Matthew Benns - Kathleen Folbigg: Australias Worst Female Serial Killer

This is the true story of Australias worst convicted female serial killer, Kathleen Folbigg.

Kathleens children, Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura Folbigg, died one by one over a 10-year period in similar circumstances suddenly, unexpectedly and while sleeping. Each time, it was Kathleen who raised the alarm to her husband, Craig.

When the Folbiggs marriage fell apart after the death of their fourth child, Craig was devastated. He discovered Kathleens diary in her bedside drawer, filled with ramblings about losing control with the children and her terrible thoughts. The diary was the crucial evidence detectives had been searching for and in 2003 Kathleen Folbigg was jailed for forty years. After her conviction she and her supporters fought hard, protesting her innocence. At her trial shed allowed her diaries to speak for her. They did, damningly. But what if she were able to explain her entries? Medical and legal experts brought pressure on the NSW attorney general to order a judicial inquiry into her conviction. Finally, in 2019, Folbigg had the chance to speak for herself.

This updated book takes us from the discovery of each of her childrens bodies, through Folbiggs own tragic past, to her long-awaited explanation of what happened to Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura. The outcome is a searing look into the mind of Australias worst female serial killer.

T HE HEART - WRENCHING , guttural howl Kathleen Folbigg gave as she collapsed after hearing the jurys verdict against her in 2003 continues to haunt me.

I was devastated, too, for Craig Folbigg and most of all, of course, for his children. Kathleen, the woman they loved, had been found guilty of the manslaughter of their first child, Caleb, when he was 19 days old, and for the murder of their children Patrick, eight months, Sarah, 10 months, and Laura, 19 months. Each time, Kathleen was alone when she discovered their bodies.

So much about this human tragedy has troubled me since I wrote the first incarnation of this book at the conclusion of the trial. The evidence against Folbigg was not conclusive, there was no single smoking gun, and the diary entries that condemned her were ambiguous. The most compelling evidence during the trial was that of Craig, the man who had been beguiled by and deeply in love with his wife through all those terrible years.

The trial played on my mind as I watched my own children, the same age as Laura and Sarah, grow up; those scraped knees, first camps, graduation ceremonies that the Folbigg family never had.

I am sure that when Kathleen Folbiggs supporters and legal team finally won her the chance for an inquiry in 2018, Craigs heart would have broken. The prospect of reliving the horror his family went through in the ten years between 1989 and 99 cannot be imagined. For his part he has remained silent since the trial, refusing all entreaties to talk about what happened beyond his court recollections of suburban horror.

Kathleen, however, did not take the stand during her trial in 2003, and now, having let her diaries speak for her in court, she wanted the chance to explain things herself and put the record straight.

And she did, as you will read in the new chapter at the end of this book. Fifteen years in jail to contemplate the deaths of her four children and the best explanation she could come up with at the inquiry, eventually held in mid-2019, was that some sort of supernatural power had taken them. Heartbreakingly, that says everything.

I do not doubt for a second that Kathleen Folbigg, by some mental leap, believes she did not kill her children. The experts have pointed to someone with extreme post-traumatic stress disorder. The question of how a woman with such severe mental issues has never received any support in or out of jail was not addressed by another in a long line of highly respected judges.

Kathleen Folbigg is a killer Australias worst female serial killer.

H ER MOTHER S GROWL of rage and frustration made 19-month-old Laura Folbigg drop to the kitchen floor in terror. She could not move. She was shaking and sobbing.

I cant handle her when shes like this! screamed Mummy.

If only Laura could get to Daddy. He had come running down the hall and was standing on the other side of the kitchen. Frozen to the spot as well. Mummy had been pinning Lauras arms down in the highchair and telling her to eat her breakfast. But she did not want to eat. She was not hungry. And that made Mummy mad.

Now Daddy was coming. He scooped her up in his arms and headed down the hall to the bedroom. She felt safe now. It was nice being cuddled by Daddy.

Mummies and daddies argue but it doesnt mean they dont love you, he cooed.

They were sitting on the bed. It felt safe. He smelled nice. But then Mummy came to the bedroom door.

Give me that baby, she demanded.

Just fuck off, replied Daddy.

You give me that baby and get ready for work. Get out. You make her behave like this. This is your fault! cried Mummy.

Ouch! Mummy grabbed hold of Lauras arm while Daddy still held her on his lap. He was upset and angry now too.

Kath, just let her go. Just leave her. Piss off, said Daddy. You look like youre going to punch somebody.

If Im going to punch anybody itll be you. Just give me that bloody baby, snarled Mummy.

Daddy let go and Mummy carried her away.

Then Daddy left for work.

And Laura died.

I N 1988 C RAIG AND K ATHY Folbigg were happy. They had been married for a year, had their own small house in the Newcastle working-class suburb of Mayfield, and Craig had a good job as a car valuer. They both wanted to become parents and have a family. All they needed to make their lives complete was a baby.

Craig had first met Kathy Marlborough when she was in her late teens and working as a waitress at an Indian restaurant. She had left Kotara High School at the age of 15 to work at the checkout of a local service station. Friends from her high-school days recall a quiet, unremarkable student who had the usual circle of girlfriends.

Craig was a confident car fanatic, six years Kathys senior. The first time he saw Kathy he thought she was sexy and sassy and he fell for her hard. They went out together drinking, dancing and having fun. They dated through 1985, and in January 1986 Kathy moved in with Craig. After becoming engaged in August 1986, they bought their Mayfield house in May 1987. Craig felt he had a home again for the first time since he was 15, at which time his mother had died of a cerebral haemorrhage, aged only 43. His father had later remarried but the death of his mother left Craig longing for a home of his own a craving that was only satisfied when he met Kathy. He invested a deep love in her that may have blinded him to some of her shortcomings.