Posted on 03/11/2021 10:52:09 PM PST by nickcarraway
Imagine for a moment what it must feel like if, as a mother, you give birth to four children, one after another, each of whom, as infants, dies from natural causes over a 10-year period.
Then imagine being wrongly accused of smothering them all and being sentenced to 30 years in jail for four terrible crimes you did not commit.
That narrative is emerging as potentially the true story of Kathleen Folbigg, an Australian mother from the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales (NSW).
Branded at her trial in 2003 as "Australia's worst female serial killer", Folbigg has already spent nearly 18 years in prison after being found guilty of the manslaughter of her firstborn Caleb, and the murder of her three subsequent children, Patrick, Sarah and Laura.
But now, fresh scientific evidence is turning this case on its head.
Last week a petition signed by 90 eminent scientists, science advocates and medical experts was handed to the Governor of NSW, requesting a pardon for Folbigg and her immediate release.
Among the signatories were two Nobel laureates and two Australians of the Year, a former chief scientist, and the president of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor John Shine, who commented: "Given the scientific and medical evidence that now exists in this case, signing this petition was the right thing to do."
If Folbigg is freed and her convictions are overturned, her ordeal will be seen as the worst miscarriage of justice in Australia's history - worse even than the case of Lindy Chamberlain, who served three years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murdering her baby, Azaria, at Uluru.
The petition exposes a troubling gulf in this case between science and the law.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Or Imagine not.
Just because a bunch of people sign a petition doesn’t make it true.
Interesting and another case where science ‘could’ trump circumstancial evidence in the same manner as the multiple cases of DNA has done in the past. If true, this poor woman and mother has truly suffered an injustice BUT it would be difficult to lay a claim of malice upon the authorities either (based upon the limited facts from article).
Meanwhile your friendly abortionist down the street is more than welcome and is making a fortune.
Seems like there is a fair amount of exculpatory scientific evidence and a scant amount of circumstantial. Especially if there is no sign of suffocation.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt? Don’t know if it’s the same for the Aussie legal system.
Is there a ‘Dingo’ involved?
Apparently, blaming a Dingo is the Australian go to for explaining child deaths. This doesn’t state how the children died or what ‘scientific’ evidence exist, but frankly... When you lose 4 children while in your care under any circumstances it’s dereliction at the very least and diabolical if intentional.
Genetic Mutation in children
I think they found clothes from the dead child in the dingo lair, in the case that became a movie & and a Seinfeld punchline.
For heaven’s sake...poor Lindy never had a chance after some ‘expert’ testified there was blood residue discovered inside their vehicle. WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE RUST PROOFING!
The recent genetic discoveries follow in the footsteps of earlier expert medical opinions which support the theory that all four children died from natural causes.
Professor Stephen Cordner, a Melbourne based forensic pathologist, re-examined the children's autopsies in 2015, concluding that: "There is no positive forensic pathology support for the contention that any or all of these children have been killed." He added: "There are no signs of smothering."
Three years later, in 2018, forensic pathologist, Matthew Orde, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: "Fundamentally, I'm in agreement with Professor Cordner, in that all four of these child deaths could be explained by natural causes."
Now, as Lindy Chamberlain did before her, Kathleen Folbigg bides her time in jail, awaiting the outcome of the petition and a recent hearing in the NSW Court of Appeal. She continues to protest her innocence.
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