Lindy Chamberlain Creighton
![Lindy Chamberlain's story has figured in Australia's collective conscious since 1980, when a dingo took her defenseless baby in a random horrific attack. But it quickly became much more than that. The intrigue of the mostly unknown and untamed outback, of parents - particularly mothers - not behaving to conventional expectations; of a ruthless media, self-serving politicians and cowboy police resulted in the trial of the century and Australia's most notorious miscarriage of justice. Through interviews with Lindy, her children and eyewitnesses today, archival footage and broadcasts and - for the first time -access to Lindy's personal archive of family stills, movies, audio recordings and letters Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story is a compelling universal story that still resonates today.](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjZkZmYyYzQtNDE3OS00M2Y0LWE2MjctNDJmZWE0MWE1MTU0XkEyXkFqcGdeQWxiaWFtb250._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Lindy Chamberlain grew up in Victoria, Australia. She married Michael
Chamberlain, a Seventh-Day Adventist minister, and they had two sons,
Aidan (b. 1973) and Reagan (b. 1976), and a daughter Azaria (b. 11 June
1980). Lindy worked as a dressmaker and tailor, specializing in wedding
dresses, and was deeply involved with her church.
On 17 August 1980, while on a camping trip, nine-week-old Azaria disappeared from her family's tent. When Lindy spied a dingo nearby, authorities launched a frantic search. A week later searchers found Azaria's torn, bloodied garment near a dingo's lair. The baby's body was never found. The press, distressed by the mother's seeming lack of emotion and suspicious of her religious beliefs, accused her of murdering the baby. The sentiment against Lindy grew, and Lindy was charged with murder. Prosecutors claimed that the dingo story was a fanciful lie; rumors circulated that the Chamberlains were cult members who slit their baby's throat. Dubbed as "Australia's trial of the century," the case drew enormous public attention. Despite the lack of evidence that the child was murdered, Lindy Chamberlain was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Her husband Michael was also charged with accessory to Azaria's murder and served one year. Their fourth child Kahlia was born in 1982 while Lindy was in prison.
In February 1986 the baby's missing matinee jacket was found, providing new evidence that an animal had attacked the baby. The court remitted Lindy's life sentence and she was released from jail. A royal commission in 1987 found her innocent given the new evidence, and her criminal conviction was overturned. In May 1992, the Chamberlains received $1.3 million in compensation from the Northern Territory for wrongful conviction. In December 1995, Lindy's conviction was officially cleared. On 12 June 2012, a coroner ruled that the cause of Azaria's death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo.
On 17 August 1980, while on a camping trip, nine-week-old Azaria disappeared from her family's tent. When Lindy spied a dingo nearby, authorities launched a frantic search. A week later searchers found Azaria's torn, bloodied garment near a dingo's lair. The baby's body was never found. The press, distressed by the mother's seeming lack of emotion and suspicious of her religious beliefs, accused her of murdering the baby. The sentiment against Lindy grew, and Lindy was charged with murder. Prosecutors claimed that the dingo story was a fanciful lie; rumors circulated that the Chamberlains were cult members who slit their baby's throat. Dubbed as "Australia's trial of the century," the case drew enormous public attention. Despite the lack of evidence that the child was murdered, Lindy Chamberlain was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Her husband Michael was also charged with accessory to Azaria's murder and served one year. Their fourth child Kahlia was born in 1982 while Lindy was in prison.
In February 1986 the baby's missing matinee jacket was found, providing new evidence that an animal had attacked the baby. The court remitted Lindy's life sentence and she was released from jail. A royal commission in 1987 found her innocent given the new evidence, and her criminal conviction was overturned. In May 1992, the Chamberlains received $1.3 million in compensation from the Northern Territory for wrongful conviction. In December 1995, Lindy's conviction was officially cleared. On 12 June 2012, a coroner ruled that the cause of Azaria's death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo.