After the sun had set on August 16th, 1980 at Ayers Rock in Central Australia, 32-year-old Lindy Chamberlain ran from the tent at her campsite towards the communal barbecue area, screaming that a dingo had her baby. Nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain, who’d been put to sleep just a few minutes earlier by her mother, Lindy, had disappeared from the tent. Lindy watched as a dingo ran out of their tent, carrying something in its mouth. A search ensued, but the baby’s remains were never found. Was a wild dingo to blame for the death of the baby girl, or were her parents covering up a murder?
Who Were Lindy and Azaria?
Alice Lynne Murchinson, known to friends and family as Lindy, was born on March 4, 1948 in Whakatane in Northern New Zealand to Cliff and Avis Murchinson. When Lindy was almost two years old, her family moved to Victoria, Australia. Lindy’s father was a pastor and they often moved churches yearly. She spent her childhood in Victoria and went to college in Benalla, Australia. Lindy worked odd jobs during vacation to earn money: waitress, shop assistant, clerk, receptionist, and bookkeeper.
On November 18, 1969, she married Michael Leigh Chamberlain, a pastor at a nearby church. Not long after marrying, the newlyweds moved to Tasmania where Michael pastored at several different churches. Four years after marrying, Lindy gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son named Aidan Leigh. In 1974, Lindy received a certificate in dressmaking, tailoring, and drafting from a technical college. The family of three then moved to Queensland where Lindy gave birth to their second son, Reagan Michael. Lindy specialized in making wedding dresses, while Michael continued his job as a pastor. The family continued to move around Australia, then settled in Mount Isa. On June 11, 1980, Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain was born, the couple’s first daughter. The family of five was happy. They had no idea that their lives would be catastrophically changed during their upcoming vacation.
The Vacation
On Wednesday, August 13, 1980, the Chamberlain’s left their home in Mount Isa to travel southwest to visit one of Australia’s biggest natural attractions, Uluru. Also known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is a massive sandstone rock monolith located in the Northern Territory’s Aboriginal area of Australia. It’s approximately 348 meters (or more than 1100 feet) high and is known for its beautiful color changes from gold to red based on the changing sunlight. The site holds campgrounds and different caves and areas to hike and explore.
The family arrived at Uluru late in the evening on the 16th. The Chamberlains parked and settled in an area near several other campers. Also in close proximity to their vehicle and tent was an Aboriginal camp, a general store, and a clinic. The family went to sleep, tired from their drive, and woke up the following morning, ready to explore. Michael took the boys, Aidan, 6, and Reagan, 4, to climb around smaller portions of the rock. Lindy took 9-week-old Azaria with her to explore an area known as the Fertility Cave. After walking out of the cave, Lindy recalled that she saw a wild dingo watching her and the baby, and that it made her very uncomfortable.
For those not familiar, dingoes are animals that are often compared to canines or wolves, though scientists have found that they are an entirely different species. Though they look similar to dogs, dingoes have a wider head and longer snout. They are predators, and particularly prone to attacks on livestock. They’re mainly found in Australia.
As the day came to an end and the sun set, the Chamberlains joined several other campers at the communal barbecue area, not far from their tent and vehicle. They spoke to another couple that had an infant with them, Greg and Sally Lowe. Sally said that when she walked to the trash can to throw away dinner trash, she saw a dingo following a few steps behind her. Not long after, Michael and Aiden threw a piece of bread crust to a dingo that was near their barbecue. Finally, Lindy announced that it was time for her to put “bubby” (Azaria) to bed. She took the baby back to their tent, placed her in her bassinet, and left her in the tent with her brother, Reagan, who was asleep.
Lindy returned to the barbecue area approximately 10 minutes after stepping away. Not long after, a loud infant cry was heard, then stopped suddenly. Lindy ran to her tent to find Azaria gone, and a dingo that appeared to be carrying something leaving the tent. She cried out, “the dingo’s got my baby!” Murray Habi, a man whose campsite was next to the Chamberlain’s, grabbed a flashlight and ran off in the direction that Lindy indicated the dingo had run off.
