It Really Was A Dingo
If you ever wondered where the line in Seinfeld came from when Elaine says, "The dingo ate my baby," it came from a woman named Lindy Chamberlain, in Australia. Meryl Streep also took a turn playing Lindy in A Cry In The Dark. Thirty years ago, Lindy said that her nine week old girl was taken by a dingo. The coroner believed her but the public didn't and somehow Lindy ended up sentenced to life in jail for murder back in 1982. In 1986, she was re-tried and acquitted after a jacket was found inside a dingo's den that had belonged to their daughter. Now, the coroner has officially listed the cause of death as death by dingo.
44 comments:
Enty, is that a picture of the woman? If so, I don't recall my 9 week old child "walking" like that. Are you sure you didn't mean 9 MONTH old?
What a horrible, horrible thing. Especially to be accused of when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are innocent. I hope she finds peace and happiness after all of this.
I saw this earlier this morning. It is a fascinating case. They went through a nightmare for 30 years. I hope the family can have some kind of peace now.
Mama Mia, I was wondering the same thing. Either way, how tragic. I don't imagine you can ever recover from losing a child, but to have the whole thing played out in public - and to somehow be made out as a monster. Sympathies to this family.
Yes, that is Lindy with baby Azaria. She's holding her up for the photo. The baby isn't walking.
I know that this is terrible, but hearing about this story makes me think of the band from Buffy the Vampire Slayer called Dingoes Ate My Baby. I am a horrible person.
I remember this case very well. Yes this woman took a beating, in the US as well. Everyone was convinced she did it. I'm glad she is finally exonerated. Such as sad story.
How awful! I can't imagine knowing wild dogs tore apart my child and then to be wrongly convicted of murdering her...ugh just so horrible. And to live under this scutiny for 30 must be like hell on earth. I saw on the news that some in Oz still think they had at least something to do w/ it. Would love to hear from our aussie commenters and get their take on things.
@msgirl, yes, and it was horrible.
Isn't this old news? Just because the coroner just changed the COD... This is still old news as of, oh, 1987... No?
The story is about the coroner just changing the COD, so that isn't old news.
How sad. I live in FL and a few years back(around the time kaylie(sp?) Anthony went missing, there was a little boy who went missing named Trenton Duckett. Everyone thought the mom did it She went on Nancy Grace and she ripped her to shreds. The mom killed herself not too long after. Her parents ended up suing Nancy Grace.
I think its old news but from what I can tell (from ABCNews)they are calling this the final word. I guess there have been 3 or 4 inquests and this time they are offically putting it on little Azaria's death certificate. The coroner gave them and apology and what not but after 30 years? Not enuough.
The mother and her whole family is damn lucky this didn't happen when there was internet. The venemous hate built up towards her would have been even more evil and devastating; would probably have made Casey Anthony look beloved in comparison. So many people jump quickly to judgment, especially when that judgment is harsh.
Bobbi I remember the Duckett case. I thought the mom did it. But that was when I was drinking the Nancy Kool-aid. I had to stop watching her-I think she became a bit of a harpy (I'm being nice). You think Melinda did it?
"a jacket was found inside a dingo's den that had belonged to their daughter."
The dingo den belonged to their daughter? (I know, I know, English is tricksy... :))
FWIW, A Cry In The Dark is a really good film. I liked how the public opinion is sort of a character in it, thought that was pretty clever at the time (1988 or 89, I think).
Happy to see that this family finally getting some peace after such an ordeal. I am told that this is Down Under's OJ trial from one of my Aussie friends.
@AuntJess, no, I do not think Melinda did it. Wish investigators would update that investigation.
@EleanorRigby - You're not a terrible person, but the BtVS and Seinfeld writers kinda are. (And I'm a HUGE Buffy fan.) I always thought those jokes/references were in TERRIBLE taste. Call me overly sensitive, but that was a real baby and a real family. Horribly sad.
I remember when this case was in the news. It was absolutely tragic. I think the mom came across in the media as being kind of cold, and the public equated that coldness to be guilt. Meryl Streep did a great job in the movie. It's worth watching.
wow - makes you think about all of us who sit around bored and throwing stones at people who've made the news that we don't actually know and we don't even know the whole story but still wish ill on these people to the extent of rotting in prison or even death. then when the story comes out that she didn't do it, we all sit here with our sympathy and pathos feeling sorry for her and wishing her well.
what a nice lot of people we are.
I remember this case well. Normally I have a pretty good sense of when the parents did it (I called it on Susan Smith during the first press conference), and I never thought Lindy did it. There was no motive, she was in full view of everyone in the campground almost every minute, she had no way of disposing of the body, etc. It did seem strange to me that a wild dog would creep into a tent and take a baby, but these were dingos who hung out around the campground all of the time, so they were used to being around people. Both of the parents spent time in jail, their marriage fell apart, etc. Tragic.
Wow, that is so sad. The poor woman. Why would she say a dingo did it if that wasn't the case? She could just say someone abducted the child if she wanted to. Nancy Grace is a monster, she sensationalizes everything, bullies people, jumps to conclusions, judges everyone in the nastiest possible way and is a total harpie. God she bugs the shit out of me.
Well said.
@auntjess.. Honestly I don't know. In her suicide note she wrote that she didn't think she could be a good mom to Trenton when he came back. I don't know why she would say that if she did it. She did have a history of mental illness though. If I remember correctly the police actually stated that they thought he was alive and that she sent him to someone to hide him away from his dad cause they were going through it, they didn't think she killed him. They even suspected she sent him to relatives in Korea I think cause that was her birthplace. Sad story all around.
Guess I'm the only one who thought about the wolf boy and others who survived in the forests and other remote places with animals.
