Researchers sequenced the DNA of Kathleen Folbigg and her children and found that they all carried extremely rare mutations that could explain the childrens' deaths. Calcium ions are particularly important in maintaining a regular heartbeat, so people with mutated CALM2 genes can develop calmodulinopathy, a syndrome that causes an irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia, which can be lethal in young children, ABC News reported. The CALM2 gene provides the genetic instructions needed for cells to produce the protein calmodulin, which helps regulate the movement of calcium ions in and out of cells. Related: Doctors identify never-before-seen genetic mutations that led to 2 children's insatiable hunger Their findings, which were published in March 2021 in the journal EP Europace, revealed that Sarah and Laura each carried one copy of a CALM2 variant known as CALM2-G114R, which they inherited from Folbigg.
SERIAL KILLER GENE TRIAL
(This technology was not widely available during the initial trial in 2003.) The new inquiry was launched after researchers decided to sequence the genomes of Folbigg and her children, using preserved DNA samples, in 2018, according to Australian news outlet ABC News. Over the past three decades, Folbigg has continually denied that she killed her children and has had multiple appeals denied. However, in a personal diary entry that Gibson provided to the police, Folbigg described how the "guilt about them all haunts me," which was used by prosecutors to infer her guilt despite the defense arguing that this was circumstantial evidence, according to the BBC. There was never any physical evidence that Folbigg had smothered her children. Researchers have found several mutated genes in the childrens' DNA.
Meanwhile, both of Folbigg's sons carried a mutation of the BSN gene, needed to build functional brain cells, which has been linked to an early onset and lethal form of epilepsy. The inquiry, which began in 2022, revealed that both of Folbigg's daughters had an extremely rare and previously unknown mutation of the CALM2 gene, key for shuttling calcium through tissues, that can cause sudden cardiac arrest.
Margaret Beazley and was released from prison after evidence presented at a recent inquiry suggested that her children most likely died of natural causes.
SERIAL KILLER GENE SERIAL
Due to the nature of her alleged crimes, the media nicknamed Folbigg "Australia's worst female serial killer."īut on June 5, 2023, Folbigg was pardoned by NSW Gov. In 2003, Folbigg was sentenced to 25 years in a maximum-security prison, where she remained until her release earlier this month. Kathleen Folbigg, a 55-year-old woman from New South Wales (NSW), was accused of murdering her two daughters, Sarah and Laura, and son Patrick, as well as committing manslaughter against her other son, Caleb, between 19.
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