Casefile True Crime - Case 136: Azaria Chamberlain

Episode Date: February 15, 2020

On August 17 1980, the Chamberlain family were camping at Uluru when Lindy Chamberlain went to put her nine-week-old daughter Azaria to sleep in the tent. Moments later, the other campers heard Lindy cry out, “My God, my God, a dingo has got my baby!” --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Episode written and by Elsha McGill and Erin Munro Episode researched by Erin Munro Creative Director: Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-136-azaria-chamberlain

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. This episode describes acts of violence against a child that won't be suitable for all listeners. It was no secret that Lindy Chamberlain longed for a daughter. She and her husband Michael already had two sons, six-year-old Aidan and four-year-old Regan, and Lindy hoped her third pregnancy would result in a girl.

At 9.16 on the morning of June 11, 1980, she gave birth to a healthy daughter. Weighing three kilograms with dark eyes, black hair and olive skin, Lindy and Michael named her Azaria Chantel Lauren Chamberlain. When Azaria was less than a day old, she opened her mouth into a nose shape and blew a bubble, earning her the nickname of Bubbles. She was quiet, placid and easy to look after. She rarely cried unless she was in pain or hungry and would typically wake up without a stir.

Guests would often ask where Azaria was, only to realise she was already in the room, silently observing the world around her. She spent her days babbling and giggling to herself in her bouncer net while watching her mother work around the house or lying beside her older brothers as they played. Regan was protective of his baby sister, helping tend to her needs and boasting to others about how wonderful she was. During a trip to the supermarket when Azaria was five weeks old, she was resting in the baby seat of a shopping trolley with Regan clinging to the side.

Regan leaned over to look at some scales and the shift in weight caused the trolley to flip, sending Azaria onto the concrete floor. She was taken to the doctor who determined she hadn't sustained any injuries and was strong and well developed for her age. By her six-week check-up, the doctor was impressed with Azaria's progress, describing her as fit and healthy with a direct and knowing smile. Michael hadn't been able to spend much time with his new daughter as he had to leave for a five-week mission right after her birth.

He worked long hours as a minister for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a job that uprooted his family every couple of years and often sent him on cross-country trips. Lindy was a devoted member of the church and often accompanied Michael on his missions, but this time opted to stay home with the children. It was looking forward to the upcoming school holidays when Michael would return and the family could spend some quality time travelling together. When Azaria was nine weeks old, the Chamberlains packed up their canary yellow Tarana hatchback and set out on an interstate road trip, heading 160km west from their home in northwest Queensland

and into the Northern Territory. Soon as the Red Centre, the area is considered the gateway to Australia's vast, arid and sparsely populated outback. The magnificent natural landmarks, desert plains, weathered mountain ranges and sacred sites presented plentiful opportunities for Michael to indulge in his passion for photography. Their plan was to visit the main tourist sites, camping along the way, before reaching Darwin on the north coast for a relaxing beachside conclusion where Michael could fish for Baramundi. Lindy and Michael were seasoned campers and had travelled with Aidan and Regan when they

were babies and felt confident about taking Azaria on their latest outing. Their journey commenced on August 13, 1980. Michael drove west across the border, navigating the long highways into the Northern Territory's desolate and remote countryside, stopping occasionally for fuel and rest breaks. When they reached the town of Tennant Creek, the family wandered around the local shopping district before heading 100km south to camp among the ancient boulders of the Devil's Marbles Conservation Reserve. The next morning, they continued heading south until they arrived in the town of Vallas Springs.

On midday on Saturday, August 16, the Chamberlains hit the road again. Michael had been documenting the holiday with his camera and pulled over on the Stuart Highway to snap a picture of his family. Lindy stood to the left of the Tirana with baby Azaria in her arms, as Regan and Aidan posed together to her right. Above them was a large road sign pointing to their next destination, Uluru. Uluru Uluru lies in the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Uluru Katajuta National Park, a vast outback

region characterised by dusty red sand deserts and isolated mountain ranges. The ancient sandstone monolith, which is believed to have started forming around 550 million years ago, stands 348 metres high and is surrounded by springs, waterholes and rock caves, some of which contain ancient Aboriginal art. It has immense spiritual significance to the traditional landowners, the Ananu people, who have lived in the area for tens of thousands of years. The name Uluru is a proper noun from the dialect of the Ananu people, but in English it is also known as Ayres Rock, as named by Australian explorer William Gross, who cited the landmark

in 1873. The first vehicular track to the rock was constructed in 1948, paving the way for tour bus services and eventually a camping ground, motels and an airstrip. Uluru quickly established itself as a popular tourist destination, with visitors often climbing up its rock face to observe the sprawling desert landscape from its peak. As more people arrived to participate in the steep track, a chain handrail was installed to help facilitate the climb. In 1980 Ayres Rock Campground was the only tourist camping area within close proximity

of Uluru. Nighttime was already approaching by the time the Chamberlains arrived there on Saturday August 16. They had aimed to arrive sooner to give Michael the opportunity to take photos of the rocket dusk, but had made numerous stops on the 450km drive from Alice Springs, which ultimately slowed them down. The Chamberlains planned to stay for three days and were told to search the designated area for an available spot.

Given it was school holidays, the grounds were relatively full, already catering to hundreds of campers. They drove towards the back, far enough away to ensure Azaria would not disturb other guests should you cry throughout the night, and pulled up next to a sand dune known as Sunrise Hill, a popular vantage point at dawn on the eastern edge of the campground. They set up camp alongside a picnic table, with the only source of light coming from a 100w portable floodlight tied to a wooden post in the communal barbecue area 25m east. They positioned their yellow multi-person tent facing Uluru.

The family of five then settled in the tent together to sleep. Azaria was placed in a white wicket basket that rested at the feet of her older brother Regan. During breakfast the following morning of Sunday August 17, the Chamberlains introduced themselves to several other campers, some of whom formed over baby Azaria in her carry basket. Afterwards, the family bundled into their Tirana to go sightseeing. Lindy had visited the Northern Territory during her teen years, but her photos of Uluru had

since faded. She wanted to replace them with new ones, and Michael obliged, taking many photos, including one of Lindy holding Azaria up against the rock face. The Chamberlains returned to air's rock campground that evening. Lindy bathed the children, and dressed Azaria in a disposable nappy, singlet, a white jumpsuit, and a knitted matinee jacket, with pale lemon scalloped edging. She also put on a pair of white booties underneath the jumpsuit, so she didn't have to remove them every time Azaria's nappy required changing.

A tired Regan was put to bed in the tent, while his two siblings remained up with their parents. At around 6.30pm, the Chamberlains joined some of the other campers at the communal barbecue area. Lindy and Michael chatted with another young couple, Greg and Sully Lowe, who took an immediate liking to the family. Sully noted that Lindy appeared cheerful, and had a new mum glow. Azaria was struggling to settle, so Lindy rewrapped the blankets around her, and she eventually stopped fussing and dozed off.

At 8pm, Lindy announced to the group, it's time I put Bubby down. She carried Azaria down the worn track that led towards the camp, with Aidan in tow. The front of the Chamberlains tent was visible from the barbecue area, and close enough to carry any sounds over in the quiet night. It was partly obscured by a railing, a low-lying fence and shrubbery, but Greg Lowe was able to glimpse Lindy kneeling as she entered the tent. Greg witnessed Lindy emerge a short time later, and move towards the family's terrana, which was parked against the tent's southern side.

Lindy returned to the group 10 minutes later with Aidan. As she prepared Aidan some baked beans, he heard something whimpering and remarked, I think that is Bubby crying, in reference to Azaria. Sully Lowe had also heard the noise and believed it was Azaria. Lindy was certain Azaria was asleep, but Michael insisted she go check. Lindy returned to the tent by herself and exclaimed a short time later, my God, my God, a dingo has got my baby. Dingoes were not an uncommon sight around the campground.

The cavernous native dog, with typically red or tan fur, had a large presence in the red centre, where they travelled in packs of up to ten, lived in cave-like lairs, and hunted at night. They had grown accustomed to people over time, and were known to wander the campground and at surroundings for scraps left behind by visitors and hikers. Signs in the camp toilets warned against feeding them, and the chamberlains had stored their food in their car to avoid attracting them. Reagan was still inside the chamberlain tent, having slept through any goings-on, but Azaria's

basket was empty. Lindy was asked which way the dingo had gone, and she pointed in the opposite direction of Uluru towards the sand dunes. Her husband Michael and Greg Lowe started scouring the area, but it was dark and difficult to see anything beyond the low floodlight in the barbecue area. Several campers heard the commotion and came to the chamberlain's aid. Michael was given a torch, and he quickly returned to the dunes to continue the search. Lindy maintained that a dingo had taken Azaria, and when asked how she knew that, she explained

that she had seen one coming out of the tent as she was walking towards it, and her baby was now missing. Several campers peered into the chamberlain's tent and noticed drops of blood on the floor. Murray Habie had been staying with his family in a van adjacent to the chamberlain's tent. He joined the search, taking a torch and heading east of the sand dunes. He crossed the ridge of the dunes and found what appeared to be track marks. He followed them and came across an imprint which looked as though an object had been placed down in the sand.