Habi had been an amateur animal tracker for several years and was able to pick up a set of dingo tracks that appeared different from the others. The tracks were heavier, which indicated that the dingo was bigger or carrying something. Habi followed the tracks for approximately 100 meters, then said it appeared the dingo had put down its load. There was a depression in the sand, which Habi said appeared to be an impression of a knitted gown, with a wet spot beside it. He continued to follow the tracks before losing them by a car path.
Police quickly arrived on scene and the first investigator noted spots of blood in the tent and paw prints leading away from the tent. As Lindy and Michael spoke with police, almost 300 people formed a human chain in an attempt to find any sign of Azaria. Unfortunately, the baby was gone.
The Investigation
As the days went on, hope dwindled that Azaria would be found alive. Police immediately were suspicious of Lindy and Michael. They didn’t believe that a dingo could’ve taken Azaria from the tent, and proceeded with their investigation with this belief in mind. It wasn’t long before the public became suspicious of the Chamberlain’s story. The media said that it was an exotic location, a beautiful woman, and suspicious circumstances.
The Chamberlains did several interviews, the first being the day after Azaria disappeared. Michael said that he saw spots of blood on the tent and the sharp, jagged marks on the thick, knitted blank and felt that it must’ve been a quick event. The public did not feel right about the Chamberlain’s lack of emotion during interviews. This raised the index of suspicion that the couple were lying about what happened to their daughter. They couldn’t understand how two people could be so composed after what they said had happened.Meanwhile, while the public was pushing for the Chamberlain’s to be further investigated, the police were making mistakes as they continued to search for clues. During an interview with the police’s forensic officer who processed the scene, the officer said that she had to rely on the newspapers to write her reports, that she didn’t really know what she was doing. (These were basically direct quotes. She seemed like a ding dong.) She said that she’d been working in forensics for just three months.
Witnesses who seemed to corroborate the Chamberlain’s story did not feel like their accounts were being taken seriously. Murray Habi, the man who’d initially tracked the dingo, reached out to police to show them two photos that he’d taken on the evening of Azaria’s disappearance. From his van, Habi had taken two pictures of a dingo that came within six feet of him. Habi said these photos were taken approximately 30 minutes before Azaria went missing. He said that police plainly told him that they were only looking for information that would help convict Lindy. These photos were never shown in Lindy’s trial.
The first four investigators assigned to the Chamberlain case had differing opinions about what they believed happened to Azaria. John Lincoln strongly believed that Lindy was lying. He said there was no possible way that a dingo could carry a 10 pound baby several hundred yards. He reportedly left the room and returned with a bucket filled with ten pounds of sand, which he held in his mouth for less than a minute before challenging the other officers to do better.
The police investigating tape recorded everything, including interviews and conversations that took place at the station. During Lindy’s first interview, the detectives hounded Lindy because she couldn’t say for certain what she saw in the dingo’s mouth. She said that the dingo had its head down, below the level of light. Detective-Sergeant Graeme Charlwood, who had taken over the Chamberlain case, didn’t believe Lindy’s story. He said that the events she described were against the habits of dingoes.
One week after Azaria’s disappearance, hiker Wally Goodwin set out for a hike in the base of Ayers Rock. On an animal path thick with foliage, Goodwin spotted some shredded clothing. They turned out to be Azaria’s jumpsuit, diaper, and booties.
The police continued attempting to build their case against Lindy. They conducted experiments to test Lindy’s story, seemingly in attempts to disprove what she said. They tested samples of hair, vegetation, and blood found on Azaria’s clothing. They examined the tears found in her clothing, trying to determine if they were caused by humans or animals. At a wildlife reserve, meat was wrapped in baby diapers and given to dingoes so they could study the result. With the coroner’s report ready, the court proceeded with the first of FOUR coroner’s inquest into the death of Azaria.
