Kathleen Folbigg: ‘After 20 years in jail, I finally have a home of my own’

After spending two decades behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit Kathleen Folbigg has returned to the place she calls home.

Exclusive: After spending two decades behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit Kathleen Folbigg has returned to the place she calls home.

“I have jumped feet first into my place in the world and decided that Newcastle, a place I feel I was forced out of all those years ago, was to become my home once again,” Ms Folbigg said.

“My home where I grew up, met my friends, loved, lost and now return to. I am home.”

The 56-year-old who had her convictions quashed in December last year had been living with her best friend Tracy Chapman on her northern NSW property since her release from custody eight months ago.

The Sunday Telegraph can exclusively reveal Ms Folbigg has moved “and given Tracy her life to return to, it was something very important to me to do”.

Kathleen Folbigg back home in Newcastle. Picture: Tim Hunter

“I am forever grateful to my dearest sister friend Tracy for giving me a safe and secure home to come out to when I was released from prison on that fantastic day,” she said.

“The time that I spent there reuniting and reconnecting with her and her family are treasured memories.

“Sadly I needed it just to teach me how to reconnect with the world that I did not know how to navigate as it has changed a lot”.

The decision to move out on her own, and back to Newcastle, was “very tear inducing” for both women, but Ms Folbigg knows it was the right one.

“I have gotten myself settled and back into the routine of life I knew I could be in,” she said.

“I have friends here and a good solid support system. I cherish that and all that are part of this circle.”

Ms Folbigg said she still had much to learn and was enjoying all the challenges her new-found freedom had to offer.

Kathleen Folbigg leaves the Supreme Court in Sydney after having her conviction quashed in 2023. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“Newcastle has a special place in my heart and that is not unusual for most of us that call Newcastle home,” she said.

The other key woman in Ms Folbigg’s life, lawyer Rhanee Rego, who secured her release, also works and practices law in Newcastle.

Tracy Chapment, Kathleen Folbigg and Rhanee Rego in Newscastle. Picture: Tim Hunter

Ms Rego sad: “It is very unfortunate that there are many people out there who simply won’t believe Kathleen is innocent.

“Many people simply can’t believe that four children can die of natural causes. Someone needs to be blamed.”

Ms Folbigg was convicted in 2003 and ordered to serve a minimum 25-year sentence for the suffocation murders of three of her children and manslaughter of a fourth.

An independent inquiry heard new scientific evidence that indicated there were natural causes to explain the deaths.

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]