He summoned the park ranger in charge of the area, Derek Roth, who arrived at the scene at 8.25pm, followed shortly after by senior constable Frank Morris. Ranger Roth believed the imprint resembled the pattern of a knitted or woven garment. According to Lindy, she had placed Azaria in the basket with six blankets and a rug at her feet, as the temperature in the desert dropped significantly at night. She secured the blankets a centimeter from the crown of Azaria's head, creating a warm cocoon wherein only her face was visible. By this point, Azaria had been asleep for around half an hour.

Aidan crawled into the tent and kissed his baby sister Goodnight before tucking himself into his sleeping bag. But when he complained of still being hungry, he agreed to return to the barbecue area so his mother could fix him some baked beans. Aidan crawled out of the tent and waited nearby as Lindy went to the Tirana to fetch the baked beans and a can opener. The pair then headed back to the barbecue area together, with Lindy leaving the tent flap open as she soon planned to go to bed herself.

She told Constable Morris that as she went to check on Azaria, she saw a dingo emerging from the tent. Although she couldn't tell for certain through the darkness, its head appeared to be tilted slightly downwards and it looked as though it was carrying something in its mouth. When it fled, Lindy checked inside the tent, finding Azaria's blankets in disarray. The dummy was amongst them, still warm to the touch. Regan was asleep and unharmed, tucked into his sleeping bag with his face buried in his pillow.

Lindy bumped Azaria's basket which rolled over with ease, confirming her baby was no longer inside. Constable Morris shone a torch into the chamberlain's tent, where the basket, blankets and other items were strewn about. There were several spots of blood on the floor. Poor prints and drag marks were also noticeable in the dirt surrounding the tent. Lindy's story was supported by several other campers who had sighted dingo shortly before Azaria's disappearance.

Earlier that day, the chamberlains visited a local site called Fertility Cave, located at the base of Uluru, which featured Aboriginal rock paintings of sacred significance. While there, Lindy pointed out a dingo who was watching them from a rock above. She noted its behavior as creepy and later remarked, that's almost as if the dog had been casing the baby. That evening at Azaria's rock campground, a dingo followed Sally Lowe as she disposed of food scraps in a rubbish bin, and Michael had thrown a crust of bread to one as he prepared dinner.

The Habie family had been eating dinner at around 8 o'clock when a dingo approached their van's sliding door. They took photos of it before it scurried away into the night. Bill and Judy West were staying at the campsite closest to the chamberlains. Five minutes before Lindy cried out for her daughter, they thought they had heard a dingo's low growl outside from the direction of the chamberlains' tent. 300 volunteers formed a human chain to search the rugged terrain to the north, east and south of the tent.

Aboriginal trackers with expertise in dingo tracking followed the paw prints and drag marks and reached a road where they mixed in with human footprints and were no longer distinguishable. The depth of the paw prints led the trackers to believe the animal had been carrying a load of some kind. The chamberlains remained at the campsite for the duration of this search. Azaria had been recovering from a cold, and given the icy night-time temperature, they believed that if she hadn't died as a result of the dingo attack, it wouldn't take long

before she succumbed to pneumonia or froze to death. People remarked that Azaria was likely dead and that whatever happened was God's will. Aidan was distraught and told some of the gathering campers that a dingo had taken his sister and she was now in the dog's tummy. At one point, an agitated Lindy told the search parties that they were not looking in the correct area and they should be checking under nearby shrubs and bushes. She said, I will have to live with this the rest of my life and I don't want to think that the baby could have been out there and simply because we didn't look in the right

place it would die. Lindy and Michael headed to the area that she had singled out, disappearing for roughly 15 to 20 minutes. At 1.30 am, with no sign of Azaria uncovered, the search was called off due to lack of visibility. The Chamberlains were persuaded to spend the night in a motel. The search for Azaria resumed at 5.30 the following morning. An examination of the Chamberlain's tent revealed several animal hairs on Azaria's basket and blanket as well as blood stains on various items including a sleeping bag,

a floral mattress, a parka and a raincoat. There were also blood stains on Azaria's blanket which had been torn in a way that indicated it had been bitten. There was no blood on the basket nor any trailing out from the tent but a small blood spray pattern was identified on the exterior wall of the tent. Dingoes are strong predatory animals and given that Azaria weighed just 4.5kg, the police believed it was possible that one could have carried her in its jaws. 25 Dingoes were known to frequent Ares Rock campground and some had previously entered

tents searching for food. They had become increasingly aggressive and potentially dangerous. In the two months leading up to Azaria's disappearance, six people had been treated for wild canine bites at Uluru. The day prior, three children had been attacked in separate incidents but none were seriously injured. A dingo had snagged the clothing of a 14 year old girl and her 9 year old brother with its teeth while another child had been bitten and pinned down.

In each of these incidents, the animals exhibited little fear of humans and were slow to retreat. Ranger Derek Roth was aware of an incident that occurred less than two months prior on June 23 in which a dingo seized a 3 year old girl around the head and dragged her from a car, relenting only after the girl's father intervened. The day before Azaria went missing, a woman sleeping in the garden adjoining Ranger Roth's house was approached by a dingo. It removed the pillow from under her head and then attempted to pull a sleeping bag away from her body.

Ranger Roth had become so concerned about the spade of attacks that he had recently sought permission from his park superiors to begin shooting the wild animals. If Azaria had been taken by a dingo as Lindy alleged, the police held strong doubts that her body would ever be found. One officer remarked, There are dingo layers everywhere. If the baby has been taken into a cave, the possibility of recovery is almost nil. Both Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were willing to front news crews to answer questions.

Michael told reporters, Thank you, all of you, for the efforts you are making to find our baby. Although we cannot believe there is hope any longer of finding her alive. I am a man of God, a minister of religion. I know that nothing happens in the world unless the good Lord wills it should be so. I know our baby has passed from us into heaven. My wife and I must not be sad, but jubilant that our little daughter is safe in the arms of Jesus.

He then described how they knew from the sharp, jagged marks in Azaria's blanket that she had been attacked by a very powerful beast. Lindy, who donned a pair of dark sunglasses and held Regan in front of the cameras, explained how she had witnessed the dingo emerge from the tent shortly after putting Azaria to bed. There wasn't time to go and tell people, I just yelled out, the dingo's got my baby. From the moment the Chamberlains checked in at the motel, they made no attempt to rejoin search efforts and did not inquire as to how the investigation was progressing. After two nights, they resigned to their belief that there was no chance their daughter would

be recovered, either dead or alive, and decided to leave the Northern Territory. They spent the morning of Tuesday, August 19 praying in their room, before commencing the drive home to Queensland in their Tarana. They stopped the dare's rock campground on the way so Michael could take some photos which he then sent to a newspaper. Their behaviour was under constant scrutiny, with the Australian public and media viewing the couple's uncharacteristic composure and blind acceptance of Azaria's fate as suspicious. Despite their initial acceptance that a dingo had taken Azaria, investigators were curious

about what they perceived as inconsistencies in Lindy's statements. She reportedly gave conflicting details to multiple people, including whether she saw something in the dingo's mouth or not. Journalists sought comments from authorities on dingo behaviour, with some saying it was highly unlikely that a dingo would take an infant, although they wouldn't rule out the possibility. The spade of dingo attacks in recent months gave credibility to Lindy's claims, however, there was no record of any other child ever being killed by a dingo.

Investigating Sergeant John Lincoln disputed that a dingo would have been capable of carrying Azaria for any great distance. To demonstrate his point, he filled a bucket with sand and attempted to lift it in his own mouth, but was unable to hold it up for longer than a minute. He then challenged his colleagues to do the same. After three days of widespread searching and no sign of the missing baby, it was publicly announced that there was no possibility of recovering Azaria alive. Meanwhile, Park Rangers started shooting dingoes and wild dogs around Uluru, then sent their remains for analysis in the hopes they would reveal something about Azaria's fate.

At 4pm on Sunday, August 24, exactly one week after Azaria went missing, a young interstate family visiting Uluru set out on an afternoon walk to a gully near the rock's base. 35-year-old Wally Goodwin was a keen photographer and planned to capture some decent shots of wildflowers along the way. He kept to a track that was surrounded by dense foliage, while his son and daughter followed behind, and his wife Margo walked on higher ground to keep an eye on the children. The area they were hiking through was situated 400m from Fertility Cave and just over 5km from Air's rock campground. Wally and Margo sided a baby's jumpsuit and a torn-up disposable nappy on the ground near a boulder. The jumpsuit was crumpled and lying

face up, with blood visible around the neckline. It had a series of pressed studs down the front, all of which appeared to be undone, and inside there was a singlet which was also covered in blood. Wally had heard the news reports about Azaria Chamberlain and knew this could be a significant find. Wary of disturbing the items, he made no attempt to look any closer and didn't take any photographs. Instead, he gathered his family and drove to the police station to notify the authorities. Constable Frank Morris, who had been a part of the Chamberlain case from the outset, was on duty when Wally arrived. The men travelled to the side of the clothing together, which was positioned adjacent to a dingo lair. Constable Morris picked up the clothes and

examined them thoroughly, finding two booties stuck inside the feet of the jumpsuit just like Lindy Chamberlain had described dressing Azaria. He then attempted to rearrange the items the way they were found, but struggled to replicate their exact position. Unlike Wally, who believed all of the jumpsuit's press studs were undone, Constable Morris maintained two located at the crotch were fastened. Despite the significant amount of blood on the jumpsuit and singlet, there was very little damage to the clothing itself. The jumpsuit's left sleeve had a large rib and the neckline appeared to have been torn or cut, but it was otherwise intact. The singlet, which was found inside out within the jumpsuit, had two small punctures through its

back, and the nappy was also torn, but contained no blood stains. There was no evidence of human tissue on any of the items. Sand, soil and plant fragments were recovered from both the outside and inside of the fabric, as well as nine animal hairs. The garments were also tested for canine saliva, but none was found. It had rained at all the routes 12 hours before the jumpsuit was discovered, allowing for the possibility that evidence had been washed away. Television networks were granted permission to broadcast images of the garments, which were shown laid out side by side. It led the public to question how a dingo could remove an infant from its clothing while leaving everything relatively intact.