The First Coroner’s Inquest
On February 20th, 1981, the court in Alice Springs, Australia held the first inquest. In the courtroom, the coroner gave her findings that she believed that Azaria’s death was caused by a dingo, however she felt that there was human intervention after her death. Based heavily on the fact that they didn’t believe her found clothing was left there by dingoes, that it was likely intentionally placed. They said, “the body of Azaria was taken from the possession of the dingo and disposed of by an unknown method, by a person or persons name unknown.” They felt the clothing showed signs of being removed by a human rather than an animal.
In September of 1981, police conducted a four and a half hour search of the Chamberlain’s home where they seized over 300 items, including the family’s yellow Torana that was driven during the camping trip. A re-examination of Azaria’s clothing indicated to Detective Charlwood that no dingo was involved in Azaria’s death, that the animal hairs found were from a cat. He eagerly shared this information with Lindy.
In November, the Attorney General filed a motion to negate the results of the first coroner’s inquest due to new evidence they’d found: the presence of a large amount of fetal blood in the Chamberlain’s vehicle.
The Second Inquest
On December 14th, 1981, the second coroner’s inquest began. The barrister who was assisting the coroner in this inquest made it very clear from the beginning that he believed Lindy had taken Azaria from the campsite that night and murdered her in the passenger’s seat of the family vehicle with something sharp. Biologist Joy Kuhl said that she found fetal blood in 22 seperate places, including underneath the passenger’s side dashboard, as well as the door and seat. Unfortunately, all of the samples that Kuhl had used in her testing had been destroyed during testing, a practice that she said was common.
Another expert, Professor James Cameron, testified that the tear in Azaria’s jumpsuit was more consistent with being cut with scissors or a sharp object, rather than an animal’s teeth. Cameron also said that the signs were consistent with the baby being decapitated. It was later found that Professor Cameron had a checkered past. There were multiple cases of innocent men sent to prison based on his testimonies. There was also the argument that there was no saliva present on Azaria’s jumper. Lindy told them that her daughter was wearing a matinee jacket over her jumper when he put her to bed, and that would’ve been covering her. Unfortunately, the matinee jacket hadn’t been located and it became a joke with police that it never actually existed.
At the end of the second coroner’s inquest, Lindy Chamberlain was charged with the murder of Azaria, and Michael was charged with assisting his wife in escaping punishment.
The Trial
On September 13th, 1982, the trial against the Chamberlains began. At this point, Lindy was seven months pregnant with a baby girl. This did not help her case. The public (and likely the jury) viewed her pregnancy with suspicion, concerned that she appeared to have gotten over her daughter’s death. Her demeanor hindered her, however those close to the Chamberlains said Lindy felt she couldn’t do anything right. If she smiled and looked friendly, people would think she didn’t care about Azaria’s death. If she looked stoic, then she looked guilty. Regardless, the public felt that the couple accepted their loss too quickly.
During the trial, they told Lindy that they believed she’d cut her daughter’s throat while she laid in the passenger’s seat. Lindy began sobbing, saying “we’re talking about my baby daughter, not some object.”
The defense brought pathologist Barry Boettcher to the stand as one of their key witnesses. He said that something in the car was “curdling their agents,” referencing the chemical agents they’d used to test for fetal blood. He said that those weren’t the results you’d see if Azaria’s blood was truly in the vehicle. Unfortunately, Boettcher’s testimony proved too technical for the jury. He later said that he felt like he truly let the Chamberlain’s down.
While there were MANY people that believed Lindy was guilty of murder, there were still people who argued her innocence. There were many Aboriginal trackers who lived near where Azaria disappeared that were never interviewed by police. They could track where that specific dingo went and where it dragged Azaria. They all said that Lindy was not guilty.
