Jill Dando’s co-host Nick Ross says ‘courts got it wrong’ letting prime suspect walk free
On this day 25 years ago, the Crimewatch presenter was about to open the front door of her home when she was shot from behind and killed in broad daylight.
Jill Dando’s Crimewatch co-host says the ‘courts got it wrong’ when they let the only ever prime suspect linked to her murder walk free.
On April 26, 1999, Ms Dando, 37, was about to open the front door of her home in Fulham, London, when she was shot from behind and killed in broad daylight.
The murder, which left her fiancé Alan Farthing and colleagues bereft, sparked one of the biggest murder inquiries in Metropolitan Police history.
There have been countless theories posited, including she was targeted by a criminal underworld gang as revenge for her role on the BBC show.
A Serbian assassin named Milorad Ulemek was also allegedly seen ‘running for his life’ from the murder scene, The Mirror reports.
The police eventually arrested Barry George who had a history of stalking women and sexual offences.
He was found guilty of Ms Dando’s murder in 2001 after gun powder residual was found in his coat pocket.
But his appeal team argued this was unreliable, and the conviction was quashed in 2008 after he spent seven years in prison.
On the 25th anniversary of her death, Mr Ross said he is ‘pretty sure’ Mr George is the killer as the murder is identical to other high profile celebrity homicides.
He told Metro: ‘I am pretty sure the courts got it wrong.
‘How many gangland criminals have killed judges and other anti-crime mouthpieces? This theory was always absurd.
‘A forensic psychologist said from the start the killer would be someone like Barry George.’
But Mr George’s defence team argued the crime was too sophisticated for him to have the mental capabilities to carry out.
William Clegg KC, who defended Mr George in his appeal, told Metro: ‘Barry was not the type of person to see the woods from the trees, he had personality issues which was clear when defending him.
‘There was no trace of him left at the scene at all, and knowing him he would have probably left half a cheese sandwich behind.’
Mr George’s sister Michelle Diskin said the police’s and Mr Ross’s theory he committed the murder has meant Ms Dando has not got any justice.
She told Metro: ‘I’ve known since the beginning it was Barry, but where is the justice for Jill?
‘She matters, but if my brother continues to be implicated, they are saying the case was solved – but it wasn’t, Barry was unanimously acquitted.
‘Because of this, they will never reopen the case, and the real killer will never be caught.’
Mr George, who appeared in documentary ‘Who Killed Jill Dando?’ last year, said how he felt the police were using him a scapegoat.
He said: ‘I was locked up for eight years. I knew in my own conscience I hadn’t done any of what they said.’
Asked by the interviewer ‘Did you kill Jill Dando?’ Mr George replies: ‘Simply no.
‘It makes me angry that they’ve taken eight years of my life away. They just basically persecuted me.’
He also insisted police must investigate the Serbian assassin seen running from the scene.
He told The Mirror: ‘If he’s the person who committed that crime then he should face the full letter of the law and be brought from Serbia to the UK and be dealt with through the courts and a fresh Crown Prosecution Service dealing with it… not… anyone who’s worked on the previous Dando case.’
His barrister in the first trial, Michael Mansfield KC, tells the viewer Mr George’s acquittal by a jury ‘is the seal of innocence’.
But her loved ones and lawyers have said it is unlikely the killer will ever be brought to justice, despite the high profile nature of the case.
Mr Ross added: ‘Despite presenting Crimewatch for so many years, both Jill and I knew crime, particularly homicide, was vanishingly rare.’
The pair, who presented the iconic BBC show together for four years, always ended the programme with the phrase: ‘Don’t have nightmares, do sleep well.’
Mr Ross said: ‘We always liked ending the show on that phrase, to help reiterate to viewers they are not destined to be a victim of a crime.
‘So being involved in a murder case like this was shocking, I just couldn’t believe it was real when I was told she had been shot and killed.
‘For the first show after her death, it was the only time I asked to pre-record the opening.’
He said being told of her murder ‘didn’t feel real’, especially after covering so many murder cases previously.
‘I was asked to sit down by a mutual friend of ours who told me over the phone, and I just couldn’t compute. All I could think was “this couldn’t possibly be true,’ he said.
‘When interviewing detectives about the case on the show, it was so hard trying not to be firm or harsh with them, because I was too personally involved.’
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘On the 25th anniversary of Jill Dando’s murder, our thoughts remain with her family and all those affected by her death.
‘The investigation is now in an inactive phase, which means that it is not currently subject to routine reviews.
‘However no unsolved murder is ever closed and detectives would consider any new information provided to assess whether it represented a new and realistic line of enquiry.’
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