News about Jill Dando

Mohamed Al Fayed's security chief corrupted the investigation into Jill Dando's murder by bribing a bent Met Police detective, is has been claimed. John MacNamara, who headed the disgraced late Harrods tycoon's extensive security operation, has been accused of plotting to pay the officer in return for confidential information about the BBC star's death. BBC Crimewatch presenter Jill was tragically shot in the head outside her west London home in 1999 , prompting Britain's biggest police investigation since the Yorkshire Ripper. She died aged 37 and her murder remains unsolved. Punch magazine, owned by predator Al Fayed, previously published key unknown details from the investigation, including that she was shot behind the ear.

More than 7,000 police appeals were featured in 700 episodes, including those from Crimewatch Roadshow and Crimewatch Live.

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Crimewatch was an extraordinary tool for catching crooks - helping police crack open more than 5,000 cases including hundreds of high-profile murders. The BBC crimefighting programme drew audiences of 14 million at its peak in the 1980s and such was its reach that one in three appeals ended in arrest and one in five in convictions. Despite its success, there were some crimes that saw Crimewatch phonelines fall silent and left detectives wrongfooted - and remain unsolved to this day. As Crimewatch celebrates its 40th anniversary - having first aired on June 7, 1984 - MailOnline looks back on the most high-profile cases the programme COULDN'T solve:

Detective turned TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas has also said the former Crimewatch presenter influenced the Met's investigation because he was so sure George killed Jill. In contrast Mr Williams-Thomas said today: 'If this was investigated today Barry would not even get charged'. Mr Ross said last night that he knows who killed his friend and colleague Jill 25 years ago today - and insists that despite being acquitted of her murder, Barry George would have an 'uphill task' to prove his innocence. But hitting back today,  Mr Williams-Thomas, a former Surrey detective who has investigated many of Britain's most high-profile crimes, said: 'No wrong Nick - Barry has answered every question every put to him'. He also claimed that DCI Hamish Campbell, the lead detective on the case, is also 'fixated' on George being the killer. In a a series of social media posts Mark said Mr Ross is 'absolutely wrong and refuses to accept anyone else was responsible even if someone else, the real killer, was caught .

The former BBC host has dismissed suggestions Jill was shot by a Serbian hitman and said Barry George would have an 'uphill task' to prove his innocence in any new hearing.

Nick Ross has said he knows who killed Jill Dando on the 25th anniversary of his Crimewatch co-presenter's shocking murder. The former BBC host has dismissed suggestions that Jill was shot by a Serbian hitman and said Barry George would have an 'uphill task' to prove his innocence if he was granted the new hearing he is demanding. George is the only person to have been convicted over Jill's murder, although he was later acquitted after experts raised concerns about potential cross-contamination of evidence. But Mr Ross, whose close friend Jill was just 37 when she was shot in the back of the head arriving at her home in Fulham, West London , in April 1999, says he thinks the prime suspect in her death should never have been released.

When Jill Dando's friend and neighbour found her dead outside her home, she was left with traumatic memories that still haunt her. Twenty-five years ago today, on April 26, 1999, the much loved presenter of Crimewatch was shot dead by an unknown gunman. TV producer Helen Doble (right), now 64, who lived just two streets away from her friend in Fulham, West London , had spotted Ms Dando's car outside her home and so made a point of looking at her door to see if she was there to chat. Ms Dando, who mainly lived with her fiance Alan Farthing at his home, had called in to her own house in what is believed to have been a spur of the moment decision - and was shot dead by an unknown gunman. 'Taking in the horror, it took me a few seconds to realise that the person slumped on the doorstep and sprawled on the tiny path was actually Jill herself because she looked like… that,' Ms Doble told MailOnline. 'Many details are too graphic, but instinctively I knew she was dead.' She added that Jill's 'beautiful engagement ring' - which she said represented the 'hope, dreams and optimism for her future - was still on her finger. Ms Dando's mobile phone - which was lying on the ground - kept ringing and Ms Doble wanted to answer it in the belief that it might be her fiance, but knew that to do so would be to disturb the blood-covered crime scene.

