Dando killer’s ‘real target’: My horror

Journalist hopes claims false

It breaks my heart as these are wounds that may never heal LINDA EVANGELISTA on her ex’s alleged victims

A former BBC investigative reporter caught up in the Jill Dando murder has spoken of her horror at claims her life was in danger.

Lisa Brinkworth was named in court papers in France as being the intended victim – not Crimewatch star Dando.

Last night Lisa, 55, said she hoped the claims were incorrect.

She said: “Even if there was a tiny possibility, I don’t know if I could live with that, so I’m hoping there’s nothing in that. I try not to think about it. I really, really don’t want it to be true.”

Fashion tycoon Gerald Marie, who is claimed in the legal documents to be the man behind the shooting, remained in hiding yesterday.

Court papers, in connection with allegations that he sexually abused women, have been lodged with the Judicial Court of Paris.

They include the sensational accusation that Marie, 72, was behind Dando’s killing but that it was a case of mistaken identity.

Brinkworth had gone undercover to expose secrets of Marie’s agency, his alleged motive for wanting her killed.

Dando, 37, was gunned down on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, West London, in 1999. A man named Barry George was in 2001 convicted of her killing but was later acquitted. The investigation remains open. Yesterday, Barry’s family said they have no faith the Met Police will probe the new bombshell claims that she was killed in a case of mistaken identity. Michelle Diskin Bates, sister of freed Barry, 62, added: “If this can be proved then it is huge.”

Marie’s first wife was supermodel Linda Evangelista, now 57.

She was married to Marie between 1987 and 1993 and has publicly backed the women who accused her former husband of sexual abuse.

She has said she believes the women’s accounts of their experiences with Marie who, for more than three decades, was among the most powerful figures in the fashion industry.

Evangelista said: “During my relationship with Gerald Marie, I knew nothing of these sexual allegations against him, so I was unable to help these women.”

But she added: “Hearing them now, and based on my own experiences, I believe that they are telling the truth.

“It breaks my heart because these are wounds that may never heal, and I admire their courage and strength for speaking up today.”

Marie has been accused of sexually attacking women while the boss of a world famous modelling agency.

Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into Marie over allegations, including rape from four women.

They include Carre Otis, now 53, a top model in the 90s, who was 17 in 1986 when she says Marie repeatedly raped her while she was living in the spare room of his apartment.

Marie’s lawyers said he would not be making any comment.