Journalist Quentin McDermott — who secured the first interview with Kathleen Folbigg from prison — gives an insight into Australian Story's investigation of her case over 20 years.
Last week Kathleen Folbigg, convicted in 2003 of killing all four of her children, was pardoned unconditionally and released from prison, after serving 20 years behind bars.
But last week, Tom Bathurst KC, formerly chief justice of New South Wales, who presided over a recent inquiry into the convictions, said he had reached "a firm view that there was reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Ms Folbigg for each of the offences for which she was originally tried". But two more years would pass, until in 2015, lawyers acting on Kathleen Folbigg's behalf lodged a petition with the then-governor of NSW, General David Hurley, calling for a judicial review of her case.
At her post-mortem, Laura was found to have myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle that can be fatal. The pathologist who conducted the post-mortem, Allan Cala, characterised it as "patchy" and "mild". But this view was disputed by Professor Cordner, who concluded that Laura's death "has been caused unexceptionally by myocarditis".
"Of course, we can't say for sure that this would have been the cause of death in Laura's case," he told Australian Story. "All I can say is I think this provides a very good explanation for her untimely death." In 2018, as we prepared the Folbigg story, we knew that it raised concrete doubts about her guilt. But it lacked one vital element: Ms Folbigg herself, telling her own story.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Wallace got in touch with a genetic immunologist who would change the entire course of the Folbigg case – Professor Carola Vinuesa, who at the time was at the Australian National University.
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