Who killed Jill Dando? 25 years on, the mystery of the British TV's star's murder remains unsolved

26 April 2024, 08:44

What happened to Jill Dando?

The death of Jill Dando remains one of the biggest mysteries in British criminal history, 25 years on from her murder.

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 Charing Cross 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.

Decades on from her killing, lawyers have urged investigators to reopen the case.

Read more: Who killed Jill Dando? The theories behind one of Britain's biggest unsolved cases 25 years after her death

Read more: Who killed Jill Dando? Hopefully the killer will finally be brought to justice

Barry George, an autistic man with an IQ of around 75 and a history of sexual offences, was convicted of her murder and spent eight years behind bars.

But his conviction was overturned and he maintained he had never met Ms Dando in his life.

Other culprit theories include that it was a former lover, and a Serbian hitman - Ms Dando had been sent threats after helping to raise £1 million for refugees in the Balkans.

"Your Prime Minister [Tony] Blair butchered 17 innocent young people," an unknown caller to the BBC said. "He butchered, we butcher back. The first one (Jill Dando) was yesterday."

Other possibilities raised include that Ms Dando was killed by members of a criminal gang that she was looking into in her Crimewatch role, or that her killing was a case of mistaken identity, and the killer meant to shoot another, similar-looking journalist.

Another possibility was that Ms Dando was killed on the orders of Jimmy Savile because she was investigating paedophilia.

This theory has been dismissed as implausible by the investigator who helped expose Savile later on.