{"id":130703,"date":"2023-09-21T20:08:22","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T20:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=130703"},"modified":"2023-09-21T20:08:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T20:08:22","slug":"jill-dandos-bbc-colleague-says-newsroom-went-quiet-after-murder-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/jill-dandos-bbc-colleague-says-newsroom-went-quiet-after-murder-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Jill Dando's BBC colleague says newsroom went quiet after murder news"},"content":{"rendered":"
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A new Netflix\u00a0series 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Metropolitan Police botched their original investigation into Ms Dando’s brutal murder, becoming fixated on west London man Barry George.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr George, who had educational and behavioral problems left school at 16 with no qualifications.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Jennie Bond, pictured, said the BBC newsroom went ‘terribly’ quiet after rumours spread about the shooting<\/p>\n
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Jill Dando was shot dead at the front door of her home in Fulham, west London on April 26, 1999<\/p>\n
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According to Ms Bond, the BBC Newsroom, pictured, was normally a vibrant place\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shortly after his release from prison, Mr George moved to the Irish Republic having claimed he was still being harassed by Scotland Yard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her brother Nigel believes his sister was targeted in a random attack.<\/p>\n
Ms Dando died of a single gunshot wound to the head. She is believed to have died instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was best known for presenting shows such as Crimewatch, Breakfast Time and the Six O’Clock News.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The three-part series ‘Who Killed Jill Dando?’ is set to be released on the streaming platform on September 26.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They also interviewed detectives involved in the case which led to the miscarriage of justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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<\/p>\n
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Mr George, pictured, is now living in the Republic of Ireland since his release from prison<\/p>\n
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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<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ‘We identified some of the key witnesses. The postman. Saw the Mediterranean\u00a0looking man just after ten o\u2019clock. On the opposite side of the road to Jill\u2019s house.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘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\u2019t 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.’\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The former police chief said Barry George fitted the profile of an ‘<\/span>\u00a0\u2018ill man, the loner, the infatuated, the psychopath\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He said: ‘<\/span>It was a big step to arrest the man suspected or accused of killing Jill Dando. I wrote in my logs, \u201cI fear it was there ill man, the loner, the infatuated, the psychopath, the disturbed or the obsessed who was responsible.\u2019 Barry George fit that category.<\/p>\n ‘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.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Ms Dando’s former hairdresser and friend, Martin Maxey broke down in tears as he spoke about his late friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said: \u2018She should have been in a church getting married, you know, and here she was in a church being buried.’<\/p>\n Ms Dando’s former agent said: ‘When you\u2019re doing the news, you have to be the person that was watching that they think you\u2019re speaking just to them. You have been invited into their living room. Jill had that skill.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018When I took her on she was already incredibly well known. But she needed other programmes to do. And then along came Crimewatch.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Her friend, Anastasia Baker said: ‘She was very very versatile. And I loved that, that she managed to cross the divide.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I know she was happiest when she was interviewing people. Not politicians but just ordinary people. I know she loved that.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Some of the cleverest journalists in the room couldn\u2019t do that. They didn\u2019t have what she had. That magic touch.’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Who Killed Jill Dando will be released on Netflix on September 26<\/p>\nREAD MORE: Who is Barry George?\u00a0<\/h3>\n