26 Facts About Kathleen Folbigg

Kathleen Megan Folbigg is an Australian woman who was wrongfully convicted in 2003 of murdering her four infant children.

Kathleen Folbigg was pardoned in 2023 after 20 years in jail following a long campaign for justice by her supporters, and had her convictions overturned on appeal a few months later.

Kathleen Folbigg was arrested in 2001 and convicted in 2003, sentenced to 40 years with a non-parole period of 30 years.

On 5 June 2023, Kathleen Folbigg was unconditionally pardoned by NSW Governor Margaret Beazley and was released from prison.

Kathleen Folbigg Donovan was born on 14 June 1967 in Sydney.

Kathleen Folbigg's father was arrested the day after the murder, and served 15 years in prison for murder before being deported to England.

Kathleen Folbigg was made a ward of the state and placed into foster care with a couple.

Two months later, Kathleen Folbigg moved into a permanent foster care placement.

Kathleen Folbigg left school at the age of fifteen, and married Craig Gibson Folbigg in 1987, a marriage that was to end in divorce in 2000.

The Kathleen Folbigg couple had four children, but one child after another died in early infancy.

Caleb Gibson Kathleen Folbigg, born on 1 February 1989, was known to breathe noisily and was diagnosed by a paediatrician to be suffering from a mild case of laryngomalacia, something he would eventually outgrow; he was otherwise born healthy.

Kathleen Folbigg noticed the child was not breathing and attempted to revive him by cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Kathleen Folbigg died four months later due to seizures.

Sarah Kathleen Folbigg was born on 14 October 1992, and died on 29 August 1993, aged 10 months.

In 1999, Kathleen Folbigg had been incriminated by her own husband, but it was not until April 2001 that she was arrested.

The prosecution alleged Kathleen Folbigg murdered her four children by smothering them during periods of frustration.

The defence made the case that Kathleen Folbigg did not kill or harm her children and that she did not think that Craig was responsible either.

The defence highlighted that Kathleen Folbigg was a caring mother, pointing to journal entries that showed the care and concern that she gave her children.

Kathleen Folbigg appeared genuinely distraught to ambulance and police responders to the scene.

On 21 May 2003, Kathleen Folbigg was found guilty by the Supreme Court of New South Wales jury of the following crimes: three counts of murder, one count of manslaughter and one count of maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm.

On 24 October 2003, Kathleen Folbigg was sentenced to forty years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of thirty years.

Nevertheless, after a transfer of prisons, Kathleen Folbigg was savagely beaten by another inmate on 1 January 2021.

In 2011, an Australian legal academic, Emma Cunliffe, published a book titled Murder, Medicine and Motherhood in which she argued that Kathleen Folbigg had been wrongfully convicted on the basis of misleading medical evidence and unduly prejudicial interpretations of Ms.

On 8 November 2023, ABC News reported that Kathleen Folbigg would have her case referred to the Court of Criminal Appeal to consider whether she should be exonerated.

On 4 March 2021, a petition signed by more than 100 eminent scientists, including Dr Carola Garcia de Vinuesa, was published by the Australian Academy of Science, calling for the NSW Governor to pardon Kathleen Folbigg, and providing compelling scientific and medical explanations for each of the deaths.

On 5 June 2023, Kathleen Folbigg was granted an unconditional pardon.