Baby Azaria disappearance: Michael Chamberlain's Torana goes from key prosecution evidence to 'symbol of a triumph of Australian justice'. August 1. 9, 2. 01. The yellow hatchback V8 Torana which was central to the conviction and ultimate exoneration of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain over the 1. Azaria has found a new home - the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. Azaria Chamberlain's disappearance became one of the most infamous events in contemporary Australian legal history. The baby's parents insisted she was taken from their tent at Ayers Rock, now Uluru. ![]() Michael and Lindy Chamberlain in 1981.
![]() In October 1. 98. Lindy Chamberlain was tried and convicted of murder and her husband was convicted of being an accessory to the crime. Lindy Chamberlain received a life sentence and was imprisoned for more than three years before new evidence forced a royal commission that ultimately resulted in the 1. Lindy and Michael Chamberlain by the Northern Territory Criminal Court of Appeal. The 1. 97. 7 Torana played a key role in all of it. The ABC's Tony Eastley covered the murder trial in Darwin and the fourth and final coroner's inquest. Michael Chamberlain says battle fought and finally won. Like an old knight wearied by the years, Dr Chamberlain says he is putting down his armour; his battle fought and finally won. Now, 3. 4 years and one day after the loss of his baby, Azaria, he says he can even afford to smile; perhaps laugh. The handsome, fair- haired pastor and his attractive, dark- haired wife Lindy were cast into a maelstrom, driven by desperate police and politicians, and a media all too keen to portray the young couple in a dark light. Lindy Chamberlain's insistence that a dingo took her baby from the camping ground at Ayers Rock just did not seem plausible to a lot of the public and importantly a key number of police. The couple was subjected to a police and media examination few people in Australia could imagine. No surprise that they retreated and steeled themselves. As they did, a suspicious public took it to be a sign of guilt and a lack of emotion, but inside they were falling apart. Beloved car became prosecution's key evidence. The trip to Central Australia was driven by Dr Chamberlain's enthusiasm for the outback and for his car - a yellow V8 1. Torana hatchback. While he was foremost a pastor of the church, underneath his blonde- haired hood, he was a serious motor head. He'd had V8s before, including a GTS Monaro and a Torana saloon, but nothing quite like the Torana hatchback LX. With a much lighter body, five- litre engine, rear disk brakes, heavy- duty axles and a beefed- up differential, it was bred for racing. Lindy and Michael Chamberlain in the early 1980s. Megan Palin news.com.au @megan. It had taken 32 years, four inquests, a trial, jail time. The yellow hatchback V8 Torana which was central to the conviction and ultimate exoneration of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain over the. It will provide a lesson, I believe, for those who want to learn about social history and legal history in Australia. Inside the hatchback were marks and stains that would, in the eyes of the Northern Territory police - so keen to get a conviction - seal the guilt of the Chamberlains. ![]() The car became the prosecution's key. Police did not have a body nor a motive; even the prosecution's timeline of who did what and when was shaky. But the police had the Torana and that car, they believed, held the secrets to what had really happened on that August night in 1. Critical to the prosecution case was that Lindy Chamberlain had supposedly cut her baby daughter's throat in the footwell of the front seat of the car, and that the baby's blood had spurted under the dashboard. At a royal commission of inquiry six years after the death, Justice Morling found that there was no blood and that the . I take the view it was a set up. They used the wrong kind of blood reagent. The Torana had been stripped to the chassis in places, gathering dust and some rust in a police evidence lock- up. Somewhere along the line the gearbox went missing, I know not what happened. We were armoured up, and now we can drop the armour. I would fully expect there would be continual questions and scratching of heads - that's alright, that's the privilege of questioning and if the doubters want to continue, let them,? Dr Chamberlain repeats that he wants to take life easy, care for his wife, smile and read, be close to his family. But there is no bringing back Azaria. However, the fourth and last inquest in Darwin was a massive moment. I never thought I would ever see that day, bearing in mind there had already been three inquests. His bride- to- be arrived at the wedding ceremony in the same yellow Torana in which the Chamberlain family had driven to Uluru in 1. Azaria disappeared. The car's number plate is 4. ENSIC. Michael Chamberlain is still a motor head, but on two wheels. He recently bought a Triumph Bonneville. Topics: human- interest. First posted. August 1.
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