Jill Dando's BBC colleague says newsroom went quiet after murder news
Jill Dando’s BBC colleague Jennie Bond recalls how normally ‘buzzing, vibrant’ newsroom went ‘terribly quiet’ as rumours emerged that she had been murdered
- The murder of Jill Dando in Fulham, west London has never been solved
- The TV presenter was shot dead on her doorstep on April 26, 1999
Jill Dando’s BBC colleague Jennie Bond has recalled how the normally ‘buzzing’ and ‘vibrant’ newsroom went ‘terribly’ quiet as rumours emerged of her murder.
In a crime that shocked the nation and has never been solved, the TV presenter was shot in the head on her doorstep in Fulham, West London, on April 26, 1999.
A new Netflix series Who Shot Jill Dando is now exploring the cold case, which led to one of the most high profile and complex police investigations in history.
The Metropolitan Police botched their original investigation into Ms Dando’s brutal murder, becoming fixated on west London man Barry George.
Mr George, who had educational and behavioral problems left school at 16 with no qualifications.
Jennie Bond, pictured, said the BBC newsroom went ‘terribly’ quiet after rumours spread about the shooting
Jill Dando was shot dead at the front door of her home in Fulham, west London on April 26, 1999
According to Ms Bond, the BBC Newsroom, pictured, was normally a vibrant place
He was found guilty of murder on July 2, 2001 by a 10-1 majority. He spent eight years in prison before his murder conviction was quashed following several appeals.
Shortly after his release from prison, Mr George moved to the Irish Republic having claimed he was still being harassed by Scotland Yard.
Her brother Nigel believes his sister was targeted in a random attack.
Ms Dando died of a single gunshot wound to the head. She is believed to have died instantly.
She was best known for presenting shows such as Crimewatch, Breakfast Time and the Six O’Clock News.
The three-part series ‘Who Killed Jill Dando?’ is set to be released on the streaming platform on September 26.
The documentary makers spoke to friends and colleagues of the late TV star, as well as Mr George, who was wrongly convicted of her murder.
They also interviewed detectives involved in the case which led to the miscarriage of justice.
Former Met Police chief superintendent Hamish Campbell, who led the investigation said minutes after the shooting, Scotland Yard had launched one of its biggest ever murder investigations.
The Metropolitan Police believed Barry George, pictured, murdered the journalist. He was convicted by a majority verdict of 10-1 but was later released after the verdict was quashed
Mr George, pictured, is now living in the Republic of Ireland since his release from prison
Police launched one of the biggest murder investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police, but despite convicting an innocent man and interviewing more than 4,000 people, they have failed to find her killer
He said: ‘Search teams arrived. The whole of Gowan Avenue was searched. Bins, gardens, flower beds, shrubs. Looking to see whether the gun had been discarded or anything had been discarded.
‘We identified some of the key witnesses. The postman. Saw the Mediterranean looking man just after ten o’clock. On the opposite side of the road to Jill’s house.
‘And a witness claimed he saw a man running across the road and he stopped at the bus stop. And he was sweating. There was a traffic warden and she was about to give a ticket to the driver of a blue Range Rover and as she was starting to write the ticket out, he brushed her off and he drove away. So I didn’t know whether there was one person involved, or two or three. Everybody in that street on that day had to be eliminated as much as possible.’
READ MORE: Who is Barry George?
The former police chief said Barry George fitted the profile of an ‘ ‘ill man, the loner, the infatuated, the psychopath’.
He said: ‘It was a big step to arrest the man suspected or accused of killing Jill Dando. I wrote in my logs, “I fear it was there ill man, the loner, the infatuated, the psychopath, the disturbed or the obsessed who was responsible.’ Barry George fit that category.
‘The Jill Dando murder was regarded and considered one of the biggest homicide investigations conducted by the Metropolitan Police. 4,000 people had been spoken to or interviewed in one way or another. So I was just focused on getting it right.’
Ms Dando’s former hairdresser and friend, Martin Maxey broke down in tears as he spoke about his late friend.
He said: ‘She should have been in a church getting married, you know, and here she was in a church being buried.’
Ms Dando’s former agent said: ‘When you’re doing the news, you have to be the person that was watching that they think you’re speaking just to them. You have been invited into their living room. Jill had that skill.
‘When I took her on she was already incredibly well known. But she needed other programmes to do. And then along came Crimewatch.’
Her friend, Anastasia Baker said: ‘She was very very versatile. And I loved that, that she managed to cross the divide.
‘I know she was happiest when she was interviewing people. Not politicians but just ordinary people. I know she loved that.
‘Some of the cleverest journalists in the room couldn’t do that. They didn’t have what she had. That magic touch.’
Who Killed Jill Dando will be released on Netflix on September 26
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