An exceptionally rare genetic variant shared by Kathleen Folbigg and her two daughters may have contributed to the deaths of the children, a judicial inquiry has heard.
Lawyers for Kathleen Folbigg, who has been convicted of the deaths of her four infant children between 20 February 1989 and 1 March 1999, said that if the variant was a factor in the deaths of her daughters it would create reasonable doubt in relation to the other two cases.
A judicial inquiry conducted by Thomas Bathurst KC into Folbigg’s convictions started in Sydney on Monday.
The inquiry was ordered after Folbigg filed a petition for mercy to the NSW governor in 2021, having exhausted all her existing avenues of appeal.
It is expected to hear four weeks of evidence about the case, despite a similar inquiry having been conducted in 2019.
Sophie Callan SC, counsel assisting the inquiry, said there had been much development in the field of genetics since the previous inquiry, which had found in a 557-page report that there was no reasonable doubt as to Folbigg’s guilt.
Callan said that the essence of the case remained the same: either Folbigg was found to have killed the children, or they died from natural causes, either known or unknown.
It was not expected, she said, that any of the many experts set to give evidence during the inquiry would be able to clearly identify the genetic variant as the cause of the Folbigg girls’ deaths.
Diaries kept by Folbigg would also be central to the inquiry, Callan said, but noted they did not cover the entire decade in which the children died.
Dr Gregory Woods KC, for Folbigg, said he expected many of the expert witnesses set to give complex evidence before the inquiry regarding cardiology and genetics would be in agreement, but that there would be differences in emphasis.
He said that if Bathurst found the novel variant CALM2 G114R identified in DNA samples from Folbigg’s daughters Sarah and Laura could cause cardiac arrhythmias and sudden unexpected death in young children that would mean Folbigg’s convictions in relation to all four deaths would be in doubt.
The first witness in the inquiry, Assoc Prof Hariharan Raju, a cardiac electrophysiologist, said he believed he was the only person to assess Folbigg’s cardiac function. He did so in 2019 after a request from her lawyers.
He said that despite his extensive experience he had never seen the variation recorded in Folbigg or her daughters.
Folbigg told Raju she had a number of fainting episodes dating back to her childhood, he said, which had been linked to physical exertion, emotional stress and pregnancy.
Folbigg, who has always maintained her innocence, is serving a 40-year prison sentence that will expire in April 2033.
Late on Monday’s hearing, a woman who had been in the gallery of the inquiry sought leave and appeared to table evidence including material from the “federal government” that she said linked the Folbigg children’s vaccination history to their deaths. Bathurst denied the application, citing that the children’s medical histories were already forming part of the inquiry.
The hearing continues.
