of Kathleen Folbigg has left its mark on Australians for the way she allegedly caused the deaths of her babies.
His family and lawyers tried tirelessly to prove his innocence, but repeatedly lost their lawsuits to overturn his convictions in court.
Just earlier this year, a study offered a ray of hope for this mother, proving that she had never committed such a crime.
In this way, a scientific investigation revealed that the children would actually have died from a strange genetic mutation that caused fatal cardiac arrhythmias.
The Australian Academy of Sciences proved to be an influential defender in this case by proving her innocence.
“I am grateful that scientific and genetic advances have given me answers to the cause of my children’s deaths,” said Kathleen Folbigg.
After these findings became known, the Governor of New South Wales signed a pardon and ordered Kathleen’s release.
However, this did not lead to the convictions being overturned, so his lawyers initiated proceedings to go to court to re-analyze the case.
The case gained such global relevance that hundreds of scientists signed a letter in 2021 asking authorities to pardon and release this woman who was wrongly convicted in the deaths of her children.
In this way, the Court of Criminal Appeal of the State of New South Wales found that there was a “reasonable doubt” that allowed the convictions against this mother to be overturned.
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