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

[Hexe]

Who do you believe killed Jill and why?

Who? Honestly I have no idea, but I'd look among the men she knew. Someone angry he got rejected? Or unable to cope with her engagement? Don't know, it smells somewhat personal to me. What I see is someone who waited at Jill's doorstep wanting to kill here. This person is well acquitanced with guns and ballistic (a propos limited range, the perp wasn't concerned with that considering he made the load of gunpowder in the cartridge smaller, seems point blank was his plan all the time), also with anatomy of the brain, considering he chose the best angle of the shot, that guaranteed the brain stem damage and instant death. He knows a thing or two about blood spatter, has cool head and is a meticulous planner.

What I don't see here is a work of loud, sloppy, bumbling man, waving his gun carelessly. Whoever it was knew what he was doing and what for.

 

[Novosti]

London is chock full of tourists from all corners of the world. No accent stands out there.



How do you know he did not have an escape route?



That would make his interaction with Jill longer, increasing the risk. What if she resisted, or started screaming?



I said that before and I will say it again: if this gun was redone well, there was no risk of it not working.



That's where we agree.

A well modified smooth bore blank firer is more likely than not to work at very close range. I agree with that. But so is a knife or an axe. There's no way a professional gunman would choose to use any of these things - except in a scenario where they are unable to get hold of anything else. But that undermines the whole idea of this being a professional. This is a weapon that screams amateur opportunism i.e. it being the only firearm the attacker ever owned.

 

[Hexe]

A well modified smooth bore blank firer is more likely than not to work at very close range. I agree with that. But so is a knife or an axe.

Knife is far more messy (makes harder to direct the blood spatter away) and an axe is rather difficult to conceal (and even more messy than the knife).

There's no way a professional gunman would choose to use any of these things

I do not think it was a professional gunman.

 

[Markybug]

Let's get something straight: he cannot hold an identical gun when we do not know what exact gun was used to kill Jill. The gun he held was of a type that might be converted into such weapon, but we have no idea if it was identical.

A crazy man in her neighbourhood who is pictured with a gun, identical in style and type, but it could be another individual with another similar gun, ok.

George is guilty imo, and if the ambulance crew hadn’t destroyed the crime scene this would have been put to bed years ago.

 

[rvlvr]

Let's get something straight: he cannot hold an identical gun when we do not know what exact gun was used to kill Jill. The gun he held was of a type that might be converted into such weapon, but we have no idea if it was identical.

We also know that the ‘gun’ he was pictured holding was stolen from him in the 1980s:

R

UK Post in thread 'UK - Jill Dando, 37, Fulham, London, 26 Apr 1999'

Aug 15, 2025

I’ve also been reading Brian Cathcart’s book ‘Jill Dando: Her Life and Death’. I really like contemporaneous accounts of crimes, this one came out shortly after BG’s first trial and is well researched and written.

I’d long wondered when and where the photo of George with his ‘gun’ was taken, given how dated everything looks. I’d always assumed it was very likely to have been at Stanhope Gardens in Kensington, where George stayed in the mid-1980s after being released from prison, where it’s said he would “regularly dress in combat gear and carry [his] gun around the hotel.”

His behaviour...

• rvlvr

• 

This inconvenient fact is constantly overlooked when discussing whether George had the means to do this - understandable from a layperson, perhaps, but someone like Nick Ross absolutely should know better and the fact he continues to share the photo is quite revealing as to the strength of his argument.

 

[forensicswannabe]

The real question is why does Barry still continue to lie about the picture of him holding the gun he always states it isn't him in the picture when it clearly is and if he is innocent I just dont get the reasoning behind lying it doesn't help his case.

 

[Hexe]

The real question is why does Barry still continue to lie about the picture of him holding the gun

Probably because he is not very bright pathological liar.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Who? Honestly I have no idea, but I'd look among the men she knew. Someone angry he got rejected? Or unable to cope with her engagement? Don't know, it smells somewhat personal to me. What I see is someone who waited at Jill's doorstep wanting to kill here. This person is well acquitanced with guns and ballistic (a propos limited range, the perp wasn't concerned with that considering he made the load of gunpowder in the cartridge smaller, seems point blank was his plan all the time), also with anatomy of the brain, considering he chose the best angle of the shot, that guaranteed the brain stem damage and instant death. He knows a thing or two about blood spatter, has cool head and is a meticulous planner.

