Solved Lindy Chamberlain - 'A dingo took my baby'

[Kurve]

Going back some time now to August, 1980 when 9 week old Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from the family's tent in a camping ground near Uluru.

Lindy her mother cried that a dingo had taken her baby. People were sceptical, rumours were flying around. The Chamberlains were weird, unsympathetic characters, they had a strange religion, the mother wasn't acting 'normal', she dressed the baby in black, Azaria meant 'sacrifice'.

At the first inquest it was found that a dingo did in fact take her baby, this was overturned. A second inquest made no finding but bound the Chamberlains over for trial. On faulty forensics evidence Lindy was found guilty of murder and her husband Michael guilty of concealing the crime. A heavily pregnant Lindy got life and went to jail delivering her fourth child, a daughter one month later having to give her up.

Lindy's conviction was eventually quashed and she was released in 1988 after a matinee jacket Lindy had always insisted Azaria was wearing at the time and prosecution accused her of lying, was found many miles away at the base of the rock. IMO no amount of money could ever compensate her for what our system put her through, she received $1.3 million for false imprisonment.

It wasn't until 2012 though, thirty plus years later when a fourth inquest determined a dingo (again) had taken Azaria and the public more generally appeared to reluctantly accept it but I still hear some people say they don't believe a wild dog would sneak into a tent and drag a baby out.

Azaria was an infant, just yesterday a dingo actually entered a family's campervan and dragged a toddler out by the neck. Not until the parents gave chase was he released. Poor little kid had a fractured skull and puncture marks all over his head. There's a pic in the link below, it's quite graphic and could be distressing so I won't post it.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/na...lls-fraser-island-attack-20190602-p51to5.html

There's been numerous books written about this and a movie with Meryl Streep playing Lindy who is now 71 years old, Michael Chamberlain died in 2017. Lots of reading.

Wiki

Dingo Trial

"The scientist shouldn't become too adventurous, too competitive. The trouble is, we're all so human. I've never seen a case more governed by human frailties."
--Dr. Tony Jones, government pathologist in the Chamberlain trial

 

[GreyCrow]

I think my judgement , and most people I knew, was clouded by the reporting of the case. The lack of emotion is the one clear thing that swayed a lot of people ie if that was my baby I would be losing it etc

Ironically the reporting and whispers of this today would be a million times worse with the rise of the internet.

 

[Quivorir]

Well. This whole time I thought her name was Lindsay, not Lindy.

 

[imho]

i kept up with azaria's case through media, and despite the media, never doubted lindy's account
...i even wrote her once, expressing my belief.


imho

 

[sprockets]

Going back some time now to August, 1980 when 9 week old Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from the family's tent in a camping ground near Uluru.

Lindy her mother cried that a dingo had taken her baby. People were sceptical, rumours were flying around. The Chamberlains were weird, unsympathetic characters, they had a strange religion, the mother wasn't acting 'normal', she dressed the baby in black, Azaria meant 'sacrifice'.

At the first inquest it was found that a dingo did in fact take her baby, this was overturned. A second inquest made no finding but bound the Chamberlains over for trial. On faulty forensics evidence Lindy was found guilty of murder and her husband Michael guilty of concealing the crime. A heavily pregnant Lindy got life and went to jail delivering her fourth child, a daughter one month later having to give her up.

Lindy's conviction was eventually quashed and she was released in 1988 after a matinee jacket Lindy had always insisted Azaria was wearing at the time and prosecution accused her of lying, was found many miles away at the base of the rock. IMO no amount of money could ever compensate her for what our system put her through, she received $1.3 million for false imprisonment.

It wasn't until 2012 though, thirty plus years later when a fourth inquest determined a dingo (again) had taken Azaria and the public more generally appeared to reluctantly accept it but I still hear some people say they don't believe a wild dog would sneak into a tent and drag a baby out.

Azaria was an infant, just yesterday a dingo actually entered a family's campervan and dragged a toddler out by the neck. Not until the parents gave chase was he released. Poor little kid had a fractured skull and puncture marks all over his head. There's a pic in the link below, it's quite graphic and could be distressing so I won't post it.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/na...lls-fraser-island-attack-20190602-p51to5.html

There's been numerous books written about this and a movie with Meryl Streep playing Lindy who is now 71 years old, Michael Chamberlain died in 2017. Lots of reading.

