Kathleen Folbigg: Sad story of troubled life began with violent childhood

Craig Folbigg is “dismayed and devastated” a new inquiry will once again rake over the deaths of his four children at the hands of his former wife, Kathleen.

Craig Folbigg is “absolutely dismayed and devastated” a new inquiry will once again rake over the terrible deaths of his four infant children at the hands of his former wife, Kathleen.

Mr Folbigg’s solicitor, Danny Eid, has spoken out on Mr Folbigg’s behalf saying this was 20 years of him living in hell having lost his children.

“He is frustrated and disappointed he has to endure yet another chapter,” Mr Eid said.

“This is a man people say will heal over time. But with all this time the wounds continue to bleed for him.

“As you can imagine losing four children in those circumstances, closure is so important for him and his family.

“With 20 years of repeated attempts to try and overturn the conviction and multiple inquiries by the state’s greatest legal minds — the wound can never heal.

Mr Eid said Mr Folbigg has been forgotten. “He is the victim in this case.”

Mr Eid said twice the Court of Criminal Appeal has rejected her appeals and The High Court had refused leave to appeal a judicial review upheld her conviction.

Kathleen Folbigg was dubbed Australia’s worst serial child killer after being convicted of the murder of three of her children, Patrick, Sarah, and Laura and the manslaughter of a fourth child, Caleb.

Folbigg who has always maintained her innocence was sentenced in 2003 to 40 years jail with a non-parole period of 30 years which was later reduced on appeal to 25 years.

INSIDE MOTHER’S TROUBLED LIFE

Kathleen Folbigg’s troubled life, which culminated in the deaths of her four infant children, began when she was just a baby herself.

NSW Attorney-Gerneral Mark Speakman has directed the governor to conduct an inquiry into Folbigg’s conviction.

It comes after a petition lodged on Folbigg’s behalf by her legal team and endorsed by some of Australia’s most eminent scientists,

It calls for Folbigg to be pardoned and released and follows the discovery that she and her two girls, Sarah and Laura, carried a genetic mutation known as CALM 2 G114R which is pathogenic.

The woman dubbed Australia’s worst serial child killer was born illegitimately on June 14, 1967 to Kathleen May Donovan and immigrant hoist driver and petty criminal, Thomas Jack “Taffy” Britton.

It was a troubled time for her parents which ended in terrible violence. When Folbigg was 18 months old, her father stabbed her mother 24 times in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Annandale. She died on the street before an ambulance arrived.

Kathleen Folbigg breaks down while being questioned about the deaths of her four children as she appears via video link at the NSW Coroners Court in 2019. Picture: AAP

Her father was jailed for 15 years for the murder and then was deported to Britain.

As an orphan Folbigg was made a ward of the state as a neglected and destitute child and placed officially in their care of her maternal aunt and uncle who called her Lisa.

But it didn’t go well and the couple complained she was a difficult child – aggressive, had tantrums and crying fits.

Her behavioural problems led psychiatrists to believe she had been abused by her father as an infant. In a 2019 inquiry into Folbigg’s conviction also revealed that her maternal grandmother was also said to be a destructive influence on her.

Folbigg’s behaviour was deteriorating and causing difficulties in the family and by the time she was three years old her aunt and uncle decide they could no longer care for her.

Kathleen Folbigg with husband Craig and baby Sarah in 1993.

She was assessed as a “very disturbed little girl”.

But she was successfully fostered out to another family who wanted to adopt her.

By the time she reached her teen years she was in trouble with the law for shoplifting was disruptive at school, and had few friends of her own.

At 17 years old she had a fight with her foster mother and left home and the next year she met her husband to be, forklift driver, Craig Folbigg at a disco.

Folbigg described as a “knight in shining armour” with a good job and good income. They were married in 1987 when Kathleen was aged 20 and Mr Folbigg aged 25.

But their life soured with the death of their first son Caleb at 1989 aged 19 days. His death was attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Their second son Patrick died at eight months, their first daughter Sarah died at 10 months and second daughter Laura at 18 months.

Kathleen Folbigg outside court after her bail was refuse in 2001.

There was no sign the children had been murdered. And investigations only began after Craig Folbigg found her diary and read what he believed were suspicious descriptions around the deaths.

Two years later she was charged and then convicted of murdering during a 10 year period from 1989 to 1999, Patrick, Sarah and Laura. She was convicted of the manslaughter of Caleb.

Folbigg who has always maintained her innocence was sentenced in 2003 to 40 years jail with a non-parole period of 30 years which was later reduced on appeal to 25 years.

A fresh inquiry in 2019 into her conviction heard that scientific evidence showed the two Folbigg girls Sarah and Laura had a genetic mutation which might have killed them.

Scientific study of the exact genetic mutation was not available in time for the inquiry finding.

Folbigg’s conviction was upheld.

But in 2021, 90 scientists and international experts signed a petition to the NSW Governor Margaret Beazley calling for Folbigg to be immediately released from jail, saying new medical evidence “creates a strong presumption that her children died of natural causes’’.