Jill DANDO , Chart
Born 9 November 1961
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
Died 26 April 1999 (aged 37)
Fulham, London, England
Cause of death Murdered
Occupation Television presenter
Employer BBC

Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961–26 April 1999) was an English journalist and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 14 years until she was murdered in April 1999. Her death sparked a huge manhunt by the Metropolitan Police and led to the trial and conviction of Barry George, who, after successful appeal and retrial, was ultimately acquitted on August 1, 2008, thus leaving the crime unsolved.
[edit] Biography

Dando was born in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, and was educated at Mendip Green Infant School, St Martin's Junior School, Worle Comprehensive School and Broadoak Sixth Form Centre, where she was head girl.[1] She studied journalism at South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education in Wales.

Dando was a keen thespian. She was a member of Weston-super-Mare Amateur Dramatic Society and Exeter Little Theatre Company, with whom she appeared in plays at the Barnfield Theatre.

Dando's first job was as a trainee reporter for the local newspaper, the Weston Mercury, where her father and brother worked. After five years as a print journalist, she 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 to present the hourly daytime television news summaries.

Dando went on to present the BBC television programmes Breakfast News, the BBC One O'Clock 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 among those with the highest-profile of the BBC'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, The Antiques Inspectors and was scheduled to present the Six O'Clock News that evening.[1] She was featured on the cover of that week's Radio Times magazine.

[edit] Murder

On the morning of 26 April 1999, Dando left the home of her fiancé, Dr. Alan Farthing, and returned to her house in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, West London. As she reached her front door at about 11:30, she was shot once in the head.[2] Her body was discovered shortly afterwards by a friend, local resident Helen Doble, 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. In the aftermath of the incident both BBC and ITV offered round the clock coverage of the incident.

[edit] Investigation

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. Although many of these theories were presumed to be groundless, police did expeditiously discount the theory that Dando was killed in retaliation for a previous US and UK-led air attack on a Serbian TV station which killed a number of journalists and staff. Since Dando had recently presented a programme related to funding for refugees from Yugoslavia, it was considered strong enough to investigate.[3]

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, the police focused on 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 her murder. George was initially found guilty of murder in a jury trial at the Old Bailey, and was sentenced on July 2, 2001 to life imprisonment. In November 2007, George successfully appealed his conviction and was held in custody pending retrial. Following an eight week hearing he was acquitted on 1 August 2008.[4]

[edit] Other potential suspects

* Detectives considered the possibility that a criminal gang may have killed her after being featured on Crimewatch, a programme co-presented by Dando
* Detectives also considered the theory that somebody had hired an assassin to murder Dando as revenge for their being convicted as a result of evidence garnered by Crimewatch viewers. This was later ruled out by detectives.
* At the Barry George’s first trial his defence barrister, Michael Mansfield QC, mentioned a plot that involved Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian-Serb leader. Mr. Mansfield quoted from a National Criminal Intelligence Service report which stated that the Bosnian-Serb warlord leader, Arkan, had ordered her assassination in retaliation for the bombing of a television station in Belgrade by NATO aeroplanes. Dando presentation of an appeal for aid for Bosnian orphans in 1998 may have angered Bosnian-Serb hardliners; however no one has claimed responsibility or credit for the attack. However. Bob Woffinden, the journalist who specialises in miscarriage of justice has stated "Claims of responsibility are made by groups such as the IRA or Eta. In 60 years, there has not once been a claim of responsibility for an assassination carried out by east European secret services."[5]

* There were theories that a jealous ex-boyfriend may have killed Dando after finding out that she was due to marry her fiancé later that year. However after briefly looking into the background of her ex-boyfriends detectives discounted this theory.
* Dando’s brother, Nigel, informed detectives that she had become concerned by “some guy pestering her”. A supposed fan called Julian had approached her a few days before her murder; this man fitted the description of a suspect seen near Dando’s home on Gowan Avenue. He may have been the man witnessed near Dando’s house wearing a baggy suit and a trilby hat on the day Dando was killed.[6]

[edit] Legacy
Jill's Garden in Weston-super-Mare
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 at University College London on 26 April 2001, the second anniversary of her murder.[7]

A memorial garden was designed and realised by the BBC Television Ground Force team in Dando's memory, using plants and colours that were special to her. It is located within Grove Park, Weston-super-Mare and was opened on August 2, 2001, by Councillor Peter Bryant, chairman of North Somerset Council.[8]

The BBC set up a bursary award in Dando's memory, which enables a student each year to study broadcast journalism at University College Falmouth. Sophie Long, then a post-graduate who had grown up in Weston-super-Mare and now presenter on BBC News 24, gained the first bursary award in 2000.[9]

In 2007, Weston College opened a new University Campus on the site of the former Broadoak Sixth Form Centre where Dando studied. The Sixth Form building has been dedicated to her and named as "The Jill Dando Centre".[10][11]

Preceded by
Sue Cook Co-host of Crimewatch
with Nick Ross
1995-1999 Succeeded by
Fiona Bruce

Source : Wikipedia

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