Kathleen Folbigg was convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, and of manslaughter in the death of her fourth. Folbigg maintained her innocence and said the children had died of natural causes over a decade, from 1989-1999.
In 2019, an initial inquiry into the case reaffirmed Folbigg’s guilt. But in 2022, a second inquiry led by a former chief justice found new evidence suggested two of the children had a genetic mutation that may have caused their deaths.
Folbigg was released from prison in June this year after being pardoned.
“I am grateful that updated science and genetics has given me answers as to how my children died,” an emotional Folbigg told reporters outside a criminal appeals court in Sydney.
“However, even in 1999, we had legal answers to prove my innocence. They were ignored. And dismissed,” she said. “The system preferred to blame me rather than accept that sometimes, children can and do die suddenly, unexpectedly, and heartbreakingly.”
More details here.
Basically she had written in her diary about her enduring feelings of guilt over the deaths of her children, which is what formed the base of the original case against her. Prosecutors argued that the children were probably smothered, despite there being no physical evidence for that.
A recent enquiry heard new evidence that at least 2 of her children carried a genetic defect that could potentially have caused their deaths, which coupled with the circumstancial nature of the evidence used in the original conviction was enough the NSW governor to pardon her under reasonable doubt. That pardon lead to a trial in the criminal court of appeals which have now acquitted her of the charges.
What parent DOESNT feel guilty over the death of their children?
They are always going to be plagued by doubt, what if, etc etc.
Hell, my grandmother lost an adult son to cancer like 20 years ago and she still gets hit by episodes of guilt over not magically noticing/doing something different/outliving him/etc.
What a fucking ridiculous bullshit reason to convict her.
The legal system does shit like that all the time.
Lie detectors are fake yet used to get false confessions. Eyewitness testimony is one of the highest forms of evidence yet humans are noticeably terrible at remembering details especially in traumatic events. Word choice matters to the point of one misspoken word could cast doubt yet most people aren’t deliberately thinking about their word choice.
The legal system expects people to operate like they’ve been in the legal system for years and that’s just not how it works.
Thank you.
Edit: That’s a much better article.