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Chamberlain Legal Case and the Seventh- Day Adventist Church, South Pacific Division

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Chamberlain Legal Case and the Seventh- Day Adventist Church, South Pacific Division Uluru or Ayres Rock as it was known in 1980. Photo courtesy of Barry Oliver. Chamberlain Legal Case and the Seventh- day Adventist Church, South Pacific Division STUART TIPPLE Stuart Tipple, L.L.B. (Canterbury University) practices as an attorney and Celebrity Speaker. Tipple is a New Zealander living in Australia. He has served the church on numerous committees and boards. During his career he has received awards for his pro bono work, named the London Times Lawyer of the Week, won the Young Lawyers essay prize and the Law Society’s Presidents Medal. He is married to Cherie with two adult children and two grandchildren. Seventh-day Adventist pastor Michael Chamberlain and his wife Lindy suffered one of the most notorious cases of miscarriage of justice in Australian legal history. They lost their baby daughter Azaria to a dingo at Uluru, Norther Territory in August 1980. On June 11, 1980, Michael and Lindy Chamberlain were delighted when Azaria, their first daughter was born joining her brothers Aidan aged 6 years and Reagan aged 4 years.1 Michael was 36 and the Pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in Mt Isa, a small mining town in the northwest of Queensland, Australia. Lindy was 32, a supportive minister’s wife and full-time mother. Nine-and-a-half weeks after Azaria was born, the family traveled for two days by car to Uluru (then known as Ayers Rock), a red monolith situated southwest of Alice Springs in the desert of central Australia. They were excited and anticipated being able to photograph the rock and witness its spectacular sunrises and sunsets. After arriving they set up camp in a small tent in a public camping area. The next morning, August 17, Michael rose early to photograph the sunrise. Like other visitors he was in awe of the rock and its dominance of the surrounding red sandy desert, at its highest point over 348 meters (1,141feet) above its base which has a circumference of 9,400 meters (5.8 miles). After breakfast the Chamberlain family set off for the rock. While Michael climbed, Lindy stayed near the base caring for Azaria and the boys. The family then drove around the rock allowing Michael to take over 100 photographs of the rock’s many unique features. In the evening, after viewing and photographing a spectacular sunset the family drove back to their tent site. Reagan had fallen asleep and was placed in his sleeping bag in the tent. Michael and Aidan walked 20 meters to a public barbecue area and began preparing their evening meal. They met and talked together with Greg and Sally Lowe and their 18-month-old baby girl. Lindy soon joined the group, holding a wriggling Azaria. Twenty minutes later Azaria was settled and asleep. Mr. Lowe watched as Lindy, cradling Azaria, walked with Aidan back to their tent which was facing the barbecue. Lindy claimed she placed Azaria in her bassinet in the right-hand rear corner of the tent and Aidan slipped into his sleeping bag. As Lindy said goodnight, Aidan announced he was still hungry. Lindy fetched some baked beans from the car, parked next to the tent and returned to the BBQ area with Aidan. They had been absent between 5 and 10 minutes. As Lindy began opening the can of beans, Michael heard a short faint cry he believed was Azaria. The cry was also heard by Mrs. Lowe. On being alerted to the cry, Lindy set off to investigate and about 10m from the tent she saw a dingo, (an Australian wild dog) coming out, shaking its head and appearing to have something in its mouth. Lindy dived into the tent to find the baby missing. Her cry “the Dingo’s got my baby” transformed her from a housewife to a headline. After the alarm was raised, 400 people began a search that continued until 3 a.m. the next morning. Tracks were discovered but no other sign of the baby was found. News of the tragedy filtered to the outside world and set in motion one of the biggest media stories in Australia's history. Reporters from the newspapers and television crews flew in and found the Chamberlains willing to be interviewed. A week after the baby disappeared a tourist discovered the baby’s clothing near the base of Ayer’s Rock, about 4,000 meters from the tent site. Rumors swamped the initial tide of public sympathy, raising suspicions that the Chamberlains had been responsible for their baby's disappearance. The suspicion and rumors were fueled by the Chamberlain’s willingness to be interviewed, their little-known religious beliefs and doubts that a dingo was capable of seizing and carrying a 10-pound baby. Investigating police formed the view that Lindy was a