The Trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain:
A Chronology
August 17, 1980
 While Lindy and Michael Chamberlain are vacationing near Ayers Rock in Australia's Northern Territory, 10-week-old Azaria Chamberlain disappears from the family tent. 
August 24, 1980
 The bloody jumpsuit and singlet of Azaria is found near a boulder at the base of Ayers Rock by a tourist.
December 15, 1980
 The first coroner's inquest into the death of Azaria opens before Denis Barritt.
February 20, 1981
 Coroner Barritt finds that Azaria was taken and presumably killed by a dingo (a wild dog).
September 19, 1981
 Northern Territory police search the home of the Chamberlains in Cooranbong, New South Wales.
November 18, 1981
 The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory quashes the findings of the first inquest, and orders that a second inquest into Azaria's death be held.
December 14, 1981
 A second coroner's inquest opens before Gerry P. Galvin.
February 2, 1982
 Coroner Galvin commits Lindy Chamberlain for trial in relation to the murder of Azaria, and Michael Chamberlain on a charge of being an accessory after the fact.
September 13, 1982
 The Chamberlain trial opens in a Darwin courthouse before Justice James Muirhead.
October 13, 1982
 The defence opens its case in the Chamberlain trial.
October 29, 1982
 The Chamberlain case goes to the jury.  The jury finds Lindy guilty of murder and Michael guilty of being an accessory after the fact.  Lindy is sentenced to life at hard labor, while Michael's sentence is deferred.
November 19, 1982
 Lindy Chamberlain, two days after giving birth to a baby girl, is released on bail pending an appeal.
February 7, 1983
 The Full Bench of the Federal Court hears the appeal of the Chamberlains.
April 29, 1983
 The Federal Court, in a unanimous vote, rejects the Chamberlains' appeal and Lindy is returned to prison.
November 28, 1983
 The Chamberlains seek leave to appeal their convictions to Australia's High Court.
February 22, 1984
 Australia's High Court, voting 3 to 2, upholds the conviction of the Chamberlains.
May 3, 1984
 A petition with 131,000 signatures calling for Lindy's release and a judicial inquiry into the case is presented to the Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen.
November 1985
 "Evil Angels," a book by Melbourne barrister John Bryson, provides an in-depth look at the Chamberlain case, and suggests that they might have been wrongfully convicted.
November 12, 1985
 The Northern Territory rejects the application of the Chamberlain Innocence Committee for a full judicial inquiry into the case.
November, 25, 1985
 The Northern Territory turns down Lindy Chamberlain's application for early release from prison.
February 2, 1986
 A matinee jacket matching the description of the jacket Azaria wore on the day of her disappearance in discovered at Ayers Rock. 
February 7, 1986
 Lindy Chamberlain is released from prison.  The Northern Territory Government announces that there will be a new inquiry into Azaria's death.
March 1986
 The American television show "Sixty Minutes" runs interviews with the Chamberlains as part of a story strongly suggesting their innocence.
May 8, 1986
 A judicial inquiry into the Chamberlain case opens in Darwin before Justice Trevor Morling.
May 22, 1987
 Justice Moorling issues a 379-page report analyzing the evidence in the Chamberlain case.  The report finds the evidence against the Chamberlains to be insubstantial.
October 21, 1987
 The Northern Territory Government enacts special legislation authorizing the Chamberlains to apply to the Court of Appeal to have their convictions quashed.
September 15, 1988
 The Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously quashes all convictions against Lindy and Michael Chamberlain.
November 1988
 A movie about the Chamberlain case, "A Cry in the Dark" (or "Evil Angels") starring Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain, is released.
1992
 Lindy Chamberlain receives $1.3 million compensation from the government for wrongful imprisonment.
December 20, 1992
 Lindy Chamberlain marries Rick Creighton, an American publisher and fellow Seventh Day Adventist.
November 29, 1995
 A third coroner's inquest--this one a "paper inquest"--into Azaria's death is held before Coroner John Lowndes.
December 13, 1995
 Coroner Lowndes concludes that the cause of Azaria's death "cannot be determined."
August 6, 2004
 Melbourne pensioner Frank Cole, now 78, takes a lie detector test to prove his story that in August 1980 he shot the dingo that killed Azaria, then showed the baby's body to his companions.  He passes the test, but Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton expresses doubts about his story.
February 2012
 After a series of dingo attacks on humans, a fourth coroner's inquest into the death of Azaria is opened.  Lindy Chamberlain expresses the hope that the inquest will both clear her name and alert the public to the fact that "dingoes are a dangerous animal." 

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