What I don't see here is a work of loud, sloppy, bumbling man, waving his gun carelessly. Whoever it was knew what he was doing and what for.

I agree with that. She had a long term boyfriend up to 1997. Then a gap of a few months before she met Alan Farthing in late 1997. Then the engagement was announced January 1999 with wedding set for the September as would've wanted the honeymoon out of the way before the preparation for co-presenting the millennium coverage.

She was visible and admired by many and seems by a few accounts she had some flings before Farthing came on the scene so the timeline is possible for someone who was spurned or jealous she was taken and so once the engagement news was announced it could've taken a month or two to arrange the hitman.

The police ruled out ex's but I assume that was just checking out where they were on the day (so ruling out they were actually the person with the gun at the doorstep) rather than looking into if any significant sum of money was moved out to pay someone to do it.

It's another theory like the Serbian one and I'd probably rank both above someone just randomly walking down the street, seeing her get out of the car and deciding to attack her there and then.

 

[Hexe]

The police ruled out ex's but I assume that was just checking out where they were on the day

Another question is if they knew about all her exes. Dando seemed to be quite discreet person, not the one to advertise every fling she had. Then there may be some men who overestimated in their mind their closiness to Jill and thought there was something only to get a bucket of cold water to the head when mr Farthing stepped up into the limelight. There might be a good number of men the police did not check.

 

[Markybug]

Do we know how many guns George had? Any guns allegedly stolen from him might necessarily have been all of them.

He was buying military equipment a couple of weeks before Jill’s murder for example.

 

[SteveH]

Well. it was Serbian hitmen who tried to assassinate Barry himself wasn't it? And it was poor old BG who had a gun put to his head:

“When I was in emergency accommodation in Hackney, I was stood in a long hallway and I had a gun put to my head and was told ‘Watch your back’," he [BG] said.

“I went to the police station and told them and they gave me lip service. I was living in fear.

“There were two things in my mind: I’ve been acquitted of this crime and then I get a gun to my head.

“There was talk of a Serbian hit team involved in Jill’s killing.

“We think it must have been someone who had a link to the murder. It’s too much of a coincidence.

"I didn’t get a look at them.”

'They put gun to my head' - Barry George on Jill Dando mystery

He was acquitted almost 10 years ago of the killing of the loved Weston-super-Mare star, but says he still does not feel free

www.bristolpost.co.uk

Case closed!

The naivety of some contributors continues to astonish me. Barry George had A gun which was "stolen" apparently.

A gun. Just one?

Anyone who believes that twaddle should read this Guardian article from 2001:

Dando killer was an oddball loner

Barry George yearned to be Gary Glitter, posed as an SAS soldier and pretended to be a professional stuntman. He insisted he was the cousin of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of his favourite band, Queen.

www.theguardian.com

"Digging further into his past, the murder squad discovered George's fascination with the military went beyond using the name Thomas Palmer - the SAS soldier who led the raid on the Iranian embassy in 1980.

In December 1981 he joined the Territorial Army, 10th batallion Parachute regiment, based at White City, using the name Steve Majors. He attended 29 voluntary training days, learning to strip, assemble and fire rifles and machine guns. He was discharged the following November.

In August 1982 he joined the Kensington and Chelsea gun club. He attended eight sessions but his application for full membership was rejected. When police first interviewed George he claimed he had no contact with firearms after leaving the TA. This was a lie.

By 1985 he had collected several pieces of military equipment, including an imitation Heckler Koch machine gun, a starting pistol and a gas mask.

A friend he allowed into his room at a bed and breakfast in Kensington saw a third weapon, a polished silver pistol, carefully wrapped in tissue paper and kept in a shoe box.

