A Cry in the Dark Page #7

Going from experience

with other babies, yes.

lt was a relatively uneventful day

as eyewitnesses to that tragic night

at Ayers Rock gave evidence.

The witnesses from across Australia

shed little light on the events that led up

to the disappearance of baby Azaria.

Everyone that was there

were her friends, her witnesses.

- They were all Adventists.

- They didn't know each other!

- It was a ritual killing!

- They planned it all, did they?

The buckle gave me very strongly

positive reactions for blood.

What about the spray pattern?

The pattern under the dash

gave me a very positive reaction

for foetal haemoglobin.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Mrs Kuhl,

but you've got 22 positive reactions

for the presence of foetal blood...

um, haemoglobin, from these tests.

That is correct.

Did the tests lead you to an opinion

of the person whose blood

you found and the age of that person?

They did.

It was consistent with the blood having

come from a baby under three months.

You b*tch!

What about when you took

the jury to view the car?

She was behind me, staring. I could

feel her burning holes through my back.

She just stares! She's a witch, you know.

I can't stand the way she flutters her eyes

at the jury. Makes me want to vomit.

I reckon she's got something

going with that copper, too.

Mm-hm! Active little monkey tonight!

- Come have a feel.

- Not just now, my dear.

And what about the outfit? Polka dot.

Practically the same as mine.

Not to mention the hairdo.

It's easy enough to dislike the woman

without her adding insult to injury.

That is a demonstration photograph

of an Ouchterlony plate.

- What the f*** does that mean?

- Buggered if I know.

It's the what?

You can get a positive reaction to milk.

It's not the same type of reaction

as blood, but you do get one. Can.

- Vomit?

- Due to the traces of blood in it, yes.

- Saliva?

- No.

- Never?

- Not that I have seen.

- Nasal secretions?

- There is often blood in those secretions.

- The answer is yes?

- Yes.

If blood was in saliva,

the answer would be yes?

Yes.

- Rust?

- Sometimes. Sometimes not.

You can get a positive reaction to rust?

Sometimes, with some rusts. Yes.

Is it a fact that after four days' screening,

you cannot prove the presence

of blood in the compartments

or the base

of the Chamberlain camera bag?

No. My report states that.

What about the real thing? The actual

Ouchterlony plates at end of your tests?

- Do you produce those?

- No.

- They're in Sydney, are they?

- No.

- Where are they?

- They have been destroyed.

- All of them?

- Yes.

- Whose decision was that?

- It's standard procedure in our laboratory.

Professor Chaikin, you examined

the tufts from the camera bag

to see whether they could have

come from the jump suit.

I did, yes.

I would, if you don't mind, Your Honour,

demonstrate it by cutting it.

The mighty Chaikin!

- Get off!

- And now, for my next trick...

And you cut it. Some tufts fall off.

And you can shake some off.

Are you able to express an opinion as to

whether a dingo's teeth made those cuts?

I would say no.

These are Lindy Chamberlain's scissors.

Are these the scissors

you first used in your cutting tests?

Yes.

- And?

- They came apart.

The scissors you used for the tests,

are they larger than the Chamberlains'?

Yes.

- So far more efficient for your purposes?

- Yes.

I concede that the Chamberlain

scissors, as I received them,

could not cut jump suit material.

- They're trying to blame a dingo?

- Have you seen a dingo using scissors?

Not really.

- Lindy Chamberlain showed no emotion.

- There's Mum and Dad!

Can we ring 'em?

Maybe tomorrow, eh?

We have to turn the

air conditioning off. I'm cold.

- You can't possibly be cold.

- I'm freezing.

Then put a blanket on yourself.

- I'd rather have the air conditioning off.

- Leave it. I'm roasting!

You seem to forget I've got

a little furnace blazing away in here.

If you want my company,

then put a blanket on.

The last thing I want now

is to put a blanket over me.

- Go in the other room then.

- All right, I will.

We should have got that zip fixed

so it was safe.

Love, it wouldn't have

made any difference.

We should have got it fixed

and seen to it that it was zipped up.

What about the dingo they told us about

that clawed its way into the tent for food?

We should have zipped up the tent!

You mean I should have zipped it up.

Isn't that what you mean? Say it!

Say it! Have the guts for once to say it!

- Girls, did you make your T-shirts?

- Yes, we did.

Can you imagine a situation where

the dingo was able to attack the child,

pick it up and carry it by the face?

No. Dogs usually go for

the back of the neck or the shoulder.

Now, in this case, having regard

for the condition of the jump suit,

can you see the child being grabbed

by a dog by the back of her neck?

Not from examination

of the collar of the jump suit, no.

Would you have a look at

this photograph, please, Mr Simms?

Do you concede,

having seen the photograph,

that a dog could easily

encompass the head

of a child of Azaria's size in its jaws?

Well, if that doll's head

is not being forced into the dog's jaws,

I would accept that.

Mr Harris, what is the purpose

of a dingo gripping the head of the prey?

The purpose is to immobilise

the prey immediately,

and preferably kill it at the same time.

There'd be very little blood

because the heart would stop pumping.

I have documented a dingo running

with a 20lb baby kangaroo in its mouth

over a distance of some 200 yards.

We've heard evidence a dingo in

the family tent was seen to shake its head.

That's quite consistent.

The shake's obviously intended...

to break the neck.

You are now to be shown videotape of an

experiment performed at an Adelaide zoo.

While you're looking at this tape,

recall the evidence of Mr Simms

where he concurred,

because of this experiment,

a dingo could take out

a baby goat from a suit

while undoing only the two top buttons.

And is therefore reasonable to assume

that a dingo eating

a baby human being out of its suit...

is quite within the bounds of probability.

How's our side doing?

Well, we figure we're up against about

four not-guiltys and four don't-knows.

- The women are the big problem.

- Remind them where they live.

Professor Cameron, in your view is there

any evidence on those articles of clothing

which suggests the child

was killed by a dingo?

I saw no evidence

on these garments to suggest

a member of the canine family

was involved.

In your opinion, is there any evidence

suggesting the child was not killed

by a member of the canine family?

There is evidence to suggest there was

an incised wound around the neck.

In other words, a cut throat.

This photograph was taken

using ultraviolet light.

You can see the pattern

of bloodied fingers.

And here, what may be a thumb. It's

the impression of a hand of a small adult.

- That's a thumb?

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