Met chief gives update on Jill Dando murder 25 years after her death
1 May 2024, 09:52 | Updated: 1 May 2024, 10:08
Met Commissioner gives an update on the Jill Dando cold case
Met chief Sir Mark Rowley has given an update on the mystery behind Jill Dando's death.
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Ms Dando was shot dead on her doorstep by a single bullet to her head at 11:30am on April 26, 1999. The keys of her BMW convertible were still in her hand.
The Crimewatch host was found outside her home in Fulham 15 minutes later by a passer-by and was rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:03pm.
Her unsolved murder became one of the largest criminal investigations in British history, with hundreds of suspects.
Speaking 25 years on from the murder, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told LBC: “That is not an active investigation at the moment."
He continued: “We solve between 95% and 100% of murders but over 40 or 50 years you end up with 300 that are cases still to be solved.
"We put resources into solving them, you report on them time-to-time…
He added: “Officers who are doing those cold cases, we target them when there’s opportunities, not where there’s good media headlines.”
Read more: Who killed Jill Dando? 25 years on, the mystery of the British TV's star's murder remains unsolved
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It comes after a witness, who reported seeing a man "running for his life" down the killer’s suspected escape route, told the Mirror that she believed the man she saw was Serbian assassin Milorad Ulemek.
The witness said she saw the man sprinting with a "startled" look on his face.
She also picked him out to detectives on CCTV footage a month after Jill’s death.
She told the paper: “It was a long time ago but I can remember faces from years and years back. I'm bad for remembering names but I'm good with faces.
“I think I need to speak to police.”
The defence lawyer for Barry George, who was tried and convicted of the TV presenter’s murder but later cleared after eight years in jail, previously said he believed police should reopen the case.
He said police should look at twice-convicted killer Ulemek, who reportedly looks like the mystery man.
Ulemek is currently serving 40 years in a Serbian prison.
