In Australia, they pardoned a mother convicted of murdering her children. Genetic analysis helped the woman

Kathleen Folbigg – described as “Australia’s worst serial killer” – was pardoned this Monday after spending 20 years in prison for killing four of her children.

Judge Tom Bathurst said there was “reasonable doubt” that the woman had committed the crime.

Extensive investigations have shown that the children most likely died of natural causes.

A miscarriage of justice

The two daughters, Sarah and Laura, suffered from a rare gene mutation that doctors and scientists say can cause sudden cardiac death.

It is estimated that 1 in 35 million people suffer from this disease. Worldwide, 135 people have been diagnosed so far.

Combined with another genetic mutation, it was a “lethal cocktail,” cardiologist Peter Schwartz of the Milan Research Institute told ABC News.