UK UK - Jill Dando, 37, Fulham, London, 26 Apr 1999

[Inspector Evans]

I'm glad the police are investigating still anyways and well I've always been sure it was likely Barry George I've never ruled out the idea of some kind of Assassination from someone else and the Serbia connection has always been thrown around so it makes sense but it's scary to think that the possible motive for her killing was just because she presented some news report on it scary stuff.

In that scenario it would just be a tit-for-tat execution. I doubt Milosevic or anyone that high knew who Jill Dando was but an order could've been given out to kill a western journalist or newsreader in retaliation for Serbian TV HQ being bombed in April 1999.

So she was seen fronting the appeal, bit of intelligence found she was living in London in a residential street and so someone is paid off to kill her but of course counter to all that is she wasn't home at Fulham much at all.

Not sure if there's really any new evidence here bar hazy recollections from over 25 years ago.

 

[Inspector Evans]

I think everyone will accept that Barry George is/was a serious sexual offender. That doesn't make him the assassin of Jill Dando. The manner of the killing has always seemed to me to be a professional job. I believe we will find out soon, who pulled that trigger, and it won't be Barry George.

What gives you the "soon" hunch?

We all hope we can get a resolution but it's been nearly 30 years now. The 2019 documentary was a great watch as Hamish Campbell was asked if he thought anyone would ever stand trial again for Jill Dando's murder and his answer with a shake of a head was "no" so that says it all for who he still believes is the offender.

I do think it was a trained assassin who did it but unclear what the actual motive was.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Well that's going to throw a few people into a quandary. But it all seems a bit vague. Where is this CCTV footage from exactly? As a trained assassin, why would they do a 'hit' so cleanly, but then go running off in a blind panic as some witnesses have claimed? And the biggest one, why would they assassinate her? Yes, she fronted a TV campaign, but it's not as if she personally was the voice behind it - plus by never admitting to it, nor even alluding to it, what did the paymasters behind it actually achieve? When Ross McWhirter was assassinated by the IRA, it was because he had been very vocal in his politics - and the IRA were quick to own up as a warning. But with Jill Dando....nothing.

There were recorded calls to the BBC in the days after but that could've been cranks just getting a kick from all the coverage of the murder.

Security on the quiet was stepped up for likes of Tony Hall and other prominent BBC figureheads at the time just in case.

 

[Novosti]

I would argue otherwise. For something unprofessional, the killer fired one shot, there was no noise from the victim or the weapon that anyone really heard, she lay undiscovered for close to 20 minutes - and all these years later no-one seems to have a clue. Unprofessional or lucky?
I'd go with the latter if anything. Whether it would give the victim time to fight back is neither here nor there IMO, this was a close quarter killing, and therefore needed to be CQ. The killer, and JMO, being a professional knew that the weapon they had wouldn't work efficiently at range, so modified their M.O. by getting close - as a result they must have been professional enough to have been able to adapt their strategy on the day to include getting there without being seen to a tee with her arrival (check), execute the victim without any real sound (check) and escape without raising to much of a scene (check) - that really does point to skill, planning and, well, professionalism.
As for the weapon - we don't really know do we? We know it was a modified blank firer, but it did the job so must have been to a high standard.
What people tend to forget is that in the UK at that time, and even now, firearms weren't in huge abundance. To get a unregistered firearm (remember we'd just been through the aftermath of Dunblane when tougher gun laws, tougher than we all ready had them, were put in place) was pretty darn difficult. It's not like the US. Speak to any of the criminal fraternity back then and they'll tell you that firearms weren't just something you can by - you had to wait for someone to sell them. It's why back then, gun crime was seeing weapons that were 30+ years old sometimes.
Blank firers were the way to go - and these were the prominent weapons that were being passed around the underworld. But even then to get one, either modified or to modify yourself, was something that means you would've been more than likely a professional criminal.

Right. But you've largely contradicted yourself here - a professional gunman isn't going to use an unpredictable modified blank firer! Certainly the suggestions of special forces or ex-Yugoslav paramilitary involvement are completely incompatible with the grubby, messy, probably lucky, nature of the killing. And physical touching and point blank firing are pretty sure signs of a gunman that isn't trained, nor experienced - especially in a situation where there were no realistic constraints that forced this tactic. It has all hallmarks of a first-timer getting hold of terrible equipment and getting lucky in a messy struggle.

