Netflix’s new true-crime documentary, Who Killed Jill Dando?, looks at the shocking murder of the popular television host, who was murdered on her doorstep in 1999.
Over three episodes, the series looks at the life and death of Jill, who was one of the country’s most celebrated presenters and hosted several BBC programmes, including Crimewatch.
Keep reading to find out exactly what happened to Jill and a timeline of the events that followed her death.
WATCH: Netflix’s Who Killed Jill Dando? investigates the death of a BBC presenter
What happened to Jill Dando?
On the morning of April 26, 1999, 37-year-old Jill Dando was shot dead outside the front door of her home in Fulham, London.
The journalist was killed by a single bullet to the head and is presumed to have died at the scene.
© Colin DaveyJill Dando was a popular BBC presenter
Her body was found by a neighbor 14 minutes later and she was taken to Charing Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced dead just after 1pm.
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Netflix’s Who Killed Jill Dando?: All About Her Ex-Fiancé Alan Farthing and His Royal ConnectionJill’s killer was only seen once. Her neighbor, Richard Hughes, saw a six-foot-tall, white man in his 40s leaving the house just after hearing the screams.
After her death, police scrambled to catch the suspect and reportedly interviewed more than 2,500 people, took more than 1,000 statements and traced over 1,200 cars.
The investigation became the Metropolitan Police’s biggest murder investigation since the Yorkshire Ripper.
© Photo: Getty Images Jill Dando was murdered in April 1999
Eventually, a man named Barry George was found guilty of the murder in 2001. However, in 2007 the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction as unsafe and he was subsequently found not guilty after a retrial in 2008.
Twenty-four years later, Jill’s killer is still on the loose, and her unsolved murder is the subject of Netflix’s latest true-crime series, featuring interviews with her family, friends, reporters, investigators and lawyers.
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A timeline of events following the death of Jill Dando
- 26 April 1999 – Jill Dando was shot dead outside her home in Fulham, London.
- May 25, 2000 – Barry George is arrested on suspicion of murder.
© Netflix Jill’s murder sparked one of Britain’s most high-profile murder investigations
- May 28, 2000 – George, who had a history of sexual offenses, is charged with Dando’s murder.
- 26 February 2001 – George’s trial begins at the Old Bailey.
- July 2, 2001 – George is convicted of Danda’s murder and sentenced to life in prison.
© NetflixBarry George was convicted of murdering Jill Dando in 2001
- July 29, 2002 – George loses his appeal against his conviction.
- March 25, 2006 – A lawyer working for George says he has new evidence that undermines the certainty of his client’s conviction.
- June 20, 2007 – George is granted the right to appeal again. It came after the Criminal Cases Review Commission said too much weight was given at trial to a small amount of forensic evidence – a single particle of gunpowder residue on his coat.
- 15 November 2007 – George’s conviction is overturned after the Court of Appeal found the original conviction unsafe. The procedure is ordered to be repeated.
- December 14, 2007 – George pleads not guilty at a retrial.
- August 1, 2008 – George is found not guilty of murdering Jill Dando.
© NetflixBarry George was found not guilty of Dando’s murder in 2008
Who Killed Jill Dando? is available to stream on Netflix.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education