Australian authorities on Monday pardoned a mother sentenced in 2003 to 40 years in prison for the death of her four children after an independent report attributed the cause of death to a genetic mutation.
Kathleen Folbigg, 55, has been released after she also received an unconditional pardon from New South Wales Governor-General Margaret Beasley, according to Australian public broadcaster ABC.
NSW Attorney General Michael Daly said at a press conference in Sydney that the pardon was chosen to allow Folbigg “to be released promptly”.
The final report of the second review by former judge Tom Bathurst may recommend that the New South Wales Court of Appeal overturn Folbigg’s conviction.
Last year, Australian authorities ordered a retrial of Folbigg’s case after a team of scientists pointed to the possibility that the death was due to a rare genetic mutation.
Folbigg’s four children, Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura, died between 1989 and 1999 when they were between 19 days and 18 months old, and medical authorities initially ruled that death by asphyxiation was due to natural causes.
However, the death of a fourth child led the police to become suspicious of Folbigg, who was ultimately convicted of murdering three children and manslaughter of a fourth, charges that the woman has always denied.
The pardon came after Tom Bathurst concluded that “there is reasonable doubt that Kathleen Folbigg is guilty of each of these crimes,” Michael Daly said.
In 2020, a team of scientists led by Spanish immunologist Carola García de Vinues and led by Dane Michael Toft Overgaard concluded that the death of Folbigg’s children could have genetic causes.
A study published in the journal of the European Heart Association linked a genetic mutation found in Sarah and Laura to a higher risk of sudden cardiac death.
In addition, a study by an international team of 27 scientists found that children carry rare variants of a gene that, according to other studies, can cause the death of mice due to epileptic seizures.