Investigation Into the Death of Jill Dando

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Operation Oxborough – The Investigation Into the Death of Jill Dando

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 5’9” to 5’10”, medium build in his late 30’s, 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.

 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 Jill’s 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.

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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.

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