Kathleen Folbigg is an Australian woman convicted of the murders of her three children Patrick Allen (aged 8 months), Sarah Kathleen (aged 10 months) and Laura Elizabeth (aged 19). Months). She was also convicted of killing her fourth child, Caleb Gibson, aged 19 days. The deaths occurred between 1989 and 1999.
Bio/Wiki
Age-55years
Full Name-Kathleen Megan Donovan
Born-14 June 1967
Birthplace-Australia
Known for-Convicted murder of own children.
Criminal status-Pardoned 5th of June 2023
Spouse-Craig Gibson Folbigg
Nationality-Australian
Family
Kathleen Folbigg’s biological father, Thomas John “Taffy” Britton, murdered her mother, Kathleen May Donovan, by stabbing her 24 times. Kathleen was 18 months old. Her father was arrested the day after the murder and served 15 years in prison for the murder before being deported to England.
Husband
Kathleen Folbigg’s husband was Craig Gibson Folbigg, they both marriage in 1987.
Children
Caleb Gibson Folbigg (1989-1989)
Patrick Allen Folbigg (1990-1991)
Sarah Kathleen Folbigg (1992-1993)
Laura Elizabeth Folbigg (1997-1999)
Career
Folbigg was made a ward of the state and placed in foster care with the couple. On 18 July 1970, she was removed from their care and placed in the Bidura Orphanage. Two months later, Folbigg moved into permanent foster care. This arrangement continued into his young adulthood. He left school at the age of 15.
Convicted Murder Of Own Children
Her husband contacted the police after finding a personal diary in which she had written entries suggesting she may have harmed the children.
Death Of Kathleen, Four Child
death of Kathleen, four children.
- Death Of Caleb Gibson
Born on February 1, 1989, Caleb Gibson Folbigg can breathe loudly, and his pediatrician diagnosed him with mild laryngomalacia, which he later outgrew. Otherwise, he was born healthy. On February 20, Folbigg put Caleb to sleep in the room next to the bedroom she shared with her husband. At night, Caleb started moving from midnight until two in the morning. The death was found by Folbigg and attributed to death in bed. Caleb was 19 days old.
- Patrick Allen
Patrick Allen Folbigg was born on June 3, 1990. Craig stayed home to help take care of his wife and baby, three months after the birth. On October 18, Folbigg put Patrick to sleep. Craig awoke to her screams and found her standing in bed. He noticed that the child was not breathing and tried to revive him with cardiopulmonary resuscitation. An ambulance was called, and Patrick was taken to hospital. He was later diagnosed with epilepsy and cortical blindness, although the apparent life-threatening event remains unexplained. He died four months later from convulsions. On February 18, 1991, Folbigg called her husband at work to inform him of Patrick’s death, saying, “It’s happened again!
- Sarah Kathleen
After the second loss, the couple moved to Thornton, a suburb of Maitland, New South Wales. Sarah Kathleen Folbigg was born on 14 October 1992 and died on 29 August 1993, at the age of 10 months.
- Laura Elizabeth
In 1996, the couple moved to Singleton. Laura Elizabeth Folbigg was born on August 7, 1997. On February 27, 1999, Laura died at the age of 18 months.
Judicial Inquiries
On 22 August 2018, New South Wales Attorney-General Mark Speakman announced that the convictions would be investigated “to ensure public confidence in the administration of justice”. This was in response to a request from her supporters. “The petition appears to question or call into question the evidence of the prevalence of three or more infant deaths in the same family from undiagnosed natural causes in the proceedings that led to Mrs. Folbigg’s conviction,” he said.
However, in a 500-page report released in July 2019, former Chief District Court Judge Reginald Blanch stated that he had “no reasonable doubt that Kathleen Megan Folbigg is guilty of the crimes for which she was convicted.”
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Appeal for judicial review
Folbigg’s legal team immediately called for a review of the investigation, citing “bias”. New evidence was presented to the New South Wales Court of Appeal. The appeal was dismissed on March 24, 2021.
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Another legal study
On 18 May 2022, Justice Minister Mark Speak man announced a new inquiry into Folbigg’s conviction under pressure from Dutch investigative journalist Ramon Stopp Elenburg. On 5 June 2023, NSW Attorney General Michael Daley advised Governor Margaret Beazley to use royal leniency and clemency against Folbigg. She was released from prison the same day.
Cause of Death
Genetic evidence published in November 2020 showed that at least two children had genetic mutations that predisposed them to sudden cardiac death.[20] The researchers concluded that the CALM2 mutation in Kathleen and her two girls changed their heart rhythms and contributed to their sudden death, possibly due to their frequent infections (respiratory infection in Sarah; myocarditis in Laura) and/or drugs such as Laura’s pseudoephedrine.
Two other children, Caleb, and Patrick had two potentially lethal genetic mutations in the bassoon presynaptic cytomatrix protein (BSN) gene associated with early-onset lethal epilepsy in mice, one inherited from their mother and the other from their mother. Probably inherited from their father Craig. None of the four showed signs of suffocation at autopsy.
Latest News About Kathleen Folbigg
Kathleen Folbigg pardoned after spending 20 years in jail for killing her four children.
Mrs Folbigg, now 55, has always denied killing her children Caleb, Patrick, Laura, and Sarah, but was convicted of suffocating them in a trial based on circumstantial evidence.
A recent inquest into his conviction, which ended in April, led to new scientific evidence suggesting the children’s deaths may have been due to natural causes.
“The final submission for counsel is that there is a reasonable doubt as to Mrs Folbigg’s guilt on the evidence before this inquest,” said counsel assisting Sophie Callan SC in her closing argument.
The research experts suggested that the rare mutation of the gene CALM2 G114R may have caused the death of Laura and Sarah.
NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Barrister Dean Jordan SC said the discovery of the gene mutation “fundamentally changes our understanding of the circumstances leading to the girls’ deaths”.
Jordan said pathology evidence for all Folbigg’s child deaths was not available when she went to trial in 2003.
There was also evidence that another child, Patrick, may have had an inherited genetic condition that predisposed him to epilepsy.
The Australian Academy of Sciences, which acted as the inquiry’s independent scientific adviser, welcomed the news of the amnesty, and said it was relieved that science had been consulted.
“This case will have huge implications for the legal system of every state and territory in Australia,” Chief Executive Anna-Maria Arabia said.
“The question now is how to create a more science-sensitive legal system that brings in new complex and emerging science regularly, every day, and not just in exceptional cases.”
The inquest also heard that it would be unreliable to rely on Folbigg’s diary entries to plead guilty. At the trial, the diaries were considered critical to the verdict, but experts who later analyzed them for the first time said that they were the expressions of a depressed and grieving mother.
Ms Higgins on said: “Right now, justice has been done, and it’s not a day too soon.”
“Now all power to Kathleen as she tries to remedy and seek some justice in retrospect for the 20 years she has lost.”