'Dingo Ate My Baby' Case Reopened-UPDATE-Coroner: Dingo DID take the baby

[Tuffy]

http://news.discovery.com/history/di...baby-case.html

THE GIST

• Australian authorities will reopen the 1980 case of a child who allegedly was killed by a wild dingo.
• The child, Azaria Chambelain, was just nine weeks old when she went missing.
• Azaria's parents have blamed sloppy police work and biased media reporting for their struggle for justice.

Australia has launched a new inquiry into the death of baby Azaria Chamberlain to re-examine claims she was snatched and killed by a dingo at Uluru, or Ayers Rock, in 1980, officials said on Monday.

The Northern Territory's registrar of births, deaths and marriages is examining the case after an emotional plea from Azaria's mother to change the death certificate to blame a dingo for the bizarre killing.

[gitana1]

Wow. Interesting!

[LadyL]

I'm sorry, what?

Her mother blames the dingo so what exactly is her struggle for justice about?

Don't mind me. I'll just keep reading.

I just explained this case to a co-worker the other day.

[Tuffy]

Originally Posted by LadyL

I'm sorry, what?

Her mother blames the dingo so what exactly is her struggle for justice about?

Don't mind me. I'll just keep reading.

I just explained this case to a co-worker the other day.

The mom wants the death certificate to state that the cause of death was due to the dingo.

[LadyL]

ok, this quote clarifies it a little bit for me:

"It's justice for Azaria," he said, according to public broadcaster ABC. "Her spirit does not rest because the truth was never told about how she actually died."

[Mrs G Norris]

They will probably grant her wish considering what the poor woman went through at the hands of the Northern Territory Government, and the people of Australia, who just went to town on her! I was a kid at the time, but she was the main topic of conversation in the schoolyard, in pubs, at dinner parties, in taxis, at bus stops, and at retail counters for YEARS, and none of it was favourable, we talked about her with anyone, everyone, all the time and came up with countless wild theories.

We all thought she did it, or was covering for her son, we thought she named her baby Azaria because it meant 'sacrifice in the dessert', we thought she dressed the baby in black because she worshipped the devil, we thought their religion was hinky She was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion before she was tried and convicted in a court of law and sentenced to prison.

Turns out we were 100% wrong and she had been the victim of a horrible accident. I'll never forget it, what a lesson. I hope they just grant her her wish so she can get on with things and never have to deal with another court for the rest of her life.

RIP Azaria.

[Tuffy]

Originally Posted by Mrs G Norris

They will probably grant her wish considering what the poor woman went through at the hands of the Northern Territory Government, and the people of Australia, who just went to town on her! I was a kid at the time, but she was the main topic of conversation in the schoolyard, in pubs, at dinner parties, in taxis, at bus stops, and at retail counters for YEARS, and none of it was favourable, we talked about her with anyone, everyone, all the time and came up with countless wild theories.

We all thought she did it, or was covering for her son, we thought she named her baby Azaria because it meant 'sacrifice in the dessert', we thought she dressed the baby in black because she worshipped the devil, we thought their religion was hinky She was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion before she was tried and convicted in a court of law and sentenced to prison.

Turns out we were 100% wrong and she had been the victim of a horrible accident. I'll never forget it, what a lesson. I hope they just grant her her wish so she can get on with things and never have to deal with another court for the rest of her life.

RIP Azaria.

Ms G, I was pretty young when this happened too. There was a ton of rumors and stories about it here also. It's funny, but I don't think I ever quit being suspicious of the parents. After reading this article though, I've changed my mind. If you had gotten away with killing your baby, and successfully blamed it on dingos, why invite authorities to look at your case again? I think this is what a truly innocent person would do.

[CMac2]

I've always been really interested in this case. I'm more than 50% sure that the mother didn't kill the baby, but I do feel there may have been some other details that we, the public (and perhaps investigators as well) were never privvy to.

That being said, something has always nagged me- and no matter how many searches I do, I can't get an answer to it:

Was it common in this part of Australia to take a 2 month old baby camping in the wilderness? I really don't know the answer to that. I'm an urban girl, so the thought of taking an infant camping with me seems really strange, but I realize not everyone practices the same habits as I do!

Just seems like Azaria was kind of young to be included in that type of trip. My 2 month old wasn't really even sleeping through the night (not as a habit, anyway), and I would have driven the rest of my family- husband and older daughter- nutz if I had taken all of us camping, to share a tent and all with a needy newborn in tow!

[Fluttershy]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...st-number-four

A coroner has opened Australia's fourth inquest into the 1980 death of a nine-week-old baby whose parents say was taken by a dingo from her tent in the Australian outback.

Azaria Chamberlain's mother, Lindy, was convicted and later cleared of murdering her and has always maintained that a wild dog took the baby. She and her ex-husband, Michael Chamberlain, are hoping fresh evidence they have gathered about dingo attacks on children will convince Northern Territory coroner Elizabeth Morris and end relentless speculation that has followed them for 32 years.

[brighidin]

I really hope they can exonerate this poor woman once and for all.

