Australian coroner rules baby was taken by dingo 32 years ago

A 32-year legal mystery over the death of a baby in Australia’s outback came to an end on Tuesday when a coroner found a dingo was responsible for the death of infant Azaria Chamberlain, a case that split national opinion and attracted global headlines.

The coroner’s finding ends a three-decade fight for justice by Azaria’s parents, Michael Chamberlain and Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, who was jailed for three years over her daughter’s death before she was later cleared.

Azaria disappeared on Aug. 17, 1980, from a tent in a camping ground near Uluru, a towering, haunting monolith formerly known as Ayers Rock, one of central Australia’s main tourist attractions. Her body was never found.

Northern Territory Coroner Elizabeth Morris found evidence from the case proved a dingo or dingoes were responsible for nine-week-old Azaria’s death.

“Azaria Chamberlain died at Uluru, then known as Ayers Rock, on the 17th of August 1980. The cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo. It is obvious, not just from these findings but from other injuries and deaths since, dingoes can and do cause harm to humans,” Morris said while delivering her ruling.

In an emotional finding, Morris then offered her condolences to the Chamberlains, who were in the Darwin court room.

“Please accept my sincere sympathy on the death of your special loved daughter and sister Azaria. I am so sorry for your loss,” she said to the family.

Outside the court, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton said she was relieved and delighted to come to the end of the saga and said the ruling set a new precedent.

“No longer will Australia be able to say that dingoes are not dangerous and only attack if provoked. We live in a beautiful country but it is dangerous and we would ask all Australians to be aware of this and take appropriate precautions and not wait for somebody else to do it for them,” she said.

Michael Chamberlain said the ordeal had been “a terrifying battle” but now the family had “a chance to put our daughter’s spirit to rest”. He and his former wife have always maintained Azaria was taken by a dingo.

“Today I heard Coroner Morris speak for the dead on behalf of the living. This battle to get to the legal truth about what caused Aria’s death has taken too long. However, I am here to tell you that you can get justice even when you think that all is lost,” he said.

Presenting a new death certificate to the media shortly after the coroner’s decision, the family’s legal counsel Stuart Tipple told reporters it was worth the effort.

“Ladies and gentlemen sometimes justice takes 32 years but here it is and let me tell you it’s worth the effort,” he said.

Azaria’s death has now been the subject of four inquests and a judicial inquiry known as a Royal Commission.         

The dingo-baby case has been dramatised several times, and was turned into a Hollywood film A Cry in the Dark, starring Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain.