An Australian court on Thursday quashed the convictions of Kathleen Folbigg, who served 20 years in prison for the deaths of her four children and was pardoned in June after a review of the case.
‘There is reasonable doubt about his guilt [Kathleen] Folbigg, justifying each of the convictions [por três crimes de homicídio e um crime de homicídio involuntário] be annulled and acquitted,” said the summary of the judgment published by the Court of Criminal Appeal of the State of New South Wales.
The 56-year-old Australian woman’s case was reopened in 2021 after an investigation coordinated by a Spanish scientist linked the deaths to genetic defects.
Kathleen Folbigg had been sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2003, reduced to 30 years in 2005, for the deaths of her children, Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura, between 1989 and 1999, when they were between 19 days and 18 months old.
“I hoped and prayed that one day I could be here with my name cleared,” Folbigg said in Sydney after hearing the ruling from New South Wales’ highest court of appeal.
“The system preferred to blame me rather than accept that children can sometimes die in sudden, unexpected and heartbreaking ways,” lamented Folbigg, who was dubbed “Australia’s worst serial killer”.
The current decision is based on the conclusions of an investigation of the case conducted by former judge Tom Bathurst, who concluded that there was “reasonable doubt” about Folbigg’s guilt, prompting the state’s governor, Margaret Beazley, to reject the clemency petition for the woman to sign. last June.
Following the pardon, Folbigg was released, while Bathurst referred the case to the Court of Appeal to quash the convictions or order a retrial.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal agreed with Bathurst on the new scientific evidence, as well as on the conclusion that Folbigg’s diary entries, which were used to incriminate her, were not “reliable admissions of guilt”.
In a response to the press, Folbigg expressed her gratitude that genetics and scientific advances had provided answers about her children’s deaths, but regretted that the defense had “legal answers to prove innocence” in 1999 and that these “were ignored and rejected.”
“The suffering of an innocent woman can and should be recognized and become an important impetus for the improvement of our justice system,” said lawyer Rhanee Rego, who emphasized that she will seek substantial compensation for Folbigg.
The case was reopened following a letter sent to Australian authorities in 2021 by about 100 scientists, including two Nobel laureates, asking for Folbigg’s pardon and immediate release.
The reason for the request was the conclusions drawn in 2020 by a team of scientists, coordinated by the Spanish immunologist Carola García de Vinuesa and led by the Dane Michael Toft Overgaard, who pointed out that the deaths of the Folbigg babies were due could be due to genetic factors. causes.
In addition, the study, conducted by an international team of 27 scientists, found that the children carried rare variants of a gene that kills rodents through seizures.
“This is very good news and a warning that the justice system needs to listen more to the science and appreciate the contribution of genomic medicine to understanding the cause of sudden death and rare diseases before blaming mothers,” he said. email sent to EFE news agency.
Source: DN
