14°c Light rain
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
It's true: The dingo really did steal her baby
Coroner's ruling ends Australian mystery
CANBERRA, Australia -- Australians have overwhelmingly welcomed the final chapter of a mystery that has captivated the country for 32 years: Did a dingo really take a baby that vanished from an Outback campsite in 1980?
A country that was once bitterly divided on whether baby Azaria Chamberlain had been dragged away by a wild dog or murdered by her mother now largely agrees the parents deserve the vindication a coroner's court provided Tuesday.
A day after Azaria Chamberlain would have turned 32, a coroner found a dingo had taken her as a nine-week-old from a tent near Ayers Rock, the red monolith in the Australian desert now known by its aboriginal name Uluru. That is what her parents had maintained from the beginning.
The eyes of Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and her ex-husband, Michael Chamberlain, welled with tears as the findings of the fourth inquest into their daughter's disappearance were broadcast from a courtroom in the northern city of Darwin to televisions around Australia.
The first inquest in 1981 had also blamed a dingo. But a second inquest a year later charged Chamberlain-Creighton with murder and her husband with being an accessory after the fact. She was convicted and served more than three years in prison before that decision was overturned.
A third inquest in 1995 left the cause of death open.
The case became famous through the 1988 Meryl Streep movie A Cry in the Dark.
Many Australians initially did not believe a dingo was strong enough to take away the baby. Public opinion swayed harshly against the couple; some even spat on Chamberlain-Creighton and howled like dingoes outside her house.
No similar dingo attack had been documented at the time, but in recent years the wild dogs have been blamed for three fatal attacks on children. Few doubt the couple's story today, but the latest inquest made it official Azaria was killed in a dingo attack.
The news was welcomed by many around the country.
Yvonne Cain, one of the 12 jurors in the 1982 trial that convicted a then-pregnant Lindy Chamberlain of murder, was thrilled a dingo is on the record as the culprit.
"The dingo has done it. I'm absolutely thrilled to bits," Cain said. "I'd always had my doubts and have become certain she's innocent."
An expert on dingo behaviour, Brad Purcell, said he was not surprised a dingo would enter a tent and take a baby while older siblings slept.
Purcell suspects many people blamed Chamberlain-Creighton for leaving the baby in a tent where a dingo could have been attracted by her crying.
"She was almost being condemned because she wasn't acting as a responsible parent," Purcell told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Azaria's parents and her three siblings, including 29-year-old sister Kahlia who was born in prison, on Tuesday collected her new death certificate.
"We're relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga," a tearful but smiling Chamberlain-Creighton told reporters outside the court.
Coroner Elizabeth Morris said she was "satisfied that the evidence is sufficiently adequate, clear, cogent and exact and that the evidence excludes all other reasonable possibilities."
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 13, 2012 C12
More World
- Back to Top
- Return to World
More World
(1 of 20 articles for today)
Tornadoes from huge Midwest storm system level homes in Oklahoma, cut power in other states
9:09 PM 0
Poll
Most Popular World
- Phone cracked? Cool
- Umbrella-gate stirs outrage
- Officials announce 1 winning ticket sold in Fla. on record Powerball jackpot topping $590M
- Small Florida city wonders who hit historic $590.5M Powerball lottery jackpot
- Up to 60 people injured when car drives into Va. parade; medical emergency possible cause
- Canadian Press NewsAlert: Up to 60 injured in Virginia parade crash
- Gay man killed on street in New York
- Suspect in NYC bias shooting appears in court, charged with murder as a hate crime
- SKorea analyzing if 4 projectiles North Korea launched were missiles or artillery
- Tornadoes from huge Midwest storm system level homes in Oklahoma, cut power in other states
- Police vow to solve shooting that wounded 19 people during Mother's Day parade in New Orleans
- Black bear wanders into LA-area suburbia, chases swimmers from pool, strands kids in class
- US woman credits 'mother's instincts' in chase of 4-year-old daughter's abductor
- Phone cracked? Cool
- Celebrities react to Angelina Jolie's revelation of double mastectomy
- Remote Alaska volcano continues to erupt, with lava fountains, ash plumes
- Police arrest 12-year-old boy in connection with stabbing death of 8-year-old sister at home
- Jurors find Jodi Arias eligible for death penalty after murder conviction in boyfriend killing
- Boston Marathon runners who couldn't finish because of blasts can return in 2014
- Co-counsel: OJ Simpson became dependent on main defence attorney in robbery case
- Amanda Berry, 1 of 3 women freed after held captive in Ohio home, arrives at sister's home
- Boston Marathon bombing suspect hospitalized under heavy guard; Boston area breathes easier
- Friendship with bomb suspect, complex chain of events leads to 3 being charged
- Police vow to solve shooting that wounded 19 people during Mother's Day parade in New Orleans
- Missing Pa. woman, last seen dropping off kids for school in 2002, surfaces in Fla.
- As Boston mourns, suspected brothers' radicalism comes into focus
- Cleveland police: Ohio captive suffered 5 miscarriages after being beaten and starved
- Jodi Arias convicted of first-degree murder, says she prefers death penalty
- Neighbours: Man in custody comforted missing girl's mom, helped search for missing US women
- Parents of Boston suspect say he travelled to Russia to visit relatives, sleep a lot
- Phone cracked? Cool
- Officials announce 1 winning ticket sold in Fla. on record Powerball jackpot topping $590M
- Umbrella-gate stirs outrage
- Black bear wanders into LA-area suburbia, chases swimmers from pool, strands kids in class
- Phone cracked? Cool
- Police vow to solve shooting that wounded 19 people during Mother's Day parade in New Orleans
- Man charged after overnight feast in closed Kentucky supermarket
- Celebrities react to Angelina Jolie's revelation of double mastectomy
- Lawyer: Saudi man travelling with pressure cooker didn't know device used in Boston bombings
- Hatchet-wielding hitchhiker who intervened in California attack arrested in NJ homicide
- Remote Alaska volcano continues to erupt, with lava fountains, ash plumes
- Shady characters: Cookie Monster, Elmo accused of aggressive behaviour in Times Square
- 'Ring of fire' eclipse a delight Down Under
- 'Coronation Street' actor William Roache charged in UK over alleged rapes in 1967
- Coroner: 5-year-old boy shoots 2-year-old sister in US with rifle he got as a gift
- Hitler ate well, his food taster recalls
- Black bear wanders into LA-area suburbia, chases swimmers from pool, strands kids in class
- As killings for ivory grow, many Tanzanians see official hands in elephant slaughter
- Female guards, rapidly growing in numbers, at heart of U.S. prison scandal
- Man testifies it was like he'd been 'murdered' the night wife cut off penis
- Boston Marathon bomb suspect is captured, brother killed after all-day drama paralyzes city
- Boston Marathon bombing suspect hospitalized under heavy guard; Boston area breathes easier
- Bill to alter rules of succession before Kate gives birth nears completion as Lords approve
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.