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Jill Dando

64 replies

Andontothenextproblem · 28/09/2023 08:16

Has anyone watched the documentary on Instagram?

I was aware of some of the details of the case but I’d forgotten about the possible Serbian connection, DH’s creepy undertaker and also that her ex partner and manager had been considered.

If was very eerie watching the CCTV footage of her just going about her normal day with no idea of all these mundane tasks being her last.

What are peoples thought on who murdered her? I personally think it was a professional hit due to the likelihood of a silencer on the gun, the spotted Range Rover and also how accurate the shot was…

However two things don’t add up, how the person knew where she was going to be (absolutely no evidence of her being followed) and not quite a few investigators/police coming forward saying they still think it was Barry George.

I’d be really interested in anyone thoughts.

OP posts:
meditrina · 28/09/2023 09:40

DorisDill · 28/09/2023 09:32

Maybe the person who did it didn’t know for certain that she would be there that day. They could have just turned up and it was an unlucky co-incidence that she came there on that day.

Yes they could, but why would anyone do that?

Hang around in a residential street, with gun and willingness to use it, without knowing that an intended target would be there at all, risking making yourself conspicuous to neighbours and workmen with every hour - or if taking this random "wait as long as it takes" approach - day? If you're organised enough to source both gun and silencer, would you really be totally unorganised about target acquisition?

IVFthenPERI · 28/09/2023 09:42

I watched it yesterday and I thought it was a professional hit. My conclusion was that her phone was hacked and they knew every single move that was being made. Michael Marsden the QC (who defended Barry George) said that it was patently clear when he studied the crime scene that it must have included more than one person. Her car was so very close to her front door, how on earth did someone get there so quickly. It was all planned and staked out, they must have known what her movements would be. So if her manager has been eliminated then her phone must have been hacked (or cloned)

I also agree that it was probably a silencer on the gun, at 11am in the morning it would have been heard by someone at the very least.

I don't buy into the pedophile ring story, as there would be more than just her working on it, and surely the would be more determined than ever to publish or carry on working on the story.

The ex-con was a bit of a attention seeker I thought, I don't really believe that he knows who did it. This is all a bit conspiracy but I honestly think the security services do know who did it, but it doesn't serve their purpose or the national interests purpose to reveal who it is.

DorisDill · 28/09/2023 09:46

meditrina · 28/09/2023 09:40

Yes they could, but why would anyone do that?

Hang around in a residential street, with gun and willingness to use it, without knowing that an intended target would be there at all, risking making yourself conspicuous to neighbours and workmen with every hour - or if taking this random "wait as long as it takes" approach - day? If you're organised enough to source both gun and silencer, would you really be totally unorganised about target acquisition?

Show quote history

This is true.

I am specifically thinking about Barry George I think.

He managed to get into the grounds of Kensington Palace and hide, with a hunting knife, when he was obsessed with Princess Diana, but then he got caught.

So, more capable of planning that it would seem , based on his intelligence levels.

I just wondered if it was absolutely random bad luck that be planned this, went there on a regular basis, managed to see her walking to the street and just went for it… and got away with it, even though on the face of it, he shouldn’t have been able to.

BingBunnyBlues · 28/09/2023 09:53

The particle of gunpowder residue in Barry George's pocket couldn't definitively be proved to be from gunpowder. This is the difference between the original trial and the retrial. The 'gunpowder' evidence couldn't stand up as scientifically definite and so all the evidence against BG was just circumstantial.

I don't know who killed her but I don't think the lack of a statement of responsibility rules out Serbian involvement. Former Soviet bloc countries don't tend to bother to claim responsibility for assassinations. They just do them.

BingBunnyBlues · 28/09/2023 09:55

There's quite an interesting discussion about the documentary and the case on the r/unresolvedmysteries subreddit btw. Lots of theories.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 28/09/2023 10:04

I haven't watched this yet but do intend to. There's been so many theories about who could have killed Jill.

Someone upthread mentioned the Lin and Megan Russell documentary. I watched that last week and found it really interesting. I'm not at all convinced that Michael Stone killed them.

IVFthenPERI · 28/09/2023 10:13

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 28/09/2023 10:04

I haven't watched this yet but do intend to. There's been so many theories about who could have killed Jill.

Someone upthread mentioned the Lin and Megan Russell documentary. I watched that last week and found it really interesting. I'm not at all convinced that Michael Stone killed them.

I watched that too whilst I was doing a massive pile of ironing 🙄

No way did Michael Stone do that. I think Levi Bellfield probably did do it. I find Levi Bellfield to be one of the scariest people I've seen for a long time. Those poor women that he terrorised and killed 😔

Riverlee · 28/09/2023 10:17

I remember watching a documentary years ago, and they proposed the Serbian link was the strongest reason.

TeapotCollection · 28/09/2023 10:18

Another who thinks it was a professional hit. Her neighbour heard her scream but didn’t hear a gunshot which surely has to mean the gun had a silencer

Everyonesliverlovesparvo · 28/09/2023 10:20

Heard her brother interviewed the other day. He reckoned that she wasn’t living at the house and it was a random visit. The police couldn’t find any trace of someone trailing her when they examined CCTV so he felt it was wrong place, wrong time, random.
On the other hand maybe someone close at hand was well aware of her plans. The comment about tracking her phone or even car is interesting.

meditrina · 28/09/2023 10:22

Phone hacking's not a bad shout - I wonder if the police looked at her phone to establish if she'd changed her voice message password or not? I would hope that they had

meditrina · 28/09/2023 10:28

Everyonesliverlovesparvo · 28/09/2023 10:20

Heard her brother interviewed the other day. He reckoned that she wasn’t living at the house and it was a random visit. The police couldn’t find any trace of someone trailing her when they examined CCTV so he felt it was wrong place, wrong time, random.
On the other hand maybe someone close at hand was well aware of her plans. The comment about tracking her phone or even car is interesting.

