Posted on 07/09/2004 5:54:06 PM PDT by Jane_N
The man who claims to have shot the dingo that killed Azaria Chamberlain had a change of heart about keeping his secret about a year ago after a serious accident that brought him face to face with his own mortality, a neighbour says.
Bert Fraser, who lives near Frank Cole in Pascoe Vale in suburban Melbourne, said: "Frank was fixing tiles on his roof and the ladder slipped from under him. He fell across a trailer and smashed his hip and leg. He went to hospital and when he was coming out of anaesthetic he told his son, Don, about it. Just before or after Christmas last year he was at my home and we were talking. He told me about how they put the baby's body in a bag.
"We spoke for an hour about it. I said, 'Why don't you go to the police? I know a couple of policemen.' He said he had 'tried to tell Willesee', or TV stations. He might have meant trying to contact [A Current Affair's] Ray Martin. He said he had spoken to Lindy Chamberlain. Apparently, she did not believe him. She reckoned he was a fruit loop.
"He reckons he did not go to the newspapers. Maybe his son did."
His story appeared in newspapers last Sunday.
"He said he had arrived home ahead of the other two fellows he had left in charge of the baby. They were going to go to the police and he had no idea what they did with the clothes."
Mr Cole and the late Bob Farmer, whom Mr Cole alleges took away Azaria's body after they found it in a dingo's jaws, belonged to a loose-knit fraternity of Melbourne motor wreckers.
Mr Cole lived in Western Australia before working at a truck wrecking yard in Thomastown in Melbourne, entering into a loose business arrangement with a sandblaster, Brian Elder, who still works in the suburb.
John O'Brien, a former wrecking yard owner who knew Mr Cole and Mr Farmer, said Mr Farmer had mined in Queensland and then set up wrecking yards in Thomastown and Preston.
In August 1980, on Mr Cole's account, he, Mr Farmer and two or three mates, whom he did not further identify, went to the Northern Territory to look at mining prospects.
Mr O'Brien, who owned the wrecking yard where Mr Cole and Mr Elder worked, said: "Frank was OK. I have known him for 35 years. All this on television comes as a shock. In all the years I knew him, he never mentioned anything about Azaria."
There has been speculation this week that Mr Farmer might have taken Azaria's body back to Melbourne and buried it at his then home in Manningham Street, in inner-city Parkville.
The owner of the house, Valentino De Fazio, has said police can dig on his property if they produce "tangible" evidence of what they might find.
The terrace cottage has had major extensions which seem to cover much of the backyard.
The Northern Territory Assistant Police Commissioner, Graham Kelly, has said Mr Cole will be interviewed about his claims.
Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton returned to Uluru two days ago for filming of a mini-series based on her book, Through My Eyes. Jailed for Azaria's murder but later exonerated, she has said she doubts Mr Cole's claims.
Maybe the dingo ate your mystery.
I saw the movie. What was the reason for the Chamberlains divorcing and her remarrying?
We have an Australian cattle dog... dingos are one of the foundation breeds. I'm not one of these people who think having a wild dog or wolf is a good idea but these dogs were carefully bred in Australia over 150 years ago. But the wild streak is there. It's in his eye - his also 1/4 border collie and they have that glaring eye.. intensity. He definitely has an edge to him. He gets lots of exercise and mental stimulation. It's not a breed for an apartment or for being alone all day. But he is, without a doubt the most wonderful dog I have ever known.
I'm not really sure Paul, (remember this happened about 25 yrs ago, and I was only 12 at the time) bit from what I could find doing a quick google search:
"The demands and pressures of the eight years spent fighting for his wife’s freedom and the clearing of their names resulted in Michael being unable to work as a Minister of his religion, his chosen profession, the only one he was qualified to do. The toll on their marriage eventually ended in divorce for Lindy and Michael."
As to her remarrying, I guess she just met and fell in love with someone else?
Just found this about her remarriage:
http://www.harrymmiller.com.au/Lindy_Chamberlain.html
"On December 20, 1992 Lindy married American publisher and fellow Seventh Day Adventist, Rick Creighton. They settled in Seattle, USA for some years. Lindy and Rick now live in Australia."
I was surprised to learn that they split. At the time the movie was released, I think that they were still together. As you said, the toll was too much. I think I read elsewhere that her current husband is American.
This guy's story about shooting the dingo and then hiding the baby's body does not make sense. If I shot a Bald Eagle carring off a baby you can bet that I would get the child's body back to it's parents.
FMCDH(BITS)
It's not the shooting of the dingo that's the problem. The problem seems to be that they had firearms in a national park - which is a crime in itself - coupled with the fact that one of the men already had a criminal record and shouldn't have had a gun at all.
