Jill Dando
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| Jillian Dando | |
| Born | November 9, 1961 Weston-super-mare, Somerset, UK |
| Died | April 26, 1999 Fulham, London, UK |
Jill Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was a British television presenter who worked for the BBC for over 15 years. She was murdered in April 1999, and police mounted a high-profile hunt for her killer. The Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science is named after her in recognition of her contribution to the fight against crime.
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[edit] Biography
Dando was born in Weston-super-Mare, and was educated at Mendip Green Infant School, St Martin's Junior School, Worle Comprehensive School and Broadoak Sixth Form Centre. She studied journalism at South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education in Wales.
Dando was a keen thespian, and was a member of Exeter Little Theatre Company and appeared in their plays at the Barnfield Theatre.
Dando's first job was as a trainee reporter for the local newspaper, the Weston Mercury. After five years as a print journalist, Dando began employment with the BBC when she became a newsreader for BBC Radio Devon in 1985. That year, she transferred to BBC South West, where she presented a regional news magazine programme, Spotlight South West. In 1986, Dando made a move from regional to national television when she moved to London in 1986 to present the hourly daytime television news summaries.
Dando went on to present the BBC television programmes Breakfast News, the Six O'Clock News, the travel programme Holiday, the crime appeal series Crimewatch, and occasionally Songs of Praise. At the time of her death she was one of the highest-profile of the organisation's on-screen staff; she had previously been BBC personality of the year. Crimewatch would later reconstruct her murder to aid the police in the search for her killer.
At the time of her death, Dando had presented just one episode of her new project, Antiques Inspectors. She was featured on the cover of that week's Radio Times.
[edit] Murder
On the morning of 26 April 1999, Dando left the home of her fiancé, Alan Farthing, and returned to her house in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, West London. As she reached her front door at about 11.30 a.m., she was shot in the side of the head at close range with a home-made weapon based on a replica 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
Her body was discovered shortly afterwards by a local resident, and she was taken to the nearby Charing Cross Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival at 13.03 BST. She was 37 years old.
[edit] Operation Oxborough
The murder investigation by the Metropolitan Police — named Operation Oxborough — lasted for over a year. Dando's status as a well-known public figure probably brought her into contact with thousands of people, and there was fevered speculation about the motive for her killing, including that her role as co-presenter of Crimewatch may have brought her into conflict with elements of Britain's criminal underworld. Despite the fact that much of these theorising was without ground, police did investigate the theory that Dando was killed in retaliation for a previous US and UK-led air attack on a Serbian TV station that killed a number of journalists and staff. This was based on comments allegedly made by the Serbian military. Since Dando had recently presented a programme related to funding for Yugoslavia, it was deemed worth investigating. The tip led nowhere, however, according to police.
After six months, the murder investigation team had spoken to more than 2,500 people and taken more than 1,000 statements. With little progress after a year, a review highlighted a suspect who had been largely overlooked, and that immediately after the murder some witnesses had called who were worried about the odd behaviour of a man who lived around half a mile from Dando's home. After a period of surveillance, police arrested Barry George for Dando's murder.
Barry George was charged on the basis of witness reports and a small amount of forensic evidence. His flat was searched and there was evidence that George had been obsessed with guns, celebrities and the BBC. He had been in the habit of taking photographs of female newsreaders from his TV, and surveillance showed he routinely followed women in the street, often to their front door. Records showed he had once been found hiding in the grounds of Princess Diana's residence, Kensington Palace, dressed in dark clothing and with rope and a balaclava, and there was some physical similarity between the Princess and Dando. Indirect evidence also pointed to an amateur killer rather than a professional assassin: the choice of location (nowhere to hide after the murder), the element of chance (Dando effectively lived with Farthing and rarely visited the house), the lack of any sort of getaway vehicle, the muzzle contact with the victim, the amateur firearm and home-made ammunition. Although the murder weapon was not found, a single particle of firearms residue was detected in one of George's coats. The Metropolitan police have admitted that the coat was exposed to an environment containing firearms residue whilst in their custody. Firearms residue is not however, even admissible as evidence in the United States, as it has been found to be consistently unreliable due to cross contamination. A leading US forensic scientist described the use of the firearms residue in a BBC Panorama programme about the Dando murder, as 'not science'.
[edit] Guilty verdict and subsequent imprisonment
George was found guilty of murder in a jury trial at the Old Bailey, and was sentenced in July 2001 to life in prison. Several appeals were rejected, most recently in comprehensive terms. Nonetheless, George's lawyers have mounted a case for a further appeal. One of the factors at issue is the validity of the fragment of firearms discharge residue that was found in George's pocket. In late August 2006, The Independent on Sunday ran a story questioning the evidence when it emerged that two eye-witnesses, one of whom is a retired vicar, had claimed armed police had entered George's home when arresting him. The police deny this happened. This new evidence is currently being studied and a decision whether it warrants a fresh appeal will be given in the near future.
[edit] Legacy
Dando's co-presenter Nick Ross proposed the formation of an academic institute in her name and together with her fiancé, Alan Farthing, raised almost £1.5m. The Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science was founded on 26 April 2001, (the second anniversary of her murder) at University College London. A memorial garden was designed and realised by the BBC Television Ground Force team in her memory in Weston-super-Mare and opened on 2 August 2001, by Councillor Peter Bryant, chairman of North Somerset
[edit] References
- "BBC presenter shot dead", BBC News, 26 April 1999.
- "New Dando murder evidence studied", BBC News, 5 September 2006.
