# Lindy Chamberlain signing books **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindy-chamberlain-signing-books/268155 "2004-10-08T03:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ozchick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f6c823/32.png) [@Ozchick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ozchick)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindy-chamberlain-signing-books/268155/21 "2004-10-13T07:01:45Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > Can any Australian speak to the allegation in _A Cry in a Dark_ (the movie with Meryl Streep, I think it may have had another name internationally) that much of the opinion against the Chamberlains was based on misunderstandings about and prejudice against their Seventh-Day Adventist beliefs? Yeah. There were all these urban myths going around at the time. It was 1980 so I was pretty young and gullible and believed the person who told me they had a friend who lived next door to the Chamberlains and that Lindy always dressed the baby in black (for ritual Satanic reasons of course). I realise now what rubbish that was. I also remember how big it was at the time. If you went up to someone and said “So do you think they did it?” they’d know exactly what you were talking about. Most people thought she was guilty but then the forensic evidence was stacked against her in a major way at the time. Azaria’s recovered matinee jacket was said to have been cut with scissors, not dingoes’ teeth, and the Chamberlain’s car was said to have fetal blood in it. Later scientific evidence which emerged in the appeal showed that was very wrong - it wasn’t even blood, it was engine grease. Also, since then, I believe dingoes in the area have made some attacks against humans. At the time of Lindy’s trial, the prevailing opinion was that a dingo wouldn’t be bold enough to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindy-chamberlain-signing-books/268155/22 "2004-10-13T09:58:35Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > At the time of Azaria Chamberlain’s disappearance (back in about 1980 I think), public opinion in Australia was strongly polarised between those who believed vociferously in Lindy’s innocence and those who were equally certain of her guilt. Lindy was convicted of murder (or it may have been manslaughter - I can’t recall now). Eventually, after lots of appeals and inquiries, her conviction was quashed. Even now though, I think there are quite a few Australians who still have their doubts about the overturned verdict. My dad was working for Channel 9 at the time and he saw the whole unedited interview with her and he is totally convinced she is guilty because she was so calm and had such a flat demeanour. I think the poor woman was in shock and she doesn’t come across as a particularly extroverted personality in any case. If she’d gone on TV and wept buckets the whole trial may have gone differently. Personally I am convinced she is innocent and have always thought so. It’s made for some vicious dinner conversation over the years. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindy-chamberlain-signing-books/268155/23 "2004-10-13T10:03:42Z")
I too am very much convinced she is innocent. If she’d wept, if the baby had been called Sally or something, and if they had belonged to the local Anglican church, things would have gone very differently indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindy-chamberlain-signing-books/268155/24 "2004-10-13T22:10:51Z")
I, too, always thought she was innocent. I’ve seen plenty of dingos in outback NSW when I’ve worked on various properties belonging to relatives. They’re very vicious animals and I wouldn’t put anything past them. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindy-chamberlain-signing-books/268155/25 "2004-10-14T05:16:24Z")
Funnily enough, in the states, it seems to be the women who scream and cry and fall to pieces and look like hell who have actually killed their babies (Susan Smith!) whereas the ones who are simply dumbstruck are the ones whose kids are found in someone’s basement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindy-chamberlain-signing-books/268155.md?page=1)