LOVING MOTHER OR MONSTER?

JAILED FOR KILLING HER FOUR BABIES, EXPERTS SAY SHE MIGHT BE INNOCENT

- Sara Tapia

For two decades, Kathleen Folbigg has woken up in a NSW prison cell after being convicted in 2003 of killing her four kids. Dubbed 'Australia's worst female serial killer', the now 55-year-old is currently serving a 30-year sentence for three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter following the separate deaths of babies Caleb, Patrick, Sarah, and Laura between 1989 and 1999. Folbigg has always maintained her innocence, and now new scientific evidence could support her claims.

After repeated attempts to clear her name, a second judicial inquiry is underway into Folbigg's convictions. While it was previously found in the Supreme Court trial that the children - who were all under two at the time of their deaths - were smothered by their mother, the discovery of a rare gene mutation in her daughters that causes sudden death has cast doubt on the convictions.

Professor Carola Garcia de Vinuesa, an immunologist, told the inquiry on February 14 that it was highly probable that the CALM2 G114R mutation found in Sarah and Laura could have caused cardiac arrest. "I think my confidence is increasing... because of everything we are learning about this particular variant," Vinuesa said of the scientific findings.