[JenniferTx]

I remember when this happened. Poor lady lost her child and was considered her murderer. I hope they can clear her once and for all.

[gitana1]

Yes. Dingoes are wild dogs. Wild dogs do occasionally attack people, especially small people. Heck, we have Coyote attacks on children out here and they are smaller and shyer than dingoes or any wild dog. Not sure why many Australians could not figure that out in Azaria's case. Kid was left alone in a tent for a while while unsuspecting mom had dinner. A hungry dingo stole the baby and killed it. Tragedy, not murder.

[HMSHood]

I don't think Azaria Chamberlain was murdered by her mother. Dingoes are quite aggressive and would explain what happened to Azaria.

[wfgodot]

Here's Daily Mail's lengthy take, with many pictures:

Mother battles to clear her name at fourth inquest into the death of baby 32 years
ago ... she has always insisted her daughter was killed by a dingo at Ayers Rock

• Lindy and Michael Chamberlain present fresh evidence of dingo attacks on children
• They want coroner to change baby Azaria's documented cause of death from 'unknown'
• Case was the most notorious and controversial in Australia's legal history
• Their story was immortalised by Meryl Streep in the 1988 film A Cry In The Dark
• Couple are still fighting to end speculation that they killed their baby

the story at link above

[wonderllama]

Believe it or not folks, but 32 years later, TODAY the Coroner has finally found that a dingo took Azaria Chamberlain.

You may remember the film starring Meryl Streep - Evil Angels.

Local article on the finding.

[JBean]

Just coming to post this!

[STANDREID]

It's possible that it could have been a dingo but I don't see where just saying something without any evidence to back it up makes it a fact. The child has not even been found and only one of the suspects claimed they saw a dingo. What do we really know now that we didn't know when the arrests were made?

[JBean]

Coroner rules dingo to blame for Australian baby's death
CNN) -- A coroner ruled Tuesday that a dingo, a wild dog native to Australia, caused the death of a baby more than 30 years ago.
Azaria Chamberlain was just two months old when she disappeared from a tent during a family holiday to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, sparking one of the country's most sensational and enduring murder mysteries.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/11/world/...est/index.html

[Tugela]

Originally Posted by STANDREID

It's possible that it could have been a dingo but I don't see where just saying something without any evidence to back it up makes it a fact. The child has not even been found and only one of the suspects claimed they saw a dingo. What do we really know now that we didn't know when the arrests were made?

IIRC they later found the childs clothes in a dingo's lair.

There wasn't much doubt what happened, this is just the official closing of the case.

[STANDREID]

According to what I've seen, the clothing was found in an area inhabited by dingos which could be about anywhere in that region.

I'm sorry if Lindy was wrongly accused but one fellow from Australia that I occasionally exchange posts with still thinks she did it. He says dingos don't attack humans unless they're cornered. A 20 pound baby does seem like quite a load for a dog smaller than collie to run off with.

[Jacie Estes]

Now maybe the parents and Azaria can be at Peace.

Guilty people hide, innocent people try to clear their name.

[STANDREID]

It has been asserted that the area where the clothing was found had already been searched. If that's true, what would you guess?

A former policeman has just released a statement that says that, "The clothes were put there at the dingo's lair to sort of lead people off the scent." He also said, "There has been human intervention; there is a number of ways we know that." This person, Frank Morris, did not say the Chamberlains were responsible only that some human had tampered with the evidence.

[wonderllama]

Back in the day, our local media was nuts about her doing it.
She didn't come across as a particularly likeable character, hard and aggressive (but then I can understand why she might have been like that given the circumstances).

There was never any evidence that a person was involved. That is kind of the point.
Everything presented as evidence was entirely consistent with a dingo or two having taken the baby. From the drag marks, the bite marks on the clothes, the tracks, what people heard, what people saw.

When Azaria's jacket was found 6-7 years later, it was next to a dingo lair quite some distance from where the Chamberlain's were camping in a remote area around Uluru.

The discovery of the jacket proved that Lindy wasn't lying as to what Azaria was wearing on the night.

The evidence against the Chamberlains was quite pathetic and I think most observers were astounded when she was convicted.

The delays in blaming a dingo until now have largely been relating to precedent. There had never been any other dingo attacks and people found it hard to accept a one off like this. However over the last 32 years there have been quite a few incidents involving dingoes attacking people, even killing a child.

We have had quite a few cases here where family pets have attacked and killed children.
A dingo attacking and killing a child is in effect no different, aside from the fact that they are wild dogs rather than someone's pet. And being wild, it's hard to point the finger at an individual canine and say "He did it".

There is no doubt that Azaria was taken by a dingo and eaten by dingoes.
No body will ever be found because, well, Australia is the same size as the USA and the part of Australia where this happened is desert and largely uninhabited. It was also 32 years ago.

The death of Azaria Chamberlain is a bit like the death of Princess Diana or the death of JFK to us here in Australia. Everyone has an opinion and seemingly, no amount of evidence is going to change those opinions.