Two month old Australian baby Azaria Chamberlain disappeared on the night of 17 August 1980 on a camping trip with her family. Her parents reported that she was taken from their tent by a dingo.

Her disappearance sparked the most publicised trial in Australian History as her parents Lindy Chamberlain and Michael Chamberlain were tried and convicted of her murder in 1982 under conditions that could be described as trial by media. They made several unsuccessful appeals; but new evidence eventually led to the release of both Lindy and Michael Chamberlain. The story has been made into a movie and there have been numerous books about the case.

Contents

1 The Disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain 2 Coroner's Inquests 3 The Case Against Lindy Chamberlain 4 Appeals 5 Release 6 Media involvement and bias 7 Evil Angels 8 Subsequent events 9 Popular media 10 References

The Disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain

Michael Chamberlain, his wife Lindy and their three children, left Mount Isa, Queensland in August 1980 and drove to Uluru for a camping holiday. They arrived on the evening of Saturday August 16.

On the night of August 17 1980. Lindy Chamberlain reported Azaria had been taken from their tent, where she had been sleeping in her bassinette, during the night by a dingo. Three hundred people formed a human chain during the night and searched the sand dunes near the camp site. Despite this, Azaria Chamberlain was never found.

One week later, Victorian tourist Mr Wallace Goodwin, discovered Azaria's heavily blood-stained singlet, jumpsuit and nappy.

Coroner's Inquests

The initial Coroner's inquest into the disappearance was opened on December 15 1980 before Mr Denis Barritt, SM. On February 20 1981, in the first ever live telecast of Australian court proceedings, and the first court hearing convened at Uluru, Mr Barritt reported that the likely cause was a dingo attack. In addition to this finding, Mr Barritt also concluded that subsequent to the attack, the body was taken from the dingo and disposed of by an unknown method by persons unknown.

Police and prosecutors, skeptical that a dingo could be responsible, moved for a further inquest. This second investigation, was held in September of the same year. Based on ultra-violet investigations of the jumpsuit that Azaria had been wearing on the night she disappeared by Dr James Cameron of the London Hospital Medical College, the new finding was made that Azaria had been killed with a pair of scissors and held by a small adult hand until she stopped bleeding.

The Case Against Lindy Chamberlain

The Crown alleged that Lindy Chamberlain had cut Azaria's throat in the front seat of the family car. The key evidence supporting this allegation was the jumpsuit and the finding from the second inquest, as well as a forensic report claiming to find fetal hemoglobin in blood stains in the front seat of the Chamberlain's 1977 Torana hatchback. Fetal hemoglobin is present in infants six months or younger; Azaria Chamberlain was nine weeks old at the time.

In defense, eye-witness evidence was presented of dingoes seen in the area on the evening of 17 August 1980. All witnesses claimed to believe the Chamberlain's story. One witness also reported hearing a baby's cry after the time when the prosecution alleged Azaria had been murdered. Evidence was also presented that adult blood also passed the test used for fetal hemoglobin.

The defense's case was rejected by the jury and Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder on 29 October 1982 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Michael Chamberlain was found guilty as an accessory and was given an 18 month suspended sentence.

Appeals

An appeal was made to the High Court in November 1983. Asked to quash the convictions on the ground that the verdicts were unsafe and unsatisfactory, the Court refused the appeal by majority in February 1984. The mixed findings of the judges though, gave encouragement to Lindy Chamberlain's supporters.

Release

Azaria's matinee jacket was discovered in early 1986 and led to the case being reopened. On September 15 1988, Lindy Chamberlain and Michael Chamberlain were acquitted of all charges related to the case. The acquittal was based on a rejection of the two key points of the prosecution's case and of bias and invalid assumptions made during the initial trial.

Media involvement and bias

The Chamberlain trial was the most publicised in Australian history. Given that most of the evidence presented in the case against Lindy Chamberlain was later rejected, the case is now used as an example of how the media and bias can adversely affect a trial.

Public and media opinion during the trial had been significantly against the Chamberlains. They were heavily critised for being Seventh-day Adventists and for showing little emotion during the proceedings. It was rumoured that Azaria was a name from the Bible meaning sacrifice in the desert. Some suspected Lindy Chamberlain of being a witch based on her tendency to wear black.

This, combined with scepticism that a dingo could be capable of taking a baby, created an environment in which the jury may have been less likely to believe the Chamberlains' testimony.

Evil Angels

The story has been written into many different books and accounts. Perhaps the best known is the novel Evil Angels published in 1985. In 1987 this was made into a movie of the same name (released in the United States as A Cry in the Dark) starring Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain.

Subsequent events

In 1995 a third inquest into the death by Coroner John Lowndes delivered an open finding, leaving the case officially unsolved.

In July 2004, Frank Cole, a Melbourne pensioner, claimed that he had shot a dingo in 1980 and found a baby in its mouth. After interviewing Mr Cole on the matter, police decided not to reopen the case.

Popular media

Oz, the werewolf and sometime beau of Willow in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in a band named Dingoes Ate My Baby, referring to a well known quote from the movie Evil Angels.

Elaine, a character in Seinfeld, once said, in a heavy Australian accent, "Maybe the dingo ate your baby."

Many references have also been made in The Simpsons. In the episode 'Bart Vs. Australia,' Bart says "Hey, I think I hear a dingo eatin' your baby." In the episode 'Lisa Gets An "A"', Lisa becomes addicted to a game called Dash Dingo which makes reference to a baby.

References

• CONVICTIONS OF ALICE LYNNE CHAMBERLAIN AND MICHAEL LEIGH CHAMBERLAIN (1988)
• ALICE LYNNE CHAMBERLAIN and MICHAEL LEIGH CHAMBERLAIN And: THE QUEEN (1983)
• CHAMBERLAIN v. THE QUEEN (No.2) (1984)
• Chamberlain Case (High Court Project)
• Negotiating the Meaning of a Scientific Experiment During a Murder Trial and Some Limits to Legal Deconstruction for the Public Understanding of Law and Science by Gary Edmund
• A QUESTION OF INNOCENCE: FACILITATING DNA-BASED EXONERATIONS IN AUSTRALIA by Lynne Weathered
• Azaria's blood - Evaluating Forensic Evidence and the Azaria Chamberlain Case (Abstract)
• Brian Johnstone, All the makings of a classic whodunnit, The Age, 30 October 1982.
• AAP, Close Azaria case for good now: Lindy, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 October 2004.