There have been many interviews commemorating the 40-year anniversary, including the documentary “Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story” that aired on Australian television. and ran into the tent to check on her children. [9] The coroner considered the Morling Royal Commission's report enquiring into the correctness of the convictions against Chamberlain along with submissions made on behalf of the Chamberlains, and returned an open verdict in Azaria's cause of death, or, insufficient evidence by the prosecution that failed to meet the required standard of proof for conviction. He was led to believe they were following the trail of a dingo carrying a heavy object believed to be Azaria's body. The tragic death of a baby girl in outback Australia that at one point in time became a T-Shirt slogan, a punchline. Lindy Chamberlain Has Critics Captivated NC | Documentary Details . Now, four decades on, 7NEWS Spotlight have new details on the famous case - including the secret police tapes you were never meant to hear. Specifically, he wrote, "After examining all the evidence I am unable to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Azaria Chamberlain died at the hands of Alice Lynne Chamberlain. Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story Ep. 17 Chamberlain's first daughter, Azaria, was born 11 June 1980. [31] In 1990, the Rank Strangers' recording of their song "Uluru", which supported the Chamberlains and called for compensation to be paid to them, finished in the final five of the Australian Country Music Awards in Tamworth, New South Wales. His archival footage forms part of the documentary. There is no weight to the argument that the subject scissors were unable to cut clothing as this was after the stud had been removed from the scissors to enable certain tests. It’s been 40 years since terrified mum Lindy Chamberlain told the world a … 10. By an indictment presented to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in September 1982, Chamberlain was charged with Azaria's murder. [11][22] On 12 June 2012, an Australian coroner made a final ruling that a dingo took baby Azaria Chamberlain from a campsite in 1980 and caused her death. There is evidence to support that when comparable scissors are used to cut through blood that blood would be deposited on the cutting edge. [16] This finding underscored inconsistencies in the earlier blood testing, which, along with the later-recovered matinee jacket from a dingo lair area, had given rise to the Morling Royal Commission's doubts about the propriety of her conviction. [9][12] From the day Azaria went missing, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain maintained a dingo took their child. [5][8] The Supreme Court quashed the findings of the initial inquest and ordered a second inquest in December 1981, with the taking of evidence concluded in February 1982. There is evidence provided by fluorescent examination to suggest the presence of a palm print of a small adult right hand and some evidence of the presence of a left hand caused by a person holding the child when that person’s hands were contaminated with wet blood. When she was in the tent she observed a pool of blood in the tent about 15 cm by 10 cm (6 by 4 inches).[10]:p. He claimed to have been called by the Roff to help him and the Aboriginal tracker to follow dingo paw prints and scrape marks in the sand in a westerly direction. The Lindy Tapes is a documentary six-months in the making that uncovers stunning new evidence in the now infamous Chamberlain case. Neill has remained a staunch defender of Australia’s most maligned family, lending his voice and support to a new documentary, Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story. 9. In reaching the conclusion that there was a reasonable doubt as to the Chamberlains' guilt, Commissioner Trevor Morling concluded that the hypothesis that Chamberlain murdered Azaria had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt. "I now know that the Aboriginal's account of following these tracks west that night has been denied by rangers and the Aboriginal's account of this incident has not been accepted. Her baby Azaria was taken from a campsite by a dingo - and Lindy was put on trial for murder and imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit. No-one noticing alleged blood on Chamberlain's clothes in the hours after the disappearance was purely fortunate. The Lindy Tapes: New documentary reveals the lingering bigotry against the Chamberlains. 11. 8. The clothing was not subjected to heavy rain as there is evidence that such heavy rain would have adversely affected the bloodstaining on the clothing and this is not the case. Australian composer Moya Henderson wrote the opera Lindy to a libretto by Judith Rodriguez. Lindy Tapes Unseen: More lost video and secret audio Credit: Supplied. "[18] He noted that, "Indeed, the evidence affords considerable support for the view that a dingo may have taken her. [23][24] Morris apologised to the Chamberlain family while an amended death certificate was immediately made available to them. The two-part documentary sheds new light on the tragedy and allows Lindy, her sons Aidan, 46, and Reagan, 44, and daughter Kahlia, 37 – who was born in 1982 in Royal Darwin Hospital after Lindy was found guilty of Azaria’s murder – to share their side of the story. [citation needed], The purpose of the royal commission was to enquire into and report on the correctness of the Chamberlain convictions. La découverte d'un morceau de vêtement du nourrisson en 1986 va relancer l'affaire, et entraîner la libération de la mère Lindy