With more than a passing resemblance to Princess Diana and the status of a national treasure firmly cemented, Jill Dando (pictured left with Crimewatch colleague Nick Ross and right in the Seychelles presenting the Holiday programme) was, to millions, the girl next door. So her murder at the hands of a lone gunman on April 26, 1999, was a searing shock to the nation rivalled only by the Princess of Wales ' death less than two years earlier. Now, 25 years on from her killing, her former colleague Nick Ross has paid a loving tribute to the star as he continues his drive to further her legacy. Mr Ross, now 76, told MailOnline that his friend was 'uniquely generous', revealing how she would 'kick off her high heels' to ensure he was taller when the pair signed off on Crimewatch - the show they presented together for four years from 1995. She was, he added, 'one of the greatest broadcasters of the time', despite having to battle against 'misogynistic' newsroom colleagues. He led efforts to fund a pioneering crime science centre named in honour of Ms Dando which opened at University College London in 2001. Inset: Police examine the street outside Ms Dando's home in the days after her murder.

The beloved 37-year-old journalist was shot in the head on her front doorstep in Fulham on April 26, 1999 - with her killer still unfound and the case untouched for 10 years. Ms Dando's injuries were so severe that police could not initially tell whether she had been shot or stabbed. Grieving colleagues had to deliver the 'dreadful' news to the rest of the world, despite many being close friends with Ms Dando. Reporting from the scene, former BBC presenter Clarence Mitchell said on live TV: 'This has been one of the saddest reporting jobs that I've had to fulfill in many a long time. I knew Jill well and it really is heartbreaking to report on the murder of a colleague like this.'

The West London home where Jill Dando became the victim of a doorstep assassin has gone back on the market for the first time in 15 years, MailOnline can reveal. As the 25th anniversary of the presenter's death arrives tomorrow the five bedroom Victorian home where she was killed by a single bullet to the head has come up for sale for £2.75million. The tragic events at the house in the exclusive Munster Village, Fulham, west London, in 1999 have come under fresh scrutiny with the emergence of a new theory into the identity of Ms Dando's killer.

The man acquitted of Jill Dando's (left) murder has called for the police to investigate a Serbian hitman that a witness has claimed looks like a mystery man caught on CCTV. Barry George (right), now 64, was convicted of the Crimewatch presenter's brutal killing but was released eight years later following a retrial.  Jill, 37, was shot in the head on her front doorstep 25 years ago and her murder has been the subject of constant speculation - but has remained untouched for 10 years. A facial comparison expert gave 'limited support' to the theory that twice-convicted killer Milorad Ulemek (top inset) looks like an unidentified person spotted along the gunman's likely escape route that night (bottom inset). This is the second lowest on a subjective scale range from 'no support' to 'powerful support'. Mr George wants this line of inquiry investigated, and if the assassin is found to be the person responsible, wants him 'brought from Serbia to the UK' so he can be held accountable.

April 26, 1999, had started as a quiet day in Scotland Yard's murder unit in Kensington, West London. Detective Chief Inspector Hamish Campbell (above left) had been on call for a week but, with no homicides to investigate, he and his team had become restless. But that day news reached Campbell that a woman appeared to have been stabbed outside her home a few miles away. He and a colleague went to the scene immediately.

A witness who saw a man (inset) running from the scene of Jill Dando's (left) murder has claimed that he looks like a Serbian assassin (right). The beloved 37-year-old journalist's death after she was shot in the head on her front doorstep in April 1999 has been the subject of countless speculation, but the case hasn't been touched in 10 years.  Barry George's defence lawyer has also claimed police should reopen the case to look at twice-convicted killer Milorad Ulemek, who looks like the mystery man. Mr George, now 64, was tried and convicted of the TV presenter's murder but after spending eight years in jail, he was cleared. A facial comparison expert gave 'limited support' to the theory that Ulemek, who is serving 40 years in a Serbian prison, looks like the unidentified person along the gunman's likely escape route. This is the second lowest on a subjective scale range from 'no support' to 'powerful support'. And now a witness who reported seeing a man 'running for his life' from the scene has claimed he looks like the notorious assassin.