The prosecution called a London odontologist (teeth guy) for an expert opinion on the mouth of a dingo. He testified that a baby’s head would NOT fit in the dingo’s jaw. HOWEVER, the defense rebutted this claim by showing a photo taken of a dingo with the head of a human-sized baby doll fitting snugly in its jaw. The odontologist said that he may have been mistaken. It was also brought up that when dingoes attack their prey, they tend to grab it by the head, then shake it in their mouth in order to break its neck. This would produce a minimal amount of blood.
The prosecution presented the following theory: Lindy left the communal barbecue area with Aidan and Azaria and walked her son to the tent. He went in and she left him and walked with her daughter to the passenger’s seat of their vehicle, where she cut Azaria’s throat and stuffed her in a camera bag. She then came back to the tent, cleaned herself off, and planted the blood in the tent. After that, she went back to the communal barbecue. The issue the defense took with this? It all would’ve had to take place in TEN MINUTES. Witnesses said that they saw Lindy after she put Azaria to bed, head to toe, and that they didn’t see any blood on her.
Three witnesses specifically said that they heard the baby’s loud cry after Lindy returned to the barbecue area. Sally Lowe, the Chamberlain’s camping neighbor, testified at the trial saying that she was positive that she heard a baby’s loud, serious cry that was cut off suddenly, coming from the area of the Chamberlain’s tent, after Lindy had returned to the barbecue area. Multiple witnesses said that they’d seen dingoes during that time period, even having to shoo them away from the children.
An important question still remained: why would Lindy kill her child? Many theories were created to explain why she’d possibly cut the throat of her infant daughter, most revolving around religion. Some said that Azaria was intended as a sacrifice for the sins of the church that Michael pastored for. A witness said that after the incident, Michael had come to the door of her camper and said “a dingo has taken our baby and she is probably dead by now.” When the witness attempted to comfort Michael, he said “Whatever happens, it is God’s will.” She said that at some point, Michael and Lindy walked off alone into the brushy area for 15-20 minutes, which the prosecution theorized was the time that they took the camera bag with Azaria’s body and buried it in the brush.
Michael’s testimony didn’t do much to help him. They suggested that his lack of immediate questioning of Lindy and the fact that he didn’t run to look for Azaria was due to the fact that he already knew his daughter was dead at the hands of his wife. Michael obviously denied this, but those watching his testimony felt he was very nonchalant and not acting like a grieving father. (I feel like after you’ve been asked these questions a million times, there’s only so much emotion you can muster, even if it’s regarding your child!)
A total of eight forensic experts were called and testified on behalf of the Chamberlain’s defense to dispute the questionable test results regarding everything from blood to fibers. Many witnesses were also called to testify about their personal relationships and opinions of the Chamberlain family. They called them a loving and happy family, nothing out of the ordinary. Sally Lowe even said that Lindy had a new-mom glow to her.
During the prosecution’s closing arguments, they admitted that they hadn’t proved a motive, however they said that wasn’t their job. Their job was to prove that Lindy Chamberlain had murdered her daughter. They turned the case around, telling the jurors to consider the case against the dingo that had been laid out, claiming that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to convict the dingo, that that case would’ve been laughed out of court.
Prior to the jury retiring for deliberation, the justice presiding over the trial reminded them of this: How could Sally Lowe have heard the baby cry after Lindy’s return if Azaria was already dead and inside of the Chamberlain car? Many people in the courtroom fully expected an acquittal, particularly after this remark.
Yvonne Cain, a juror on the case said that everyone seemed to go into the case suspicious of Lindy’s guilt. The first round of juror votes read three for guilty, three for not guilty, and three for undecided. They debated for six hours and fifteen minutes before coming out with a verdict. Lindy was found guilty for the murder of her daughter. She was sentenced to life in prison with hard labor. In the courtroom, as the verdict was read, Lindy reacted as though she’d been shot. It was unheard of to find someone guilty of murder with no body, no murder weapon, no witnesses, and no motive. Michael was found guilty of accessory after the fact and given a suspended sentence of 18 months.
