How Science Freed Kathleen Folbigg

Convicted of killing her four young children, this is the first hand story of how Kathleen Folbigg was exonerated by genomic science after 20 years in prison.

The Francis Crick Institute reunites the scientists and lawyers who used cutting edge genomics to uncover vital new evidence. Alongside Kathleen herself, they tell the remarkable story of the investigation that led to her freedom.

Carola Vinuesa, who led the scientific investigation, shares her hopes that whole genome sequencing could help the search for truth in other cases in which parents have been accused of killing or harming their children.

#KathleenFolbigg #Justice #Investigation

In this video
00:00 Kathleen Folbigg arrives at the Crick
01:24 “Science gave me my peace of mind” - Kathleen Folbigg
02:09 The spark that started the investigation
03:35 Carola Vinuesa takes on the genomic investigation
05:07 Kathleen on her friendship with Tracy Chapman
06:04 Getting a saliva sample in prison – Todor Arsov
07:57 Kathleen’s eureka moment
08:19 How the key genetic variant was discovered
09:56 The novel CALM 2 variant
11:26 Sequencing Kathleen’s children
13:31 The end of the first inquiry
15:04 The search for proof
17:10 Survivorship bias – Mette Nyegaard
18:31 Lab tests - Michael Toft Overgaard
21:15 Kathleen on her release
22:09 What is being learned from the case

The Francis Crick Institute
The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical research institute and independent charity. We bring together people from different fields and specialisms to tackle some of the biggest questions in health and disease.

Based in the heart of London’s Kings Cross, we’re the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe and are home to a free public exhibition space.

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