The Chamberlains learned of the discovery through news reports, and when Michael phoned Northern Territory Police, they stated their belief that the clothing belonged to Azaria. Lindy told a radio journalist that she wasn't surprised by the state of her daughter's clothes as she had previously seen dingoes attack cattle and knew what they were capable of. In a television interview, she calmly explained that dingoes used their paws like hands to peel back the skin of their prey, quote, like an orange. Some viewers were troubled by her seemingly emotionless demeanour and ability to discuss her daughter's death in such a matter-of-fact manner.

Two weeks after Azaria's disappearance, Detective Sergeant Graham Charwood was appointed to lead the Chamberlain investigation, taking over from Inspector Michael Gilroy, who prepared the case's first official report to pass on to his successor. In it, he recorded a number of details that he'd uncovered when speaking to a doctor who had treated Azaria shortly before her disappearance. Writing, It is reported that Lindy appeared not to have cared for the baby and at one stage did not feed it for over eight hours. When bringing the baby in for a check-up, she astounded the sisters by having the baby dressed completely in black. A doctor who treated the baby said that she did not react like a normal mother. The same doctor said that he looked up the name

Azaria in a dictionary of names and meanings and found that it means sacrifice in the wilderness. Inspector Gilroy had attempted to find this book at a library to confirm the doctor's claim, but the library's copy had been misplaced. He also noted that he had watched a television interview with the Chamberlains in which Lindy stated that the blanket covering Azaria was thick and would be difficult to cut with a knife. In contrast, Inspector Gilroy believed the rips on the blanket looked more like they had been made by a sharp instrument than canine teeth. Inspector Gilroy reported that police were unable to find any witnesses who could confirm that they had seen Azaria at all a route, but had spoken with individuals who saw Lindy holding

a white bundle against her chest, which they assumed to be a baby. This was an oversight by the police, as they had failed to take the names and contact details of the other campers who had met the Chamberlains at Azaria's rock campground, many of whom saw Azaria. He also remarked that the proximity of Azaria's clothes to Fertility Cave was noteworthy, given that the family had hiked there hours before Azaria disappeared. Consequently, he had asked Constable Morris to check the cave for any evidence of soft earth. Several days later, on Tuesday, September 2, D'Alla Springs Police announced that a coronial hearing would be heard to ascertain the fact surrounding Azaria Chamberlain's disappearance. After taking over the investigation, Detective

Charwood's first action was to obtain registrations for all cars that had been at Azaria's rock campground on the weekend Azaria went missing. The records listed 131 vehicles belonging to people from all over Australia. In order for all of these individuals to be interviewed, a questionnaire was compiled and forwarded to their local police stations. Police also seized a pair of Lindy Chamberlain's tracksuit pants and a sleeping bag from a dry cleaner in her home city of Mount Isa. A friend of the Chamberlains had delivered the pants there after the family returned and had shown the dry cleaner a number of stains in a spatter pattern below one knee. At a wildlife reserve in South Australia, three Dingo's were given meat encased

in disposable nappies to see whether they would be left in a similar manner to Azaria's. The nappies were torn to shreds and damaged far more significantly than Azaria's had been. A follow-up experiment was conducted at the Adelaide Zoo two weeks later, in which a single Dingo was given a goat carcass dressed in baby clothes and a disposable nappy. In this case, the nappy was left intact, receiving just a few perforations. The Dingo tore and chewed on the jumpsuit, but managed to extract the meat without unfastening it. On October 1, 1980, the Chamberlains were formally interviewed by Detective Char Wood. He requested that Lindy be hypnotised to help recover memories, but she refused on the basis of her religion as

she viewed hypnotism as a form of witchcraft. Regardless, Lindy was able to recount the events leading up to Azaria's disappearance in painstaking detail. She described the Dingo as being young, likely still a puppy. Unlike some of the other mangy Dingo's spotted around the campsite, this one had a shiny gold coat and fluffy ears in beautiful condition. When she first saw it, she was about halfway between the camp and the barbecue area. The Dingo was still inside the tent, but its head was exposed and it appeared to have been struggling to haul something out. It began vigorously shaking its head and Lindy thought it was carrying one of Michael's shoes by its shoelace and yelled at the Dingo to drop it and get out.

As Lindy turned away to alert her husband, the realisation dawned that Azaria may have been whimpering earlier because she had been attacked by the Dingo. Quote, Instinct told me that Azaria wasn't there, the dog had her, but my head told me it wasn't possible. Dingo's don't do such things, and this was just beyond the realms of reason. I could see from the door that she wasn't there, but my mind wouldn't accept it. I felt within myself that she was dead because if she was alive, I'd have heard a whimper or a cry or something, unless by some miracle she was unconscious and still alive. Lindy said the Dingo then walked toward the back of the Tarana and took off. Quote,

I couldn't tell you whether it had anything in its mouth or not. My mind refused to accept the thought that it had her in its mouth, although I knew that must be it. She confirmed the only item of Azaria's clothing that hadn't yet been recovered was her white matinee jacket with the pale lemon edging around the collar and calves. It had elastic on the sleeves and three loose buttons on the yoke and could have easily come off separately to the rest of the clothing. Lindy explained the reason she and Michael had given up on the search was because the initial shock had worn off and was replaced by the morbid reality of what they might find if Azaria was recovered. The case attracted an abundance of speculation, with rumours suggesting that the

Chamberlains had decided to kill Azaria because she was unwell or had a disability. Others theorised that one of the Chamberlain's sons had killed Azaria and their parents concealed the crime, though this scenario was never taken seriously by police. With conjecture running rife, the Chamberlains were subjected to an increasing level of harassment. During everyday errands, they encountered strangers debating their guilt or innocence. People drove slowly past their house at night honking their car horns. Tabloid magazines ran salacious headlines such as We Didn't Kill Our Baby, while the family's faith drew severe judgement. Australians who were unfamiliar with Seventh Day Adventism incorrectly believed

the church was tied to the People's Temple of the Disciples of Christ. Two years earlier, People's Temple leader Jim Jones ordered the mass murder of his followers at their Jonestown settlement in Guyana, as covered in episode 60 of Case File. This false connection led to speculation that Azaria had been murdered as a human sacrifice and that Lindy dressed Azaria in black in recognition of her sacrificial status. Lindy was a qualified and talented seamstress. She specialised in making custom wedding dresses and also crafted many of her own outfits. Her bold, colourful designs often drew criticism from her fellow parishioners, who felt it was inappropriate for a minister's wife to dress

so dramatically. Within weeks of Azaria's birth, Lindy had handcrafted or altered upwards of 30 dresses for her little girl, most of them pink. She even made replicas of some for herself so they could don matching outfits. Lindy had actually made the notorious black dress for Regan when he was a baby and Azaria had simply inherited it. On the first day Azaria wore it, Lindy dressed in a matching black and red outfit, with her daughter's dress attracting lots of attention. People seemed to have a strong reaction, either loving or hating it. The public's disdain for Lindy Chamberlain was harsh and unrelenting. She received death threats and people howled at her on the street and called her a witch. On one occasion,

six-year-old Aidan was walking home from school when a woman approached him and insisted he tell her the truth about what had happened to his sister. Lindy spoke out about their mistreatment in an interview, remarking, God has given us the strength to cope with Azaria's death, but going down the street, people are talking about us. She vehemently refuted the rumors that her daughter's death was anything other than a tragic accident. The coronial inquest into the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain began in mid-December 1980, before former policeman turned coroner Dennis Barrett. Media coverage was intense, with sales of newspapers that covered proceedings increasing by roughly

40,000 per day. The Chamberlains returned to Alice Springs to give evidence, as did a number of other witnesses who had been at Ares Rock campsite on August 17. Early on, the coroner noticed many discrepancies between first-hand accounts and initial police reports. While the latter stated that Lindy was a harsh and uncaring mother, those who had witnessed her interact with her children described the 32-year-old as tender and attentive. Despite these claims, public opinion of Lindy remained at an all-time low. Bomb threats were made to the motel where the Chamberlains were staying, and one anonymous critic phoned the court to declare,

