A dog-kidnapper or a treacherous mother - who was involved in the death of little Azaria? (9 photos)

The couple Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, along with their three children, were going to spend a pleasant weekend in nature. But that August day in 1980 became a tragedy that would unfold for years.





Uluru is an unusual rock formation in central Australia where the family were planning to spend the weekend. The woman put her youngest daughter Azaria, who was only two months old, to bed in the tent, and she started preparing dinner.



Uluru

Returning to check on the child, Lindy saw a terrible picture: a wild dingo dog grabbed the baby, shook it and chewed it. Seeing the man, the animal rushed off with the girl.



Lindy

Hearing the mother’s screams, all the vacationers came running and began searching. Which turned out to be unsuccessful. The investigation turned out to be very difficult for the spouses from a psychological point of view, because they had to return to that terrible day again and again.

The investigation resulted in a court ruling that "Azaria's body was recovered from the dingo and disposed of by unknown means by an individual or individuals unknown." A year later, as the emotional wounds began to heal, the couple faced a new challenge: the police reopened the investigation due to the discovery of new evidence.

Controversial evidence



Azaria

A girl's costume was found near the den of dingo dogs. A bloody palm print was clearly visible on the white fabric. It turns out that the thing was touched after the child was abducted? From an unhappy mother, whom the whole country sympathized with, Lindy instantly turned into an insidious killer. Although no body was found, the Chamberlains were charged with murder. As a result, the woman was sentenced to life imprisonment, and her husband was sentenced to one and a half years probation for concealment.



Lindy with Azaria

Although society was divided, even those who were confident of the woman's guilt were shocked by such a harsh sentence. People whispered that the couple, who were members of the Seventh-day Adventist religious community, sacrificed their child. And even evidence of this fact was discovered: the girl’s name, Azaria, in the Aboriginal dialect means “sacrificed.” A month after the verdict, already in prison, the woman gave birth to another child...

New turn



The Chamberlain couple

Three years later, rescuers were looking for a man who had fallen from a cliff near the same ill-fated Uluru. The team went down into the gorge and discovered a child's jacket. And the remains of the child are nearby.



Dingo

Lindy's case was sent for review due to newly discovered circumstances. The trial lasted only 10 minutes, and the couple were completely acquitted. The woman achieved monetary compensation. And although spiteful critics claimed that the Chamberlains made good money from this story, in reality the money was not even enough to cover legal costs.



Lindy's legal victory

The final point in the matter was reached only in 2012. Lindy ensured that the official cause of her child's death was a dingo attack. And the authorities, despite the dog attacks that had taken place before this incident, diligently hushed up this fact in order to maintain the status of a safe tourist paradise for Australia.



Meryl Streep on the set of "A Scream in the Dark", 1988

Several books were written about the family tragedy and the film “A Cry in the Dark” was made, starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill.