An Australian mother, Kathleen Folbigg, who was jailed for 20 years over the killing of her four children was acquitted on Thursday after scientific breakthroughs helped clear her name.
According to AFP, Folbigg was imprisoned in 2003 after she was convicted of killing her children, who died suddenly and without explanation between 1989 and 1999.
Once dubbed ‘Australia’s worst female serial killer’, bravely fought for more than two decades to prove her innocence and was pardoned earlier this year after it was found they had died of natural causes.
“For almost a quarter of a century, I faced disbelief and hostility. I suffered abuse in all its forms,” Folbigg told reporters Thursday after she was acquitted by an Australian court.
“I am grateful that updated science and genetics have given me answers as to how my children died,” she added, choking back tears.
Folbigg had been convicted of murdering her three children—Patrick, Sarah and Laura—as well as the manslaughter of her son Caleb.
Folbigg’s first baby Caleb died in 1989, followed by Patrick in 1991, Sarah in 1993 and finally Laura in 1999.
The first three deaths were initially attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a term used when babies under 1 die for no apparent reason.
At 18 months, Laura was the longest lived of Folbigg’s children, others were between 19 days, and police began investigating after a forensic pathologist marked the cause of her death as ‘undetermined’.
The circumstantial case against Folbigg relied heavily on her anguished diary entries, which prosecutors claimed showed admissions of guilt.
She was found guilty of smothering and suffocating the children, despite a lack of forensic evidence.
Scientific breakthroughs in recent years uncovered rare genetic mutations and congenital defects that helped explain the sudden deaths.
The Australian Academy of Science — a collection of some of the country’s most eminent researchers — became an influential champion of her case.
Folbigg was released from prison earlier this year after winning an unconditional pardon from the governor of New South Wales.
However, she had to go through a separate legal process to have her convictions officially overturned by the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal.
Folbigg’s lawyer, Rhanee Rego, said the decision now opens the door to a “substantial” claim for compensation.