I'm going to blow that bitch away. The true meaning of Azaria was discussed in court, with Lindy testifying that she and Michael had chosen the unique name after months of consideration because it meant, blessed by God. A Hebrew studies researcher also submitted a report to the court that dispelled the notion that Azaria meant sacrifice in the wilderness. A report submitted by biologist and dingo expert Les Harris confirmed that studies had shown dingoes were capable of carrying mammals weighing up to nine kilograms over long distances. Observations showed that a solitary dingo could consume a mammal of Azaria's weight in under 20 minutes, or even faster if mated pairs or groups

of immature dingoes were involved. Harris explained that dingoes routinely consumed their prey entirely, making it difficult to identify a location where the feed took place. He therefore concluded that if Azaria had been taken by a dingo, it was highly unlikely any trace of her body would be found more than half an hour later. Dingoes typically digest and excrete their food within 10 to 24 hours, meaning nothing could have been learned by studying the stomach contents of dingoes that were shot and killed after 8pm the day after Azaria's disappearance. Harris also said that dingoes have advanced manipulative skills and cognitive abilities. Quote, the dingo is a natural canard, in fact a wolf, not a dog, which has to practice its

hunting skills on a daily basis and at a very high level of efficiency in order to survive. In terms of strength, speed, agility and reasoning power, they compare more readily with the natural felines, tigers, leopards, et al. It is easier to underestimate the capabilities of dingoes than to overestimate them. He described the dingoes around Uluru as particularly dangerous as they maintained their hunting skills while also being fed by tourists, resulting in a situation where they were not tame yet not wild. He dismissed any experiments conducted with dingoes at zoos and wildlife reserves as captive dingoes exhibit different behaviors from wild ones.

Harris's report concluded that a dingo could have taken a baby, removed its clothing and consumed it whole with ease. During the initial stages of the investigation, the chamberlain's tent was sent to Darwin for forensic testing. Blood spatter had been observed on an exterior wall, but the examining officer failed to notice the stains and placed the tent into storage without any further testing. After the inquest was well underway, the tent was finally subjected to comprehensive forensic testing. Forensic scientist Dr Andrew Scott confirmed there was a small amount of blood on the right side of the tent's exterior, consistent with arterial spray. Due to the

delay in testing the sample, he was unable to determine whether it had come from an animal or human, but was more inclined to believe it was animal blood. The inquest concluded in late February the following year. In an Australian first, Coroner Barrett allowed television news crews to share a live broadcast of his findings to quell the gossip surrounding the case. He detailed the known facts proceeding Azaria's disappearance on August 17, 1980, before concluding that she had died after being attacked by a wild dingo. Quote, In attempting to remove this babe from the tent, the dingo would have caused severe crushing to the base of the skull and neck, and lacerations to the throat and neck.

Such injuries would have resulted in swift death. Neither Lindy nor Michael Chamberlain were found responsible for their daughter's death in any way. However, the Coroner accepted the claims from police that the tears in Azaria's garments were likely caused by a sharp tool such as scissors. He put forth the possibility that a human could have interrupted the dingo as it preyed on the baby, which could explain why her clothing was relatively intact and lacked canine saliva. Barrett suggested that this unknown person may have come across Azaria while she was being attacked, scared the dingo off, and then cut off her clothing in an attempt to save her. Upon realising she was deceased, they then disposed of her body and the

clothing. Soil and vegetation were embedded in the garment's fabric, leading the Coroner to suspect the items had been buried at some point before being retrieved and left out for a passerby to find. The Coroner critiqued conservation authorities at the Uluru Katajuta National Park for failing to take strong action after the previous dingo attacks. Remarking, this case clearly exercises that a choice has to be made between dingoes on one hand and tourism on the other. Tourists in national parks should be able to observe native fauna in its natural state, but on maintain only from a safe distance. He recommended that potentially dangerous animals such as dingoes and snakes either be enclosed or culled from popular areas of the park.

He also criticised the Northern Territory Police Forensic Department for either not observing or not reporting the bloodstaining on the exterior of the Chamberlain's tent, which he felt certain was Azaria's. He said this failure shifted the focus of the investigation at great financial expense and caused the Chamberlain's further suffering. Addressing the family directly, he stated, To you, pastor and Mrs Chamberlain, and through you, to Aiden and Regan, may I extend my deepest sympathy. You have not only suffered the loss of your beloved child in the most tragic circumstances, but you have all been subjected to months of innuendos, suspicion, and probably the most malicious

gossip ever witnessed in this country. I have taken the unusual step of permitting these proceedings to be televised today in the hope that, by direct and accurate communication, such innuendos, suspicion, and gossip may cease. The Chamberlains expressed their relief at the findings outside court. They displayed a poster-sized photograph of Azaria in Lindy's arms to journalists and stated they were looking forward to starting new lives and focusing on their sons. Michael remarked, People who spread rumors have not understood the facts of the case. They will have to make peace with their God. In contrast, Northern Territory authorities were displeased by the coroner's conclusions. The Chairman of the Conservation Commission described

his recommendations as, quote, impossible to implement, as well as being highly debatable as to its desirability. Police and prosecutors were also unhappy with the critique of their forensics unit. Several days later, a police spokesperson told the media that the case was still open but would not be investigated further, quote, unless something comes up. Later that year, British forensic scientist Professor James Cameron of the London Hospital Medical College submitted new information in relation to the Chamberlain case. Professor Cameron had previously worked as a senior forensic medicine consultant to the British Armed Forces and assisted in many high-profile investigations. He had been

unavailable during the first inquest into Azaria's disappearance, but subsequently examined her recovered clothing and determined there was an incision at the neck of her jumpsuit, which he believed was consistent with having been caused by scissors. He also found what he believed to be a small adult human handprint in the blood stains. Professor Cameron claimed there was a distinct possibility that Azaria's clothes had been buried and then later dug up and placed near the walking track to be found. He was of the opinion that a dingo was not involved in the infant's disappearance. On September 19, 1981, a year and one month after Azaria's disappearance,

it was announced that the investigation was being reopened. When informed that this development was due to Professor Cameron's findings, Lindy Chamberlain responded coolly. I didn't know there were any dingo experts in London. The media frenzy was reignited, prompting Northern Territory's Chief Minister and Attorney General Paul Everingham to criticise members of the press who he believed acted like a bunch of vampires in their coverage of the story. The Chamberlain's Tarana hatchback was seized by police for forensic testing, along with various other items that had been in the tent and car on the evening of

Azaria's disappearance. A detective examined the Tarana and found a sticky substance underneath the dashboard. Forensic investigators concluded it was likely a sugary drink or something similar, as blood would have dried within two hours of being shed. However, they later discovered what appeared to be several blood stains throughout other areas of the vehicle, including on and underneath the front passenger seat, on the interior door handles, the car's console, and a metal plate under the dashboard. The spray pattern under the dashboard was deemed to be consistent with fluid ejecting from a small orifice whilst under pressure, such as blood spray from an artery wound. Several items inside the vehicle, including a towel, Michael Chamberlain's camera

bag, and a pair of nail scissors, also contained a blood-like substance. During a search of the Chamberlain's home, police also seized a small coffin that Michael had used as a prop during an anti-smoking campaign at work. Although it was dismissed as having nothing to do with Azaria's case, word of its existence got out and contributed to the ferocious rumour mill. On November 18, 1981, it was announced that based on new evidence, the findings of the previous coronial inquest had been quashed, and a new one was ordered in its place. The second inquest into Azaria Chamberlain's disappearance commenced almost a year after the first, this time before coroner Jerry Galvin. Barrister Dez Sturges acted as counsel and was

responsible for questioning witnesses. He had worked closely with the police over the previous three months and firmly believed in Lindy's guilt, with the central focus of his case being the evidence investigators had recently collated following the seizure of the Chamberlain's possessions. Biologist Joy Kuhl, who had examined the forensic evidence found in the Terana, testified that various stains had tested positive for human blood. DNA testing had not yet been developed, so she had used a screening test to check the molecular content of the blood to determine whether it belonged to an adult or an infant. She was specifically looking for Fetalhemoglobin, a protein that develops during the last

seven months in utero and persists during the first six months of life. Kuhl reported that she had found Fetalhemoglobin in 22 places throughout the Chamberlain's vehicle, as well as on Michael's camera bag and a pair of nail scissors. The blood located inside the Chamberlain's tent, which was initially presumed to have come from the Dingo attack, was confirmed to belong to Azaria. However, with the implication that she might have actually been injured in the car, the presence of blood in the tent suggested it could have been transferred there by someone else's shoes or clothing. As per standard procedure in the laboratory where she worked, Joy Kuhl destroyed the resulting

plates and gels after her experiments were complete, but presented a report of her findings as evidence. When the Chamberlains first returned home following their trip to Uluru, a friend of Lindy's had taken some of their clothing to a dry cleaner. Testimony was presented in court that the friend told the dry cleaner that there were several blood stains on a pair of Lindy's tracksuit pants. The dry cleaner recalled there were approximately 36 spots on the pants from the knee to the calf. The pants had been seized by the police and taken for forensic testing, but scientists had been unable to detect any significant stains on them. Although Lindy was wearing a floral dress at the time Azaria

