Main events

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 1

Main events

NZPA-AAP Sydney The chronology of the main events in the Lindy Chamberlain case Is: August 17, 1980: Azaria Chamberlain, the 9*4 week-old daughter of a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, Michael Chamberlain, and his wife, Lindy, vanished from the camping ground at Ayers Rock. December 15, 1980: An inquest into Azaria’s disappearance opens before the Coroner, Mr Denis Barritt, at Alice Springs. February 20, 1981: Mr Barritt, in an unprecedented live national telecast, finds that a wild dog or dingo took Azaria from the family tent and that there was human intervention in the disposal of her body. September 19, 1981: The Northern Territory’s then Chief Minister and Attorney-General, Mr Paul Everingham, announces that new evidence has been brought forward and orders a new police investigation. November 20, 1981: The inquest’s finding is quashed. December 14,1981: The Coroner, Mr Gerry Galvin, opens a new inquest at Alice Springs. February 2, 1982: Mr Galvin commits Lindy Chamberlain for trial on a charge of murdering Azaria and Mr Chamberlain as an accessory after the fact. Both are granted bail. September 3, 1982: The trial begins in the Northern Territory Supreme Court at Darwin before

the Acting Chief Justice, Mr Justice, Muirhead, and a jury of nine men and three: women. October 29, 1982: Both are found guilty and Chamberlain is sentenced to mandatory life Imprisonment. Her husband is sentenced to -a suspended 18-month sentence. November 19, 1982: Chamberlain is released on bail pending an appeal to the Federal Court. She learns of her release in Darwin Hospital where she has given birth to another daughter, Kahlia. April 29, 1983: The Federal Court unanimously rejects her appeal and Chamberlain goes back to jail. May 4, 1983: Chamberlain is transferred from Mulawah Detention Centre in Sydney to Darwin’s Berrimah Jail. February 22, 1984: The High Court, by a three to two majority, rejects her appeal. November 12, 1985: The Northern Territory Government refuses to hold a judicial Inquiry into the case. November 25, 1985: The Northern Territory Government rejects her application for release on licence. February 3, 1986: A baby’s jacket, later identified by Chamberlain as Azaria’s, is found at the base of Ayers Rock. February 7, 1986: The Northern Territory Government remits Lindy Chamberlain’s life sentence and releases her from jail, ____