Jill Dando was an English journalist, television newscaster, and newsreader. Dando worked for the BBC for the majority of her career and was named 1997’s Person of the Year.
Together with Nick Ross, she presented Crimewatch on BBC One at the time of her passing.
On April 26, 1999, Jill was shot and killed outside her residence in Fulham, southwest London. The case prompted the largest homicide investigation by the Metropolitan Police and the nation’s largest criminal investigation since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper.
Barry George, a local man, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to prison; however, after serving eight years in prison, Barry was exonerated following an appeal and a new trial. Even though he died in 2000, the Serbian “warlord” Arkan was named as a suspect in 2012.
Net Worth of Jill Dando before Her Death
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According to her Wikipedia page, Jill Dando’s estate had an aggregate value of £1,181,207; after debts and taxes, it was worth £863,756; and after inheritance tax, it was worth £607,000, which all went to her Father because Dando died without a will.
Nick Ross, a co-host of Dando, proposed establishing an academic institute in her honor, and he and her fiance, Alan Farthing, contributed nearly £1.5 million.
On the second anniversary of her demise, on April 26, 2001, University College London inaugurated the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science.
Who assassinated the BBC journalist Jill Dando?
Jill was shot in the head outside of her residence in Fulham, Southwest London. The incident occurred around 11.30 a.m. on April 26, 1999. It was believed that Jill passed away instantaneously.
Approximately 14 minutes later, a neighbor discovered her body still holding her keys. Dando was transported to the nearby Charing Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased at 1:03 p.m.
This is believed to be the only sighting of her alleged murderer, who was tall and approximately 40 years old when he was seen leaving the scene by her neighbor. The police interrogated 2,000 possible suspects and collected thousands of statements, but only one was ever brought to trial.
Barry George was arrested for the homicide of Dando on May 25, 2000, and he was charged on May 29. George lived less than a half-mile away from Dando’s Residence.
On 2 July 2001, more than two years after Dando was fatally shot outside her residence, George was found guilty at the Old Bailey by a majority vote of 10 to 1. He was sentenced to life in prison.
After serving eight years in prison, George’s conviction was overturned in 2007, and a year later, Barry was declared not guilty of the crime following a retrial. George sought £1,400,000 in compensation for “wrongful confinement,” but his claim was denied.
Additional Theories Concerning Jill Dando’s Death
The murder of Jill Dando is the topic of numerous hypotheses, some of which are more plausible than others. According to one theory, Jill was murdered by a Serbian assassin seeking revenge for the West’s support of Kosovo in its conflict with Serbia.
Less than three weeks before her assassination, Dando spearheaded a BBC Kosovo appeal for refugees fleeing ethnic conflict in the Balkans. The appeal raised more than £1 million in a single day.
This theory was bolstered by Dando’s murder technique, which suggested that an expert had committed the execution-style murder while remaining undetected. The prosecution dismissed the theory during the 2001 trial.
Other accounts assert that a hitman from the London underworld or a devoted admirer assassinated her in retaliation for her participation in Crimewatch. However, Jill Dando’s homicide has never been solved.
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