Anyone remember the Folbigg case?

[i-need-a-martini]

Was a while ago. Kathleen Folbigg was sent to gaol for life for murdering her 4 babies over a 10 year span. They all died of suffocation or undetermined causes.

I recall the case well. She was convicted on the basis of her diary entries where she 'admitted' she felt responsible for the deaths of her babies and she felt she wasn't good enough as a mother. She also wrote about her awful relationship with her husband - he used to call her fat, he played around and she was terrified he was going to leave her.

He is the one who found her diary and handed it over to the police with an accusation of murder.

She has always said she was innocent and has appealed the case a few times. Now she has forensics experts agreeing with her.

Who knows what's true. But it will be interesting to see where this ends up.

ONE of Australia's top forensic law authorities believes the convicted child killer Kathleen Folbigg would walk free from jail if granted a retrial today - because of inaccurate evidence presented at her original trial.

Gary Edmond, a legal expert in forensic science at the University of NSW, believes a recent review of case material demonstrates that Folbigg's trial was tainted by unreliable, misleading and now outdated medical evidence.

''It is quite likely that experts provided evidence at the trial which they might not give today - and this needs to be reconsidered because you can't have someone remain in jail just because they were prosecuted at a particular point in time … especially if the science has moved on,'' he said.

''In the past few years, there have been startling revelations about problems across forensic science and medicine which should give us even more pause for what has gone in the past, particularly in controversial areas.''

Folbigg is serving a reduced sentence of 25 years after she was convicted in 2003 of murdering her children Patrick, eight months, Sarah, 10 months, and Laura, 19 months, between 1991 and 1999, and the 1989 manslaughter of her son Caleb, aged 19 days. While the causes of death were never determined, a picture emerged during the trial of an emotionally fragile mother with a personality disorder - whose damaging diary entries were interpreted as literal admissions of guilt.

But Folbigg has always maintained her innocence and Professor Edmond argues that with no scientific evidence proving any of her babies were murdered, the diary extracts alone are ''insufficient'' to keep her in jail, adding: ''They add verse but, you also have to say, they're pretty ambiguous.''

Once, four infant deaths in the same family automatically pointed to murder but as the legal academic Emma Cunliffe has demonstrated through six years of extensive research, that is no longer the case.

Doctor Cunliffe has written to the NSW Attorney-General, Greg Smith, attacking the medical research presented at Folbigg's trial as incomplete and misleading.

Dr Cunliffe cites at least eight similar cases worldwide in which mothers, in recent years, have been accused of infant murders - many of them multiple crimes. They include the Melbourne woman Carol Louise Matthey, who was charged in 2005 with smothering four children over five years. ''All the other women subjected to that form of prosecution have either been acquitted by courts of appeal or have had the evidence against them excluded by judgment,'' Dr Cunliffe said. ''Folbigg is the last one standing.''

Dr Cunliffe and Professor Edmond are not the only voices calling on Mr Smith to reopen the case. Professor John Hilton, who conducted the autopsy on Folbigg's second child, Sarah, in 1993, agrees a review is ''warranted''.

Professor Hilton, who was called by the prosecution as a witness in the Folbigg trial, said: ''We live in a changing world. Medicine and science never stand still - they progress. Now obviously, I sit on the medical and scientific side of all this … but it seems to me the conviction stood, or was based on, the diaries … which were open to multiple interpretations.''

He added: ''If you read the court transcripts, you will see that my evidence was hardly favourable to the prosecution's case.''

He added: ''While homicide was a possibility, there was no pathology evidence to support it.''

Of Folbigg's diary extracts, Professor Cordner said: ''It is well recognised that self-blame is a common response to infant death.''

While all of Folbigg's legal avenues have been technically exhausted, a spokeswoman for the Attorney-General confirmed on Saturday an application for review can be lodged under the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001.

How the case against a mother unfolded

FEBRUARY 19, 1989 Caleb dies; aged 19 days. Originally thought to have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Now deemed to have died of suffocation.

FEBRUARY 13, 1991 Patrick dies, aged eight months. Originally believed to have died of a blockage of the airways due to an epileptic fit. Now deemed have died of suffocation.

AUGUST 30, 1993 Sarah dies, aged 10 months. Originally thought to have died of SIDS. Now deemed to have died of suffocation.

MARCH 1, 1999 Laura dies, aged 19 months. Cause of death not determined.

APRIL 19, 2001 Kathleen Folbigg is arrested at home after a two-year police investigation.

MAY 21, 2003 Found guilty of murdering Patrick, Sarah and Laura and of the manslaughter of Caleb; found to have inflicted grievous bodily harm on Patrick in 1990.

OCTOBER 24, 2003 Sentenced to 40 years' jail with a non-parole period of 30 years.

FEBRUARY 17, 2005 Sentence reduced by 10 years and her non-parole period by five years. Appeal against sentence dismissed.

DECEMBER 21, 2007 Loses a second appeal in the NSW Supreme Court. Will be eligible for release in 2028, at age 61.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/new-science-would-let-folbigg-go-free-20130202-2dr7y.html#ixzz2JmMij2Ic

[icyfroth]

She was ill.

