Azaria Chamberlain
It’s Sunday morning, breakfast time in the Chamberlain household. I’m waiting for my toast and eggs and Michael Chamberlain hands the paper to his eldest son to see if they’ve made the news. Aiden starts the ritual of flicking through the pages. The paper’s full of Sydney Olympics stories.
It’s the year 2000. For a while it seems the Chamberlain family faded from view. This is, obviously, not your average family.
My cameraman colleague and I were in pre-production of a documentary about Michael Chamberlain and his long road to near-normality after being found guilty of being an accessory to the murder of his baby daughter Azaria at Ayers Rock in 1980.
Continue reading "It’s no joke that a dingo got the Chamberlains’ baby" »
If things had been different Azaria Chamberlain would have turned 32 yesterday. But instead of celebrating the achievements of the defining years of her adult life, her parents will mark the end of a long and personal road to justice.
After 32 years of scrutiny and four inquests, the landmark case was finally given closure today by NT coroner, Elizabeth Morris who found that after all, it was the dingo that took nine-week old Azaria from the Northern Territory campsite on 17 August 1980.
You’d like to think the relief will be palpable for Lindy and Michael, who have both re-married, with Lindy living a new life in the United States. Their lives have been inextricably shaped by the tragic events of that day and shared a journey you would not wish on anyone.
Continue reading "We’re sorry for your 30 year fight for justice and truth" »
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fiermasia says:
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Thetruthwouldn'thurt says:
Oh for goodness sake. I knew I shouldn’t have clicked on this one. None of us, NONE, have “reviewed the evidence”. Not all of it. Only what we’ve read/heard. We judge on our experiences, some which go in favour of the dingo, some in favour of Lindy. Everything everyone is… Read more »
It is easy to understand why the parents of Azaria Chamberlain, Lindy and Michael, who have long since gone their separate ways, and who were long ago acquitted of involvement, wish the death certificate to be altered to reflect that a dingo took their daughter.
But is another inquiry needed?
In December, a Northern Territory coroner, Elizabeth Morris, said the family had provided her with “information” about dingo attacks on children. After appointing an investigator to review the material, Morris decided to reopen the inquest.
Continue reading "Death by dingo: The 32-year old saga that has to end" »
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Duane says:
@IMitchy I understand this is an opinion piece. The topic though is a matter before the Court - albeit Coronial - and as a Senior Reporter for a global News outlet, one would have thought, especially in respect to this subject, Mr Toohey may have waited before adding to his… Read more »
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St. Michael says:
Here we go. This is the old Ward “Third Man Hypothesis”. The “ranger’s dog” or “ranger’s dingo” theory has been tried on quite a bit. There’s a webpage about the subject here: http://www.lindychamberlain.com/files/The ‘Third Man’ Hypothesis - Innocence Regained.pdf In brief: the “ranger’s dog” theory was about as bizarre as… Read more »
For anyone born before about 1978 the Azaria Chamberlain case will never lose its fascination - I could read about it all day.
But the thing that so clearly stands out in today’s News Ltd report about the “Chamberlain files” is that the women jurors in the 1982 murder trial of Lindy Chamberlain were so much harder on her than the men.
According to The Daily Telegraph: “The three women - a teacher and two housewives - all voted for conviction while at least four of the nine men had to be persuaded that she was guilty.”
Continue reading "Why are women so much harder on each other" »
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convinced says:
@loz - I stayed in the same camping ground in 1975 on a school trip and we never saw or heard a dingo or any other canine in the vicinity. The only 4 legged creatures we encountered were a plague of hopping mice…..that invaded our tents and coach,, and were… Read more »
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JL says:
“I, for one, never believed Lindy guilty, for the simple reason that there was no way I would kill my child, therefore why would, or could, any other woman?” - seriously??? There are many, many, many cases all over the world where women have killed their own children. There are… Read more »
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