Jill Dando was born in 1961, in Weston-super-Mare. She rose quickly through the media ranks, from her local newspaper to radio, and then into television. She hosted programmes such as Holiday, nightly news and the hugely successful Crimewatch.
Crimewatch, for those who are unaware, was a monthly show that showcased unsolved crimes and asked the public to help solve them.
Dando won accolades such as BBC’s Personality of the Year. She had a warmth on camera that drew people to her. Resembling Princess Diana, she had her appeal and was considered the nation’s favourite.
Murder
On 26th April 1999, she left her fiancé’s house to pop home. She needed to pick up some more clothes and deal with a fax she was expecting from her agent. The trip home was not part of a routine; it was a spur-of-the-moment plan. She was selling her house to move in with her fiancé, Alan Farthing.
At 11:30, she walked to her front door with her keys in her hand when she was approached by an unknown assailant and shot in the head once. A single bullet to the left temple. The killer left a single bullet casing on her doorstep. The assassination occurred in broad daylight.
A friend who worked in television spotted her unconscious body on the doorstep and called 999. Despite the attempts of the paramedics she died shortly after.
Witnesses remember seeing a tall man of Mediterranean appearance, aged between 35 and 40, in the area.
Theories ranged from a jealous ex-boyfriend, a professional hit from someone she had featured on Crimewatch, to a crazed stalker. After a year of getting nowhere, the one the police concentrated on was the stalker angle, especially when they met Barry George.
