The Case of Azaria Chamberlain

Michael and Lindy Chamberlain were just beginning their family campout at Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), Northern Territory, Australia.

They were having an enjoyable time with their two boys, Aidan and Reagan, and their two-month-old baby girl, Azaria. But on the night of Sunday, August 17, 1980, Azaria was taken from the family tent, and she was never found.

Lindy reported to the local police that she had seen a dingo —a wild Australian dog— slip out of the tent and, sure enough, a week later, a tourist found Azaria’s bloody jumpsuit, boots, diapers, and undershirt.

The initial investigation concluded that no member of the Chamberlain family was responsible for her death. But the story did not end there.

It set off the most publicized trial in Australian history.

Some criticized Lindy for not showing more grief as a mother.

Others claimed that the Seventh-day Adventist Church the Chamberlains belonged to was a cult that killed infants as part of bizarre religious ceremonies and that Azaria was taken to a remote desert location to be offered as a sacrifice.

After all, Michael was, in fact, an ordained minister for that denomination. An alleged doctor of Azaria’s even released an anonymous note stating that her name actually meant “sacrifice in the wilderness.” In 1982, Lindy was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Michael was convicted as an accessory after the fact and received an eighteen-month suspended sentence. John Bryson, in his book Evil Angels, provided an in-depth look at the Chamberlain case, suggesting that they might have been wrongfully convicted.35 In September 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously overturned the convictions, exonerating Lindy and Michael on all charges.

Two months later, the film Evil Angels (titled A Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand) was released. Finally, on June 12, 2012, coroner Elizabeth Morris announced the cause of Azaria’s death —she was killed by a dingo.

This is an example of how human justice can be faulty. But although humanity’s justice may fail, God’s never will. If you are the victim of unjust judgment, God will surely clear your case.