Dingo Baby case reopens in Australia

**nivek** · 02-24-2012, 07:43 PM

I am curious as to the specific details of this new evidence in this case...

An inquest began hearing new evidence on Friday into the 1980 death of baby Azaria Chamberlain, a case that has haunted Australia for decades and drew international attention after her parents said she had been killed by a dingo, or wild dog.

The coronial inquest into the death in the Australian outback of baby Azaria, the fourth since the infant disappeared, began in Darwin Magistrates Court in the Northern Territory in response to new information provided by the baby's parents.

The evidence concerns several dingo attacks on infants and young children since Azaria's death. Her parents expect the court to declare officially that Azaria was killed by a dingo, rather than by her mother Lindy Chamberlain, a lawyer representing parents Lindy and Michael Chamberlain said.

"Looking back now I have to agree that it was a dingo. I think the evidence now is such that it compels one to make that finding," lawyer Stuart Tipple told Australia's ABC radio.

Both Lindy Chamberlain, now known as Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton after she divorced and remarried, and Michael Chamberlain appeared in court.

"It gives me hope that this time Australians will finally be warned and realise that dingoes are dangerous animals," Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton told reporters after the hearing.

"And I also hope that this will give a final finding which closes the inquest into my daughter's death, which so far has been standing open and unfinished," she said.

Opinions in Australia have been divided for more than 30 years over the cause of Azaria's death and the case has been dramatised several times.

The best-known of those was the 1988 Fred Schepisi-directed movie "A Cry in the Dark", which starred Academy Award-winner Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain.

Azaria Chamberlain was just nine weeks old when she disappeared on Aug. 17, 1980, from a camping ground near Ayer's Rock, also known as Uluru, one of the main tourist attractions in Australia's outback.

Lindy Chamberlain said soon after that she saw a dingo leaving the family's tent with the baby in its mouth. Azaria's body has never been found.

The first inquest in 1981 supported the parents' account but, in 1982, a second inquest overthrew that finding and recommended Lindy and Michael Chamberlain stand trial.

Lindy Chamberlain, then pregnant with her fourth child, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Michael Chamberlain was convicted of being an accessory after the fact and given a suspended sentence.

Three years after that conviction a piece of clothing, identified as having belonged to Azaria, was found in a dingo's den near Ayer's Rock.

A Royal Commission, the highest form of investigation in Australia, overturned the convictions in 1987, leading to Lindy Chamberlain's release. However, in 1995 a third inquest returned an open verdict, leaving many questions unanswered.

Court officials told Reuters it could take several days before a decision in the latest inquest is made public.

Australia hopes to close 32-year dingo baby case | Reuters

**nivek** · 02-24-2012, 07:45 PM

**Achilles** · 02-24-2012, 08:05 PM

I heard that the babies clothing was found near a dingo hut (IDK the correct terminology).

Three years after that conviction a piece of clothing, identified as having belonged to Azaria, was found in a dingo's den near Ayer's Rock.

Yeah that's what I heard. I also herd more evidence is coming out about dingo attacks.

**nivek** · 02-24-2012, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by Achillesdude

I also heard more evidence is coming out about dingo attacks.

Yes it was lightly mentioned in the article about other attacks which can lend support for the parents...

I am interested to know the details of those other cases when made available to the public...

**skelthy** · 02-25-2012, 04:32 PM

Ugh. I hate this story. Why would you bring your 2 month old baby camping anyway?

***Dingo*** · 02-25-2012, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by nivek242

Yes it was lightly mentioned in the article about other attacks which can lend support for the parents...

I am interested to know the details of those other cases when made available to the public...

The main reason the parents wanted this was because they want the wording on the Death Certificate reason changed from 'unknown cause' to a definite cause for final closure and peace of mind.

For those who don't know, it's not the parents on trial or being questioned again because that has long been dealt with. The other cases are only used as supporting evidence that dingos can kill people and have done so on a number of occassions, and thus be able to use that information to have the Death Certificate changed to reflect that. It's the only way that final closure can be reached because 'unknown causes' always lends itself to other possible senarios. It's what dingos can do and the public is always warned about the danger of this in places where dingos live close to communities. This knowledge about dingos is nothing recent but was never used to any extent in any of the previous court cases.

The other cases where dingos have killed people are already public knowledge. However, you need to search through court sites but they aren't the easiet to wade through and you'd need to know which location in each State etc to look into... In those other cases the proof that it was a dingo that killed them is conclusive because of obvious evidence and witness reports, not like in this case.

.

**nivek** · 02-25-2012, 06:14 PM

Thank you for the clarity Dingo, I didn't write it here in my posts but I was wondering if the parents were being questioned again...

**Sirius** · 02-25-2012, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by Dingo Brains

The main reason the parents wanted this was because they want the wording on the Death Certificate reason changed from 'unknown cause' to a definite cause for final closure and peace of mind.

For those who don't know, it's not the parents on trial or being questioned again because that has long been dealt with. The other cases are only used as supporting evidence that dingos can kill people and have done so on a number of occassions, and thus be able to use that information to have the Death Certificate changed to reflect that. It's the only way that final closure can be reached because 'unknown causes' always lends itself to other possible senarios. It's what dingos can do and the public is always warned about the danger of this in places where dingos live close to communities. This knowledge about dingos is nothing recent but was never used to any extent in any of the previous court cases.

The other cases where dingos have killed people are already public knowledge. However, you need to search through court sites but they aren't the easiet to wade through and you'd need to know which location in each State etc to look into... In those other cases the proof that it was a dingo that killed them is conclusive because of obvious evidence and witness reports, not like in this case.

.

Dingo -- I know this sounds stupid, but I'm not really up on Dingos. Wolf, Wild Dog, what class of canine?

***Dingo*** · 02-26-2012, 04:33 AM

Originally Posted by IM SIRIUS

Dingo -- I know this sounds stupid, but I'm not really up on Dingos. Wolf, Wild Dog, what class of canine?

This is a compilation from various sources...

Dingo is Australia's wild dog.

The dingo's origin is uncertain, though scientists now believe that it is related to Asian and Middle Eastern wolves that probably arrived in Australia between 3,500 and 4,000 years ago, transported by Asian seafarers. The scientific name of the dingo was recently changed from canis familiaris (domestic dog) dingo to canis lupus (wolf) dingo, to show its relationship to the white footed wolf of South East Asia.

Whereas barking is typical of domestic dogs, dingos generally communicate over long distances with howls - like other wild dogs and wolves. Dingoes have unique wrists in the canine world, capable of rotatation. This enables dingoes to use their paws like hands and turn door knobs. Their ability to go where other dogs can't means dingoes can cause more problems for humans than other wild members of the dog family can.

Dingoes are opportunistic carnivores. Dingos are more active at night, sunrise and sunset than in the middle of the day. This is similar to the species they prey upon. Dingos eat a wide variety of animals, but more than 50 per cent of their diet comes from kangaroos and wallabies. In eastern NSW, the swamp wallaby is a particularly important prey species. When native species are scarce they are known to hunt domestic animals and farm livestock.

Dingoes are nomadic. At the end of a day's roaming, dingoes will return to the area they started the day in. They spend a few days in one place and then move to another, gradually travelling around their whole range.

More information here...
Dingo - Australian Museum