A mother whose child was killed in a dingo attack in the Australian Outback fights to prove her innocence when she is accused of murder.
Based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain. During a camping trip to Ayers Rock in outback Australia, she claimed that she witnessed a dingo stealing her baby daughter, Azaria, from the family tent. Azaria's body was never found. Police noted some apparent inconsistencies in her story, and she was charged with murder. The case attracted a lot of attention, turning an investigation into a media circus, with the public divided in their opinions.—Murray Chapman <[email protected]>
Based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain who was convicted and then completely exonerated in the death of her infant daughter. While holidaying at Ayer's Rock with her husband Michael and their three children, Lindy said she saw a dingo enter their tent and carry away their weeks-old infant daughter, Azaria. The initial coroner's inquest supported her version of events but the police continued their investigation eventually leading her to be charged with murder and her husband with being an accessory after the fact. The case created a media frenzy in Australia and was the subject of much public debate.—garykmcd
1980. Of Mt Isa, QLD, Seventh Day Adventist Minister Michael Chamberlain, his wife Lindy Chamberlain, and their three children, the oldest six years old, are camping in a busy area next to Ayers Rock when one evening Lindy screams that a dingo is in their tent, the dingo running off, which only she witnesses, revealing that their youngest, ten-week old Azaria Chamberlain, is missing from her bassinet in the tent. Beyond the initial melee of trying to find Azaria with the help of all their fellow campers, Lindy and Michael, in their religious beliefs, outwardly come to a settled mindset that in not being able to find Azaria that the dingo has killed her, she in a better place with God in his plan for her. Over time as the story reaches national attention which is only fueled by Lindy and Michael talking to the media, evidence is discovered, which, in combination with things that are not discovered, such as Azaria's body, and the media stories, leads to Lindy being charged with Azaria's murder and Michael being charged with accessory to a murder after the fact, the crown charging that Lindy made up the story of the dingo to cover up her murdering Azaria. The purported dingo incident begins a close to decade long legal battle the two, but especially Lindy, have in trying to prove their innocence, the trial which cannot not be affected by the court of public opinion, especially as Lindy refuses to change her somewhat naturally cold demeanor solely to come across as a sympathetic character to the judgmental public.—Huggo
Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor Michael Chamberlain, his wife Lindy, their two sons, and their nine-week-old daughter Azaria are on a camping holiday in the Outback. With the baby sleeping in their tent, the family is enjoying a barbecue with their fellow campers when a cry is heard. Lindy returns to the tent to check on Azaria and is certain she sees a dingo with something in its mouth running off as she approaches. When she discovers the infant is missing, everyone joins forces to search for her, without success. It is assumed what Lindy saw was the animal carrying off the child, and a subsequent inquest rules her account of events is true.
The tide of public opinion soon turns against the Chamberlains. For many, Lindy seems too stoic, too cold-hearted, and too accepting of the disaster that has befallen her. Gossip about her begins to swell and soon is accepted as statements of fact. The couple's beliefs are not widely practised in the country, and when the media reports a rumour that the name Azaria means "sacrifice in the wilderness" (when in fact it means "blessed of God"), the public is quick to believe they decapitated their baby with a pair of scissors as part of a bizarre religious rite. Law-enforcement officials find new witnesses, forensics experts, and a lot of circumstantial evidenceincluding a small wooden coffin Michael uses as a receptacle for his parishioners' packs of un-smoked cigarettesand reopen the investigation, and eventually Lindy is charged with murder. Seven months pregnant, she ignores her attorneys' advice to play on the jury's sympathy and appears emotionless on the stand, convincing onlookers she is guilty of the crime of which she is accused. As the trial progresses, Michael's faith in his religion and his belief in his wife disintegrate, and he stumbles through his testimony, suggesting he is concealing the truth. In October 1982, Lindy is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour, while Michael is found guilty as an accessory and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
More than three years later, while searching for the body of an English tourist who fell from Uluru, police discover a small item of clothing that is identified as the jacket Lindy had insisted Azaria was wearing over her jumpsuit, which had been recovered early in the investigation. She immediately is released from prison, the case is reopened, and all convictions against Lindy and Michael are overturned.
