Джилл Дэндо: Трагическая судьба журналистки

English journalist and television presenter (1961–1999)

Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her television work included co presenting the BBC One programme Crimewatch with Nick Ross. On the morning of 26 April 1999, Dando was shot dead outside her home in Fulham, south west London, prompting the biggest murder inquiry conducted by the Metropolitan Police and the country's largest criminal investigation since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. A local man, Barry George, was convicted and imprisoned for the murder, but after eight years in prison he was acquitted following an appeal and retrial. No other suspect has been charged with Dando's murder and the case remains unsolved.

Jill Wendy Dando was born at Ashcombe House Maternity Home in Weston super Mare, Somerset. She was the daughter of Jack Dando (February 1918 – February 2009) and Winifred Mary Jean Hockey (August 1928 – January 1986), who died of leukaemia aged 57. Her only sibling, brother Nigel (born 1952), worked as a journalist for BBC Radio Bristol before retiring in 2017, having previously worked as a journalist in local newspapers since the 1970s. Dando was raised as a Baptist and remained a devout follower. When she was three years old, it was discovered that she had a hole in her heart and a blocked pulmonary artery. She had heart surgery on 12 January 1965. and Broadoak Sixth Form Centre, where she was head girl, and completed her A levels. She was scheduled to present the Six O'Clock News on the evening of the following day. Dando was also booked to host the British Academy Television Awards 1999, alongside Michael Parkinson, at Grosvenor House Hotel on 9 May. On 5 September, BBC One resumed airing of Antiques Inspectors, the final series to be recorded by Dando. The series had made its debut on 25 April, with filming of the final episode completed two days before that. The programme was cancelled following her death, but it was decided later in the year that it should be aired as a tribute to Dando. The final episode aired on 24 October. At the time of her death, Dando was among those with the highest profile of the BBC's on screen staff, and had been the 1997 BBC Personality of the Year. Crimewatch reconstructed her murder in an attempt to aid the police in the search for her killer. After Barry George was charged with the murder but acquitted, Crimewatch made no further appeals for information concerning the case.

From 1989 to 1996, Dando engaged in a relationship with BBC executive Bob Wheaton. A couple of months after Farthing's divorce was finalised, the couple announced that they were engaged on 31 January 1999.

On the morning of 26 April 1999, 37 year old Dando left Farthing's home in Chiswick. She returned alone, by car, to the house she owned at 29 Gowan Avenue, Fulham. She had lived in the house, but by April 1999 was in the process of selling it and did not visit it frequently. The purpose of her visit was to collect contract documents which had been faxed to her there by her agent Jon Roseman. As Dando reached her front door at about 11:32 BST, she was shot once in the head. Her body was discovered about fourteen minutes later by neighbour Helen Doble. Police were called at 11:47. Forensic study indicated that Dando had been shot by a bullet from a 9mm Short calibre semi automatic pistol, with the gun pressed against her head at the moment of the shot. The cartridge appeared to have been subject to workshop modification, possibly to reduce its charge. Richard Hughes, her next door neighbour, heard a scream from Dando ("I thought it was someone surprising somebody") but heard no gunshot. Hughes looked out of his front window and, while not realising what had happened, made the only certain sighting of the killer — a six foot tall (183 cm) white man aged around 40, walking away from Dando's house.

After the murder, there was intense media coverage. An investigation by the Metropolitan Police, named Operation Oxborough, proved fruitless for over a year. Dando's status as a well known public figure had brought her into contact with thousands of people, and she was known to millions. There was huge speculation regarding the motive for her murder. Within six months, the Murder Investigation Team had spoken to more than 2,500 people and taken more than 1,000 statements. With little progress after a year, the police concentrated their attention on Barry George, who lived about half a mile from Dando's house. He had a history of stalking women, sexual offences and other antisocial and attention seeking behaviour. George was put under surveillance, arrested on 25 May 2000 and charged with Dando's murder on 28 May. George was tried at the Old Bailey, convicted, and on 2 July 2001 was sentenced to life imprisonment. Concern about this conviction was widespread on the basis that the case against George appeared thin. Two appeals were unsuccessful, but after discredited forensic evidence was excluded from the prosecution's case, George's third appeal succeeded in November 2007. The original conviction was quashed and a second trial lasting eight weeks ended in George's acquittal on 1 August 2008. After George's acquittal, some newspapers published articles which appeared to suggest that he was guilty of the Dando murder and other offences against women. In December 2009, George accepted substantial damages from News Group Newspapers over articles in The Sun and the News of the World, following a libel action in the High Court.

Dando's funeral took place on 21 May 1999 at Clarence Park Baptist Church in Weston super Mare. She was buried next to her mother in the town's Ebdon Road Cemetery. Her father inherited all of her estate, valued at £607,000 after debts and taxes, because she died intestate. Dando's co presenter Nick Ross proposed the formation of an academic institute in her name and, together with her fiancé Alan Farthing, raised almost £1.5 million. The Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science was founded at University College London on 26 April 2001, the second anniversary of her murder. A memorial garden designed and realised by the BBC Television Ground Force team in Dando's memory, using plants and colours that were special to her, is located within Grove Park, Weston super Mare, and was opened on 2 August 2001. The BBC set up a bursary award in Dando's memory, which enables one student each year to study broadcast journalism at University College Falmouth. Sophie Long, who was then a postgraduate who had grown up in Weston super Mare and is now a presenter on BBC News, gained the first bursary award in 2000. In 2007, Weston College opened a new university campus on the site of the former Broadoak Sixth Form Centre where Dando studied. The sixth form building has been dedicated to her and named the Jill Dando Centre. The life, death and subsequent police investigation of Jill Dando was the subject of a true crime Netflix miniseries titled Who Killed Jill Dando?, released in 2023 and running for a total of three 44 minute long episodes. The miniseries received mixed reviews from critics, citing pacing issues, although the documentary's usage of vintage archive footage from Dando's career and early childhood were also noted as a point of interest. Critic Lucy Mangan drew attention to the details shared by Dando's brother, Nigel, of the two siblings "eating sand blown lettuce sandwiches" on the beach together and how this added to the thoroughness of the story presented. The miniseries also interviewed Barry George, who was 63 and living with his sister in Ireland at the time of filming. George stated, "I live in Ireland now. It's quiet here. You're treated like a scab in London, but you're not here."