Azaria Chamberlain Death Investigation timeline

By maddys-b

  • Azaria went missing from the family tent

  • The jumpsuit and singlet of Azaria is found

  • The first inquest into the death of Azaria opens

  • Coroner Barritt finds that Azaria was taken and killed by a dingo

  • police search the home of the Chamberlains

  • The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory get a second inquest into Azaria's death be held.

  • A second coroner's inquest opens

  • The Chamberlain trial opens in a Darwin courthouse before Justice James Muirhead.

  • The jury finds Lindy guilty of murder and Michael guilty of being an accessory after the fact.  Lindy is sentenced to life at hard labor.

  • Lindy Chamberlain, two days after giving birth to a baby girl, is released on bail pending an appeal.

  • The Federal Court, in a unanimous vote, rejects the Chamberlains' appeal and Lindy is returned to prison.

  • The Chamberlains seek leave to appeal their convictions to Australia's High Court.

  • Australia's High Court, voting 3 to 2, upholds the conviction of the Chamberlains.

  • A petition with 131,000 signatures calling for Lindy's release and a judicial inquiry into the case is presented

  • The Northern Territory rejects the application of the Chamberlain Innocence Committee for a full judicial inquiry into the case.

  • The Northern Territory turns down Lindy Chamberlain's application for early release from prison.

  • A matinee jacket matching the description of the jacket Azaria wore on the day of her disappearance in discovered at Ayers Rock. 

  • Lindy Chamberlain is released from prison.  The Northern Territory Government announces that there will be a new inquiry into Azaria's death.

  • The American television show "Sixty Minutes" runs interviews with the Chamberlains as part of a story strongly suggesting their innocence.

  • A judicial inquiry into the Chamberlain case opens in Darwin

  • Justice Moorling issues a 379-page report analyzing the evidence in the Chamberlain case.  The report finds the evidence against the Chamberlains to be insubstantial.

  • The Northern Territory Government enacts special legislation authorizing the Chamberlains to apply to the Court of Appeal to have their convictions quashed.

  • The Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously quashes all convictions against Lindy and Michael Chamberlain.

  • A third coroner's inquest--this one a "paper inquest"--into Azaria's death is held

  • Coroner Lowndes concludes that the cause of Azaria's death "cannot be determined."