Kathleen Folbigg is an Australian who had four children, Caleb, Patrick, Sarah, and Laura. Her children died at various ages, between 19 days and just under 2 years.  

The deaths took place between 1989 and 1999. 

Folbigg’s ex-husband found her diary. Based on some of its content, he alerted the police. An investigation followed.  

Folbigg was convicted of murdering three of her infant children. She was also convicted of the manslaughter of her fourth child, Caleb.  

Caleb  

Caleb 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. On 20 February, Folbigg put Caleb to sleep in a room adjoining the bedroom she shared with her husband. During the night, Caleb stirred from midnight until 2 a.m. Found by Folbigg, the death was attributed to cot death. Caleb was 19 days old.  

Patrick  

Patrick Folbigg was born on 3 June 1990. Craig [husband] remained at home to help care for his wife and baby for three months after the birth. On 18 October, Folbigg put Patrick to bed. Craig was awakened by the sounds of his wife screaming and found her standing at the baby’s cot. He noticed the child wasn’t breathing and attempted to revive him by cardiopulmonary resuscitation. An ambulance was called, and Patrick was taken to the hospital. He would later be diagnosed to be suffering from epilepsy and cortical blindness, though the apparent life-threatening event would go unexplained. He died four months later due to seizures. On 18 February 1991, Folbigg telephoned her husband at work to report Patrick’s death, saying “It’s happened again!”  

Sarah  

Following their second loss, the couple moved to Thornton, New South Wales. Sarah Folbigg was born on 14 October 1992, and died on 29 August 1993, aged 10 months.  

Laura  

In 1996, the couple moved to Singleton. On 7 August 1997, Laura Folbigg was born. On 27 February 1999, Laura died, at the age of 18 months. 

Folbigg was convicted of murder in 2003. She was sentenced to forty years of imprisonment, thirty years without parole.  

The prosecution alleged Folbigg murdered her four children by smothering them during periods of frustration. Their case relied on the improbability of all four children dying of natural causes, citing the now-dubious Meadow’s law, a maxim attributed to British paediatrician Roy Meadow: “One sudden infant death is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder, until proven otherwise.”  

On appeal, her sentence was reduced to 30 years imprisonment, 25 years without parole. In theory, she’d be eligible for parole in 2028. 

She still sits in prison today, maintaining her innocence.  

None of 4 children showed signs of smothering in their autopsies. 

She’s exhausted her appeals. Her only chance for getting out sooner depends upon a pardon by the Governor of New South Wales. Why would he even consider doing so? 

Well, perhaps because of work performed by Professor Carola Vinuesa.  

She’s a Professor of Immunology at the Australian National University. She was asked if there was a genetic explanation for the four children’s deaths. Her analysis would only need to demonstrate “reasonable doubt,” the standard for a criminal conviction.  

Professor Vinuesa sequenced the genomes from the four children from neonatal heel-prick blood cards that were over 20 years old.  

She identified a novel, never-before reported, mutations in a gene called CALM2 (which encodes for calmodulin). Calmodulin variants can cause sudden cardiac death. She found these variants in the genetic code for two children, Sarah and Laura. Each had inherited that gene from Mom.  

Professor Peter Schwartz, senior author of the recent paper and a world-leading authority on genetic causes of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden, unexpected death, said: “The significance of our evidence is that there is a strong possibility that the two female Folbigg children died a natural death, due to a lethal arrhythmia favored by the presence in these two children of a disease-causing mutation inherited from the mother. 

“This mutation causes a ‘Calmodulinopathy’ — an extremely severe arrhythmic disease that can manifest in three main clinical variants, all predisposing to sudden cardiac death in infancy and childhood, or also later in life.” 

In their paper, the international team said: “Both Sarah and Laura suffered from respiratory infections immediately prior to their deaths and Laura also suffered from myocarditis, which may have triggered the lethal event … myocarditis is thought to be a major cause of sudden cardiac death in the first two decades of life”. 

This academic paper was entitled: “Infanticide vs. inherited cardiac arrhythmias.” 

If this was what caused the deaths of two children, it still did not explain the deaths in the other two children. Also, Kathleen Folbigg, the mother, showed no clear cardiac abnormalities.  

Apparently, there is an International Registry for Calmodulinopathies. There are several reports of families with lethal CALM variants that have asymptomatic carriers, 

The other two children, Caleb and Patrick, each carried two potentially lethal genetic mutations in the gene BSN (Bassoon Presynaptic Cytomatrix Protein), which is linked to early onset lethal epilepsy in mice, likely inherited from their father Craig. 

Folbigg’s lawyer recently wrote:  

“I very strongly urge the Attorney-General and those advising him to expedite this matter and not let an innocent woman spend her 19th Christmas in prison. Look at the cold, hard, verifiable scientific facts that lead to the only reasonable conclusion: there is an innocent woman languishing in prison for crimes she did not commit.”  

We will never know if Folbigg committed any of these alleged crimes. But the burden of proof is on the criminal system to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.  

With fresh evidence, Australia’s “worst female serial killer” could instead become its worst miscarriage of justice. 

What do you think? 

Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Dr. Jeffrey Segal, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Medical Justice, is a board-certified neurosurgeon. Dr. Segal is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; the American College of Legal Medicine; and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is also a member of the North American Spine Society. In the process of conceiving, funding, developing, and growing Medical Justice, Dr. Segal has established himself as one of the country’s leading authorities on medical malpractice issues, counterclaims, and internet-based assaults on reputation.

Dr. Segal was a practicing neurosurgeon for approximately ten years, during which time he also played an active role as a participant on various state-sanctioned medical review panels designed to decrease the incidence of meritless medical malpractice cases.

Dr. Segal holds a M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, where he also completed a neurosurgical residency. Dr. Segal served as a Spinal Surgery Fellow at The University of South Florida Medical School. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as the AOA Medical Honor Society. Dr. Segal received his B.A. from the University of Texas and graduated with a J.D. from Concord Law School with highest honors.

In 2000, he co-founded and served as CEO of DarPharma, Inc, a biotechnology company in Chapel Hill, NC, focused on the discovery and development of first-of-class pharmaceuticals for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Segal is also a partner at Byrd Adatto, a national business and health care law firm. Byrd Adatto was selected as a Best Law Firm in the 2021 edition of the “Best Law Firms” list by U.S. News – Best Lawyers. With over 50 combined years of experience in serving doctors, dentists, and other providers, Byrd Adatto has a national pedigree to address most legal issues that arise in the business and practice of medicine.