Lindy Chamberlain, Baby Azaria, and a Dingo — Australia 1980
What Everyone Believes is Not Always Correct…
Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is winter in Australia. Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain was born on 11 June 1980. Two months later her parents, Michael and Lindy, took Azaria on a family camping trip to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
On 17 August, while Lindy was cooking dinner, she heard a child scream. Running to the family tent, she saw a dingo rush out. The baby was not in her crib. Her brother Reagan (4) was still asleep.
Uluru — Ayers Rock
A famous Australian landmark, this huge sandstone formation in Australia’s Northern Territory is 348 meters (1142 feet) high and 9·4 kilometers (5.8 miles) long. Geologists estimate its age at around 600 million years.
The rock is sacred to Aboriginal peoples, who have a complex history, dating back more than 50,000 years. Those living in North Central Australia are mostly Anangu peoples, experts at living in the outback.
Around the rock are caves, convenient dens for local dingoes.
The dingo (Canis lupus dingo)
The link between humans and dogs is thousands of years old. We can’t be certain, but probably people saw a use for the hunting skills of wolves, and later developed the dog. Wolves prefer to avoid people. Dogs are friendly, intelligent and playful. Zoologists differ on where dingoes fit into this.
There is fossil evidence of dingoes in Australia from 4,000 years ago, but they could have been there far longer. Their origins are uncertain, but dingoes were present in 1788, when the first convicts arrived.
Back at the National Park, August 1980
No-one but Lindy saw the dingo leave the tent. When things happen quickly, it can take time to process what we see. She and her husband alerted local authorities, but extensive searches found nothing.
One week later, a tourist found Azaria’s bloodstained baby suit, four kilometers from the campsite. Lindy said the baby also wore a jacket, which was not found.
Over 300 people searched for Azaria; many noticed that Michael was calm and didn’t always participate in searches. Lindy appeared cold and hostile. The most likely explanation is response to trauma, and their religious belief that all events were “God’s will.”
In the first inquest, Coroner Barritt accepted the dingo story, but said the baby suit looked “tampered with.” The Northern Territory Supreme Court ordered a second inquest, in September 1981. This referred to “suspicious markings” on the baby suit.
Investigations continued, and rumors grew.
Confirmation Bias
When we run with any erroneous theory, we either ignore contradictory facts, or adapt them to fit.
Despite ample evidence that she was a good mother, the media and public decided Lindy killed her baby, and the story developed its own momentum.
The police also appeared convinced of her guilt, removing one of their best officers from the case, and insisting the baby’s jacket never existed.
Michael and Lindy were Seventh Day Adventists, a Protestant group believing in sin, salvation and the authority of the bible. Michael was a pastor in this church, which was not well-known in Australia and aroused suspicion.
Someone claimed the name “Azaria” meant “sacrifice in the wilderness.” (I checked: in Latin, “Azaria” means “the Lord sustains and guides me;” in Hebrew it means “strength of God.” No mention of sacrifice.)
In 1980, biologists knew no record of dingoes attacking people. But animal behavior can change (an influx of tourists, with food, could alter hunting habits) and everything happens for a first time.
In fact, since 1978 Uluru’s Chief Ranger, Derek Roff, had asked the government several times for a cull of dingoes, which were becoming numerous and increasingly aggressive.
After the trial, the campaign continued
In February 1982, the couple were arrested. At trial in October both pleaded not guilty, but the jury believed the prosecution, that Lindy killed her baby and Michael simulated the dingo attack to hide the crime.
The “evidence” was circumstantial.
Lindy was sentenced to life in Berrimah Prison. In November 1982, she gave birth to another daughter, Kahlia, at Darwin Hospital, then was returned to prison. Michael, as accessory to murder, got an 18-month suspended sentence.
The media named Lindy the “most hated woman in Australia.” Research in 1984 claimed she “dressed provocatively and did not visibly grieve.” Various polls showed that between 77% and 90% of Australians believed her guilty.
Because they didn’t like her.
There were even jokes about this tragedy: “A dingo ate my baby” became a catch phrase as far away as Ireland. I remember people saying it, in reply to any unconvincing comment. But there was something we did not know:
Lindy was telling the truth
In January 1986, British tourist David Brett fell while hiking in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. When searchers found his body a week later, they also found a baby’s jacket in a dingo’s den. It was Azaria’s; the jacket the police denied existed.
Lindy was released. In 1987 a Royal Commission, led by Commissioner Morling, concluded her guilt was not “beyond reasonable doubt” (the standard for criminal cases). In 1988 the Northern Territory Supreme Court quashed the convictions.
The case unravels
The “evidence” was re-examined. “Bloodstains” found in the Chamberlains’ car were actually of chemical origin. The bloodstained neck of the baby suit could have resulted from a dingo biting the baby.
Further dingo attacks occurred, including a nine year old child killed by a dingo in 2001. Someone finally asked aboriginal people for their comments; they answered that a dingo is not like a dog, but a wild animal.
A third inquest was held in December 1995, at the request of the Northern Territory Commission, and a fourth in 2012 officially confirmed that Lindy’s account was true.
The couple divorced in 1991; both have since re-married. In 1992, Lindy was compensated Aus$1.3 million and legal fees, by the Australian government.
She continued to fight for justice until 2013, when Azaria Chamberlain’s death certificate was finally amended to state she was killed and taken by a dingo. It was 33 years since the horrific camping trip.
Younger Australians still apologize to Lindy for the cruelty of their parents’ campaign against her.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Chamberlain-Creighton
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/naturaleza/extrano-canido-llamado-dingo_16392
The tragic saga of Azaria Chamberlain (60 Minutes Australia 2000)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW6vv4aPAxQ