went missing, it was put forward that she could have changed into the pants and taken her baby into the passenger seat of the car, where she proceeded to slit her throat using the pair of nail scissors. Forensic experts said the blood stains in the car were consistent with the child being held under the dashboard next to the passenger's feet when such an injury occurred, which would have matched the supposed blood stains on Lindy's tracksuit pants. This theory was also used to explain why similar staining hadn't occurred inside the tent. Lindy once again testified before the court. She claimed that she hadn't put the tracksuit pants on until 10pm on the night Azaria disappeared. Prior to that, they had been lying inside the

tent near its entry. She denied that there was any blood on them or ever telling her friend that they were stained with blood. As for the blood in the vehicle, Michael said he was uncertain how it came to be there. The chamberlains had purchased the car almost the brand new in December 1977, and since taking ownership, both of their sons had previously suffered nosebleeds in the car. On one occasion, they had also picked up a hitchhiker who was bleeding following a traffic accident. The inquest was adjourned over the Christmas holiday period, and when it resumed on February 1, 1982, Barrister Des Sturges told the coroner that there was sufficient evidence to prove that Lindy Chamberlain had cut her daughter's throat, and that her husband had been an accessory

to her crime. The next day, coroner Galvin told the courtroom that while the evidence was largely circumstantial, he believed a properly instructed jury could arrive at a verdict. He then formally charged Lindy Chamberlain with the murder of her nine-week-old daughter. Michael Chamberlain was charged with being an accessory after the fact. The couple remained silent and stoic as the news was delivered. To avoid prejudicing any future juries, coroner Galvin chose not to share his full findings with the public. Later that month, he sent a letter marked private and confidential to Crown Prosecutor Peter Tiffin, in which he outlined the evidence and stated his opinions.

He agreed that a dingo was not responsible for Azaria's death, accepting that bloodstaining on the infant's jumpsuit was indicative of her being held by an adult as the act of killing was carried out. He also believed Azaria had likely been buried while still wearing her clothing. While he agreed that the smaller indentations in her clothing were consistent with animal teeth marks, he was convinced that the garments had been cut and torn by a person, and that the jumpsuit's collar had been cut after the bloodstaining had already occurred. As the clothing wasn't strewn about, coroner Galvin found this was inconsistent with an animal being responsible for their positioning. He concluded,

I find Azaria Chamberlain came to her death at Air's Rock on August 17, 1980. Cause of death was extensive and fatal wound or wounds to the neck. He dispelled the rumours that one of Azaria's siblings could have been responsible, by confirming that there was no evidence linking Aidan or Regan to her death in any way. While acknowledging that there was no apparent motive for the murder, and that witnesses described to Lindy's relationship with Azaria positively, coroner Galvin stated, quote, the killing of a child by a mother is not an uncommon happening. Lindy and Michael Chamberlain pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released pending trial

and a collective bail of $10,000. In the interim, the Australian media took to broadcasting old controversial interviews with the couple while openly debating their guilt. One radio station concluded a segment by stating, when the trial goes to court, the world might find out just why Lindy Chamberlain cut the throat of her tiny daughter. Barrister Dez Sturgis, who was of the opinion that Lindy was guilty, expressed his disappointment in the media's conduct as it compromised the likelihood of finding an impartial jury for the high-profile case. Three months before the trial commenced, news broke that Lindy was pregnant. Friends of the Chamberlains told the press that the couple were delighted and were praying the

baby would be a girl. By the time the Chamberlains trial began in Darwin's Supreme Court on Monday, September 13, 1982, Lindy was seven months pregnant. It had been just over two years since Azaria went missing, although the media seemed far more interested in Lindy's unborn child, with reports focusing on the wide range of maternity dresses she wore to court. The trial was presided over by Justice James Muirhead, with 12 Northern Territory residents selected from a panel of 123 potential jurors. Despite the Northern Territory having a higher population of Indigenous residents, all the jurors work occasion. Crown Prosecutor Ian Barker told the court that the key evidence in the form of Azaria's jumpsuit

and the fetal hemoglobin stains found on the front seat of the car would prove that, quote, the dingo story was a fanciful lie, calculated to conceal the truth, which is that the child Azaria died by her mother's hand. The prosecution's stance was that during the time Lindy said she was putting Azaria to bed, she had actually taken her into the front seat of the Tarana and slit her throat using a pair of scissors. She then stored the body in her husband's camera case that was stashed below the front seat. They alleged that Lindy concocted the story about the dingo, and while everyone was out searching for the animal, she and Michael disposed of Azaria's body.

Barker played on the popular opinion that dingoes didn't attack babies, and highlighted that there had been no official documented reports of one ever taking and killing a child. Various authorities were called to support the prosecution's theory, including several forensic and textile experts who gave evidence that the damage to Azaria's jumpsuit was caused by cutting. Professor James Cameron, who had submitted the report that resulted in the case being reopened, presented images of Azaria's clothing taken under ultraviolet light, which he believed showed a pattern consistent with the bloody right handprint of a small adult. London-based odontologist Bernard Sims, who had investigated two dozen dog attacks on humans,

said the blood stains on Azaria's clothing were not consistent with the dingo attack, as such an incident would cause far more copious bleeding. He also said a baby's head was too big to fit into a dingo's jaws. The prosecution's argument also relied heavily on their assertion that no dingo hairs had been found in the chamberlain's tent or on Azaria's recovered clothing. The nine animal hairs from one of Azaria's blankets, which were initially believed to be dingo hairs, were later identified as belonging to a cat. The blood evidence compiled by forensic biologist Joy Kuhl was used by the prosecution to assert that Azaria had been murdered inside the chamberlain's terrana. They argued that the blood appeared to flow in a pattern consistent

with someone bleeding while sitting in the front passenger seat, which ruled out the possibility it had been caused by the injured hitchhiker the chamberlains had previously picked up, as he had been lying in the backseat. Although the blood samples had since been destroyed, Kuhl's direct supervisor, Dr. Simon Baxter, testified to seeing the plates and gels used in her experiments and agreed with her findings. Other experts who had read over Kuhl's laboratory reports also approved of the methods she used and the conclusions she derived. The defense argued that Azaria's death was nothing more than a tragic accident. Two professors of biology took the stand to debunk the prosecution's blood findings,

arguing that Kuhl's testing methods could have produced false positives for fetal hemoglobin, and the bloodstains could have come from a number of sources over the years. In response to Bernard Sims' claim that a dingo couldn't carry a human infant, defense lawyer Andrew Kirkham presented a photo of a dingo successfully holding a baby-sized the doll by the crown of its head, its canine teeth extending to the doll's ears. Upon seeing the photo, Sims conceded that his earlier statement might have been incorrect. In favor of the defense, Dr. H.J. Orems, an expert in dental medicine and surgery from the University of Melbourne, testified that the damage to Azaria's jumpsuit was consistent with

dingo teeth, which have a scissor-like action. The defense also worked to discredit Professor James Cameron by highlighting another high-profile criminal case he had been involved in. In 1972, he had testified against three men who were being tried for the London murder of 26-year-old Maxwell Confaith. In favor of the prosecution, Professor Cameron provided an estimated time of death that was crucial to the case. The defendants were convicted, but were later proven innocent, with Professor Cameron's evidence dismissed as incorrect. Various eyewitnesses who were at Air's Rock campsite on the night of Azaria's disappearance were called to the stand, including Sally Lowe, who had been chatting with the chamberlains at

the barbecue area when Lindy raised the alarm. Sally testified that when Lindy put Azaria to bed, which was the time period the prosecution alleged she had been murdered, she was absent for between six and ten minutes. When she returned, Sally heard a baby's cry coming from the chamberlain's tent, which prompted Lindy to check on Azaria and interrupt the dingo. Ranger Derrick Roth gave evidence of having seen dingo tracks leading away from the chamberlains tent, as well as what appeared to be the impression of a knitted material in the nearby sand dunes, consistent with the fabric of the matinee jacket Azaria had been wearing. Fellow camper Amy Whittaker testified that when the initial search for Azaria was underway,

Lindy and Michael walked off into the bush for between 15 and 20 minutes. The prosecution used her testimony to argue that the chamberlains had taken this time to bury Azaria, but Amy stated she was the one who suggested that the couple take the walk together. Wally Goodwin, who had found Azaria's clothing, also appeared before the court. He criticized the investigators' handling of the garments, stating that their photographs taken at the scene were nothing like the way the clothing was found. Lindy Chamberlain openly wept on the stand as images of her daughter's blood-stained clothing were displayed. Her lawyer asked her to hold her hand against the alleged bloody handprint

that Professor Cameron claimed to have identified on the garment. Not only was Lindy's index finger too long to match the print, but it also appeared to show four phalange bones, while human fingers possess only three. During extensive cross-examination, the prosecution challenged Lindy's statement that Azaria had been wearing a matinee jacket on the night in question. Responding officer Constable Frank Morris said he had no recollection of Lindy mentioning the jacket when her baby was reported missing. They focused on the blood evidence, with Lindy maintaining her previous explanations for how it may have come to be in the vehicle,

adding that Michael often stopped to help roadside traffic victims and may have trailed some of their blood into the car. On the stand, Michael Chamberlain was quizzed about why he had described his daughter's death as the will of God. He said he couldn't recall making the comment, but as a religious man, he believed that God's will is overall. The trial became the most publicized court case in Australian history and was dubbed the Trial of the Century. As it reached its conclusion, prosecutor Ian Barker appealed to the jury's identity as Northern Territorians,

telling them that they knew Dingoes didn't kill human babies. An ABC news article later interpreted this statement by saying, Mr Barker QC could have easily been sitting around a Darwin barbecue with a beer in his hand talking to locals, talking about some crazy idea about Dingoes that Southerners, people from out of town, had dreamt up. In summing up his case, Barker acknowledged that the prosecution had no motive for Lindy's alleged crime, but stated it was simply their job to prove that a murder had been committed. And that, I respectfully submit, is what has been proved.

