| Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alice Lynne Murchison 4 March 1948 Whakatane, New Zealand |
| Known for | Azaria Chamberlain disappearance |
Alice Lynne (Lindy) Chamberlain-Creighton (born 4 March 1948) was at the centre of one of Australia's most publicised murder trials, in which she was convicted of killing her baby daughter, Azaria. The conviction was later overturned.
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Alice Lynne Murchison was born in Whakatane, New Zealand. She was known as Lindy from a young age. She moved to Australia with her family in 1949. She and her family were adherents to the Seventh-day Adventist Church and she married fellow Adventist and pastor Michael Chamberlain on 18 November 1969.
In the 1970s Michael and Lindy Chamberlain had two sons, Aidan (born 2 October 1973) and Reagan (born 16 April 1976). For the first five years after their marriage they lived in Tasmania, after which they moved to northern Queensland.
Michael and Lindy Chamberlain's first daughter, Azaria, was born on 11 June 1980. When Azaria was two months old, Michael and Lindy Chamberlain took their three children on a camping trip to Uluru, arriving on 16 August 1980. On the night of 17 August, Chamberlain reported that the child had been taken from her tent by a dingo. A massive search was organised, but all that was found were remains of some of the bloody clothes, which confirmed the death of baby Azaria. Her body has never been discovered.
Although the initial coronal inquiry supported the Chamberlains' account of Azaria's disappearance, Lindy Chamberlain was later prosecuted for the murder of her child on the basis of the finding of the baby's jumpsuit and of tests that appeared to indicate the presence of blood found in the Chamberlains' car. This forensic gathering convicted her of murder on 29 October 1982, and sentenced her to life imprisonment. The prosecution theory was that in a ten minute absence from the camp fire she returned to her tent, changed into track suit pants, took Azaria to her car, used scissors to cut Azaria's throat, waited for Azaria to die, hid the body in a camera case in the car, cleaned up blood on everything including the outside of the camera case, removed the tracksuit pants, obtained baked beans for her son from the car, returned to the tent, did something to leave blood splashes there, and brought Aidan back to the campfire without ever attracting the attention of other campers. This naturally required the support of expert forensic evidence including that of Professor James Cameron who also gave crucial evidence in an English case that was later overturned when his evidence was proved incorrect.[1] The Chamberlains would also have needed to convince fellow camper Sally Lowe to say that she heard Azaria cry after Mrs Chamberlain returned to the camp fire.[2] They would also have been fortunate enough to have Judith West who was camped 30m away hear a dog’s low, throaty growl coming from that direction that she associated with growls her husband's dogs made when slaughtering sheep.[3] Michael Chamberlain was convicted as an accessory to murder.
Shortly after her conviction, Lindy Chamberlain gave birth to her fourth child, Kahlia, on 17 November 1982, in Darwin Hospital under prison guard. An appeal against her conviction was rejected by the High Court in February 1984.
New evidence emerged on 2 February 1986 when a remaining item of Azaria's clothing was found partially buried near Uluru in an isolated location, adjacent to a dingo lair. This was the matinee jacket which the police had maintained for years did not exist. Five days later, Chamberlain was released. The Northern Territory Government publicly said it was because "she had suffered enough". In view of inconsistencies in the earlier blood testing which gave rise to potential reasonable doubts about the propriety of her conviction and as DNA testing was not as advanced in the early 1980s it emerged that the 'baby blood' found in her car could have been any substance, Lindy Chamberlain's life sentence was remitted by the Northern Territory Government and a Royal Commission began to investigate the matter in 1987. Chamberlain's conviction was overturned in September 1988 and another inquest in 1995 returned an open verdict.[4]
Chamberlain published Through My Eyes: an autobiography in 1990.
Lindy and Michael Chamberlain divorced in 1991. On 20 December 1992, she married an American, John Creighton, a publisher and fellow member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She subsequently became known as Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton. She and Creighton live in Australia.
In August 2010, on the 30th anniversary of the death of Azaria, Chamberlain-Creighton appealed on her website to have the cause of death amended on Azaria's death record.[5]
It was reported on December 19th 2011 that the case is to be re-opened due to reports that new information regarding dingo attacks has been given to the coroner by Azaria's family. A new inquest will begin in February, 2012.[6]
In the 1983 Australian TV movie about the case, Who Killed Baby Azaria?, Lindy Chamberlain was played by Elaine Hudson. In the 1988 film Evil Angels (released in Europe and the Americas as A Cry in the Dark) the role was played by Meryl Streep, whose performance received an Academy Award nomination for best actress in 1989. Miranda Otto played Chamberlain in the 2004 Australian TV mini-series, Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story. Australian composer Moya Henderson wrote the opera Lindy to a libretto by Judith Rodriguez.[7] In 1990, the Rank Strangers' recording of their song "Uluru", which supported the Chamberlains and called for compensation to be paid to them, finished in the final five of the Australian Country Music Awards in Tamworth, New South Wales.
Harry M. Miller Group. Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton