If you've seen the documentary Who Killed Jill Dando? popping up on your Netflix homepage, this is what you need to know. In 1999, BBC presenter Jill Dando was murdered in broad daylight near her home. Now, over 20 years later, an investigative show has come to Netflix – because the high-profile crime is still unsolved.
The trailer for the show teases a true crime story filled with enough twists and turns to leave you dumbfounded. After Dando’s shocking death, the police launched into what is described as “the largest investigation the metropolitan police ever had to face”. Although a man was arrested for her murder, he was eventually found to be wrongly convicted of the crime.
As the Netflix documentary dropped recently, we decided to take a closer look at the horrific case of Jill Dando.
Who was Jill Dando?
Jill Dando was a BBC presenter who was killed in 1999 by a single gunshot.
Dando was raised in Somerset before studying journalism at Cardiff Metropolitan University. From there, she worked her way up through the ranks at the BBC and, by 1988, was presenting national news. She was named 1997 BBC Personality of the Year just one year before her death. As the trailer explains, she was in some ways the Princess Diana of the news world back in the 90s.
Get your true crime fix this month.
Was Jill Dando married?
Jill Dando wasn’t married, but she was engaged to Alan Farthing who was the Surgeon-Gynaecologist to Queen Elizabeth II. Farthing’s divorce from his first wife was finalised in 1998. In early 1999, he and Dando announced their engagement and plan to marry in September of that same year. She was killed on April 26, just four months before their wedding was due to take place.
Shortly after her death, Farthing spoke to The Guardian. “I'm devastated, everybody around me is devastated,” he said. “Everybody is trying to offer as much support as they possibly can. There are many, many friends of Jill's who are completely devastated, colleagues who have expressed their condolences and many, many people all around the country who have sent in best wishes and who are also devastated.”
He added, “Just like everybody else around the country I cannot think of a single reason why anybody would want to kill somebody, for a start. I cannot understand why they would want to kill anyone as gentle, kind, well-meaning and as perfect a person as Jill.”
Where was Jill Dando killed?
Jill Dando was killed outside of her home in Fulham, London. She had just left her partner's home in Chiswick. According to news reports, she was killed on her doorstep.
Bone-chilling.
How old was Jill Dando when she died?
Jill Dando was 37 years old at the time of her death. She would have turned 38 two months later.
Who shot Jill Dando?
This is, of course, the big question. The short answer is, we still don’t know.
However, there was a time when the blame was pinned on Barry George, a local, neurodiverse man who has Asperger’s, ADHD, and damage to the frontal lobe of his brain.
He was arrested on May 25, 2000. On July 2, 2001, he was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. Throughout 2002, he appealed his conviction without success. Then, in 2006, George’s lawyers submitted new evidence. In 2008, George was given a retrial and released from prison after eight years behind bars. The following year, he moved to Ireland. He still hasn’t received compensation for the wrongful conviction.
When asked by the Mirror about the documentary, he said, “The end game is I want to show, publicly, that there’s no way I could have done this.”
As the Netflix documentary sums up, “Whoever did is still out there.”
Watch Who Killed Jill Dando? is out now.
