Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Jill Dando, a well-known British television presenter who worked for the BBC, was murdered on April 16, 1999. At the time, she was 37 years old and someone shot her dead at her front doorstep in her home in Fulham, London, in broad daylight. A neighbor then found her dead and the killer was nowhere to be found by then, according to People Magazine. At the time of her murder, Dando was a regular television personality which made the death a shocking event for the British public.
The journalist was allegedly shot at point-blank range. Experts found only one bullet in her head and was found to be dead when she was taken to the hospital.
Sky News reported that Jill Dando’s murder initiated one of the most elaborate homicide investigations in the nation. Her brother then suggested that Dando’s murder was likely not premeditated but rather random. He claimed that the killer was probably not planning to kill Dando. She was supposed to be presenting the Six O’Clock News on the evening of the day she was murdered.
Dando was born in a seaside resort in Somerset. She studied journalism at the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education. She kick-started her career as a trainee with the Weston Mercury, a local weekly newspaper. Her brother and father worked with the same newspaper at that time. She then became a print journalist at BBC and went on to become a television presenter. The Six O’Clock News, Holiday, and Crimewatch were among the shows that Jill Dando became popular with.
Jill Dando also had her wedding with her fiance, Alan Farthing, scheduled five months from the day she died.
Was Jill Dando’s murder ever solved?
25 years after Jill Dando’s murder, the case remains unsolved. Several theories were made up to provide an explanation for the death. In 2000, detectives working on Jill Dando’s murder arrested Barry George. Some gun residue was found in his pocket, which served as evidence during his trial. He was then convicted of the murder the year after that. George served 8 years in prison. However, during a retrial after he served eight years, the court found that the residue could have an alternate source and George was acquitted; The Guardian reported.
In February 2009, The Guardian reported that the authorities came across some new evidence in the case. They suggested that the death may be related to a Nato air strike on Belgrade in 1999. The report then said that her killing may have been a revenge move concerning the strike. However, the evidence was never really enough to justify the case.
A BBC report, however, revealed that her brother still continues to believe her death was a random occurrence. The fact that no one followed her home that day and that no one would have known that she’d be home at that time, supports his argument. No murder weapon of any solid evidence was ever determined from the crime scene or the subsequent investigation.
Who Killed Jill Dando? is a three-part Netflix docu-series that follows the infamous murder of television presenter Jill Dando. All the conspiracy theories suggested possibilities surrounding her death. The series is currently streaming on Netflix.
