Best friend of Australia's worst female serial killer explains why she kept damning diaries where she spoke about wanting to 'shut up' her dead children Best friend of convicted serial child killer Kathleen Folbigg says she is innocent Tracy Chapman said she has always maintained her best friend's innocence She dismissed diary evidence against Folbigg as a grieving exercise gone wrong By Adam Mccleery For Daily Mail Australia Published: 03:46 BST, 8 May 2019 | Updated: 05:40 BST, 8 May 2019 Viewcomments The best friend of Australia's worst female serial killer has dismissed diary evidence used to convict her friend saying it was simply an exercise in grief gone wrong. Tracy Chapman has been friends with convicted child killer Kathleen Folbigg since the pair were six years old and she has maintained her best friend's innocence since she was sent to jail in 2003. She was convicted of the murders of her children Sarah, Patrick and Laura and was convicted of the manslaughter of her firstborn, Caleb. 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 Tracy Chapman dismissed diary evidence (pictured) used to convict her friend, saying entries in the journal were simply an exercise in grief gone wrong 'They are trying to paint her as someone loopy and it's not about that, it's just a grieving mother,' Mrs Chapman said of the damning diary entries which helped convict Folbigg. The diary entries tendered in Folbigg's trial contained passages referring to doing 'terrible things' and wanting to shut her baby up. 'With Sarah all I wanted to do was shut her up, and one day she did. Laura's a fairly good natured baby, thank goodness. It saved her from the fate of her siblings,' two passages read. Mrs Chapman was one of the leading voices calling for a new inquest into Folbigg's conviction and she told the Sunrise TV program that she has never doubted her friend's innocence. Folbigg (pictured) has always maintained her children all died from natural causes, she was originally sentenced to 40 years prison with a non-parole period of 30 years Folbigg was convicted of the murders of Sarah (left) and Laura (pictured right) along with her two sons 'I always knew there were other families out there around the world that have gone through the same thing, it is pretty rare but not impossible and I think that is an important thing people need to get in their heads, that it is not impossible,' Mrs Chapman said. The ongoing inquest into her case saw Folbigg take the stand in April, when she broke down crying while giving evidence on her diary entries. 'I don't know why any of my children died, but I didn't kill them,' Folbigg said. 'I didn't kill my children. And these diaries are a record of just how depressed... and a struggle I was having.' Folbigg was also convicted for murdering her son Patrick (pictured left) and the manslaughter death of her firstborn son Caleb (pictured right) She said she was always searching for 'why' her children died to which Christopher Maxwell QC suggested it was 'because you smothered them', a claim Folbigg flatly denied. Folbigg has always maintained her children all died from natural causes. She was originally sentenced to 40 years prison with a non-parole period of 30 years. Her sentence was later reduced to 30 years with a non-parole period of 25 years after a successful appeal, and she has so far served almost half of her sentence. The inquest into the case continues. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility