Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton
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Lindy Chamberlain in a 1986 news broadcast
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| Born |
Alice Lynne Murchison
4 March 1948 Whakatāne, New Zealand
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| Known for | Imprisoned for three years after being falsely convicted of the murder of her 9-week-old daughter, Azaria (later exonerated) |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | Aidan (born 1973) Reagan (born 1976) Azaria (June–August 1980) Kahlia (born 1982) |
Alice Lynne "Lindy" Chamberlain-Creighton (born 4 March 1948) is a woman from New Zealand and Australia. She became famous because she was wrongly found guilty in one of Australia's most well-known court cases. Lindy was accused of causing the death of her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria. This happened while they were camping at Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) in 1980. Lindy always said that she saw a dingo leave their tent where Azaria was sleeping.
The case against Lindy was based on clues and scientific evidence that turned out to be wrong. Lindy was found guilty on 29 October 1982. Her appeals to higher courts were turned down. But on 7 February 1986, new evidence was found. Azaria's missing jacket, which police said didn't exist, was discovered. Because of this, Lindy was released from prison.
In 1987, Lindy and her husband, Michael Chamberlain, were officially pardoned. Their convictions were cancelled in 1988. In 1992, the Australian government paid Lindy $1.3 million as compensation. In 2012, a fourth official investigation (called a coroner's inquest) finally ruled that Azaria died "as a result of being attacked and taken by a dingo." This was the same conclusion as the very first investigation.
Contents
Lindy's Early Life and Family
Alice Lynne Murchison, who everyone called "Lindy" from a young age, was born on 4 March 1948. She was born in Whakatāne, New Zealand. Her parents were Avis and Cliff Murchison. Her family belonged to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and her father worked as a church pastor.
In 1949, when Lindy was about two years old, her family moved to Australia. They lived in Victoria and moved often, usually once a year. This was because Lindy's father moved to lead new churches. She went to school in Victoria and finished her high school studies in Benalla in 1965. During school holidays, she worked in shops, as a clerk, and as a waitress. Later, she worked as a receptionist and a bookkeeper.
On 18 November 1969, Lindy married Michael Chamberlain, who was also an Adventist pastor from New Zealand. For the first five years of their marriage, they lived in Tasmania. Michael was a pastor there. Their first child, Aidan, was born in 1973 in Tasmania. During these years, Lindy earned a certificate in dressmaking and tailoring.
The family then moved to Queensland. Lindy gave birth to her second child, Reagan, in Bowen in 1976. After living in Innisfail, they moved to Mount Isa in Northern Queensland. Friends knew that Lindy had always wanted a girl. On 11 June 1980, the Chamberlains' first daughter, Azaria, was born.
In 1980, when Azaria went missing, Michael Chamberlain was the minister of Mount Isa's Seventh-day Adventist church. Lindy was very involved in the church and also did the usual duties of a pastor's wife. She also used her dressmaking skills to make wedding dresses.
Her second daughter and fourth child, Kahlia, was born in November 1982. This happened at the Darwin Hospital while Lindy was in prison. She had been wrongly found guilty of Azaria's death. Lindy's new baby daughter was taken from her at birth. Lindy then had to go back to prison to continue her sentence.
Azaria's Disappearance at Uluru
When Azaria was nine weeks old, the Chamberlain family went on a camping trip to Uluru. They arrived on 16 August 1980. On the night of 17 August, Lindy Chamberlain told everyone that a dingo had taken her child from their tent. A huge search was organized, but Azaria was not found.
About a week later, the jumpsuit Azaria had been wearing was found. It was about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the tent. There was blood around the neck area, which suggested the child had likely died. A small jacket (called a matinee jacket) that Azaria was wearing was not found at that time.
From the day Azaria went missing, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain always said that a dingo took their child. Before Azaria disappeared, the chief ranger at Uluru, Derek Roff, had been warning the government about dingoes. He said dingoes in the area were becoming more aggressive. He even warned of a possible human tragedy.
Wrongful Conviction and Release
The first official investigation (inquest) was held in Alice Springs in December 1980 and January 1981. The coroner, Dennis Barritt, agreed with the Chamberlains' story. He found that a dingo took the child. The parents were not thought to be involved.
However, a higher court cancelled the findings of this first investigation. They ordered a second investigation in December 1981. In September 1982, Lindy Chamberlain was accused of Azaria's death. Michael Chamberlain was accused of helping after the event. On 29 October 1982, both Chamberlains were found guilty.
The Second Investigation and Trial
The coroner who led the second investigation decided that Lindy and Michael should go to trial. He said that even though the evidence was mostly based on clues (circumstantial), a jury could decide based on the clothing evidence. He thought the Chamberlains knew dingoes were around. He suggested they tried to make it look like a dingo attack. He believed they got Azaria's body, took off her clothes, damaged them, rubbed them in plants, and left them to be found later.
Based on this idea, and on what was thought to be blood in the Chamberlains' car, they were put on trial. Lindy was found guilty and sentenced to prison for life. Michael Chamberlain received a suspended sentence. The "blood" stain in the car was later found to be a sound-deadening material from the car's factory.
Prosecution's Accusations
The people accusing Lindy claimed that she went to the tent for a short time. They said she changed her clothes, took Azaria to the car, and used scissors to harm Azaria. They claimed she then hid the body in a camera case in the car. They also said she cleaned up all the blood. The prosecution claimed she then returned to the tent and pretended a dingo took the baby. They said any evidence pointing to a dingo was just a coincidence.
The prosecution also claimed that Lindy was lucky no one saw blood on her clothes. They said it was a bold act for her to open the car, where the body was supposedly hidden, to let a dog smell Azaria's clothes. They also suggested her husband must have known or was also very bold, as he left his children with her afterward.
During the second investigation, the prosecution made claims about Azaria's clothing:
- They said the child's clothes had been buried and probably had the body inside when buried.
- They claimed the soil on the clothes didn't match where the clothes were found, but matched the campsite.
- They said there were no signs of dragging or dingo saliva on the clothes. This would be expected if a dingo carried the body far.
- They claimed the jumpsuit was fully fastened when the child was bleeding.
- They said the top two fasteners were undone *after* the blood dried, before the clothes were buried with the body.
- They suggested a small adult's handprint was on the clothes, from someone holding the child with bloody hands.
- They said holes in the clothes could be from animal teeth, but without tissue stains, it wasn't consistent with an animal holding the body. They claimed the clothes were cut and torn by a person.
- They said plants on the clothes didn't match the finding spot, suggesting human involvement.
- They claimed the clothes were neatly placed, not scattered by an animal.
- They said the clothes were found near a path and a dingo's den.
- They found scissors in the Chamberlains' car with what they believed was human blood. They thought these scissors were used to cut Azaria's clothing.
Based on this, they concluded that both Lindy and Michael were involved in covering up a crime.
Evidence Supporting the Dingo Story
Other campers, like Sally Lowe, and Michael Chamberlain said they heard a baby cry when Lindy was with them at the barbecue area. This was when Azaria was supposed to be in the tent.
Another witness, Judith West, who was camped nearby, said she heard a low, growling sound from a dog. She said it sounded like her husband's dogs when he was preparing sheep.
Lindy Chamberlain said that when others heard Azaria cry, she went to the tent. Halfway there, she thought she saw a dingo leaving the tent. It seemed to be struggling and shaking its head. She yelled, "Michael, Michael, the dingo's got my baby!" She ran into the tent and saw Azaria was gone. She chased in the direction she thought the dingo went and called for a flashlight.
Police Detective Sergeant John Lincoln said he took photos of large paw prints near Azaria's cot. He also found what looked like blood outside the tent. He collected samples, but they were not tested.
Another witness, police Constable Frank Morris, said there were only a few drops of blood on blankets and a sleeping bag in the tent. A scientist found blood on the tent wall. This scientist agreed that the blood spray could be from a dingo carrying a bleeding baby. Canine hairs were found in the tent and on Azaria's jumpsuit. The Chamberlains did not own a dog.
Les Harris, who studied dingoes, said he believed a dingo could hold a baby's head in its mouth and carry a baby a long way. He showed photos of dingoes holding a baby-sized doll. However, another expert, Professor James Cameron, said it was impossible for a dingo to open its jaws wide enough for a child's head.