In his closing address for the defense, John Phillips described the scenario's outline by the prosecution as laughable. He stated that while prosecutors were not obligated to prove a motive, the defense had shown that Lindy Chamberlain was a doting mother who had not suffered from post-natal depression or any other disorder that would lead her to harm her child. Before the jury retired to deliberate, Justice Muirhead clarified that the defense was not challenging the fact that blood was found in the Chamberlain's terrana, but simply questioning whether the tests had accurately proved it contained fetal hemoglobin.

He urged the jury to be mindful that the blood could have come from a number of sources, and it was not the Chamberlain's burden to prove how it came to be there. He also instructed the jury to remember that Sully Lowe had testified to hearing a baby's cry coming from the Chamberlain's tent, and if this was true, it disproved the prosecution's claim that Azaria had already been murdered by that time. The jury deliberated for six and a half hours before delivering their verdict on October 29, 1982. Both Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were found guilty. A reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper who had been following the proceedings

leapt to his feed-in shock and yelled, Bastards, Lindy showed no emotion as the verdict was read, while Michael appeared strained, biting his lip. Just as Muirhead sentenced Michael to an 18-month suspended sentence with a good behavior bond, he told Lindy, who is now eight months pregnant, quote, You have been found guilty of murder by verdict of a jury. There is only one sentence I can pass on you. That sentence is you will be imprisoned with hard labor for life. Lindy Chamberlain was sent to serve her life sentence at the maximum security barama prison in Darwin, where she was one of only six female linmates.

On November 17, 1982, three weeks after her conviction, Lindy gave birth to a baby girl. To prevent the media from speculating over the meaning behind their newborn daughter's name, as they had done with Azaria, the Chamberlains made up her name, Carlia. Lindy reportedly commented, Let them try to make something out of that. The Chamberlains appealed their convictions on various grounds, and two days after Carlia's birth, Lindy was granted bail pending the results of her appeal. She was permitted to live at the Avondale College Center, a seventh-day Adventist church education facility on the New South Wales Central Coast, where Michael was residing with their sons.

It was a self-sufficient community in a secluded wooded area, with approximately 60 teaching staff, 40 ancillary employees, and 530 students, many of whom lived on site. Lindy's limited release outraged members of the public. In a letter to the editor published in the Sydney Morning Herald, one angry citizen wrote, So much for a fair trial. Why waste all those thousands of taxpayers' dollars for two coronial inquests and one trial by judge and jury, and to then allow Mrs Chamberlain bail pending appeal? Our pity must surely go to the convicted persons still in our jails who do not have the support of a church or religious institutions. Why should Lindy Chamberlain be given special

privileges merely because she has had a new baby? One indignant citizen called Lindy an actress and questioned why she could escape a murder conviction while he couldn't get off a traffic fine. Another asked, What sort of berry land are we living in? Meanwhile, the seventh-day Adventists were vilified for their association with the Chamberlains. One church in Melbourne was splashed with red paint, and red paw prints were painted on the footpath leading to its door. In Sydney, a group of Adventist teenagers were chased down the street by a woman who accused them of being child killers. On the New South Wales Central Coast, a sign was placed at the front of one Adventist church which read,

dingo pops for sale, apply within. The hostility only worsened when Lindy told the press that the church had agreed to be guarantor on loans she and Michael had taken out to pay their legal fees, which totaled three quarters of a million dollars. The Chamberlains appealed their convictions to the federal court on 23 different grounds, disputing that the trial judge misdirected the jury in multiple instances and shouldn't have admitted evidence given by certain witnesses. On April 29, 1983, three appellate judges in Sydney unanimously rejected the couple's appeal on all grounds, stating that the jury had been entitled to draw its own conclusions from the evidence presented. Michael held back tears as Lindy kept her gaze to the floor. She was returned

to Berrima Prison in Darwin. The federal court ruling was a source of disappointment for those who supported or sympathized with the Chamberlains. They expressed their compassion and opinions in letters that were published in major publications, prompting legal academics to request they be banned out of respect for the country's legal system. At Berrima, Lindy was so inundated with mail from supporters that the prison facilities struggled to keep up with the influx. To show her appreciation, she started writing a monthly bulletin that was sent out to hundreds of subscribers. In November, the Chamberlains appealed their convictions to the High Court of Australia. Three months later, on February 22, 1984, on a vote of three judges against two,

their appeal was again dismissed and both Lindy and Michael's convictions upheld. Shortly after, Michael announced he was resigning as an ordained minister with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, later telling the media, God will come to my aid. I'm just wondering why it's taking him so long. In one edition of her monthly bulletin, Lindy wrote, The total effect of the last four years on the lives of myself and my family are permanent and far-reaching. No one who has been touched by our tragedy and the subsequent events can claim to have been unaffected. I don't cry myself to sleep much anymore. I just grit my teeth determinedly. Although I've felt broken at times, with God's help I've risen, armed for the fight.

Others haven't been so lucky. Lindy occupied her time in custody with crafts, leatherwork, and weaving. She made belts for her sons, winter outfits for Kalia, and a tapestry for Aidan's bedroom. She composed a poem for Azaria, which read, Not a day has ended with the fading of the light that I have not remembered you, Azaria. Good night. When Azaria went missing, Uluru Park Ranger Derrick Roth recalled an incident eight weeks prior in which a dingo grabbed a three-year-old girl by the head and dragged her from a car. The Chamberlain's defense team had attempted to locate the girl's family to provide evidence at trial, but were

unable to do so. In early 1984, the family finally came forward and confirmed the events. As a result, Ranger Roth penned a letter that was published in the National Times newspaper, calling for an inquiry into the evidence presented at the Chamberlain's trial. It read, Since the incident of Azaria's disappearance, I have heard dingo experts stating that a dingo would not enter tents or attack humans whether adult or juvenile. Having lived at Erzrock for 16 years, I know that the dingoes of this area are conditioned by and to the people. Consequently, their behavior is not that of a true wild animal and not fully understood by anyone. I have no doubt that a dingo is capable of attacking children and the possibility of a

dingo carrying away a baby is therefore quite feasible. I do not think any of us should feel comfortable with the present situation. In response, 31 scientists signed an open letter protesting the conclusions reached by forensic biologist Joy Kuhl. They challenged her assertions that fetal blood had been found in the Chamberlain's vehicle. A public poll revealed 53% of Australians still believed Lindy was guilty, but on May 3, a petition signed by 131,000 individuals in favour of releasing her from prison was presented to the Governor-General. The Chamberlain's lawyer Stuart Tipple had been retained by Lindy and Michael after the first coronal inquest in 1981, and he had represented them in all legal proceedings since. As one of their most vocal

supporters, in June of 1985, Stuart supervised a media campaign which led to the creation of the Chamberlain Innocence Committee. The group featured many prominent members of society who called for the Northern Territory Government to launch a royal commission into the case. They submitted a 40-page document titled The Blue Book, which contained new evidence gathered by Stuart's forensic team, along with an application for a full judicial inquiry into the case. The Blue Book debunked the prosecution's claim that the carts on Azaria's clothing had been made using scissors. It detailed the studies of an associate professor in textile sciences at Kansas State University who examined infant garments that had been chewed on by a dingo.

They displayed neatly sliced carts, consistent with the ones on Azaria's clothing. The prosecution also claimed the nine animal hairs found on Azaria's clothing had come from a cat. The Blue Book clarified that research conducted at the Turnbull Institute in Melbourne concluded two of the hairs were human, one was inconclusive, and the remaining six were canine. Another report showed that one of the stains in the Chamberlain's vehicle that the prosecution argued was bloodspray from Azaria's neck wound was actually a combination of a sticky beverage and soundproofing paint used during the manufacture of the vehicle. During the trial, Joy Kuhl had submitted reports explaining how she conducted examinations on

the supposed blood stains and reached her conclusions. In particular, she detailed that she had used a certain type of antiserum to determine that the blood stains contained fetal hemoglobin. According to the Blue Book, the German manufacturer of the antiserum Kuhl used stated that the antiserum wasn't capable of determining such results, as it didn't respond exclusively to fetal hemoglobin and could also react to the presence of other proteins. On November 12, 1985, the Northern Territory Government rejected the Chamberlain Innocence Committee's application, stating, This campaign has, as its intended effect, the building up of antagonism toward the Northern Territory Government,

which it seeks to portray as hard, cruel, and lacking in compassion. At stake is law and order, and faith in the due processes of a legal system recognised as the fairest in the world. Two weeks later, the government also rejected Lindy's application for early release. That same month, a book was published featuring the first in-depth exploration into the possibility that the Chamberlains were wrongfully convicted. Titled Evil Angels, the case of Lindy Chamberlain, it was written by John Bryson, a barrister who spent four years closely following the case, attending court sessions, and interviewing those involved. The book received critical acclaim, selling out its first print run in just 10 days, and cast a new light on the infamous case.