Chamberlain après quatre années d'incarcération. This lack of presence of saliva and dragging is inconsistent with a dingo carrying the body a distance of some four kilometres. “This is a full forensic analysis of the police investigation,” Hitchcock said. The prosecution case was circumstantial and depended on forensic evidence. "[10], Although expert opinion varied as to whether the clothes damage could have been caused by a dingo some took the view that it could have been. In 1986, Ray Martin interviewed Lindy Chamberlain, who had been accused of killing her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, while camping at Uluru in 1980. [17], In acquitting the Chamberlains in 1988, the Supreme Court found that the alleged "baby blood" found in the Chamberlains' car, upon which the prosecution so heavily relied, could have been any substance, but was likely that of a sound deadening compound from a manufacturing overspray (which contained no blood). [8] Five days later, on 7 February 1986, with the discovery of Azaria's missing jacket supporting the Chamberlains' defence case, Chamberlain was released from prison, and her life sentence was remitted by the Northern Territory Government. [10] However, police Morris, the first police officer to examine the clothes after Goodwin located them, gave evidence that only the top four buttons were undone and the singlet was inside it. “So she put on this neutral face - and it all ran together in the end and ended up with this huge miscarriage of justice.”. Network 10 have announced they will screen the new documentary A Dingo’s Got My Baby: The Lindy Chamberlain Story.. [11] Coroner Elizabeth Morris said that the new evidence in relation to dingo attacks on infants and young children had helped convince her to reopen the investigation. He produced photographs of dingoes enveloping the head of a baby-sized doll in its jaws.[10]:p. They don’t. Five words that will forever divide a nation. Half way to the tent she thought she saw a dingo emerging from the tent having difficulty getting out of the tent and shaking its head vigorously. Photo / Supplied. [16], After the Chamberlains were acquitted by the Supreme Court in September 1988 and their convictions overturned, a third inquest in 1995 took place, with the coroner's report stating that it was a "paper inquest" rather than a full inquest since there was little new evidence and the second inquest was never fully completed. He stated that he picked up the clothes to check the inside for human remains and then returned it to the ground and photographed it. “I knew the moment she was born they were going to take her off me. Another appeal against her conviction was rejected by the High Court in February 1984. She moved to Australia with her family in 1969. Early on in the case, the facts showed that for the two years before Azaria went missing, Uluru chief ranger Derek Roff had been writing to the government urging a dingo cull and warning of imminent human tragedy. After the blood had dried the two top studs were undone prior to the clothing being buried whilst containing the body of the child. [14], In committing the Chamberlains for trial, the coroner who performed the second inquest and recorded findings as to the cause and manner of Azaria's death, stated that although the evidence was, to a large degree, circumstantial, a jury properly instructed could arrive at a verdict; with regard to the clothing evidence, he surmised that the Chamberlains knew dingoes were in the area, attempted to simulate a dingo attack, recovered Azaria's buried body, removed her clothing, damaged it by cutting, rubbed it in vegetation, and deposited the clothes for later recovery. [9] Azaria's clothing was found only 30 metres (98 feet) from a dingo's den, although no-one, including the chief ranger and his deputy, was aware of the den at the time.[9]. In the 1983 Australian television movie about the case, Who Killed Baby Azaria?, Chamberlain was played by Elaine Hudson; the movie aired on Network Ten. And Azaria’s grieving parents were put under the microscope for every comment and reaction. Alice Lynne "Lindy" Chamberlain-Creighton (née Murchison; born 4 March 1948) is a New Zealand-born woman who was wrongfully convicted in one of Australia's most publicised murder trials. 9 week old baby Azaria Chamberlain disappeared on the night of 17 August 1980 on a camping trip at Uluru (Ayers Rock) in central Australia. On the night of 17 August, Chamberlain reported that the child had been taken from their tent by a dingo. In this harrowing preview clip, Lindy recounts a conversation she had with a key witness at the campground, Judy West, on the night Azaria went missing. [19][28] In 2012, the coroner's final report identified that a dingo was the cause of death.[29]. Network 10 has announced the screening of the documentary A Dingo’s Got My Baby: The Lindy Chamberlain Story.The announcement came during an interview with Lindy Chamberlain on The Sunday Project.. This two-part event premieres … In the second inquest, concerning the clothing evidence alone: 1. With the nation’s news tightly locked on to the investigation, it became an ongoing trial by media. ", He also wrote that because the evidence for the death-by-dingo hypothesis was never developed "I am unable to be reasonably satisfied that Azaria Chamberlain died accidentally as a result of being taken by a dingo. Another witness who entered the tent that night, police Constable Frank Morris, gave evidence that there were only a few drops of blood on a couple of blankets and a sleeping bag in the tent. The jumpsuit was completely done up by studs