This gun has never been found.

Police also found a photograph of George posing in a balaclava and gas mask and holding a gun, probably a firing pistol. He also owned a combat knife, as well as shirts, jumpers, a beret and epaulettes from the SAS regiment. Only two weeks before Miss Dando's death he had bought an SAS belt.

George was an avid collector of brochures and magazines for military kit suppliers and gun dealers, and his books included Ambush and Counter Ambush, Ninja the Invisible Assassins and Construction of Hiding Places."

See also:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-43483/Dando-killed-single-bullet.html

Dando defendant 'fired handgun into friend's home'

Jill Dando’s alleged killer fired a handgun into a friend’s hallway when he called round to see him one day, the Old Bailey heard today.

www.irishexaminer.com

Dando suspect ‘leapt out with machine gun to startle hotel guests’

The man accused of murdering Jill Dando terrified hotel guests by dressing in combat fatigues and leaping out at them armed with a machine gun, the Old Bailey heard today.

www.standard.co.uk

To make matters worse we get the old canard that BG wasn't "very bright". Please! Stop it!

 

[rvlvr]

The real question is why does Barry still continue to lie about the picture of him holding the gun he always states it isn't him in the picture when it clearly is and if he is innocent I just dont get the reasoning behind lying it doesn't help his case.

Because this is what stupid people do.

If you come home from work and find half a tub of ice cream on the counter and your kid’s face covered in ice cream, it’s pretty obvious who’s eaten the ice cream. But some kids will still stand there and deny it was them.

As most children grow up they grow out of this behaviour. But some don’t.

To be fair to George, he admitted to police it was him in the photo and provided an explanation for the gun’s whereabouts, which was supported by David Dobbins (who proved to be a less than helpful witness for George, on the whole). And yet this photo has become sacrosanct for many, like a blurry photo of Sasquatch or footage of the Loch Ness Monster.

At some point it probably makes more sense in the mind of an idiot like George to deny it was you in the photo, than to patiently explain to people who just don’t want to listen the nuance and context behind it.

 

[rvlvr]

We all know that George liked purchasing military memorabilia, we’ve heard this stuff a million times. Its relevance to Dando’s murder is tenuous at best, given her killer wasn’t dressed like an SAS serviceman.

George could’ve bought a tank and a surface to air missile launcher in the weeks prior to the crime, but unless he fashioned these into a gun, then, so what?

It’s doubtful that George ever possessed a weapon capable of firing live ammunition, and evidence of his possession of any sort of ‘gun’ ceases in the late 1980s. If it’s ‘naive twaddle’ to point out this gaping hole in the theory, then so be it.

 

[TheRockingRev]

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.

I've not really contradicted myself. How do we know the weapon was unpredictable? As far as I'm aware the weapon has never been found, so we can't say that. The perpetrator could've fired that gun countless times before in order to test it, and some of the craftmanship put into changing guns from blank firers to regular weapons has been seen to be at a high standard. There's a few lines of thought here that we need to address:

1). The point blank firing is a not unprofessional - far from it. This wasn't ever going to be a sniper like killing. It was in a suburban street, with no place to set up a distance shot. It was also an assassination, one that needed to be quick and also concise. A shot from any distance may not have been efficient - whoever set out to kill her, wanted, IMO, to do that exactly. Hence the touching too (and has there ever been any forensics from fingerprints etc. because of this? )

2). The idea that a professional hitman isn't going to use a modified weapon - as mentioned, this was the M.O. of contract killings in the UK at the certain time. We need to get rid of this idea of a 'hitman' that comes from Hollywood movies. Hitmen are in the job just because they're mysterious and dressed in black - it's actually having the mentality of being able to execute someone, maybe up close, maybe even face-to-face. The majority of hardened criminals will tell you, this isn't an easy task - or even one they would entertain. That, again JMO, is what makes it a professional killing.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Another question is if they knew about all her exes. Dando seemed to be quite discreet person, not the one to advertise every fling she had. Then there may be some men who overestimated in their mind their closiness to Jill and thought there was something only to get a bucket of cold water to the head when mr Farthing stepped up into the limelight. There might be a good number of men the police did not check.