Wiki

Dingo Trial

"The scientist shouldn't become too adventurous, too competitive. The trouble is, we're all so human. I've never seen a case more governed by human frailties."
--Dr. Tony Jones, government pathologist in the Chamberlain trial

As per the dingo dragging the baby from the tent, just because something has never happened before (it may have for all we know) it doesn't mean it can't happen. There's a first time for everything.

 

[Kurve]

i kept up with azaria's case through media, and despite the media, never doubted lindy's account
...i even wrote her once, expressing my belief.


imho

She must have really appreciated that. I read somewhere she became a well respected mentor in prison, so not as unapproachable and stony as she appeared.

 

[Kurve]

See? It was really even a line on Seinfeld!

 

[FR0GGY]

Did the parents stay together?
Quite frequently it seems on time of traumas the parents go their separate ways.

 

[Kurve]

Did the parents stay together?
Quite frequently it seems on time of traumas the parents go their separate ways.

Lindy and Michael divorced. It was really sad because they looked like a really tight family unit, so happy together before Azaria disappeared.

 

[Catoggio76]

Something about Mount Isa and a 1981 search of their Torana for blood...

 

[deanc]

I think my judgement , and most people I knew, was clouded by the reporting of the case. The lack of emotion is the one clear thing that swayed a lot of people ie if that was my baby I would be losing it etc

Ironically the reporting and whispers of this today would be a million times worse with the rise of the internet.

I recall the media going nuts over the story for years, mainly because the bizarre hypothetical presented by Lindy Chamberlin explaining her baby daughters disappearance, that simply seemed unbelievable/implausible...

However, I doubt it would attract any greater 'MSM coverage' today, given there were no racist/misogynistic/homophobic/discriminatory etc. perceived or actual elements to this case - which seems to be the focus with most of our current news and current affairs.
But given the creativity and unaccountability of most journalism today, they would probably invent some related narratives...

 

[TheJanuaryMan]

Something about Mount Isa and a 1981 search of their Torana for blood...

If you ever want to read about how utterly and totally botched scientific "evidence" was in a murder trial - it is worth tracking down how farcical the information provided by scientists about alleged "blood stains" in the Torana were. They presented evidence of there being blood in the car based on very rudimentary testing when it was conclusively proven later that sound deadener sprayed under the dashboard was the source of the "positive reading". Some of the so called experts the prosecution presented in the case were completely and totally discredited years later.

The single most preposterous and terribly flawed verdict ever delivered in an Australian murder trial. Where media bias and reporting angles played a massive role in public opinion. Thank goodness both Lindy and Michael both lived to see their names completely exonerated and an accurate death certificate released. Unfortunately the whole business cost them their family unit.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

If you ever want to read about how utterly and totally botched scientific "evidence" was in a murder trial - it is worth tracking down how farcical the information provided by scientists about alleged "blood stains" in the Torana were. They presented evidence of there being blood in the car based on very rudimentary testing when it was conclusively proven later that sound deadener sprayed under the dashboard was the source of the "positive reading". Some of the so called experts the prosecution presented in the case were completely and totally discredited years later.

The single most preposterous and terribly flawed verdict ever delivered in an Australian murder trial. Where media bias and reporting angles played a massive role in public opinion. Thank goodness both Lindy and Michael both lived to see their names completely exonerated and an accurate death certificate released. Unfortunately the whole business cost them their family unit.

And..the same forensic scientist, Joy Kuhl, was in charge of the Peter Falconio/Bradley Murdoch case.

 

[Catoggio76]

And..the same forensic scientist, Joy Kuhl, was in charge of the Peter Falconio/Bradley Murdoch case.

Interesting, i still think Falconio and Lees were doing an out of town narc deal.

 

[Kurve]

More dingo attacks on the formerly named Fraser Island, now K'gari.

A 10-year-old boy has been attacked and dragged under water by a dingo on K'gari (Fraser Island) less than two weeks after another was euthanased following a string of attacks, including one on a French tourist.

Boy, 10, dragged under water by dingo after French tourist, others attacked on K'gari (Fraser Island)

A young boy is the latest to fall prey to a dingo on K'gari, where thousands of tourists are expected to flock for the mid-year break. Authorities say the animals are exhibiting a concerning "level of dominance".

www.abc.net.au