Recordings

Listen to one of the first news reports about Azaria. (1:23 mins.)

News of start of the Chamberlain trial. (2:58 mins.)

After the Royal Commission determined that the Chamberlains were innocent, the Northern Territory government offered them a pardon. Lindy could not accept that offer, and fought to have their convictions quashed - wiped from the record books. Here she tells how she sees the difference between a pardon, and quashing of the convictions. (39 secs.)

After the Chamberlains had their convictions quashed, and were returned to their original legal status of innocence, they applied for compensation for their ordeal. At the time Azaria disappeared, through the trial, and during part of Lindy's imprisonment Paul Everingham was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. Here is an excerpt from an interview he did regarding compensation. (15 secs.)

Something to consider: This interview was after the film Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark) had been released. The Chamberlains did not get paid for the film rights to that movie. Those were the rights purchased from John Bryson, author of the book Evil Angels. To that date, they had done some paid interviews, and Lindy's book was near release. But as any author will tell you, unless you are really big, the author is not the one who makes money from a book, though it has helped to set the record straight. There is no question that for the Chamberlains life was changed, though perhaps 'opportunities' was not the best description. They were so well known that Lindy had found it impossible to get a job. She could sell the infrequent interview, and try her best to invest for her future and support her children. Interviews are nothing you can budget on, and she had lost the chance to be an ordinary person, doing what she loved most. But millionaires? A very far cry from that. That seed in people's minds persists today however. Even if it were true, what a horrible way to get it. Such comments can be seen to trivialise the anguish of being falsely accused, imprisonment, being separated from her children during their most significant years, and being forced to prove her innocence. Nothing can compensate for that.

Marshall Perron was Attorney General for the Northern Territory government when Azaria's matinee jacket was found; he later became Chief Minister. It was he who announced Lindy's release from prison, and the establishment of a Royal Commission into the convictions. He also said that it was the intention that Lindy would not return to prison, regardless of the outcome. He was interviewed in July 2005 about a wide range of topics. Here you can listen to the portion related to the Chamberlains. (7:55 mins.)