An inquiry into the convictions of Australia’s worst female serial killer has been announced just days after the murderer spoke out for the first time about her life and sentence.
Labelled “Australia’s most hated woman”, Kathleen Folbigg was in 2003 charged with the murder of her three young children and the manslaughter of another.
Currently serving 30 years in prison, the woman was initially sentenced to 40 years in jail which was later dropped to its current time.
However, now after compiling a petition to the Governor of NSW, it was announced on Wednesday Folbigg’s conviction will undergo an inquiry said to last between six and 12 months by the former chief judge of the District Court, the Hon Reginald Blanch AM QC.
“I have formed the view that an inquiry into Ms Folbigg’s convictions is necessary to ensure public confidence in the administration of justice,” NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman told the ABC.
The controversial decision, which Speakman described as “immensley difficult”, has been explained to Folbigg’s former husband Craig who is expected to experience much “renewed stress and pain”.
“Ultimately, my job as Attorney-General is to ensure public confidence in the administration of justice in NSW,” the Attorney-General stated.
Just last week Folbigg was the centre of attention as she spoke for the first time about her children Patrick, Sarah and Laura on an episode of ABC’s Australian Story.
Here she explained what the incriminating diary entries (that were a crucial part of the prosecution argument) actually meant, insisting they weren’t confessions.
In one entry she described herself as “the worst mother on this earth” while she said she was “short-tempered and cruel” in another.
A further message said one of her daughter’s left “with a bit of help”, although Folbigg denies it was a confession for murder.
“You’ve got to understand that those diaries are written from a point of me always blaming myself,” she can be heard saying in one audio recording. “I blamed myself for everything. It’s just I took so much of the responsibility, because that’s, as mothers, what you do.”
The episode also featured information on the second independent forensic pathologist based in Canada to examine the forensic evidence in relation to the death of Laura, the final child to die.
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