Azaria Chamberlain

The Key Evidence supporting this allegation was the jumpsuit, discovered about a week after the baby's disappearance about 4 km from the tent, bloodstained about the neck, as well as a highly contentious forensic report claiming to have found Evidence of foetal haemoglobin in stains on the front seat of the Chamberlains' 1977 Holden Torana hatchback.

Foetal haemoglobin is present in infants six months and younger; Azaria was nine weeks old at the time of her disappearance.

Lindy Chamberlain was questioned about the garments that Azaria was wearing.

She claimed that Azaria was wearing a matinee jacket over the jumpsuit, but the jacket was not present when the garments were found.

She was questioned about the fact that Azaria's singlet, which was inside the jumpsuit, was inside out.

She insisted that she never put a singlet on her babies inside out and that she was most particular about this.

The statement conflicted with the state of the garments when they were collected as Evidence.

The garments had been arranged by the investigating officer for a photograph.

Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain (11 June 1980, Mount Isa – 17 August 1980) was a nine-week-old Australian Baby Girl who was killed by a dingo on the night of the 17 August 1980 during a family camping trip to Uluru in the Northern Territory.

Her body was never found.

Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo.

However, Lindy was tried for murder and spent more than three years in prison.

Michael was also jailed for some time.

Lindy was released only after Azaria's jacket was found near a dingo lair and new inquests were opened.

The initial coronial inquest into the disappearance was opened in Alice Springs on 15 December 1980 before magistrate Denis Barritt.

On 20 February 1981, in the first live telecast of Australian court proceedings, Barritt ruled that the likely cause was a dingo attack.

In addition to this finding, Barritt also concluded that, subsequent to the attack, "the body of Azaria was taken from the possession of the dingo, and disposed of by an unknown method, by a person or persons, name unknown".

The Northern Territory Police and prosecutors were dissatisfied with this finding.

Investigations continued, leading to a second inquest in Darwin in September 1981.

Based on ultraviolet photographs of Azaria's jumpsuit, James Cameron of the London Hospital Medical College alleged that "there was an incised wound around the neck of the jumpsuit—in other words, a cut throat" and that there was an imprint of the hand of a small adult on the jumpsuit, visible in the photographs.

Their Yellow Holden Torana was also seized in Queensland and flown by military aircraft to Alice Springs.

Following this and other findings, the Chamberlains were charged with Azaria's murder.

Subsequently, after a further investigation and a second inquest held in Darwin, Lindy was tried for murder, convicted on 29 October 1982 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Azaria's father, Michael, was convicted as an accessory after the fact (i.e. aiding the principal after the crime has been committed, but playing no role in the crime itself) and given a suspended sentence.

The media focus for the trial was unusually intense and aroused accusations of sensationalism, while the trial itself was criticised for being unprofessional and biased.

The Chamberlains made several unsuccessful appeals, including the final High Court appeal.

After all legal options had been exhausted, the chance discovery in 1986 of Azaria's jacket in an area with numerous dingo lairs led to Lindy's release from prison.

On 15 September 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously overturned all convictions against Lindy and Michael.

A third inquest was conducted in 1995, which resulted in an "open" finding.

In 1995, a third inquest was conducted which failed to determine a cause of death, resulting in an "open" finding.

The Crown alleged that Lindy Chamberlain had cut Azaria's throat in the front seat of the family car, hiding the baby's body in a large camera case.

She then, according to the proposed reconstruction of the crime, rejoined the group of campers around a campfire and fed one of her sons a can of baked beans, before going to the tent and raising the cry that a dingo had taken the baby.

It was alleged that at a later time, while other people from the campsite were searching, she disposed of the body.

In 2012, 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially supported by a coroner.

An initial inquest held in Alice Springs supported the parents' claim and was highly critical of the police investigation.

The findings of the inquest were broadcast live on television—a first in Australia.

At a fourth inquest held on 12 June 2012, Coroner Elizabeth Morris delivered her findings that Azaria Chamberlain had been taken and killed by a dingo.

After being released, Lindy was paid $1.3 million for false imprisonment and an amended death certificate was issued.

Numerous books have been written about the case, and there exist several pop culture references notably using some form of the phrase "A dingo ate my baby" or "A dingo took my baby".

The story has been made into a television movie, a feature film entitled Evil Angels (released outside Australia and New Zealand as A Cry in the Dark), a television mini-series, a theatrical production, a concept album by Australian band The Paradise Motel, and an opera (Lindy, by Moya Henderson).