Kathleen Folbigg – the woman once dubbed Australia’s worst female serial killer – has been FREED from prison after serving 20 years behind bars on charges of murdering her four children
- Kathleen Folbigg is released from prison
- New genetic evidence has found ‘reasonable doubt’
- She spent 20 years in prison for the death of her children
Kathleen Folbigg will be released from prison and pardoned immediately, NSW Attorney General Michael Daley has announced.
The mother of four has been in prison for 20 years for murdering her children after being convicted in 2003.
“There is reasonable doubt about Ms Folbigg’s guilt for any of these offenses,” Daley said, adding that she would be pardoned free of charge and released from prison as soon as possible.
Supporters have called for her immediate release from prison after counsel assisting an investigation said there was now a reasonable doubt she had murdered her four children.
Mr Daley said he offered his condolences to the children’s father, Craig Folbigg.
Folbigg, 55, was convicted of the murder of her children Patrick, Sarah and Laura, as well as manslaughter of her first child Caleb, all of whom died between 1989 and 1999.
She has consistently maintained her innocence and denied killing her children, but is serving a 30-year sentence.
After exhausting all her appeal options, a 2019 investigation confirmed her guilt.
A second investigation was initiated after lobbying from the scientific community following the discovery of what was described as new genetic evidence.
Kathleen Folbigg served 20 years in prison for the murder of her four children and had exhausted all her appeals by 2019
An investigation has been launched following the discovery of what was described as new genetic evidence in the case (Photo: Folbigg pre-conviction)
The inquiry, led by retired Supreme Court Justice Tom Bathurst KC, was set up to consider the possibility that the Folbigg children died of natural causes after a range of medical experts suggested there was a genetic mutation that could have led to until the death of Laura and Sara.
New medical evidence published in March 2021 cast doubt on Folbigg’s guilt after it emerged that Sarah and Laura Folbigg carried a genetic mutation – known as CALM2 G114R – that can cause heart problems and lead to sudden death.
DNA sequencing showed that Folbigg and her daughters shared the variants, but Caleb and Patrick did not.
The gene produces the calmodulin protein, CALM2, which affects the opening and closing of channels in the heart.
Folbigg was convicted of the murder of her son Patrick (right), as well as the manslaughter of her first child Caleb (left)
Medical experts say there may have been a genetic mutation that caused the deaths of Sarah (left) and Laura (right).