Why scientists have come forward to free Australian ‘serial killer Kathleen Falbig’!

Global New News Desk –
A mother of four has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in Australia for strangling her child to death. He has already served 17 years of his 30-year sentence.

But the new information that scientists have come up with so far has raised serious doubts about whether the verdict in this case is correct.

Kathleen was named “Australia’s most notorious female serial killer” in a 2003 murder case.

He was convicted of killing all four of his children and has already served 18 years of his 30-year sentence.

Last week, 90 prominent scientists, scientific advisers and medical experts signed a petition apologizing to Ms Falbig and requesting her immediate release.

Among the signatories were two Nobel laureates, two Australians of the year, a leading scientist and Professor John Shin, president of the Australian Academy of Sciences.

He said: “I think it makes sense to sign this petition in the light of the scientific and medical evidence that now appears in these deaths.”

If Ms Falbig is released, it would be the worst instance of wrongful punishment in Australian history.

What is in the petition?
This petition highlights the huge difference in interpretation between science and law.

There were several appeals against Ms Falbig’s verdict. When his conviction was reconsidered in 2019, Australian lawyers ruled that his guilt had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. They rely heavily on circumstantial evidence and some smoky information recorded in a diary of Ms Falbig at the time.

“The only way for the lawyers to come to a conclusion is that he deliberately harmed the children and that the only way to do that was to suffocate them,” said Reginald Blanche, a former judge leading the case at the time. “The evidence is that no one but Ms. Fallbig could have done this.”

The New South Wales state government assured the public two years ago that “all possibilities have been explored, leaving no gaps in the investigation.”

But scientists are beginning to say that there is enough suspicion behind convicting him. “The explanation of science is very important here and it cannot be ignored,” said Professor Joseph Gay, a geneticist in the human body.

Professor Fiona Stanley, a researcher on child and public health, said: “Medical and scientific evidence has been ignored in this case, and science has been overshadowed by environmental and situational information. We have alternative explanations for the deaths of Falbig children.”

Kathleen Falbig’s husband Craig Falbig speaks to reporters after his sentencing – October 24, 2003

What is that explanation?
They say there was a genetic mutation in Kathleen Falbig’s body that was inherited and passed on to her two daughters, Sarah and Laura.

Kathleen has another type of gene mutation in her body, which has been caught in the case of her two sons, Caleb and Patrick, who they believe were responsible for their deaths, although scientists have acknowledged that more research is needed into the mutation.

The mutated gene was first discovered in 2019 by Carola Vinuessa, a professor of immunology and genomic medicine at the Australian National University, and was the main driving force behind Ms Falbig’s demand for her release.

“This new type of mutated gene has never been discovered in anyone’s body before. This gene has gone from Kathleen’s body to her two daughters,” he said.

“This gene, called CALM2, can cause abrupt cardiac arrest.”

Scientists from Australia, Denmark, France, Italy, Canada and the United States conducted further research on the gene, and their findings were published in the journal Medical Science last November.

Professor Carola Vinuessa first discovered mutated genes in the bodies of Ms Falbig’s two daughters in 2019.

Scientists in Denmark examined the effects of the gene on Ms Falbig’s body and found that it was quite deadly and could cause sudden cardiac arrest at any time, and that young children could die from it in their sleep.

Scientists say Ms. Falbig’s two daughters had inflammation before they died, and they believe that the inflammation accelerates the sudden cardiac arrest of the two children.

Scientists say a rare gene has also been found in the bodies of Ms Fallbig’s two sons.

Studies in rats have shown that this gene can cause incurable epilepsy at a very young age, from which death is inevitable.

From the results of this study, scientists believe that all four of Ms Fallbig’s children died of natural causes.

Professor Stephen Cordner, a forensic expert in Melbourne, re-examined the children’s autopsy report in 2015 and found that there were no signs of murder in the children. The children had no signs of suffocation.

Three years later, in 2018, another forensic expert, Matthew Ord, a professor at the University of British Columbia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

The fate of Ms. Kathleen Falbig now depends on the outcome of this petition. An appeal court in New South Wales recently heard another of his appeals.

Ms Falbig has been claiming innocence since the beginning. Source: BBC