The Investigation Into the Death of Jill Dando Essays

The Investigation Into the Death of Jill Dando Essays The Investigation Into the Death of Jill Dando Essay The Investigation Into the Death of Jill Dando Essay On 26th of April 1999, TV presenter Jill Dando was shot in the side of her head with a modified gun at close range, on the doorstep in front of her house on Gowen Avenue. A neighbour, Helen Doble, who originally thought Dando had been stabbed, found her body, who subsequently called the emergency services. Jill Dando was taken to Charing Cross Hospital nearby, yet was declared dead on arrival. Operation Oxborough was established, a two year long investigation. Police were initially bombarded with information that bore no evidence or leads for the investigation, for which extra staff and resources were needed. While nobody appeared to have witnessed the crime, many came forward with sightings of men near the scene around the time of the crime. The first suspect was a man who had waited at the bus stop on Fulham Palace road, boarded a bus, yet got off before his supposed destination. Witnesses say that this man was sweating and looked agitated. Police learned that Jill Dando had been shot around 15 minutes previously, and therefore the sweating man became their first suspect. The man was described as 59 to 510, medium build in his late 30s, having a round face, dark complexion and being clean shaven. However, after producing the following E-fit, police began to realise that perhaps this man was not their murderer, but may have been a witness. 1 The E-fit of the sweating man The sweating man never came forward. After this line of enquiry fell through, the police began to interview anyone associated with Jill Dando. This was an extensive line of enquiry as the police searched through and contacted almost 500 people listed in her filofax, examined around 14,000 emails sent to the BBC and examined all her letters and phone messages. Following this, a Range Rover had been singled out as it failed to stop at a red light shortly after the murder, in Fulham. In the process of tracking this car down, police also investigated the details of 1200 vehicles. The case had barely progressed for 6 months, counting a list of 2000 suspects. Police then contacted profiling experts in the United States, who suggested that the crime was more likely to have been committed by an obsessive stalker. This helped to narrow down the list of suspects from 2000 to 140, those of whom had an unwholesome interest in Jill Dando. They began to concentrate on a man who they had received messages about in the days after the murder, called Barry George, who lived 800 yards away from Jills home, and was described as an oddball. Following a surveillance operation, his flat was searched three times where they found circumstantial evidence such as newspaper clippings, and what may have possibly been gunshot residue, linking him to the murder. By May 2000, Barry George was arrested and charged with the murder of Jill Dando, despite his alibi. The police then began to prepare witnesses for trial, conduct identity parades and continued to gather information to counter his alibi. However, Barry George has always protested his innocence, and many appeals have been turned down. Barry George originally came under suspicion as he was acting agitated during appointments with his housing association and GP, the day of the murder. Two days later, he began asking if people could verify what he was doing the day Jill was shot. The police involved in the investigation had been told hat he was odd and owned air rifles. Much of the evidence obtained during investigation was circumstantial, and in this review the evidence will be looked at critically. * Books and magazines on firearms were found in stacks during searches of Barry Georges flat. The prosecution used this as evidence to base the claim that Barry George was a loner who was obsessed with firearms. This was also supported by the finding of a single particle of gunshot residue in his coat pocket. However, these magazines dated back to the 1980s, during the time which he had joined the TA in 1981, but left after he failed his training. After leaving he attempted to join a firearms club but was turned down. On two separate occasions he had shown a friend a gun, and fired a blank from a gun. However, there is no evidence that this interest had continued into the 90s, especially not over a period of 20 years when Jill Dando was shot. Furthermore, controversy surrounds the sole particle of GSR. The forensic scientist called as an expert witness during the trial said that after using SEM (scanning electron microscope), he was able to compare the particle with particles from a test fire using a similar bullet which was used in the murder, and he concluded that the particle found could have come from the cartridge case which was found at the scene, as they were both made up of barium, aluminium and lead. Particles found in Jill Dandos hair and on her coat were also made up of the same compounds. However, these particles may have been the same type but there was no way of distinguishing whether the particle had come from the murder weapon, as this was never found for comparison. Furthermore, the police said that when they entered the property, they had not gone in with guns. New witnesses have come forward; a retired church minister and an airport worker say that the officers were armed when they went in. They would themselves have had gunshot residue on their hands and could have easily contaminated the coat. Furthermore, these searches did not occur until a year after the murder, and therefore, it may not necessarily be gunshot residue from the murder.