She was ill alright. That's why she needed to be brought into custody.

[i-need-a-martini]

I agree Polks.

Even today women suffering PND are too ashamed to admit it/go to doctor. And back then, women suffering from PND would never have admitted it or even known about it.

My mum had it when my youngest brother was born in 1985. As she says, she had never even heard of PND and even though my father forced her to go to the doctor cause he could see there was something seriously wrong, the doctor just kept telling her to snap out of it cause she was being selfish for worrying her husband. It was untreated for years.

[*crikey*mate*]

Sometimes, an ill person doesn't realise they are ill until many years have passed.

"Medical help" was not readily available then and was pathetic when it was.  It is not much better now.

I disagree with that -

I was having babies in the mid 90's as were many of my friends, and there was heaps of info and help around. PND was a huge thing that the docs and child nurses were always watching out for and asking about - I had to fill inheaps of questionaires and stuff about it - not sure about depression though..

[cherry*135]

4 times though, martini? Especially since prior to the 4th being born, the others had died?

Wouldn't any mother seek any help she could get to do anything to prevent that happening again. 

How many undiagnosed mothers with PND end up with multiple babies they had had dying?

If a parent/family lost 2 babies suddenly with no cause found, then why would you jeopardise 2 babies, by not using the equipment availalbe to monitor their breathing etc?

Court of Criminal Appeal NSW

CITATION: FOLBIGG v R 120071 NSWCCA 371
27 November 2007

The death of S
28.  Due to the death of their previous children, from the time S was born, the
appellant and her husband used a sleep apnoea blanket to monitor S so
that any SlEEts-related problems could be detected. The alarm was
activated frequently. After its use for several months, the appellant ''hated''
the blanket and agreed with her husband to discontinue its use this.

The death of L

32. From the time of L's birth, a ''col-metric monitor'' was attached to the baby,
especially during her sleeping period, to monitor her vital signs. The
information stored was downloaded and conveyed by telephone to Sister
Tanner at Westmead Children's Hospital. However, when L was about 2 or
3 months old, the appellant was not using the 'monitor and recording the
necessary information.

33.  Thereafter, the appellant's indifference and lack of interest or diligence
became more apparent, so much so that Mr Folbigg wrote a letter to Sister
Tanner expressing his concerns, including ''(the appellant) finds it alI
tedious and frustrating and would probably rather not use it at all, merely 

entrusting (L's) survival to fate! You would think that after aIl she had been
through as a mother she of all people would be more diligent with the monitoring".

http://netk.net.au/Folbigg/Folbigg.pdf

[polksaladallie]

I agree Polks.

Even today women suffering PND are too ashamed to admit it/go to doctor. And back then, women suffering from PND would never have admitted it or even known about it.

My mum had it when my youngest brother was born in 1985. As she says, she had never even heard of PND and even though my father forced her to go to the doctor cause he could see there was something seriously wrong, the doctor just kept telling her to snap out of it cause she was being selfish for worrying her husband. It was untreated for years.

Martini, that is so sad.  But that's the way it was.  And to refer to my previous post, some of the many cases of infanticide occurred because of this attitude and the then ignorance of the condition.

I know some georgeous doctors, but I'll bet there are still some with the view that your Mo's dr had.

[givemeaspell]

She was convicted on the strength of comments like that instead of on the medical evidence.

But really, if these comments were read without the knowledge that there was a dead child, you would look at the words with different eyes.

Perhaps you would simply see them as a mum having a a frustrating day. Or having a hard time coping. Or unnecessarily taking on responsibility for a death simply because she feels she should have been a different type of mother.

Other entries in her diary talks about her love of her babies and how much she wants them. So it's not as if those thoughts she put on paper were all consuming.

but there was a dead child, 3 in fact.    too much coincidence for me and obviously for the jury at the time.

[cherry*135]

I disagree with that -

I was having babies in the mid 90's as were many of my friends, and there was heaps of info and help around. PND was a huge thing that the docs and child nurses were always watching out for and asking about - I had to fill inheaps of questionaires and stuff about it - not sure about depression though..

I agree with Crikey. My eldest was born in 1988 and found the same as she posted.

[azureline**]

Perhaps it depended on the family dynamics, where she lived, who she had to rely on etc...... she lived in a country town, not a city.

My younger sister, in 2002 had PND and nobody did anything for her, despite her seeing a Dr regularly, health nurse, partner, friends, despite it being obvious something was not right. None of them realised until she became suicidal and she lived in a city.

We were 1000 k's away and talked on the phone weekly, so when she stopped talking to me or answering the phone, that was the catalyst.

[polksaladallie]

I disagree with that -

I was having babies in the mid 90's as were many of my friends, and there was heaps of info and help around. PND was a huge thing that the docs and child nurses were always watching out for and asking about - I had to fill inheaps of questionaires and stuff about it - not sure about depression though..

The mid 90s is a lifetime away from the mid 80s, Crikey.  So many changes and advances occur in a short time.

[givemeaspell]

but there was a dead child, 3 in fact.    too much coincidence for me and obviously for the jury at the time.

correcting myself.......4 in fact....