Australian mother Kathleen Folbigg is pardoned and released after 20 years in prison due to new scientific evidence in the deaths of her four children.
Driving the news: Folbigg, now 55, was released from prison in New South Wales after being granted an unconditional pardon by Gov. Margaret Beazley based on new evidence.
* Folbigg was serving a 30-year sentence for the manslaughter and murder of her children, who died separately over a decade.
The specifics: New scientific evidence suggests that the children may have died from natural causes, raising doubt about Folbigg’s guilt.
* 2018 evidence showed her daughters carried a rare CALM2 genetic variant that could have led to their sudden deaths.
* For her son Patrick, expert evidence suggested an underlying neurogenetic disorder as a possible cause of his death.
Yes, but: Folbigg’s former husband, Craig Folbigg, still argued that the improbability of four natural child deaths in one family is compelling grounds to treat her diary entries as admissions of guilt.
* However, mental health experts have warned against interpreting the entries as such, citing Folbigg’s major depressive disorder and “maternal grief” at the time.
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