Chilling theory of who killed Jill Dando - with 'slim' chance of catching them
A former criminal has spoken out about the murder of BBC presenter Jill Dando and as well as claiming it was an "underworld professional hit", he also claims the chances of catching the person who did it were "slim to none".
Noel “Razor” Smith has been interviewed in a three-part Netflix series about the 1999 murder of the much-loved BBC Crimewatch host which airs tomorrow night. In the programme, he says he doesn't really want to talk about who the killer is for his own safety - but claims it was a professional hit. And when asked if he could give any insight into why she was shot dead, he shook his head immediately and said: “No. If I tell you why - you’d know who did it.”
Smith, an armed robber-turned-writer, was in HMP Belmarsh when Barry George, wrongly convicted of 37-year-old Dando’s murder in 2001, arrived after being charged. George was unanimously acquitted at a 2008 retrial. Smith had been asked by a journalist to speak to George, so he faked a heart attack so he'd be transferred to the hospital wing where George was being held.
He asked Barry if he had killed Dando, to which he told Smith ‘no’. Smith said: “I looked at him and thought ‘there’s something not quite right about this guy’. He is not capable of committing a cold-blooded execution in broad daylight and then not speaking about it for a year. There is no way he could keep that secret. When Jill Dando was shot a lot of criminals at the time kind of went 'yeah', because Jill Dando was on Crimewatch and a lot of them had ended up in prison, down to stuff they had on Crimewatch.
Former prisoner Noel “Razor” Smith (ITV)“The way it was done was professional. In the 80s and 90s, the way every hit was carried out was in broad daylight out in the street. You want a place where people are not expecting you to do it. The chances of catching a professional who works in that way are slim to none.”
Netflix announces Jill Dando documentary 20 years after tragic shooting
Barry George was jailed for life in 2001 largely because of a particle of gunshot residue found in a jacket pocket. It was so small it was not admissible at his retrial. He had lived close to Dando in Fulham, West London, who was shot on her doorstep. George, now 63, who has Asperger’s, brain damage, ADHD, learning difficulties and epilepsy was interviewed in Ireland, where he now lives. Asked, did you kill Jill Dando?, he replies: “Simply no. It makes me angry they’ve taken eight years of my life. They’ve basically persecuted me.”
Barry George outside the flat where he was arrested by armed police for the murder of Jill Dando (Philip Coburn)Hamish Campbell, the senior investigating officer at the time, says in the documentary that he stands by George being the killer. “Do I think he should have been found not guilty?” Hamish says. “I thought the guilty verdict in 2001 was the correct verdict. It’s been in the news or subject to comment or report, every year for 23 years. I think people like a mystery - but I don’t think it’s a mystery at all.”
Asked “do you think that Barry George killed Jill Dando?”, Campbell replies: “I did, yes. “I don’t think I’ve changed my mind.”
The three-part series Who Killed Jill Dando? explains what happened to Dando and explores the aftermath through interviews with Campbell, journalists and Barry George’s original defence lawyer Michael Mansfield. He tells the show: “The file should still be open on this case. They should be looking.”
*Who Killed Jill Dando? airs on Netflix from Tuesday
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