Jill Dando's chilling interview it was feared was at heart of her brutal murder
It is almost 25 years since the brutal murder of journalist Jill Dando shocked the nation - and in the decades since her killer has never been found.
On the morning of April 26, 1999, BBC presenter Jill Dando was shot dead with one single bullet in broad daylight on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, North London. Her neighbour, Helen Doble, discovered her body. It triggered one of the Metropolitan's biggest murder inquiries' and the county's largest criminal investigation since the hunt for the Yorkshire ripper.
At the time of her murder, the 37-year-old who was likened to a 'TV Princess Diana' was one of the BBC's most beloved and recognisable presenters and had been awarded the corporation's Personality of the Year award in 1997. She was due to be married to gynaecologist Alan Farthing later that year.
Jill Dando, who was shot dead on the steps of her home in Fulham, London, in April 1999 (PA)As well as presenting for the BBC Six O'Clock News, Songs of Praise and Holiday, Jill also hosted Crimewatch alongside Nick Ross - where one of her most memorable interviews with conducted. For those who watched it live, it is an interview that is hard to forget. In May 1996, 21-year-old Stephen Cameron was stabbed to death by notorious criminal Kenneth Noye in a road rage attack on the M25 in May 1996. Stephen died there in the arms of his girlfriend, 17-year-old Danielle Cable.
Noye had just been released from prison two years earlier after serving eight years behind bars for his involvement in the Brink's-Mat robbery. He had infamously been acquitted of fatally stabbing policeman John Fordham's murder on the grounds of self-defence. The day after the Stephen's murder, Noye fled the country in a private jet and it wasn't until August 1998 till he was arrested after being identified in Spain. His arrest was credited to in part for Danielle's appearance on BBC1's Crimewatch in 1997 in which she described what Noye looked like, with Jill Dando as an interviewer.
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Noye was finally convicted of Stephen's murder in 2000 and told he would serve at least 16 years of his life sentence - with Danielle living under witness protection ever since. It was thought the interview left Jill fearing some form of retribution, the
When Jill's face was then aired on Crimewatch as a victim herself of a brutal murder, the fear that Jill's role in Danielle's interview could have prompted a 'revenge' killing loomed large in the minds of detectives. While Noye had been arrested by the time of her murder, and was in custody awaiting extradition, questions were raised as to whether he could have somehow masterminded the killing, perhaps commissioning it before his arrest.
Barry George was cleared of murdering TV presenter Jill Dando (PA)Detectives however came to the conlcusion that Noye was not involved. In an interview with the DailyMail, one retired former senior detectives said Noye's previous murders were "completely different types of killings from the Dando case". The investigation into Jill's murder, codenamed Operation Oxborough, examined 1,393 potential suspects, considering a bizzare range of theories - including the suggestion her murder was the work of a Serb hitman, following a fundraising programme in aid of Kosovo refugees, which saw MI5 and MI6 became involved.
In 2001 Barry George was found guilty of Jill’s murder and sentenced to life in prison, but at a 2008 retrial, his sentence was quashed and he walked free. George, now 63, who has Asperger’s, brain damage, ADHD, learning difficulties and epilepsy, features in a new Netflix documentary about Jill's death. When he is asked ‘Did you kill Jill Dando? He replies: “Simply no. It makes me angry they’ve taken eight years of my life.”
The Netflix documentary is split into three-parts and will look at Jill's early life, career at the BBC and how one man spent eight years in prison for murder - only to be acquitted. During the documentary, Jill's brother Nigel said he hopes the fresh publicity will shine new light on the case.
Loose Women's Jane Moore, who features in the documentary after reporting on her murder at the time, spoke about her brother's hopes, saying: "Her brother Nigel, who is also a journalist, feels that this could help bring somebody forward that might know something. It’s happened with other documentaries where it just triggers a memory, or people’s circumstances change or suddenly decide they will come forward with a piece of information and that is what he is hoping that this documentary will bring."
Who Killed Jill Dando? airs on Netflix from 26 September.
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