'She's heartbroken': Australia's worst female serial killer STILL believes she's innocent - despite inquiry proving she took the lives of her four young kids
- Inquiry into Kathleen Folbigg convictions find they 'reinforced her guilt'
- She was jailed in 2003 for at least 25 years for murdering three of her children
- She was also found guilty of manslaughter for the death of her first child Caleb
- Friend Tracey Chapman said they will continue to fight to prove her innocence
Australia's worst female serial killer still claims she is innocent and has been left 'heartbroken' after an inquiry into the case reinforced her guilt.
Kathleen Folbigg was jailed in 2003 for at least 25 years for murdering her children Patrick, Sarah and Laura - aged from eight months to 19 months - between 1991 and 1999.
She was also found guilty of the manslaughter of her first child, Caleb, who was 19 days old when he died in Newcastle in 1989.
The 52-year-old has maintained her innocence, claiming all four children died of natural causes.
However, New South Wales Attorney-General Mark Speakman announced on Monday that the inquiry found they did not have 'any reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Kathleen Megan Folbigg for the offences of which she was convicted'.
The results of the inquiry have left Folbigg 'heartbroken and perplexed', friend Tracey Chapman told 7 News.
An inquiry into Kathleen Folbigg's convictions for killing her four babies has reinforced her guilt, a former chief judge has found
Folbigg, dubbed 'Australia's worst female serial killer', was jailed in 2003 for at least 25 years for murdering her children Patrick, Sarah (right) and Laura (left) - aged from eight months to 19 months - between 1991 and 1999
She said despite the findings, they would continue to fight to prove her innocence.
'I can assure you, it's not over. Not until this gross injustice is recognised, the convictions overturned and this broken, arrogant, biased system apologises for its treatment of Kath.
'We have truth on our side and a growing number of supporters who are becoming very frustrated. I told her to try and find some comfort in these facts.'
Mrs Chapman has been friends with Folbigg, dubbed 'Australia's worst female serial killer', since the pair were six years old.
She has maintained her best friend's innocence since she was sent to jail in 2003.
Mrs Chapman was one of the leading voices calling for a new inquest into Folbigg's conviction.
Reginald Blanch QC, the former NSW District Court chief judge who presided over the inquiry, concluded he had no reasonable doubt as to the child killer's guilt.
Mr Blanch's report said 'the only conclusion reasonably open is that somebody intentionally caused harm to the children, and smothering was the obvious method'.
'The evidence pointed to no person other than Ms Folbigg,' the report said.
Tracy Chapman (pictured) has been friends with convicted child killer Kathleen Folbigg since the pair were six and she has maintained her best friend's innocence since she was sent to jail after her 2003 Sydney trial
Folbigg's evidence and listening device transcripts - which weren't before the jury at trial - showed she had been untruthful, unbelievable and 'made deliberate attempts to obscure the fact that she had committed the offences', it said.
The Attorney-General said he ordered the inquiry as the Crown said during Folbigg's trail there had never been a case where three deaths in one family were attributed to unidentified natural causes.
'That has turned out to be wrong and that was the catalyst for my decision to recommend to his Excellency the then-Governor that there be an inquiry into the conviction,' Mr Speakman said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
At the time, Mr Speakman said he'd formed the view it was necessary 'to ensure public confidence in the administration of justice'.
On Monday, Mr Speakman said he'd spoken with Craig Folbigg - the babies' father and Folbigg's ex-husband - regarding the report.
She was also found guilty of the manslaughter of her first child, Caleb (left), who was 19 days old when he died in Newcastle in 1989
'I acknowledge that the decision to commence an inquiry has further aggravated what already was an unimaginable tragedy,' he said in a statement on Monday.
'I am sorry for the toll that the inquiry has taken on Mr Folbigg and family members over the last year.'
He said he hoped the findings 'might provide comfort in some way to the relatives of Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura, and will dispel community concern regarding Ms Folbigg's convictions'.
Folbigg's lawyer Stuart Gray in his response to the report said they were disappointed, but looked forward to NSW Governor Margaret Beazley's consideration of the transcript and report.
'Ultimately, it is a matter for the governor to dispose of Ms Folbigg's petition,' he said in a statement.
'We remain hopeful that consideration will be given to the evidence of the various experts that appeared at the inquiry and those that submitted reports after it.'
Reginald Blanch QC, the former NSW District Court chief judge who presided over the inquiry, concluded he had no reasonable doubt as to the child killer's guilt in a report published on Monday night
Mr Speakman says he will recommend to the governor that no further action be taken.
Craig Folbigg's brother, John, previously described the inquiry as 'most unnecessary and most definitely unwelcome'.
'However we have endured it as ultimately it would, we feel, help to ensure that the justice that Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura received in 2003 is upheld,' he said in May.
Mr Speakman said the findings gave the public confidence 'that the jury system worked... and that no stone has been left unturned'.
Under Folbigg's 30-year maximum sentence, she will be eligible for parole in 2028.
