Dingo case reopened

2004-07-05 20:24

Sydney - A distraught mother's scream 24 years ago that a dingo snatched her baby from a camp site near Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback ignited one of Australia's most enduring mysteries.

An elderly man's claim that he retrieved the infant's bloodied body from the jaws of the wild dog has revived the case and - if true - could finally lead to the discovery of Azaria Chamberlain's body.

Two-month-old Azaria disappeared from a campsite near the giant Ayers Rock monolith, also known by its Aboriginal name Uluru, in 1980.

Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain, was convicted of murdering her infant but later released from prison and cleared of the crime after fresh evidence supported her claim that a dingo took the child.

The mystery took a startling turn on Sunday when a newspaper in the southern city of Melbourne published claims by 87-year-old Frank Cole that he shot the dog with Azaria's body still in its jaws while on a camping trip with three friends in August 1980.

Cole told the Sunday Herald Sun that he did not tell police what he did, fearing he would be fined for shooting the dog, which he thought was a rabbit he could use for pet food.

Body could be buried in garden

He said one of his friends took Azaria's body and never said what he did with it. All three of Cole's friends from the camping trip have since died, he said. Cole said he believed one of the men could have buried the baby's body in his Melbourne garden.

Police said on Monday they would investigate the claims, which Cole said he made to clear his conscience.

"I think that we now need to make some inquiries to determine whether or not it's a valid statement or whatever it might be," said Christine Nixon, police commissioner in Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital.

Lindy Chamberlain, who served four years in prison after being convicted of murder in 1982 before being cleared of the killing, said through a spokesperson on Sunday that she was aware of Cole's claims and believed they were a matter for police.

Australians avidly followed her trial in the 1980s and were split over whether to believe her story.

"The Dingo Did It" and "The Dingo Is Innocent," were common bumper stickers during the 1980s while she was on trial.

Azaria was the first recorded fatality attributed to a dingo attack in Australia and there has been only one fatal dingo attack since.

- AP