In a review of Evil Angels for the Age newspaper, famed literary and cultural commentator Dignio Hearn wrote, Bryson demonstrates fairly and conclusively that Lindy Chamberlain is innocent, but his book also probes our society and reveals the warts, prejudice, and superstition lurking beneath our so-called 20th-century sophistication. Two months later, on Sunday, January 26, 1986, 31-year-old British traveller David Brett was exploring Uluru Katajuta National Park alone with the intention to climb Uluru. It was too hot to do so during the day, so he waited until 4pm, hoping the afternoon sun would subside and give way to a cool evening breeze. The facilities in the national park had changed significantly since Azaria Chamberlain's

disappearance, and as David set out on the climb, a park ranger warned him that camping on Uluru was forbidden by the traditional owners of the land. David agreed to adhere to the local customs and continued on his journey. At 7.40pm, two local Indigenous people witnessed him climbing in a forbidden area and reported him to the park authorities. Rangers set out to remove the British tourist from the rock but were unable to locate him and assumed he must have left of his own accord. A week later, a tourist was hiking the base of Uluru when they came across David's body. He had fallen 200m to his death during the climb and his remains had been scavenged by animals. On February 2, park rangers conducted a search of the area in an attempt to recover all of his

bones. The site was only 150m from where Wally Goodwin had found Azaria's clothing years earlier and featured many dingo lairs. Wild dogs had pillaged David's backpack and the rangers located several items of his clothing amongst the dry grass and shrubs. One ranger spotted something buried in the sand and bent over to inspect it. Although filthy, the heat and dry sands of the desert had preserved the item and left it in decent condition. It was a white knitted baby jacket with stiff sleeves and a button hanging from its neck by a thread. This was a significant breakthrough in the Chamberlain case. Lindy had always maintained that Azaria had been wearing a knitted matinee jacket on the

night she was taken by a dingo, but the prosecution dismissed her claim as a fanciful lie. The Chamberlain's lawyer Stuart Tipple received a tip-off about the find from a journalist. He submitted an urgent request to the Northern Territory Police Commissioner for access to the jacket for the purposes of identification. The Chamberlain Innocence Committee urged that forensic examination be carefully monitored with members from both the defense and prosecution present. On February 5, the matinee jacket was shown to Lindy, who broke down in tears and positively identified it as belonging to her daughter. During the murder trial, the prosecution's case had depended on there being no jacket. Its discovery not only disproved their assertions

that Lindy was a liar, but also provided an explanation for the lack of saliva on the jumpsuit, as the jacket would have been in direct contact with the dingo's mouth and absorbed the majority of it. The Chamberlain Innocence Committee called for immediate police intervention. Michael Chamberlain told reporters he and his wife intended to fight for an inquiry into the investigation, stating, I would rather face the grave than give up the fight to clear my name and to that of my wife. 12 days after Azaria's jacket was discovered, a royal commission into the Chamberlain case was announced. The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory directed Lindy be immediately released from prison on remission, allowing her unrestricted

access to legal advisers in preparation. Regardless of the outcome, the Northern Territory Attorney General confirmed that Lindy would not be returning to prison, subject to the usual conditions of good behavior. Michael was ecstatic, telling the Sydney Morning Herald, I have been emotional for the last four or five years. Now I am out of my mind. We will be fighting tooth and nail till we have cleared our names. A police escort followed Lindy from Barama Prison to New South Wales, where she was reunited with her family at the Avondale College Centre. Every tree along the driveway had been tied with a yellow ribbon, and a banner above the gates welcomed her home.

Carlia, who was now almost four years old, was returned to her mother's care. The media and public had a strong reaction to Lindy's release. Many remained convinced of her guilt and were outraged, while the number of her supporters also grew. Some people complained of the ongoing legal costs taxpayers would have to front, while others pointed out that the case served as a reminder of the fallibility of the Australian justice system, and the potential dangers had capital punishment not already been abolished. In a letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald, one reader stated, It is not a question of whether Lindy Chamberlain has paid her debt to society, but how society can possibly pay its debt to Lindy.

The Royal Commission commenced later that year and concluded 14 months later. Justice Trevor Moorling found that the prosecution's case relied heavily on expert testimony that Dingoes were highly unlikely to enter a tent and attack a child, but acknowledged they had not taken into account that the Uluru Dingoes were unlike typical wild Dingoes found elsewhere. He highlighted that local park rangers believed it was not only possible that one of the native Dingoes could take a baby from a tent, but had been concerned that an attack of such a nature might happen. Justice Moorling rejected assertions that Lindy Chamberlain was a bad mother or might have been suffering from postnatal depression, stating she was a loving and responsible parent

who had never manifested any symptoms to suggest she might be violent towards one of her children. He believed the grief Lindy displayed following Azaria's death was genuine, and that her renaissance in assisting with the search for her daughter could be explained by her early acceptance that Azaria was already deceased and her need to remain close to her two surviving children. In regards to the findings of infant blood under the dashboard in the Chamberlain's car, Justice Moorling accepted it was actually soundproofing pain. He also challenged the prosecution's timeline of events, pointing out that their case revolved around a 5-10 minute window in which Lindy had to return to the tent, ensuring Aiden didn't follow

her, change into her tracksuit pants, take Azaria to the car, find a murder weapon, cut Azaria's throat, allow sufficient time for Azaria to die, hide the body, clean up at least some of the blood in the car, change out of her tracksuit pants, obtain a can of baked beans for Aiden, return to the tent and deliberately leave blood spatter there, collect Aiden and return to the barbecue area. Justice Moorling declared that the prosecution had provided no evidence of the Chamberlain's guilt and absolved Lindy and Michael of any responsibility in their daughter's death. He concluded it was reasonable to believe that Aidengo had entered the tent and carried Azaria away with the intention of consuming her. In response, the Northern Territory Government

offered the Chamberlains a pardon. While this granted them clemency, it didn't officially clear them of their guilt. Lindy told the Sydney Morning Herald, I'm not interested in a pardon for something I haven't done. A pardon means absolutely nothing to me. Somebody up there must be confusing granting a pardon with squashing the conviction, and it's not even remotely the same. The following year, in September 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with Justice Moorling's findings and quashed the Chamberlain's convictions. A film adaptation of John Bryson's book Evil Angels was released shortly after,

starring Meryl Streep as Lindy and Sam Neal as Michael. The film divided Australian audiences. Lindy maintained it was a 95% accurate depiction of the events. Lindy and Michael sought restitution of $4 million from the Northern Territory Government for the pain, suffering, and loss of wages caused by their wrongful conviction. In 1992, the Attorney General announced that Lindy and Michael would receive compensation of $900,000 and $400,000 respectively. The amount was significantly lower than the Chamberlains had requested. When explaining why, a spokesperson for the Attorney General said the Northern Territory Government had no legal obligation to make the payment at all.

The Sydney Morning Herald was highly critical of both the amount and the time it took for the Chamberlains to be financially compensated, with one editorial stating, whatever was eventually paid to the Chamberlains was always going to be a token arbitrary amount, since no money could truly compensate them for what they have suffered. The reprehensible attitude of the Northern Territory Government reflects what is still a significant sentiment against the Chamberlains in the community. It is just one of the tragedies of the Chamberlain case that the Northern Territory Government has shown itself incapable of leading instead of being swayed by the mob and afraid of taking unpopular decisions when justice and

fairness required that. With the Chamberlains' convictions overturned, the second coronal inquest into Azaria's death in 1981 was deemed incomplete, and a third less involved inquiry was ordered to take place in December 1995. Coroner John Lowndes shared his findings, reiterating that neither Lindy nor Michael were involved with Azaria's disappearance in any way. However, he wasn't reasonably satisfied that her death could be proven to be the result of a dingo attack, and consequently recorded an open finding, noting the cause of Azaria's death as unknown. Coroner Lowndes acknowledged this finding would undoubtedly lead to further speculation that the nine-week-old's death was non-accidental, but clarified.

