'There were things going on beyond my control': Convicted child killer Kathleen Folbigg blames ‘supernatural power’ for taking the lives of three of her children
- Kathleen Folbigg claimed supernatural powers took three of her four children
- Folbigg made the admission to a court at second day of inquiry into conviction
- The 51-year-old said she thought there were 'things going on beyond my control'
- Folbigg currently serving a minimum 25-year-sentence over deaths of children
Convicted baby killer Kathleen Folbigg has told a court she believed a supernatural power took three of her four children away.
Folbigg made the admission during the second day of an inquiry into her conviction at the NSW Coroners Court on Tuesday.
The 51-year-old is serving a minimum 25-year-sentence over the deaths of her children Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura in the decade from 1989.
Folbigg has maintained her innocence and told a court during the inquiry that she believed there were 'things going on beyond my control'.
Convicted baby killer Kathleen Folbigg (pictured) has told a court she believed a supernatural power took three of her four children away
Folbigg made the admission during the second day of an inquiry into her conviction at the NSW Coroners Court on Tuesday
Her first child Caleb was born on February 1, 1989, though was found lifeless in his cot 19 days later.
Her third child Sarah was born on October 14, 1992 though was found dead at 10 months of age.
Both children's deaths were ruled as being caused by SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
In June 1990, Folbigg's second son Patrick was born, but four months later he too was found lifeless in his cot, having suffered from an 'acute life-threatening event'.
He was resuscitated but was diagnosed with epilepsy and cortical blindness. Four months later, Patrick was found dead by Folbigg.
Her fourth child Laura was born on August 1997, but died at the age of 18 months.
Prior to her death, Folbigg made a diary entry in October 1997: 'Wouldn't have handled another like Sarah. She saved her life by being different.'
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'"She saved her life by being different" is my hope and dream that Laura being different would have saved her life. But in the end, it didn't,' Folbigg said.
NSW District Court judge Reginald Blanch, QC, asked Folbigg if she believed supernatural powers were the cause of her other children's deaths.
'Are you saying to me that you believed that there was some supernatural power that took the other three children away from you, and you were concerned that that same supernatural power would take Laura away from you, and that she saved her life by being different on that basis?'
Folbigg replied: 'Yes, along those lines.'
She denied suggestions put to her by barrister Margaret Cunneen SC, representing her ex-husband Craig Folbigg, that 'homicidal rages' or 'psychological mood swings' made her smother her babies to death.
She said a January 1997 diary entry about having done 'terrible things' due to stress didn't mean she'd killed her first three children.
Folbigg has maintained her innocence and told a court during the inquiry that she believed there were 'things going on beyond my control'
She denied suggestions put to her by barrister Margaret Cunneen SC, representing her ex-husband Craig Folbigg, that 'homicidal rages' or 'psychological mood swings' made her smother her babies to death (pictured, Folbigg breaks down in court on Monday)
'It's a broad spectrum of things that I am using the word 'terrible' for,' she said on Tuesday.
'It could be me placing my child down to let her cry for even 30 seconds - that's a terrible thing, in my view.'
But Ms Cunneen noted Folbigg described her father's murder of her mother as 'selfish and unthoughtful' and 'a stupid mistake' in other entries.
Folbigg's mother - Kathleen - was murdered on January 8, 1969 after she was stabbed multiple times.
When Folbigg questioned the relevance of that comparison, her ex-husband's barrister said she was trying to get 'into her lexicon' and use of words.
Folbigg said she believed her moods affected 'everything' including her children who 'died and decided they didn't want to be with me anymore'.
Ms Cunneen said: 'Of course, you know, that babies don't decide whether or not to live?'
Folbigg replied: 'At that stage in my life, I did not know that.'
'My concerns were almost paranoia,' she said.
Folbigg in February 1997 wrote: 'My guilt of how responsible I feel for them all haunts me. My fear of it happening again haunts me.'
Folbigg said she believed her moods affected 'everything' including her children who 'died and decided they didn't want to be with me anymore'
The Crown's case was simply that Folbigg smothered her four children including Patrick (bottom left), Caleb (bottom right), Laura (top left) and Sarah (top right)
She rejected Ms Cunneen's suggestion she only felt guilty because the children died at her hands.
Six of her diaries before the inquiry were used by prosecutors in past court proceedings. Five other diaries are unaccounted for.
Folbigg recalls throwing one of them out but denies it contained incriminating material.
Barrister Chris Maxwell QC, representing the director of public prosecutions, on Monday accused Folbigg of minimising the meaning of her writings and providing farcical explanations.
Mr Blanch will prepare a report on the inquiry's results for the NSW governor.
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