THE SQUIZ
Kathleen Folbigg walked free from prison in Grafton, NSW, yesterday after spending 20 of a 25-year sentence behind bars following her conviction for the murders of 3 of her young children and the manslaughter of one. It follows a fresh inquiry into the 55yo’s case that heard the children could have died of natural causes. That’s at odds with the jury’s finding in 2003 that Folbigg smothered the children – something she’s repeatedly denied. Yesterday, retired Chief Justice Tom Bathurst said he’d come to the “firm view” that the new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt over her guilt. The state’s Attorney-General Michael Daley said that he’d considered Bathurst’s findings over the weekend before recommending to NSW Governor Margaret Beazley to grant Folbigg an unconditional pardon. “It has been a 20-year-long ordeal for her. I wish her peace,” Daley said.

REMIND ME WHAT WENT DOWN…
Yeah, it’s a lot… Folbigg’s children – Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura – were aged between 19 days and 19 months when each died suddenly between 1989-99. Police took an interest after Laura died in 1999, and Folbigg was charged in 2001. That was when police found her diaries, which became key pieces of evidence that prosecutors said showed Folbigg had a “tendency to become stressed and lose her temper and control with each of her children, and then to asphyxiate them”. For years, supporters and experts said there was no evidence that Folbigg killed her children – but it took a lot to secure her release. Following her conviction, she appealed the decision (which was rejected), there was the first judicial inquiry in 2018 (which found no reason to overturn her conviction), she appealed that finding (which was rejected) – and now the second judicial inquiry has gone her way. It’s been an epic journey for the woman once dubbed Australia’s worst female serial killer…

WHY WAS SHE SUCCESSFUL THIS TIME?
It’s down to new knowledge about genetics. In 2021, an international team published a report that Folbigg and her daughters shared a genetic mutation that can cause life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. And her sons carried “a gene shown to cause early onset lethal epilepsy in mice when detected”. That meant there was enough reasonable doubt over her guilt, Bathurst said. He is expected to complete his final report within weeks. After that, the convictions could be quashed in the state’s court of criminal appeal, and Folbigg can decide whether to sue for compensation. For now, she’ll spend time with her friend Tracy Chapman. But one person not happy about the result is Folbigg’s former husband. Yesterday his lawyer said Craig Folbigg still believes she killed the children, and “if he was not feeling shattered, you would not be normal.”