religious nut and had sacrificed the baby in a bizarre religious ritual. The first inquest to determine the cause of Azaria’s death commenced in Alice Springs in December 1980.2 Police suspicion had grown when an examination of the baby’s clothing failed to detect dingo saliva, hairs, or tearing that experts believed would have been evident from a dingo attack. The Chamberlains arrived at the inquest believing there was no need or reason for them to be legally represented but wisely accepted advice to obtain representation just before the inquest commenced. During the inquest, Coroner Denis Barritt expressed concerns about the quality of the forensic testing, the police investigation and a lack of action by the tourist and conservation authorities to protect tourists from dingoes.3 Barritt was so appalled at how the Chamberlains had been treated, he became the first Australian judicial officer to deliver his findings by live television. His findings were viewed by a world-wide audience. He criticized the police, the conservation authorities, and rejected the malicious rumor that “Azaria” meant “sacrifice in the wilderness.” He concluded with an apology to the Chamberlains: You have not only suffered the loss of your beloved child in the most tragic of circumstances, but you have been subjected to months of innuendos, suspicion, and probably the most malicious gossip ever witnessed in this country. I have taken the unusual step of permitting these proceedings to be televised today in the hope that by direct and accurate communication such innuendos, suspicion, and gossip may finally cease. I doth find that Azaria Chantal Loren Chamberlain met death when attacked by wild dingo whilst asleep in the family's tent at the top camping area.4 The Police Commissioner announced police inquiries were continuing. The baby's jumpsuit was taken to London where it was examined by Professor Cameron, a pathologist with an international reputation. Following his examination, he secretly reported to the police commissioner that in his opinion: 1. The blood staining around the collar of the jumpsuit could only have been caused by the baby's neck being cut or decapitated with a cutting instrument held by human hands. 2. There were impressions of two bloodied handprints on the jumpsuit. 3. The jumpsuit had been buried in soil while still covering the body. 4. There was no evidence of canine involvement.5 The Chamberlains were awakened early one Saturday morning in September 1981 by police swooping on their home armed with a search warrant. The police seized over 250 items of clothing, personal effects and the family car for forensic examination. A forensic biologist claimed she found significant blood staining in the inner hinge of the car's front passenger seat, the floor well and on items found in the car including a small pair of nail scissors. It was claimed that traces of blood were found throughout the car and Dr. Jones, a pathologist, identified what he thought was an arterial blood spray under the dashboard in front of the passenger seat. Testing of the bloodstains led to the conclusion that it was infant blood and could only have come from a normal child under the age of 6 months. Professor Chaiken, a textile expert discovered that cotton loops fell from the baby’s jumpsuit when it was cut with scissors. Similar loops were found in vacuumings taken from the Chamberlains car and camera bag. He concluded that the damage to the jumpsuit could not have been caused by a dingo and had been caused by a sharp cutting instrument like the scissors found in the car.6 Subsequently, in a secret chambers application the findings of the first inquest were quashed and a new inquest was ordered.7 The second inquest began in December 1981. The police believed the Chamberlains had been too calm and too willing in giving media interviews. They argued the dingo story was a fabrication and pressed the scenario that Lindy had murdered Azaria in the car and while placing the body in the camera bag had caused an arterial blood spray to stain the car under dash area. It was claimed that the body was later buried in the sand hill behind the tent and that the Chamberlains had damaged the clothing with scissors to simulate a dingo attack. At the conclusion of this second inquest, Lindy was committed for trial on murder and Michael for being an accessory after the fact.8 The trial was scheduled to commence in April 1982 but was adjourned until September. By June it was obvious Lindy was expecting another child. Detractors believed the pregnancy was a deliberate ploy to gain sympathy while her supporters saw it as a demonstration of her faith. At the trial the defense answered the Crown’s circumstantial case with equally qualified defense witnesses in every important respect.
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