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.
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.
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.
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.
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.