A 32-year legal mystery over the death of a baby in Australia's outback took a new twist on Tuesday when a coroner ruled that infant Azaria Chamberlain was stolen by a dingo, bringing closure to a case that split national opinion and attracted global headlines. 

A Northern Territory coroner told a packed courtroom Tuesday that a dingo or dingos took Azaria Chamberlain from a campground near Uluru - a haunting monolith formerly known as Ayers Rock - ABC News Australia reported.

Her parents always maintained their daughter was taken by a dingo, an Australian native wild dog. Her body was never found. 

Her mother Lindy Chamberlain served three years for murder. Her father, Michael Chamberlain, was given a suspended sentence for being an accessory. Both were exonerated  in 1987 but Azaria's official cause of death remained undetermined until now.

The case was made into a major motion picture, “A Cry in the Dark,” starring Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain, in 1988.

"Obviously we are relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga," Lindy Chamberlain, now known as Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, told reporters outside the court.

Michael Chamberlain told reporters in the Northern Territory capital Darwin that the report gave those involved a chance to move on.

Patrina Malone / EPA

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, speaks with media, as her ex-husband Michael Chamberlain (right) watches on outside the Darwin's Magistrate Court in Darwin, Australia, June 12.

"This has been a terrifying battle, bitter at times, but now some healing, and a chance to put our daughter's spirit to rest," he said.

'Attacked and taken by a dingo'
Northern Territory Coroner Elizabeth Morris found evidence from the case proved a dingo or dingoes were responsible for nine-week-old Azaria's death and ruled that her death certificate should read "attacked and taken by a dingo." 

"What occurred on 17th August, 1980, was that shortly after Mrs Chamberlain placed Azaria in the tent, a dingo or dingoes entered the tent, took Azaria and carried and dragged her from the immediate area," Morris said. 

In an emotional finding, Morris then offered her condolences to the Chamberlains and one of their sons, who were in the Darwin court room. 

AAP via EPA

A handout photograph made available by the Australian news agency AAP showing the camping area, including Lindy Chamberlain's tent, where her daughter Azaria went missing, near the Uluru sandstone rock, Northern Territory, central Australia, Aug. 17, 1980.

"Please accept my sincere sympathy on the death of your special loved daughter and sister Azaria. I am so sorry for your loss," she said to the family. "Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child." 

A first inquest in 1981 supported the parents' account but, a second inquest in 1982 overturned that finding and recommended Lindy and Michael Chamberlain stand trial over Azaria's death. 

Lindy Chamberlain, then pregnant with her fourth child, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Michael Chamberlain was convicted of being an accessory and given a suspended sentence. 

A judicial inquiry, known as a Royal Commission, overturned the convictions in 1987, leading to Lindy Chamberlain's release. A third inquest in 1995 returned an open verdict. 

The latest inquest, however, heard new evidence of several dingo attacks on humans, including details of how a nine-year old boy died in Queensland after being attacked in 2001. 

Msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

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The death of a British spy -- whose body was found in a padlocked bag in a bathtub in his London apartment -- may never be explained but was likely a criminal act, the coroner investigating the case said Wednesday.

The coroner, Fiona Wilcox, said that it was a "legitimate line of inquiry" that other spies were involved in the death of Gareth Williams, 31, a member of the U.K.'s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.

Wilcox said the spy was likely killed either by suffocation or poisoning in a "criminally meditated act."

She also said she did not think Williams' passing interest in sexual bondage was behind his death, The Telegraph newspaper said.

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The body of British spy Gareth Williams was found in a bag in his bathtub.

Wilcox said that if Williams, a math prodigy who worked as a code breaker, had got into the bag by himself, foot and fingerprints would have been found around the bath, the paper reported. 

"It is unlikely this death will ever be satisfactorily explained," she said, according to the media reports.

Spy death inquiry looks at bondage link

The coroner also said the large number of women's clothes in the apartment did not show that Williams was a transvestite, The Telegraph noted. The case, she said, had produced in "endless speculation but little evidence."

However, she added that the circumstances of the death "immediately raised the possibility of foul play," according to the Guardian.

UK cops close to arrest over British spy found dead in a bag?

Williams' body was found in his apartment in Pimlico, London, in August 2010.

Metropolitan Police / Reuters

A combination of still photographs taken from video shows a man trying to lock himself in a holdall in this undated image received from the Metropolitan Police in London on April 27.

A forensic pathologist, Benjamin Swift, testified Monday that Williams probably suffocated or was poisoned, saying a precise cause of death could not be established because the body had decomposed. Williams died more than a week before his body was found.

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Other experts have said that it was highly likely that another person, or two, were involved.

The case has spawned any number of conspiracy theories that Williams may have been assassinated by foreign agents or terrorists.

MI6 has said it believes his death was  nothing to do with his work.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Andrew Winning / Reuters

Ian and Ellen Williams and Cerri Subbe, the mother, father and sister of British MI6 agent Gareth Williams, leave Westminster Coroner's Court, in central London April 23, 2012.

Criminal charges over the death of a British spy – whose body was found in a sports bag – are a “real possibility,” a lawyer for police reportedly told a coroner Monday.

Gareth Williams, 31, a math prodigy who graduated from university at the age of 17, was found dead in his immaculate apartment in Pimlico, London, in August 2010.

At the opening of a hearing into the cause of his death, Vincent Williams, a lawyer for London’s Metropolitan Police, said he sought to block the coroner from making video footage related to the case public, The Guardian newspaper reported.

The lawyer said a "careful line must be struck between open justice" at the hearing and the investigation by police, according to The Guardian.

Asked why information should not be made public, the lawyer told the coroner “because there is a live, complex, ongoing investigation taking place.”

Spy death inquiry looks at bondage link

"It is because there may be criminal proceedings further down the line that the commissioner feels that the pattern of disclosure … has to be done with some care,” the lawyer added, saying charges were still a "real possibility."

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said there was a risk of harm to the U.K.’s national security and relations with other countries if some of those giving evidence at the hearing were named, The Guardian reported.

Mystery couple sought in UK cyberspy's bizarre death

Williams’ relatives have expressed fears that "some agency specializing in the dark arts" will prevent them from finding out the truth about his death, The Guardian said.

The dead man’s sister, Ceri Subbe, told the hearing she did not enjoy the culture of “flash car competitions,” “post-work drinking” and “rat race” at MI6, the U.K.’s secret intelligence service, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

Wilcox asked Subbe if she was surprised that more than £20,000 worth of female clothing was found in Williams’ apartment.

“I am not surprised, he was very generous with gifts,” Subbe said, adding that he may have collected the clothes because of his interest in fashion.

She said Williams was a cautious man and would not have let anyone inside his home if they had not been security vetted.

The hearing at Westminster Coroner’s Court in London is continuing.

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