Jill Dando was one of the UK’s most recognisable faces. She was the BBC’s golden girl, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch her present Crimewatch, where she sought to expose criminals.
Sadly though, in 1999, Jill was to appear on the show not as a presenter but as a victim after being shot dead in cold blood as she returned to her home in Fulham, West London. She was 37.
Her door-step execution – which occurred in broad daylight – left the nation shocked and saddened. Now 26 years on, her murder remains unsolved… until now.
The mystery surrounding the murder was the subject of a three-part Netflix documentary, Who Killed Jill Dando? – which re-examined what happened that fateful day and raised multiple theories, a motive, and a potential killer – as Jill’s family hope they will one day get answers.
“If someone has got a vital piece of evidence somewhere, or knows anything about the killer, I hope they can come forward. That way, we will finally get some closure,” Jill’s brother Nigel, 74, told the Mirror newspaper.
WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF HER
It was just after 11.30am on April 26, 1999, when Jill returned home to her leafy, suburban home, having visited her fiancé, surgeon-gynaecologist Alan Farthing.
As she reached her front door, she was grabbed from behind, forced to the ground, a gun held to her left temple and a single bullet fired.
Her bloody body was discovered by a neighbour 15 minutes later. Richard Hughes said he heard a startled scream but no gunshot, yet he witnessed a man walking away at a brisk pace.
The search for Jill’s murderer has become the UK’s largest investigation since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, and has seen police view 500 hours of CCTV footage, question 1393 potential suspects and offer a massive reward.
But it hasn’t led authorities any closer to finding the murderer.
At the time of her death, Jill was a household name. “She was at the top of her game professionally and personally, looking forward to getting married that September,” Nigel said. “She had her whole life ahead of her.”
One year later, police enquiries turned to an oddball loner and fantasist who lived near Jill – Barry George. With a record of stalking women and a previous conviction of attempted rape and indecent assault, in July 2001, he was found guilty of Jill’s murder. But after eight years in prison, he was acquitted after an appeal and retrial.
KEY THEORIES
With the investigation reopened, it seemed everyone had a theory on who wanted TV’s golden girl gone.
One was that a jealous ex-boyfriend or crazed admirer was responsible after Jill went public about her wedding to Alan.
Another emerged from Paris, claiming Jill was killed in a case of mistaken identity following an investigation by a blonde, female BBC colleague into alleged abuse at a French modelling agency.
Then, there was talk of a Serb hitman pulling the trigger after Jill fronted a fundraising program in aid of Kosovan refugees.
Nigel isn’t convinced by any of these.
“My theory is that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he says in the documentary.
“My belief is that it was someone who was in that street who was armed, saw Jill, recognised her and for whatever reason wanted five minutes of notoriety and killed her.”