What is important, however, is that any such speculation, inevitable as it is, can never disturb the unassailable fact that as a matter of public record, the law of the land holds Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain to be innocent. A decade later, in 2004, the Azaria-Chamberlain case made headlines again. 78-year-old Melbourne resident Frank Cole said he had been at all a rue on August 17, 1980, when he and his two companions encountered a dingo carrying a baby girl in its jaws. The baby's face and ear were badly mutilated and her head was covered in blood. Frank claimed he shot the dingo and the three men washed and cleaned the baby, but it then occurred to them that they might be tampering

with evidence, so they placed her body in a bag. Frank returned home ahead of his group, and the other two men said they would take the baby to the police. He wasn't sure what happened next, as they made a pact to never speak of it again. He believed one of the men may have buried the baby in the backyard of their suburban Melbourne home. Frank explained that he didn't come forward earlier out of fear he would be charged for firing a gun in a national park, but after suffering a serious accident, he felt he had to clear his conscience. Frank's two companions had since passed away, meaning there was no one to validate his claims. The home on the alleged burial site had since undergone major extensions, and its new owner

told police they could only dig on his property if they produced tangible evidence of what they expected to find. An officer who was involved with the original investigation told ABC News that although the story was feasible, he held doubts about its authenticity. Lindy Chamberlain stated that if Frank's claims were true, she wouldn't hold any grudges against him for not coming forward sooner. Michael Chamberlain concurred, saying, I do forgive the man if he is telling the truth, and I would be happy for him to not be prosecuted because he's carried a very big cross. Both the Northern Territory and Victoria Police agreed to investigate Frank's claims, but with nothing to substantiate his story,

it was dismissed by the coroner, and ultimately went nowhere. The following year, in 2005, a 25-year-old woman came forward to the Alice Springs Police claiming to be Azaria Chamberlain. Erin Horsberg had been raised in foster care, but said she became suspicious about her real identity after she started having flashbacks to being carried in the jaws of a dingo at nine weeks of age. She had long thought she bore physical similarities to Lindy, a belief that was further exacerbated when she gave birth to a son whom she thought was the spitting image of Azaria. Erin told ABC Radio that she didn't have any other memories from infancy, but explained, I've got scars on my hands where dogs have bitten me and my foster mother couldn't

tell me why. Her claims were ultimately dismissed. The Chamberlains continued campaigning to clear their names over the years. Although the Third Inquest had returned to their presumption of innocence, they sought full exoneration and wanted the official cause of Azaria's death changed from unknown to dingo attack. On August 17, 2010, exactly 30 years after Azaria's disappearance, Lindy published an open letter on her website, LindyChamberlain.com, calling on the Northern Territory Government to amend her daughter's death certificate. In response, the Northern Territory Attorney General advised that the power to make this change lay with the coroner's office. The following year, Northern Territory Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Morris announced that new

revelations regarding dingo behaviour had emerged and she would be opening a Fourth Inquest into Azaria's death. That commenced in February 2012 with local newspaper NT News running a large photograph of Lindy on its front page beneath the headline She's Back. The proceedings centered around a series of dingo attacks that had occurred against children at Fraser Island, a popular tourist destination off the coast of Queensland. Between 2001 and 2011, a nine-year-old boy was killed by two dingoes on the island, a four-year-old girl was severely bitten, and a three-year-old girl suffered puncture wounds to her leg. A 2011 study of dingo scats was also submitted, which confirmed that, contrary to popular belief, dingoes preyed on larger mammals,

such as wallabies. In June 2012, Coroner Morris handed down her findings. Both Lindy and Michael were present to hear the outcome, along with their son Aidan, who was now in his late 30s. Coroner Morris announced she was satisfied that Azaria had died as a result of being attacked and taken by a dingo. She apologized to the chamberlains for all they had endured, stating, I am so sorry for your loss. Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child. Spectators applauded and the chamberlains wept before an amended death certificate for Azaria was made available for the family. Outside the courthouse, Lindy told reporters, we are relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga. Michael thanked the coroner for her

finding, remarking, This has been a terrifying battle, bitter at times, but now some healing and a chance to put our daughter's spirit to rest. By the time Lindy and Michael were legally vindicated, the couple had separated and both since remarried. Lindy had released an autobiography titled Through My Eyes. Later retitled, The Dingoes Got My Baby, in which she explained the divorce was the result of issues that existed within their marriage prior to the loss of their daughter. The Azaria Chamberlain case captured the Australian media's attention like no other in the country's history, with the rampant publicity shaping the narrative of the story. In the early days of Azaria's disappearance,

the press reported the incident as a dingo attack without question and supported the chamberlains wholeheartedly. But several weeks into the investigation, unsubstantiated rumors gained coverage and fuelled the public debate over the Chamberlain's guilt. Explaining why she chose to write a book about her ordeal, Lindy said, Someone has to have the courage to tell what happens to innocent Australians who are being torn in shreds to feed the megalomaniac media machine for our daily news. It's never been real the way the media reported it. It's never been true. I'd read the newspapers and the reports would bear no resemblance to what actually happened.

Lindy's book provided candid answers and personal insights into many misinterpreted, misleading and mistaken details about the case. She discredited speculation by revealing the innocent explanations for many of the damning pieces of evidence used against her. To account for why traces of blood were found on the nail scissors in the glove box of the Tarana, Lindy recalled she had used the scissors to cut a piece of Azaria's dried ambilical cord when she was five and a half weeks old. Afterwards, she wiped the scissors clean and didn't think she had left any blood on them. 30 years after the trial, ABC news reporter Tony Eastley wrote an article reflecting on his experience covering the case and the power it held over the Australian media,

stating, It was a circus. The trial was a tabloid editor's dream. There was Australia's mysterious outback, wild dingos, a small camping ground in the shadows of the giant monolith so central to Aboriginal dreaming, and a pastor and his young wife, both members of a relatively unknown and certainly misunderstood religion. Lindy was particularly vilified, with the focus shifting from her daughter to her demeanor, her choice of outfits, and her attractiveness. In November 2014, Lindy participated in a New York Times documentary on the case, telling the filmmakers, If I smiled, I was belittling my daughter's death. If I cried, I was acting. The point is, until you go through something, you have no idea how you yourself will react. I had no idea how I'd

react until it happened to me. The prosecution's dubious arguments at trial also had a profound impact on perceptions of Lindy. Dura Havon Kane empathised with the mother when she first saw her in court, as her own son had been bitten by a dingo when he was a baby. But she was soon convinced by the prosecution's evidence, and her opinion swayed towards Lindy's guilt. After the trial, when Lindy was behind bars, Havon became convinced she had made a huge mistake and was deeply troubled. When Lindy was released, the two women met in person and formed an ongoing friendship. Havon told Weekly News Magazine Newsweek that she is still plagued with guilt and believes that all Australians who condemned Lindy should feel the same way. Quote,

Because if the dingo is guilty, then so is Australia. An article in the Age newspaper explored the gendered nature of the criticism that surrounded Lindy, stating, Many of those who believed Lindy Chamberlain guilty maintained that the baby had been killed in some kind of obscure sacrificial ritual, so it's deeply ironic that the trial itself turned out to be a sacrificial ritual on a national scale. Those who claimed that the name Azaria meant sacrifice in the wilderness spoke more truly than they knew. They simply mistook the identity of the victim. To this day, Lindy Chamberlain's commonly misquoted cry that a dingo ate my baby is infamous

around the world. In the United States, the phrase has become something of a pop culture phenomenon and has been employed as a punchline in many famous television shows, including The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Frasier. Experts have speculated that foreigners may not have understood the seriousness of the event associated with the phrase and were amused by the word dingo due to their unfamiliarity with Australian Aboriginal languages. Over the years, there have been numerous adaptations of the case for stage and screen, including an opera, a miniseries, and a play inspired by the 20,000 letters Lindy received over the decades.

The National Museum of Australia in Canberra hosts more than 350 artifacts relating to the case, including Azaria's infamous black dress souvenirs sold during the trial and courtroom sketches. Lindy helped curate the collection, which led to further public criticism as some accused her of exploiting her experiences. In 2014, the museum purchased the family's yellow Tirana hatchback, with the museum director explaining the collection would ensure the Chamberlain story was never forgotten. In a subsequent interview with ABC News, Michael Chamberlain stated, What I want them to note in a nutshell is that this car has survived, not only as a symbol of a

gigantic forensic stuff up, but ultimately as a symbol of a triumph of Australian justice. On January 9, 2017, Michael Chamberlain passed away at the age of 72 after a year-long battle with acute leukemia. His memorial service was held at Avondale College, where more than 650 mourners gathered to pay their respects. Pastor Justin Lawman, president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in northern New South Wales, said, Michael was a real advocate for the rights of the local people. He will be deeply missed. Allaroo has undergone significant changes since Azaria's disappearance. In the early 1970s, it was decided that all accommodation within the National Park

be removed over time in order to minimise adverse environmental effects and camping was gradually phased out. In 1983, Ares Rock Campground, where the Chamberlain stayed, was permanently closed. Climbing Allaroo was permitted for many years, despite being against the culture and law of its traditional owners, the Ananoo people. In October 2019, the climb was officially abolished, with thousands of people flocking to the area to scale the ancient site one final time before it closed. Today, Lindy lives in the Hunter Valley with her husband, Rick. She has written books on grief and forgiveness and gives seminars and lectures on a variety of topics such as stress, prison,

religion, and the responsibilities of the media and the law. Reflecting on the case on her website, Lindy writes, This is the story of a little girl who lived and breathed and loved and was loved. She was part of me, she grew within my body, and when she died, part of me died, and nothing will ever alter that fact. This is her story and mine. How could such a scandal occur in Australia, a country that prides itself on its concept of the fair go? There appears to be no single reason that created the spark that started the Inferno, but once it was started, there were many who were happy to see the flames of bigotry and intolerance fanned. Surely there must be a useful lesson in there somewhere.

In Lindy's book, The Dingos Got My Baby, she reflects on the birth of her long-awaited daughter and the powerful impact Azaria made in the nine weeks they shared together. She writes, Sometimes, for hours at a time, I would sit up at night just holding Azaria in my arms and cuddling her. How glad I am that I did. I have got that special time to look back on. She knew she was wanted, she loved her family, she responded to them all very happily, and despite her tender age, it was obvious that she knew she was loved. you