 

[Hexe]

Right. But you've largely contradicted yourself here - a professional gunman isn't going to use an unpredictable modified blank firer!

Well modified blank firer is not unpredictable, actually.

Certainly the suggestions of special forces or ex-Yugoslav paramilitary involvement are completely incompatible with the grubby, messy, probably lucky, nature of the killing. And physical touching and point blank firing are pretty sure signs of a gunman that isn't trained, nor experienced - especially in a situation where there were no realistic constraints that forced this tactic. It has all hallmarks of a first-timer getting hold of terrible equipment and getting lucky in a messy struggle.

Slobo's boys had all the subtlety of angry bull in the China shop. Radovan Stojcic Badza was sitting in pizza parlour with his son, when a man barged in, yelled at the people to lie down and then proceeded to spray Badza with bullets. Pavle Bulatović was killed in similar fashion. Ivan Stambolić was kidnapped during a jog, in broad daylight, by perpetrators in very characteristic van and then executed in the woods by a shoot to the back of his head.

I don't believe it was a Serbian assassin, but certainly not because this crime is not subtle enough for the grubby fingers of the Slobo's boys.

 

[Novosti]

Well modified blank firer is not unpredictable, actually.




Slobo's boys had all the subtlety of angry bull in the China shop. Radovan Stojcic Badza was sitting in pizza parlour with his son, when a man barged in, yelled at the people to lie down and then proceeded to spray Badza with bullets. Pavle Bulatović was killed in similar fashion. Ivan Stambolić was kidnapped during a jog, in broad daylight, by perpetrators in very characteristic van and then executed in the woods by a shoot to the back of his head.

I don't believe it was a Serbian assassin, but certainly not because this crime is not subtle enough for the grubby fingers of the Slobo's boys.

A smooth bore modified blank firer would almost certainly be a terrible weapon in terms of performance compared to a purpose-built lethal firearm. They are much more likely to suffer misfires, barrel ruptures, low velocity and much worse accuracy at anything but very short range. It is inconceivable that a 'professional' gunman would choose such a weapon. Certainly not anyone operating with military backing/connections.

Stambolić, Badza and Bulatović were all killed by serious military weapons. Yes the attackers didn't hide their actions - but they knew in that political environment the police weren't seriously going to pursue them. In some ways it helped Milošević to be so brazen, as a statement of power. Obviously that kind of approach couldn't be carried over to a foreign country. And it wasn't anyway - Jill Dando wasn't killed by a squad of soldiers with automatic weapons. She was killed by lone gunman with a barely functioning weapon after a close quarter struggle - all of which suggests a confused set of objectives, maybe with rape as the initial idea.

 

[Hexe]

They are much more likely to suffer misfires, barrel ruptures, low velocity and much worse accuracy at anything but very short range.

Jill was shot point blank. Low velocity and worse accuracy at anything but very short range were not a problem.

 

[forensicswannabe]

A smooth bore modified blank firer would almost certainly be a terrible weapon in terms of performance compared to a purpose-built lethal firearm. They are much more likely to suffer misfires, barrel ruptures, low velocity and much worse accuracy at anything but very short range. It is inconceivable that a 'professional' gunman would choose such a weapon. Certainly not anyone operating with military backing/connections.

Stambolić, Badza and Bulatović were all killed by serious military weapons. Yes the attackers didn't hide their actions - but they knew in that political environment the police weren't seriously going to pursue them. In some ways it helped Milošević to be so brazen, as a statement of power. Obviously that kind of approach couldn't be carried over to a foreign country. And it wasn't anyway - Jill Dando wasn't killed by a squad of soldiers with automatic weapons. She was killed by lone gunman with a barely functioning weapon after a close quarter struggle - all of which suggests a confused set of objectives, maybe with rape as the initial idea.

Completely agree I think Barry did it but I don't think he ever intended on killing Jill I think his plan was rape and It just didn't go to plan we also can't ignore the fact he had gun residue in his Coat pocket and tried to get people to Alibi him that day.