The Aftermath
Just a month after starting her sentence at Berrimah Prison, Lindy gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Kahlia. While many were satisfied that Lindy was in jail, there were still people who felt confident that Lindy was innocent and were hell-bent on proving it.
Boeccher, who testified during the trial that there was something causing the false reading of blood in the Chamberlain’s car, still felt that something was skewing the results. The Chamberlains had lived in a mining town and he thought something in the air was causing it. He traveled to their hometown and quickly noticed that there was dust everywhere. He immediately took samples from several different places in the town. The dust tested positive for copper oxide dust, WHICH HAD CAUSED IT TO TEST POSITIVE FOR FETAL BLOOD.
An amateur investigator, who was helping a friend photocopy the court transcripts for the Chamberlain family, read the transcripts and felt that the “blood spatter” found on the metal bracket under the dash of the passenger’s seat was odd. He found multiple vehicles that were the same make and model as the Chamberlains’ and noticed that they all had the EXACT same spots in the SAME location as were presented as evidence. The spots were not blood spatter, they were paint over spray from when the car was built. The dust from their hometown was everywhere throughout their vehicle and had caused the spots to test positive for fetal blood.
Another person concerned about Lindy’s conviction was an animal hair expert. He’d contacted police during the trial to volunteer his help with the examination, but they wouldn’t allow him. With the trial being over, he was allowed access to a small bag labeled “cat hairs.” He said the hairs were clearly dog hairs, that he could’ve told them that straight from the beginning.
Oh Shoot!
In February of 1986, an English hiker was climbing Ayers Rock when he fell to his death. As search and rescue attempted to recover his body, one of the team members saw a piece of clothing partially buried in the sand. He said he immediately knew what it was. They brought Lindy in to identify the piece of clothing, and she confirmed that it was Azaria’s matinee jacket, found in an area full of dingo lairs. It wasn’t long before the Chief Minister ordered for Lindy’s release from prison.
On February 7th, 1986, Lindy was released. A fourth inquest was opened after her release, where the information was brought forward regarding three fatal dingo attacks on children that had occured since the third inquest and Lindy’s conviction. During the inquest, it was said that, “The evidence is sufficiently adequate, clear, cogent, and exact” to “exclude all other reasonable probabilities” than that a dingo entered the tent where Lindy and Michael Chamberlain’s young child lay resting on that August night thirty-two years earlier. “The official cause of death on Azaria Chamberlain’s death certificate was changed from ‘unknown’ to ‘dingo attack.”
Though their prison time was over, the Chamberlains still had to clear the names. They eventually received 1.3 million dollars in compensation. Michael and Lindy ultimately divorced. Lindy remarried and Michael died in 2017 after battling leukemia. Aidan, the Chamberlain’s oldest child, is now married and he and his wife used the same vehicle that the family traveled to Ayers Rock in to make their wedding arrival. Aidan blamed himself for quite some time, upset that he didn’t zip the tent up that night.
Reagan, the child who was asleep in the tent with Azaria when she disappeared, still has memories of that night. He said that he and his brother suffered endless ridicule from classmates about the case and their missing sister. Kahlia, the youngest daughter that was born to Lindy in prison, ignores when people said that she was the replacement child after Azaria’s death. Lindy always wanted four children and that Kahlia had brought happiness to the family after Azaria’s tragic death. There are still many people who believe that Lindy had a hand in her daughter’s death. The Chamberlain’s attorney said that suspicion will never fully be cleared from her, that he could show them a tape of the dingo taking the baby, and they still wouldn’t believe her.
sources for this episode
The Trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain (“The Dingo Trial”) | famous-trials.com
Only you can imprison your mind | Lindy Chamberlain – Creighton | lindychamberlain.com
Michael Chamberlain, who claimed dingo killed his baby in Australia, dies at 72 | washingtonpost.com
Dingoes Aren’t Just Wild Dogs | Smart News
Azaria case timeline | theage.com
Where Lindy Chamberlain’s kids are now, 40 years later. | mamamia.com