Some experts believed the damage to Azaria's clothes could have been caused by a dingo. Marks on diaper pieces were similar to marks from a dingo on another diaper used for testing. Azaria's clothing was found only 30 metres (98 ft) from a dingo's den. No one, not even the chief ranger, knew about this den at the time.
After the Conviction
Soon after being found guilty, Lindy was taken from prison to give birth to her fourth child, Kahlia, on 17 November 1982. This happened at the Darwin Hospital. She was then returned to prison. Her appeals to higher courts were turned down.
Release with New Evidence
New evidence appeared on 2 February 1986. Azaria's matinee jacket, which police had said didn't exist, was found partly buried near a dingo den close to Uluru. Five days later, on 7 February 1986, Lindy was released from prison. Her life sentence was cancelled by the government. In 1987, a special investigation (Royal Commission) started to look into the case again.
The Morling Royal Commission
This special investigation looked into whether the Chamberlains' convictions were correct. The Commissioner, Trevor Morling, decided that there was enough doubt about their guilt. He concluded that it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Lindy had caused Azaria's death. He also said that the evidence strongly supported the idea that a dingo took the baby.
Official Acquittal
In 1988, the Supreme Court officially found the Chamberlains not guilty. The court found that the "baby blood" supposedly found in the Chamberlains' car, which the prosecution relied on heavily, was likely a sound-deadening material from the car factory. This showed that the earlier blood tests were wrong. This, along with the discovery of Azaria's jacket, led to the special investigation that doubted the original conviction. The court also noted that DNA testing was not advanced in the early 1980s. So, the expert evidence used in the trial was considered reasonable at the time, even though it was later found to be wrong.
Third Investigation
After the Chamberlains were found not guilty in 1988, a third official investigation happened in 1995. The coroner's report said it was a "paper inquest" because there was little new evidence. The coroner looked at the findings of the special investigation and decided there wasn't enough proof that Lindy had caused Azaria's death. He also said there wasn't enough proof that Michael was involved. He wrote that the evidence strongly suggested a dingo might have taken her.
2012 Investigation
The Chamberlains kept pushing for a final decision that Azaria's death was caused by one or more dingoes, without human involvement. A new investigation began in February 2012. New information about dingo attacks on children was given as evidence. Coroner Elizabeth Morris said this new evidence helped convince her to reopen the investigation.
After 32 years of intense public interest and criticism, the Chamberlains wanted a clear and final answer about how their daughter died. On 12 June 2012, an Australian coroner made a final ruling. They officially stated that a dingo took baby Azaria Chamberlain from a campsite in 1980 and caused her death. Coroner Morris apologized to the Chamberlain family, and an updated death certificate was given to them right away.
Lindy's Life After the Case
Lindy Chamberlain wrote a book about her experiences called Through My Eyes: an autobiography in 1990. The Chamberlains divorced in 1991. On 20 December 1992, she married Rick Creighton, an American publisher. He was also a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She is now known as Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton. She and Rick live in Australia.
In 2007, Lindy spoke out to support the parents of Madeleine McCann, a missing child. She said she would be willing to talk to them. In August 2010, on the 30th anniversary of Azaria's death, Lindy appealed on her website to have the cause of death changed on Azaria's death record. In 2012, the coroner's final report confirmed that a dingo was the cause of death.
Films and Other Stories About the Case
The story of Lindy Chamberlain and Azaria has been told in many ways:
- In a 1983 Australian TV movie, Who Killed Baby Azaria?, Lindy was played by Elaine Hudson.
- In the 1988 film Evil Angels (called A Cry in the Dark in some places), Meryl Streep played Lindy. Her acting earned her an Academy Award nomination.
- Miranda Otto played Lindy in the 2004 Australian TV mini-series Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story.
- Australian composer Moya Henderson wrote an opera called Lindy.
- In 1990, the band Rank Strangers had a song called "Uluru" that supported the Chamberlains.
- In 2021, Australian drag queen Etcetera Etcetera played Lindy Chamberlain on a TV show called RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under. Some people thought this performance was not in good taste.
- Also in 2021, Lindy Chamberlain's release from prison was shown in an episode of the Australian series The Newsreader.
See also
- List of miscarriage of justice cases
- Kathleen Folbigg - Another case where a mother was wrongly accused
- Betty Tyson
