Heartache of Jill Dando’s brother
THE brother of murdered TV star Jill Dando thinks his sister was killed by a “misguided individual” rather than a professional hitman.
Speaking before the 20th anniversary of the Crimewatch and Holiday host’s death later this month, Nigel Dando fears the killer will never be caught.
“I tend to think it wasn’t a professional hit,” he told ITV’s Lorraine show yesterday.
“I think you can rule out the Serbian hitman, which was a popular theory that was doing the rounds at the time.” misguided individual on the street on the day, with a firearm, who knew where Jill lived, and who just ‘struck lucky’.
“For whatever reason, that person was in that street and did what that person did.”
Nigel, who learned of her death in a TV bulletin while working as a journalist at the Bristol Evening Post, admitted: “I doubt we will ever know now because of the passage of time.”
Jill, 37, was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, West London, on April 26, 1999. “On the day in question, she had left her fiance Alan’s home in Chiswick and had briefly gone to her INNOCENT George
Other theories as to who killed her have emerged over the years, but her brother said: “For what it’s worth, my belief is that it was just a home in Fulham to pick something up,” Nigel recalled. “Then I think she was off somewhere else in London for a fitting for her wedding dress, of course they were going to get married shortly. So it was that random.”
He added: “The police carried out an exhaustive check of CCTV, as it existed then. They plotted Jill’s journey.
“There were photographs, she wasn’t obviously being followed or anything like that. They were able to monitor thousands of phone calls being made in the area at the time and there was nothing that jumped out on that day. Neighbours talk of a strange man in the street… whether it was that man who pulled the trigger, I guess we will never know now.”
Nigel, 67, added: “All avenues have to be investigated by police. In the early days, who knew what it might be or more importantly what the motive might have been.
“The weeks have turned to months, and the months have turned to years, and the years have turned to decades, and no one has been convicted of Jill’s murder.”
Barry George, now 58, was jailed for her murder and served eight years before his conviction was quashed at a retrial in 2008. NIGEL DANDO ON POLICE HUNT FOR KILLER Nigel & Jill lark around. Left, Nigel yesterday
The years turned to decades and still no conviction