Accused of the murder of her 4 babies, she could be exonerated after 18 years in prison

A miscarriage of justice? Australian Kathleen Folbigg, nicknamed one of the “worst serial killers” of the history of her country for killing her four babies, born one after the other, would be innocent according to dozens of researchers, including French people from the Nantes University Hospital. A petition signed by 90 renowned scientists and experts. medical was handed over to the governor of New South Wales (Australia) to demand the immediate release of Kathleen Folbigg, sentenced to 30 years in prison, reports the BBC.

The possible cause of her children’s death? Recent analyzes of the genomes of small victims have revealed mutations that can lead to sudden infant death syndrome. “The variant was found in a gene called CALM2. Calmodulin variants can cause sudden cardiac death.”Australian National University professor of immunology and genomic medicine Carola Vinuesa told the BBC.

“Kathleen Folbigg was a loving mother of four children: Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura, can we read in a text, dated 2018, on the site of the support group of Kathleen Folbigg. On May 23, 2003, she was convicted by a jury of the murder (Editor’s note: by suffocation) of Patrick, Sarah and Laura, and guilty of the manslaughter of Caleb, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. There was no physical evidence that the children had been murdered. The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence to present its case. Kathleen has spent the past 15 years in prison and continues to claim her innocence. ”

Charges disputed

For the Professor Fiona Stanley, researcher in the field of public health and children, contacted by the English-speaking media, “It is deeply disturbing that medical and scientific evidence has been ignored in favor of circumstantial evidence. We now have an alternative explanation for the deaths of the Folbigg children.”. At the time, the verdict was based on various questionable elements, such as the analysis of the mother’s diaries. In January 1998, she wrote her remorse after shouting about her daughter, Laura: “I feel like the worst mother on this Earth. Afraid that she will leave me now. Like Sarah. I knew I was sometimes angry and cruel to her and she left. With a little help.” Jeremy Morris, attorney for Kathleen Folbigg, claimed in 2019 that it was a “error” to take these writings as a confession. As recalled The Parisian, the prosecution also considered a principle, called Meadow’s Law, which says: “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a tragedy, two is suspicious, and three is murder, until proven guilty.” A “rule” which is not based on anything scientific. Two Britons, Sally Clark and Angela Cannings, had been exonerated after being convicted on this principle. Kathleen Folbigg was therefore sentenced without a confession, witness or forensic element.

Kathleen Folbigg is waiting behind bars for the outcome of the petition for a potential pardon. If granted, the Australian will then have to go to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal to seek her convictions overturned. Such an outcome would make Kathleen Folbigg’s ordeal the worst miscarriage of justice in Australian history.

Celine Peschard

Journalist who loves the versatility that his profession can offer. Specialized in the historical field, societal subjects and auteur films, against a background of electronic music. University course based on …