After spending 20 years in prison for the deaths of her four children, a woman, labelled Australia's 'worst female serial killer', was acquitted by a New South Wales court on Thursday. Kathleen Folbigg was pardoned by the state government and released from prison in June this year, Reuters reported.
On Thursday, the New South Wales Supreme Court said the evidence that was relied upon to jail Folbigg was "not reliable". Her lawyer said she will seek compensation from the New South Wales government.
Folbigg was convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, and of manslaughter in case of her fourth child. Folbigg, however, had claimed she was innocent and her children -- Caleb, Patrick, Sarah, and Laura -- died of natural causes between 1989-1999.
In 2019, an initial inquiry upheld Folbigg's guilt. However, a subsequent investigation in 2022, led by a former chief justice, uncovered new evidence indicating that two of the children may have had a genetic mutation leading to their deaths.
Folbigg expressed her gratitude for the updated scientific findings that shed light on the causes of her children's deaths, as per Reuters.
The inquiry commissioner, Tom Bathurst, concluded that three of the deaths had an "identifiable cause", and the relationship between Folbigg and her children did not substantiate the claims that she had killed them.
Bathurst suggested Patrick's death was likely due to a neurogenetic disorder, while there was a "reasonable" possibility that Sarah and Laura's deaths might have been linked to a genetic mutation, CALM2-G114R, which they shared with their mother.
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The case relied primarily on circumstantial evidence, sparking controversy among scientists and statisticians, some of whom advocated for Folbigg's release.
Bathurst, a former NSW chief justice, highlighted the controversial use of Folbigg's diary entries during her trial, which secured her convictions. Folbigg said prosecutors had “cherrypicked” phrases from her journals, reported The Guardian, and her private thoughts were taken out of context and used against her.
Addressing the media, Folbigg said in 1999 there were legal answers to prove her innocence but those were “ignored and dismissed”. "The system preferred to blame me rather than accept that sometimes, children can and do die suddenly, unexpectedly, and heartbreakingly," she said.
Her lawyer, Rhanee Rego, confirmed the preparation of a claim for 'substantial' compensation due to wrongful imprisonment. Rego refrained from specifying an exact figure but indicated that it would surpass previous compensations.