I don't believe the story - but if it's true, I can understand the concern. It's quite possible that a man with a criminal record shooting where he shouldn't have been, could have had the book thrown at him even in the circumstances described. I think it's likely the police wouldn't have preferred charges in the circumstances - but the chance they would have were high enough that I could understand someone being worried. And if they charged one, they might well have charged the others.
As I say I don't believe the story, and won't without considerably more evidence.
But the legal fears aren't unrealistic and do make some sense.
< I may be dense, but after reading this story, I'm still confused. (my wife says that's normal, so I'm not too worried...) >
I'm with you. The article is poorly written. I'm totally confused about what happened and when.
I'm also confused. I thought the mother said she saw the Dingo take her baby. Yet this story says the baby was in the care of the men?
From Reuters (hope I can quote them)
Australia baby death mystery back in the spotlight 09 Jul 2004 07:01:41 GMT
By Belinda Goldsmith
CANBERRA, July 9 (Reuters) - The baffling case of Azaria Chamberlain, who vanished in the Australian outback 24 years ago, apparently snatched by a dingo, is back in the spotlight after an old man said he saw the baby's body in the animal's jaws.
Azaria's disappearance from a campsite near Ayers Rock, now known by its Aboriginal name Uluru, has fascinated Australians and led to several books and a Hollywood movie, "A Cry in the Dark", starring Meryl Streep.
Azaria's mother Lindy Chamberlain said she saw a dingo, or wild dog, run off with her nine-week-old daughter in its mouth on the night of August 17, 1980. The body was never found.
Chamberlain's extraordinary story was met with disbelief because of no known fatal attacks by dingoes. Chamberlain was found guilty of murdering her daughter in 1982 and jailed for life but her conviction was quashed in 1988.
The mystery shot back into the spotlight this week, stealing front-page headlines, when Frank Cole, 78, told the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne that he knew what happened to Azaria.
Cole says he was camping with friends on the night Azaria disappeared and shot a dingo which he later found was carrying a dead human baby in its jaws.
His party of five men feared arrest if they were found to be shooting in the protected national park around Uluru in central Australia and did not report the find.
NEW CONFESSION
Cole said one of the five, a friend named Bob Farmer, offered to take care of the body, possibly burying it in the backyard of his home in Melbourne several thousand kilometres to the south-east of Uluru.
Cole said he had come forward after 24 years to clear his conscience after the deaths of all his camping companions, telling prime-time television show, A Current Affair, on Thursday that his life had been ruined by the events of that night.
"I've regretted it all my life," said Cole, who passed a lie detector test organised by the television station. "I cry often, thinking about it."
Police said they would investigate Cole's admission but were sceptical about its veracity as were many Australians.
An opinion poll conducted by the Herald Sun newspaper found 55.6 percent of 347 Australians questioned believed Cole but 44.4 percent did not.
Lindy Chamberlain, who has now remarried and called Chamberlain-Creighton, cast doubts on Cole's version of events, telling Australian television there were "a lot of holes" in it.
By coincidence, she returned to Uluru this week for the first time since Azaria vanished to film a television mini-series, titled Through My Eyes, based on a book she has written.
"New claims over Azaria's death haunt Lindy's return," read Friday's front-page headline in Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper above a half-page photograph of Chamberlain by Uluru.
The co-producer of the TV series, Tony Cavanaugh, denied Cole's comments were a publicity stunt, saying the trip back to Uluru had been planned for some time.
"This could not have come at a worst time for us because, while we don't believe it, if someone verifies it then we would have a major problem because our story would be wrong," he told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper.
But a series of obstacles still remain to finally resolving the bizarre case of Azaria's death.
Farmer's house has since been extensively renovated and the new owner, although happy to help police, is reluctant to allow a search for a body to go ahead until solid evidence is presented.
"With the amount of information that is on hand now, it wouldn't justify doing anything," house owner Valentino De Fazio told reporters.
Basically the story is as follows.
Lindy Chamberlain claims a dingo took Azaria from the tent and headed into the bush.
This man claims that sometime later on that same night, he shot a dingo and found it was carrying the baby's body.
He then claims that because he and his friends were afraid they would face criminal charges for shooting in a national park, one of the other men took the body and buried it somewhere.
He believes this may have been under a back yard in Melbourne.
Thanks Spyder for posting the article which describes the event better. I didn't take into consideration that the one I posted would be confusing for people that aren't familiar with the case. :)
Interesting that no one saw the Dingo take the baby alive. And the only evidence of how the kid died is missing.
"Interesting that no one saw the Dingo take the baby alive."
Actually the mother, Lindy Chamberlain, claimed to have seen the dingo go out from the tent where the baby was sleeping, with the baby in it's mouth. She then cried out: "A dingo's got my baby".
No body was ever found although the baby's clothes were.
The first one was somewhat confusing I think even for those familiar with the story. I remember when it happened, mainly because the fact they were Seventh-day Adventists was made a part of the trial (I'm SDA). Church lawyers were helping defend Lindy. Sad case.
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