Kathleen Folbigg pardoned after 20 years in jail
Kathleen Folbigg has been pardoned over the death of her four children and released without delay, after new scientific evidence raised doubts over her guilty verdict.
Folbigg, 55, was convicted of killing her three children Patrick, Sarah and Laura as well as the manslaughter of her firstborn, Caleb, between 1989 to 1999.
Her babies were aged between 19 days and 19 months.
Folbigg has always maintained her innocence saying they died of natural causes and now new scientific evidence has cast doubt on the mother’s guilt.
Folbigg and her two daughters were found to carry a rare genetic variant, the discovery triggering a second inquiry into her convictions.
The CALM2-G114R genetic variant impacting the calcium-binding calmodulin protein identified in Folbigg and her daughters was a “reasonably possible cause” of Sarah and Laura’s deaths, according to cardiology and genetics experts.
Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, was also a reasonable possible cause of Laura’s death.