It only took 32 years, 4 coronial inquiries, a trial, an appeal and a royal commission but now it's official: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-12/coroner-rules-dingo-killed-azaria-chamberlain/4065802 After the official coronial apology, now all that remains is for Meryl Streep to apologise for her godawful accent in Evil Angels. Then we can draw a line under the whole sorry mess.
Well, you guys recalled Yahoo Serious from our shores over 20 years ago. We should be able to work something out.
A Python Got Out of the Unlocked Aquarium and Choked Me Babay! http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/125042/florida_couple_whose_snake_killed
Wot? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Angels_(film) "In the Washington Post, Rita Kempley said, "Streep - yes, with another perfect accent ..." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/acryinthedark.htm Well, what would we know about the Aussie accent, anyway? Parody wasn't enough?
She sounded like a Kiwi. Over here, she's still used as the benchmark for crap Australian accents in cinema.
To cut a long story short, there wasn't one of substance. They were Seventh Day Adventists, so truth be told most people probably regarded them as religious kooks who didn't need a real motive to kill a child. The prosecution focused almost entirely on forensic evidence, much of which was later discredited or cast into significant doubt. Why were they convicted? Basically - the story was seen as implausible, the Chamberlains came across as very unsympathetic people, the police stuffed up the forensics, and the media crucified them. Nobody knows for sure what happened that night, but they should never have been found guilty.
Of course, much of the Aussie case was the idea, at the time, they Dingo's were cute, harmless little things.