Maybe she became part of the dingo family!
Okay, probably not, but then again the wolf boy really did survive and learn to live with wolves for several years. So it's always possible, and much better imagery than some dingo (what the hell is that btw?) eating a tiny child. :))
Yes i remember my parents debating this case when i was a kid. i didn't think she did it either.
Aussie commentator here. I grew up with this case. My mum was adamant she was innocent, my dad, myself and my brother thought she was guilty. Back in the 80's, dingo attacks weren't as widely publicised (a dingo is a wild dog, very smart). In an interview last night, Lindy stated that a 3 year old girl had been pulled from her bed at the campsite they went to 2 weeks before they camped. All the tour buses were warned, but not the cars driving into the site. Having worked in tourism, I believe this. The tour buses are regular income, the individual cars aren't going to be coming back every week, so they would be a lower priority. The Chamberlain's were 7th Day Adventists, so religious prejudice came into it as well. Also, they didn't 'react' the way people thought they should react. Scientific evidence used to convict them was later discredited, it really was trial by media and public opinion. In the years since the case, we have had many more reports of dingo attacks, including a 12 year old boy being killed by a pack of 3 dingoes on Fraser Island. This latest finding was to formally ratify the cause of death as by dingo. Up until now it had been left open on the death certificate. I think part of the reason it has taken so long is the authorities didn't want to admit they had stuffed up. I now believe they are innocent and no longer judge people on their reactions, no-one knows how they will react until they are in specific circumstances.
Thanks for the info, feraltart. I was fascinated by this case; I was 9 in 1980.
And Mommabear--You are right. The mother was convicted for having no charisma, a bad personality. And Meryl really WAS perfect at portraying the essence of that off-putting-ness of Mrs. Chamberlain. It's interesting to watch, very layered.
And the scene with the dingo is really well done. It's so chilling for being so short. I actually jumped to grab the baby when I watched it at home. The director does a great job lulling you into this boring family and their road trip.
And I just want to also agree that I found the 'pop culture' references to this story nauseating. That baby died a horrible death, and that family was destroyed. Not funny.
Feraltart thanks for the input, I was hoping to see your comment here. Saw the movie and was hooked to the story. It kind of reminds me of the Ramseys in a way. Living under the veil of suspicion.
AKM, Seinfeld and Buffy were making fun of the tv movie, not the actual tragedy. I know that's splitting hairs, but the commercials for that movie were truly hysterical. It was incredibly cheesy and over-the-top. It was an internet meme before there was an internet. Everyone in my age group knew that phrase and used it as a joke, before it aired on either of those shows.
You're right Mooshki it was partly the godawful Aussie accent of Meryl that made that line immortal.
I remember this case when I was young, basically the whole country thought she was guilty, and the lack of emotion shown by Lindy didn't help.
The same thing happened when Peter Falconio (english tourist) disappeared and Joanne Lees, who was tied up and got away, was very stoic, and public opinion for a long time was that she was involved.
If you don't have remorse they tear you down pretty quickly here.
Sorry remorse was the wrong word I meant regret.
I forgot to add, the press made up awful stories about her based on their religion. There was talk that Azaria had been christened in black, was a cult sacrifice, was developmentally challenged.
It was a witch hunt, and it worked.
Astrogirl It truly must have been a spectacle there.
Aunt Jess It was madness. And in those days people were more likely to take as 'fact' what the papers said.
While we are on the subject of dangerous animals if any of you are ever in Australia, don't dive or snorkel at a place called Julian Rocks in Byron Bay. There is a great white hanging around there that has killed before. (ate the whole torso of a tourist a few years back) and the dive and tourism operators don't tell anyone about it
astrogirl - byron bay was a whaling station that was still active in the last 50 years....sharks live long and have long memories so they keep returning in search of food!! the pylons for the jetty are still in the bottom of the sea...i swam there!
Azaria was also 'supposed' to mean sacrifice which did help with the media attacking the Chamberlains for their religion.
I was a kid in Australia then and remember it all well. terrible times.
I have a friend that lives in Canberra, and he sends me lots of Aussie true crime books... The Falconio case just confuses me...It makes absolutely no sense. The Ivan Milat and now his nephew? killing is a tragedy. I usually have a feeling like Texshan said, about whether someone did it or not. I believe Lindy Chamberlain was telling the truth. Why put yourself through all they went through for that?
Gabi I didn't know that, makes perfect sense.
Amy in MI as a woman the Falconio thing freaked me out. It was obvious the poor girl was in shock when questioned ,once again it was the papers who tried to damage her character and say she had a hand in it. Lucky the police kept looking, they found the guy exactly as she described.
I don't know why but people get so polarized on cases like this....
@Mooshki - It was a movie-movie, actually, and not a TV movie. Again, splitting hairs, yes. ;-)
And I was 13 when the movie came out, so I remember the trailers and such also. I think Meryl's amazing and I never thought the trailers/movie/her accent were over the top, myself.
And I still think it's incredibly tacky and not funny.
But agree to disagree.
AAANNNDDD, from IMDb (since it's been years since I've seen the movie)...
"Despite the popularity of the phrase "The dingo ate my baby!" and its association with this film, that line is never actually spoken in the movie."
Sorry. AKM but you're wrong. That line did appear in the movie. From wiki below
The line from the Lindy Chamberlain character, "The dingo took my baby", sometimes incorrectly rendered as "A dingo ate my baby", became part of pop culture after the release of the movie, appearing on such shows as Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The quote was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.[8]
I think I think knew this was based on a true story and several movies were made, but I didn't know all the details until I just read the Wiki page on it. What a horrible case.
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