Barry George's defence lawyer in the case of Jill Dando's (left) murder has claimed police should reopen the case to look at a Serbian assassin (right) who looks like a mystery man (inset). Mr George, now 64, was tried and convicted of the TV presenter's murder but after spending eight years in jail, he was cleared.  The beloved 37-year-old journalist's death after she was shot in the head on her front doorstep in April 1999 has been the subject of countless speculation but hasn't been touched in 10 years. A facial comparison expert gave 'limited support' to the theory that twice-convicted killer Milorad Ulemek, who is serving 40 years in a Serbian prison, looks like the unidentified person along the gunman's likely escape route. This is the second lowest on a subjective scale range from 'no support' to 'powerful support'. However he said he couldn't discard the possibility that someone with the 'general appearance' of the assassin could be the blurry mystery man, according to The Mirror. But now Michael Mansfield KC - who defended Mr George in his trial - has called for the investigation to be reopened after the expert found similarities between a man seen on CCTV following the murder and a notorious assassin.

Since the monarchy's shaming down, she has been touted as the King's unmistakened weapon. And not only have the Duchess of Edinburgh been admired for her service to her country, but also in her fashion choices. One aesthetic has remained constant in Sophie's wardrobe as she transitioned from a career woman to a leading figure in the Royal Family: the trouser jacket.

Eight esteemed pathologists and forensic experts have cast serious doubt on the Crown's argument that an ex-poloplaying landowner murdered a vagrant with a suffocation technique that was not common among 19th-century body-snatchers. They have denied allegations that Clive Freeman (left) killed Alexander Hardie (right) in Edinburgh's so-called 'Burking' technique perfected by serial murderers in 1828. In one of Scotland's most notorious crimes, William Burke and William Hare murdered 16 people for medical research. Many of the experts write in written reports seen by the Daily Mail that Mr Hardie's death was most likely caused by a mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs, which would have ruled that the most common cause of death is 'unascertained.'

The case of 'The Gentleman and the Tramp' was one of the most unusual Old Bailey trials of its day - the fall from grace of a well-connected former soldier accused of a strange murder. After the notorious 19th-century body snatchers Burke and Hare, jurors were informed that Clive Freeman suffocated Alexander 'Sandy' Hardie, a Scottish plumber turned vagrant, in a London flat in April 1988 using a cruel method known as 'Burking.' Freeman was reported to have discovered Burking while serving in the Grey's Scouts, a crack infantry unit formed in the late 1970s during the Rhodesian Bush War.

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There's no doubt that Gérald Marie is still living his best life, with his blonde highlights catching the sun and a beautiful mother young enough to hold his daughter on his arm. The multi-millionaire former fashion boss appears to have it all, whether at his one of his palatial homes in France or his stunning villa on the Spanish island of Ibiza. He travels by private jet and chauffeur-driven limousines, eats at the finest restaurants, and favors made-to-measure clothing by Smalto, the exclusive Paris tailors. The flamboyant 73-year-old also has a rock-solid marriage to Russian supermodel Irina Bondarenko, 46, which is something that has been put into doubt, considering the sulphurous allegations levied against him. Mr Marie is not only accused of sex crimes, including rape by several well-known celebrities from his time with the world-famous Elite corporation, but he also finds himself embroiled in the Jill Dando murder probe.

Jill Dando's murder conviction was denied by a private investigator, who was looking at Jimmy Savile. Private investigator Mark Williams-Thomas, 53, said there is 'no sense' in the theory following the unveiling of a new Netflix series named 'Who Killed Jill Dando' on Tuesday. Dando, a former crimewatch host, was shot and killed outside her house in Fulham, West London, on April 26, 1999. Mr Williams-Thomas wrote: "While some people on here suggested that #JillDando was killed for probing Savile and what she knew," she said.

On April 26, 1999, the former Crimewatch presenter was shot and killed outside her Fulham, West London, at 37 years old. Her murder spawned one of the Metropolitan Police's oldest man hunts. Barry George, a sex offender, was charged with Ms Dando's murder in 2001 but was cleared at a retrial in 2008. Nigel Dando's book Who Killed Jill Dando, which was announced today, features interviews with Nigel Dando, who is nine years older than his late sister. He told BBC Radio 4's Today program this morning that he thinks his sister's killer is still alive, and that if anyone else who is aware of it will come forward when they see the show.

Jill Dando, a television presenter, was shot and killed on her doorstep in Fulham, west London, causing mass police probes. It remains one of the most high-profile and complicated police investigations in history, with the rising BBC star's gunman still inactive. A new Netflix series named Who Killed Jill Dando is expected to investigate the cold case more than 24 years.