She was "close" to her next door neighbour wasn't she? That's not me revealing some unknown rumour as it was revealed in court her DNA was on Richard Hughes's bedsheets was it not? Or maybe I'm over exaggerating an innocent coffee meet up!

I assume she wasn't doing any of this when she was with Alan Farthing but there was certainly a significant period between her splitting up with Bob Wheaton (and it seemed that relationship had already fizzled out in 1996) and then meeting Farthing in late 1997.

So potentially lots of male suitors she met on top of the rumours from fronting the Holiday programme.

So in terms of motive of attack you can split this case into three scenarios. First is she was incredibly unlucky to get out of her car as a random/stalker walked towards here with a gun (BG/unknown). I always think to that day would she have been killed if she was with someone else? No idea how often Alan Farthing came back with her to Gowan Avenue but he must've done on occasions and can't believe the killer knew his work rota.

Or the two other scenarios is someone was triggered by her wedding and being unavailable so decided to stop that event happening. Or someone with Serbian connections decided she was easy target after Kosovo appeal three weeks before her death.

Beyond that what else is there to consider?

 

[Professor Moriarty]

it was revealed in court her DNA was on Richard Hughes's bedsheets was it not? Or maybe I'm over exaggerating an innocent coffee meet up!

I didn't know this. Why did the police check his bedsheets? Did they get a warrant? How often did he wash his bedsheets?

 

[Inspector Evans]

I didn't know this. Why did the police check his bedsheets? Did they get a warrant? How often did he wash his bedsheets?

I'm sure it has been discussed on this thread actually, hopefully someone remembers and I haven't made it up! Will have a look and get a quote.

Or maybe it isn't the bedsheets but her DNA in Richard Hughes's house which I guess would just get explained away as inviting a neighbour in for a chat which happens on every street.

 

[TheRockingRev]

The timeline leaves no time for attempted rape and there is no evidence such an attempt happened.

I fully agree, a very good point - if this had been the sole motive, the perpetrator would've been more interested in getting her in the house. There would've been a struggle, the gun may have gone off accidentally. But there was none of this - whoever did this set-out solely, IMO, to kill her. To escalate from a S.A. to a full blown murder with no struggle doesn't seem very likely to me.

There was very minuscule amount of gun residue found in the pocket of the coat that was handled before getting tested (long time after Jill's murder) by multiple people, that were also handling guns as a part of their job. I think we can ignore this "evidence" safely.

 

[TheRockingRev]

Not saying that BG was definitely guilty, but for someone who was innocent he sure acted oddly (and suspiciously) in the immediate aftermath of the killing - and later on - making sure he had an "alibi" and inserting himself into the case by harassing Jill's postman etc etc.

TBF - he was generally odd. The other thing is he was an attention seeker - the whole alibi thing could easily be him trying to make himself out to be more important and relevant than he was. And yes, I know it seems strange with a murder but a). he had a history of drawing attention to himself and b). this kind of behaviour is not unusual, dozens of people try and admit to crimes they haven't done for a bit of attention - knowing that 99% of the time nothing will happen other than a slap on the wrist for wasting police time as they're innocent.

 

[TheRockingRev]

A well modified smooth bore blank firer is more likely than not to work at very close range. I agree with that. But so is a knife or an axe. There's no way a professional gunman would choose to use any of these things - except in a scenario where they are unable to get hold of anything else. But that undermines the whole idea of this being a professional. This is a weapon that screams amateur opportunism i.e. it being the only firearm the attacker ever owned.

We need to get rid of this idea of a 'professional hitman' that comes from Hollywood movies. Hitmen are not in the job just because they're mysterious and dressed in black - it's actually having the mentality of being able to execute someone, maybe up close, maybe even face-to-face. The majority of hardened criminals will tell you, this isn't an easy task - or even one they would entertain. That, again JMO, is what makes it a professional killing.