Dubbed "Australia's worst serial killer," Kathleen Folbigg spent 20 years in prison. The Australian had been convicted of killing her four children. But, following an investigation questioning her guilt, she was pardoned and released on Monday.

In 2003, in a high-profile case, the mother was convicted of the murder of her three children and the manslaughter of the fourth. According to the prosecutor's office, his children, aged between nine weeks and three years, were suffocated to death by Kathleen Folbigg, 55, who has always rejected these accusations by saying that each of their deaths was linked to a natural cause.

Rare genetic mutations

In 2021, dozens of Australian and overseas scientists signed a petition for his release. They argued that new forensic evidence suggested that these unexplained deaths were linked to rare genetic mutations or birth defects.

New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley announced Monday that Kathleen Folbigg was pardoned after a year-long inquest that established "reasonable doubt" about the cause of the deaths. She was released Monday morning from Grafton prison, about a six-hour drive north of Sydney. "This is an important moment for justice in this state," said Sue Higginson, a Green Party member who championed her cause.

"A caring mother"

In the absence of strong forensic evidence, prosecutors had argued that it was extremely unlikely that four children could have died suddenly without explanation. But retired Judge Tom Bathurst, who led the inquiry, said subsequent investigations revealed medical causes that could explain three of those deaths.

According to Tom Bathurst, Sarah and Laura Folbigg were carriers of a rare genetic mutation and Patrick Folbigg certainly suffered from an "underlying neurological pathology". In view of these factors, the magistrate ruled Caleb Folbigg's death unsuspect. He added that he could not accept that Kathleen "Folbigg was anything other than a caring mother to her children." The Australian Academy of Science, which helped open the investigation, said it was relieved that justice had been done to Kathleen Folbigg.

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  • Infanticide
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