A mother has been pardoned after serving two decades in prison for her alleged connection to the death of her four children, the Guardian reported.
Kathleen Folbigg was released from the Clarence Correctional Center at around 11 a.m. Monday after New South Wales attorney general Michael Daley decided there was reasonable doubt in the belief Folbigg was guilty of the offenses she was originally charged with 20 years ago, according to The Guardian.
In an extraordinary development today, the woman once dubbed the country’s worst female serial killer, Kathleen Folbigg, has been pardoned and released from prison. #abc730 pic.twitter.com/PNTnXKGKcF
— abc730 (@abc730) June 5, 2023
An inquiry initiated by former state chief justice Thomas Bathurst was the basis of Folbigg’s pardon and immediate release. Bathurst claimed the likelihood three of the four kids died of natural causes was “reasonably possible,” according to NBC News. Myocarditis, or rare inflammation of the heart, may have also contributed to the death of Folbigg’s daughter, Laura. (RELATED: Biden Laughs At Pardoning Trump For Jan. 6 After DeSantis Consideration)
Folbigg’s sons, Caleb and Patrick, may have died due to a distinct genetic mutation associated with the development of sudden-onset epilepsy, according to Daily O. Patrick had an unexplained ATLE when he was four months old, which could have caused his death at eight months old.
Folbigg’s reduced sentence does not remove her conviction from the records. The Court of Criminal Appeals is responsible for doing so if they choose.
The Australian alleged serial killer claimed she was falsely convicted in 2003 of three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter allegedly conducted between 1989 and 1999.
Daley acknowledged some people may not accept Folbigg’s innocence.
“There will be some people who have strong views. There’s nothing I can do to disavow them of those views, (and) it’s not my role to do that,” Daley said. “We’ve got four little bubbas who are dead. We’ve got a husband and wife who lost each other. A woman who spent 20 years in jail, and a family that never had a chance. You’d not be human if you didn’t feel something,” according to CNN.
Free from her Grafton prison cell, Folbigg was embraced by her friend on a farm she created as a sanctuary just in case the 55-year-old woman was pardoned.
“I am so elated it’s not funny. I am nervous and I am everything,” Folbigg said to 9 News.