
Warning: This post deals with the deaths of four young children.
Kathleen Folbigg is considered to be Australia’s worst female serial killer.
In 2005, the New South Wales based mother was jailed for the murders and manslaughter of her four infant children, which took place between 1989 and 1999.
Her four children – Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura – were aged between just 19 days and 19 months when they passed away at home.
For several years, it was believed the Folbigg children had died as a result of natural causes, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). But after Kathleen’s then-estranged husband Craig found her personal diary, she was arrested.
Watch a clip from Kathleen Folbigg on Australian Story below. Post continues after video…
The words in those diaries, and another uncovered by police, painted a damning picture of Kathleen’s guilt, and led to her 2003 conviction and sentencing to 40 years jail, 30 years non-parole, which was later reduced to 25 years on appeal.
Now, over a decade on from her conviction, Kathleen Folbigg will step into court and give her explanation of what her diary entries about her four deceased infant children meant.
On Monday, Kathleen, who maintains her innocence, will face questioning at Lidcombe Coroner’s Court over her diary entries, her possession of the diaries and her disposal of the diaries.
Kathleen Folbigg’s diary entries.
In an episode of Australian Story last year, Kathleen explained the damning entries within her diaries for the first time.
In one diary entry, Kathleen wrote of her daughter Laura, “She’s a fairly good-natured baby. Thank goodness. It has saved her from the fate of her siblings. I think she was warned”.
In another entry: “I feel like the worst mother on this Earth. Scared she’ll leave me now like Sarah did. I knew I was short-tempered and cruel sometimes to her, and she left. With a bit of help”.