to the neck which remained closed while the child was bleeding. She then later returned to the tent and immediately claimed that she saw a dingo taking her baby with evidence implicating a dingo being purely coincidental. Vegetation contamination on the clothing is inconsistent with vegetation found at the scene and inconsistent with the likely contamination which would have occurred if the clothing with a body in it had been carried by an animal. Roff noted that dingoes in the area were becoming increasingly aggressive, approaching and sometimes biting people. “The cops put her up, they leaked information to the press, and then these other small factors came into play. The Chamberlains did not own a dog. Accused of killing her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, while camping at Uluru in 1980, she maintained that she saw a dingo leave the tent where Azaria was sleeping. “They were Seventh-day Adventist - not much was known about the church in those days. “You will understand how this miscarriage of justice happened,” said 7NEWS investigative journalist Denham Hitchcock. [8] An appeal to the Federal Court against conviction was subsequently dismissed. ‘A dingo’s got my baby’. Miranda Otto played Chamberlain in the 2004 Australian television mini-series Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story, which aired on the Seven Network. [13], The initial inquiry, held in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, by Alice Springs magistrate and coroner Dennis Barritt in December 1980 and January 1981, supported the Chamberlains' account of Azaria's disappearance, finding a dingo took the child. He collected samples but they were not tested.[10]:p. A new 7NEWS Spotlight documentary is revealing the secret police tapes you were never meant to hear. Almost 40 years since the tragic death of baby Azaria Chamberlain at Uluru, her mum Lindy Chamberlain is finally able to let go of the terrible past that’s haunted her for so long. A new documentary: Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story tells not just the story of Lindy and her fight to clear her name for a murder she did not commit, but of her three surviving children, and the tragic loss they suffered as their mother was snatched from their lives. “These are the innermost workings of that detective team that worked on that case, and what it shows is that they fitted Lindy Chamberlain up for this crime. “Lindy herself, she didn’t know how to react going into court, so she ended up putting on a solemn face when she walked in, because as she tells me, if she smiled then people would think she was taking it lightly. [10], Tourist Max Whittacker gave evidence that he attended a search later on the night of the disappearance with people including the head ranger and an Aboriginal tracker. [9], A scientific witness located blood on the wall of the tent. The court also noted that as DNA testing was not advanced in the early 1980s, the expert testimony given by the prosecution at trial and relied on by the jurors was reasonable evidence at the time, even though it was ultimately found to be faulty. Evidence that a dingo took Azaria Chamberlain, Claims of human interference with clothes, CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (, Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story, The Trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain: A Chronology, The Trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain ("The Dingo Trial"), "Using the Chamberlain Case to explore evidence in history", "Scientists in the Dock Lawyers Scientists and the Prosecution of Offenders", Reference Under S.433A of the Criminal Code by the Attorney-General for the Northern Territory of Australia of Convictions of Alice Lynne Chamberlain and Michael Leigh Chamberlain. 1 It was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Australian history. Her second daughter and fourth child, Kahlia, was born in November 1982. In Lindy Chamberlain: A True Story, Lindy and her family tell their story for the first time and critics are raving about it. It was argued that the absence of saliva was not remarkable as a witness gave evidence of heavy rain in the area. Chamberlain gave evidence that she always ensured that singlets were not inside out. Air Date: Thu 24 Sep 2020. 4. 16, Police Detective Sergeant John Lincoln gave evidence that he took photographs of large paw prints a few centimetres from Azaria's cot and found what was probably blood outside the tent. The clothing was found adjacent to a path near the base of a rock and adjacent to a dingo’s lair. “Even some of the witnesses from the time, there are parts of their story that still remain untold. Hear the truth of what happened that fateful night and the devastation that followed the Chamberlain family for years to come. [4] In 1992, the Australian government paid Chamberlain $1.3 million in compensation. The clothing of the deceased child had been buried prior to its finding and probably contained the body of the child when buried. A family friend, Mrs Ransom, gave evidence that Chamberlain had always wanted a girl.[10]:p. Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story Ep. [7] In 2007, Chamberlain spoke out in support of the parents of Madeleine McCann, and said she would be willing to talk to the McCanns. [10] Canine hairs were located in the tent and on Azaria's jumpsuit. [20] After 32 years of intense media interest and public excoriation, the Chamberlains stated they remained unsatisfied with bare acquittal and presumed innocence, and were keen to finally, and definitively, determine how their daughter died. Add to my Shows. Further, marks on nappy fragments were similar to marks resulting from a dingo on another nappy that was used for testing purposes. [6] She was known as "Lindy" from a young age. On the night of August 17, 1980, on a family camping trip to Uluru, Lindy Chamberlain’s world fell apart when a dingo took her baby Azaria from the family tent, and the little girl from nine weeks was never seen again The Chamberlain story is one that captured Australia’s imagination like almost no other before or since. But in the upcoming Channel 10 documentary series, Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story, a family lawyer has shared the full story behind that interview and the 'Lindy' it presented to the world. [10] The singlet that had been placed back in the jumpsuit was inside out. “It ruined a family, it ruined a woman’s life, and still to this day, people still out there think that she is guilty.”. Lindy Chamberlain says she is still ‘howled at’ by strangers on the street on Sunday Project . She gave no indication of being stressed when she took Azaria and indicated that she was putting her to bed. 14, The prosecution's expert testimony for forensic evidence included that of James Cameron, a scientist who had also given crucial evidence in a case in England which was later overturned when his expert evidence was proved wrong. Single holes or indentations which appear in the clothing could be consistent with teeth marks of an animal but the absence of tissue stains in conjunction with those holes make it inconsistent with an animal holding the body of the child. Soil type of a PH found on the clothing is consistent with the PH of the soil at the camp and also with the consistency of the soil in clothing and at the site and is inconsistent with the type of soil and PH in the area in which the clothing was found. Shortly after her conviction, Chamberlain was escorted from Berrimah Prison under guard to give birth to her fourth child, Kahlia, on 17 November 1982, in Darwin Hospital, and was returned thereafter to prison. Scientist Dr. Andrew Scott agreed that the spray mark of blood was consistent with a dingo carrying a bleeding baby. Lindy Chamberlain appears in new Channel 10 documentary about her daughter’s disappearance, AzariaSource: Channel 10 . Hear the truth of what happened that fateful night and the devastation that followed the Chamberlain family for years to come. Her baby Azaria was taken from a campsite by a dingo - and Lindy was put on trial for murder and imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit. Web Extras. In an exclusive new documentary, sit down with Lindy herself 40 years on, to discover the full, true story. Although the commission was of the opinion that the evidence afforded considerable support for the dingo hypothesis, it did not examine the evidence to see whether it had been proved that a dingo took the baby. Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story After 40 years, Lindy Chamberlain and her family tell their story about what happened to baby Azaria. On 29 October 1982 the Chamberlains were both found guilty as charged. Web Extras. “It’s not just the police and their investigation, but witnesses. In the documentary, Denham also interviews scientists about the evidence - and there were photos that were omitted from the trial completely. Share. [7] At the time their daughter Azaria went missing, Chamberlain's husband served as minister of Mount Isa's Seventh-day Adventist church.[8][9]. Her conviction was overwhelmingly based on forensic evidence, which is highly relevant to the issue of creation and evolution. IMAGES supplied. She also must have somehow done it without her husband's knowledge or he was also incredibly daring given that he left his children in her care afterward and he told the police that he had given them the wrong camera case and then gave them the one that was allegedly used to conceal the body.[9][12][16]. “If she frowned, people would think she was cold-hearted. Chamberlain was convicted on 29 October 1982,[1] and her appeals to the Federal Court of Australia,[2] and High Court of Australia,[3] were dismissed. 17 August, 1980. Scissors were found in the Chamberlain’s car on which there was present human foetal blood staining on the cutting edge and on the hinge areas. 15 However, the amount of blood was disputed. In the new two-part documentary Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story, premiering at 7.30pm Sunday on Network 10, Lindy Chamberlain and her family share their side of the story. Alice Lynne Murchison was born in Whakatāne, New Zealand, the daughter of Avis and Cliff Murchison. On 7 February 1986, after the discovery of new evidence, Chamberlain was released from prison on remission. In the 1988 film Evil Angels (released as A Cry in the Dark outside Australia and New Zealand)[30] the role was played by Meryl Streep, whose performance received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in 1989. [25], Chamberlain published Through My Eyes: an autobiography in 1990. The story of Lindy Chamberlain is without a doubt the most famous case in Australian legal history. Watch the full story above Lindy Chamberlain spent more than three years in prison before being released in 1986. 14 She also counted on her son not noticing she had taken Azaria and returned without her and asking her publicly where she had taken Azaria. She and her family were members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and she married an Adventist pastor, the New Zealand-born Michael Chamberlain, on 18 November 1969. 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