It was 1999

There were far fewer CCTV cameras, and it was long before the days of smartphones and wearable GPS. Garmin's first satnav was released only in 1998, so although it existed they really weren't in common use.

So I don't they tracked phone or car, but might have "hacked" her phone's voice messages.

LakeTiticaca · 28/09/2023 10:31

Didn't the police look into Belfield for the Lin and Megan Russle murder and were able to discount him?

PollyAmour · 28/09/2023 10:36

I think the murderer was someone close to her, who knew what she planning to do that day. Definitely not Barry George, he didn't sound clever enough to have done it, and I think the police were very foolish to concentrate on the weird eccentric guy and not look at the wider picture.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 28/09/2023 10:42

IVFthenPERI · 28/09/2023 10:13

I watched that too whilst I was doing a massive pile of ironing 🙄

No way did Michael Stone do that. I think Levi Bellfield probably did do it. I find Levi Bellfield to be one of the scariest people I've seen for a long time. Those poor women that he terrorised and killed 😔

Show quote history

I agree about Stone. He might be a thoroughly unpleasant individual but I don't believe he killed the Russells. The evidence was extremely circumstantial, even the forensic officer seemed surprised.

Bellfield carried out his killings not far from where I live. I started a new job in Walton on Thames shortly after he abducted Millie Dowler and I can still remember all the posters about her in the town.

MiddleAgedAndExhausted · 28/09/2023 11:02

Jill Dando did not research or investigate items for Crimewatch or anywhere else herself. If stories had been in development, there would have been been producers, management and other journalists involved. Investigative crime journalists are anonymous people with police and crime contacts - not presenters everyone recognises.

bornonvalentines · 28/09/2023 11:19

Her Fiancé is now the Princess of Wales Gynaecologist. I bet his NDA covers all media mentions.

SinnerBoy · 28/09/2023 11:44

Andontothenextproblem · Today 08:43

BG is out of prison due to winning an appeal, he did however have gun power from the same kind of gun that short Jill...

There was a single, microscopic particle in his pocket and it was given a lot of weight, by the prosecution. On appeal, the judge said that it wasn't known how much importance the jury gave in considering it, but that it was likely that they had considered it vital and that it and a tiny piece of hair could have been on him from a number of sources.

Peverellshire · 28/09/2023 11:46

Nick Ross, very smart & close to details from start. Thinks justice served correctly initially. Lots points to this.

Clumsy, a modified starting pistol effectively, people are hard wired to want a salacious conspiracy theory.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 28/09/2023 12:09

SinnerBoy · 28/09/2023 11:44

Andontothenextproblem · Today 08:43

BG is out of prison due to winning an appeal, he did however have gun power from the same kind of gun that short Jill...

There was a single, microscopic particle in his pocket and it was given a lot of weight, by the prosecution. On appeal, the judge said that it wasn't known how much importance the jury gave in considering it, but that it was likely that they had considered it vital and that it and a tiny piece of hair could have been on him from a number of sources.

They forensically inspected the coat a year on though unless I got that wrong?

Honestly I always thought Barry George was a bit of a harmless eccentric who was used as a scape goat, I find it incredible he was released after seeing the documentary. Apart from anything else he already had charges for attempted rape etc. His ex wife is terrified of him and doesn't doubt he was capable of killing JD.

Everyonesliverlovesparvo · 28/09/2023 12:12

@meditrina Her brother said that the police were convinced that no one was stalking her immediately prior to the murder. I guess that means following her. He also said no one was seen to be lurking around her house.
I presumed they had CCTV evidence to prove this. Brother was fairly sure it was random but really cannot believe this.

Dolphinnoises · 28/09/2023 12:13

Nousernamesleftatall · 28/09/2023 08:50

She was apparently working on exposing paedophilia within the higher echelons against the wishes of the BBC. She was about to reveal all.

No she wasn’t, she was working on a new BBC programme called The Great Antiques Hunt. She had moved entirely into light entertainment by that stage in her career.

Crikeyalmighty · 28/09/2023 12:14

@Andontothenextproblem I think it was a professional hit too- probably as a shot against the bows by someone (or their hitman) featured on crime watch - you don't just happen to have a gun with a silencer on it

Peverellshire · 28/09/2023 12:31

Crikeyalmighty · 28/09/2023 12:14

@Andontothenextproblem I think it was a professional hit too- probably as a shot against the bows by someone (or their hitman) featured on crime watch - you don't just happen to have a gun with a silencer on it

It was a modified starting pistol & bullets irregular/tampered & casing/evidence left at scene. Likely more forensics if paramedics not messed up crime scene, understandably they focused on saving Jill.

BG had guile if not super smarts.

Nick Ross explains what a prof hit would like & explains how & why people prefer outlandish narratives. She had her key in knock, hitman would have taken her inside house, plus, plus: