Kathleen Folbigg, 55, spent 20 years in prison. Michael Daley, the attorney general of New South Wales, announced on Monday that an unconditional pardon had been granted given the latest findings that there was "reasonable doubt" that he was guilty of killing his four children.
Australia was a national shock. This appears to be one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the country.
Catherine walked out of the Supreme Court in 2003.
Catherine was jailed in 2003 on three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter, following the deaths of four children over a decade beginning in 1989. In each case, she was the one who found their bodies, although there is no physical evidence that she caused their deaths.
But the jury found guilt based on the prosecution's argument that the chance of four babies in the same family dying from natural causes before the age of 2 is very low, and that "if this works, pigs can fly".
They also noted the contents of her diary, some passages that were captured to be interpreted as confessions.
In the 2019 investigation, the conclusion remained: there is no doubt that she committed the crime.
In January 2019, Catherine, who was serving a sentence in Australia's largest prison, said she had been beaten to the point of serious injury in prison.
But in 2021, a new investigation reopened in 2022 after new scientific evidence provided a genetic explanation for the deaths of these children.
The death of four babies
Catherine was only 20 when she married Craig Verbigg, a man she met in her hometown of Newcastle, on the northern coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Within a year, she was pregnant with Kaleb. Khaleb was born in February 1989 and lived only 19 days. The following year, the Furbiggs had another son, Patrick, who died at eight months old. Two years later, Sarah died at the age of 10. In 1999, Laura, the fourth and longest-lived child of the Verbigg family, died at the age of 18.
From left to right: Kaleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura
The police investigation into the deaths of all four children began the day Laura died, but it was more than two years before Catherine was arrested and charged. By then, her marriage had broken down and Catherine's husband was cooperating with the police to file a lawsuit against her.
He gave her diary to police, which prosecutors believe contained the deepest feelings of a mother suffering from guilt for her role in the death of her child.
Incriminating evidence submitted by the prosecution
An examination of the baby's remains found no physical evidence of their asphyxiation, but with no other plausible reason to explain their deaths, suspicions focused on Catherine.
In 2003, Judge Graham Barr, who sentenced Catherine to 40 years in prison, referred to Catherine's dark history — her father killed her mother when she was just 18 months old, and she spent many of her growing years in foster care.
Catherine childhood photo
According to court documents, Barr said the possibility of Catherine being rehabilitated was "virtually non-existent." "If she is given the responsibility of caring for her children, she will always be a dangerous person." The judge held that "this must never happen again." ”
Considerate mother
The original conviction verdict now stands in stark contrast to the latest investigation.
The new investigation paints a very different picture, portraying Catherine as a loving mother who is shocked and puzzled by the successive deaths of her babies.
Catherine and daughter Sarah
When Daley ordered her release on Monday, he distributed a memorandum of findings from retired judge Tom Bathurst, who said after reviewing the evidence that he was unacceptable to the claim that "Ms. Catherine was by no means a caring mother to her children."
In the case of two dead girls, Sara and Laura, Bathurst found that a genetic mutation called CALM2-G114R "had a reasonable possibility" that "caused their death," and that Sara may have died of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation that was confirmed at an autopsy.
Patrick suffered from unexplained ALTE, an apparently life-threatening event, at four months old, and died at eight months old, and Bathurst discovered he may have died of an underlying neurogenic disorder.
At Catherine's trial in 2003, prosecutors used evidence of "coincidence and inclination" to accuse her of also killing Kaleb. In other words, since she was allegedly responsible for the deaths of three children, she probably killed them as well.
However, if the siblings die separately, it means that the prosecution's charges of Kaleb's murder are "self-defeating".
Regarding her diaries, Bathurst said, "The evidence suggests that the diaries were written by a sad and possibly depressed mother who blamed herself for the death of each child, unlike admitting that she murdered or otherwise hurt them." ”
Bathurst's full report will be released at a later date.
Does pardon equal innocence?
Daly told reporters Monday that a pardon for Catherine does not mean her conviction has been quashed. "The only institution that can do that is the Court of Criminal Appeal. The effect of the pardon is that she does not have to serve the remainder of her sentence. ”
He also said it was too early to talk about compensation as it would require Catherine to file a civil lawsuit against the NSW government or seek ex gratia payments from it.
Daly admits that after believing Catherine guilty for 20 years, some may not accept her innocence. But he suggested that the events of the past two decades should evoke sympathy for a woman who has lost so much.
He said: "We had four little guys who died. We have a couple who have lost each other. A woman who spent 20 years in prison, and a family that never had a chance. As long as it is an individual, it will be a little compassionate. ”
Column editor-in-chief: Qin Hong Text editor: Song Hui Title picture source: Shangguan title picture Photo editor: Xu Jiamin
Source: Author: Orange Persimmon Interactive