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It will be the 20th anniversary of Jill Dando's death on 26 April and her murder is in the news again, with a BBC documentary about the case. Reading between the lines, it looks as if the ex DCI who led the investigation may think they got the right person. But ex PC Williams-Thomas disagrees.
Mr Campbell tells a TV documentary marking 20 years since Crimewatch host Jill was shot dead outside her home aged 37: “We, as an investigation team, brought somebody before the courts and that’s what we had to do.
“The outcome is entirely out of our hands. You’re either guilty or you’re not guilty. It’s not really determining whatever you mean by innocence.”
Asked if he thought somebody would come back to court over the matter, he replies: “Probably not.”
Asked if somebody new would come before court, he says: “No.” "I have read all the case files inc how a profile was done specifically on George , as well as Ex DCI Campbell’s specific thoughts on why he though Barry George killed Dando . The only conclusion having seen all the evidence is that George did NOT kill Jill Dando." twitter.com/mwilliamsthomas/status/1111530577298112512
From the Mirror article: "But I didn’t know who Jill was. I’d never seen her." (Barry George, 2018)
I find this a very odd thing to say, given Jill Dando's omnipresence on TV prior to her death and in the media, including on the front covers of the Radio Times and OK magazine with news of her engagement, the fact that she lived not far from George and given George's flat apparently being filled with magazines/newspapers (according to George's QC at around 30 mins in documentary below) and his prior obsessions with celebrities such as Freddie Mercury and Princess Diana.
A cop that was high up on the case who got a sentence for images and another last year for hands on said he knew who it was and it's not the MWT version of events.
This cop confirms the story.
hedda wrote: who was the ex-policeman who claimed Oscar Pritoious was innocent just before he was convicted?
Seem to recall it was someone with the initials M W-T, must be a coincidence.
As for the Dando case, interesting that some of the coppers think they got the right man all along. I recall reading comments from a family member of Dando's after George's conviction was over-turned that seemed to hint similarly.
When I arrived in Belmarsh in 2001 Barry George had just moved off to another prison and everyone who'd met him, from other inmates to officers to health care and chaplains, said he was almost incapable of tying his own shoe laces let alone shoot anyone.
MWT was a detective for less than a year and never investigated a murder.... now he’s an expert on the Dando case????? God give me strength..... funny he makes comments when his career is on the skids.
JK2006 wrote: When I arrived in Belmarsh in 2001 Barry George had just moved off to another prison and everyone who'd met him, from other inmates to officers to health care and chaplains, said he was almost incapable of tying his own shoe laces let alone shoot anyone.
Perhaps he was heavily medicated. From what I've seen of him, including, in MWT's "Dando files" documentary, clips of police interviews at the time of the investigation and a more recent interview with MWT, he doesn't strike me as simple. He clearly did have the wherewithall to do the things referred to here (e.g. sexual assault, stalking women to their homes, turning up at Kensington palace when Diana lived there equipped with a hunting knife and a rope, posing in a photo with a gun).
MWT is preparing an article about a famous murder case:
"Been in London today for a lengthy programme viewing - need to rest now tonight . Have a busy weekend ahead: finishing off an article about a major well know murder, and then some more book stuff - not long now until publication." twitter.com/mwilliamsthomas/status/1111719142955122688
"Just watched Dando programme - so ex DCI Campbell basically is convinced Barry George is guilty & has just said as much . When the full details are known about the investigation and case it’s clear that Barry was not responsible at all ." twitter.com/mwilliamsthomas/status/1113200690321612800
This must be quite annoying for MWT. Who are the public more likely to listen to: an ex DCI or an ex PC? On the other hand, perhaps best not to answer that...
Here's a recent interview with Jill Dando's brother. He discounts the Serbian hitman theory and seems to think the killer was someone who just happened to be in the area with a gun, as his sister didn't have a routine and there was no sign of her being followed on the CCTV of her movements. The main thing that puzzles him is the motive. No names are mentioned.
One thought a little in line with Jill's brother is that a criminal who ended up convicted because of crime watch, maybe only a small part, in any case felt bitter and maybe passed by every so often and the opportunity came and the person took it ( person did have the gun and and was capable).
Jill was probably never "the target" just her high profile meant she became the target for the bitter, dangerous criminal who sadly for Jill, her family and friends became the outlet for an opportunistic revenge attack. No mention of shifting through those caught because of crime watch (probably done or just not possible). This thought is in line with all the investigating into other motives and her been highly unlikely to be a real target for a hit etc. Of course in this crazy world always could be a wacko stalker not identified although would expect to show up on CCTV etc..
wjlmarsh wrote: One thought a little in line with Jill's brother is that a criminal who ended up convicted because of crime watch, maybe only a small part, in any case felt bitter and maybe passed by every so often and the opportunity came and the person took it ( person did have the gun and and was capable).
Jill was probably never "the target" just her high profile meant she became the target for the bitter, dangerous criminal who sadly for Jill, her family and friends became the outlet for an opportunistic revenge attack. No mention of shifting through those caught because of crime watch (probably done or just not possible). This thought is in line with all the investigating into other motives and her been highly unlikely to be a real target for a hit etc. Of course in this crazy world always could be a wacko stalker not identified although would expect to show up on CCTV etc..
MWT apparently thinks (or thought two years ago) that her murder was connected with her work on Crimewatch.
However, it's evident from what they say in the recent BBC documentary that the police discounted that theory.
Nick Ross is someone else who doesn't agree with MWT's theory (one originally explored by the police) that the murder had something to do with Crimewatch.
“And we knew it would not be to do with Crimewatch. In modern times, there has never been a judge attacked for sending someone down, a prosecuting solicitor, or anybody.
“It’s just not the way it happens here.
“And when I contacted colleagues in the States, it was as rare as hen’s teeth there.
Also includes a nice tribute:
He remembered his old friend as an “incredibly skilled” journalist and added: “When people die those around them just say nice things about them and suppress the less pleasant bits.
“The truth is, nobody can think of anything bad to say about her.
“She was just such a generous-hearted, nice, unaffected person. The first time I saw her on TV, I saw this unaffected authority. She was so natural.
“Why I was so keen she should join us on Crimewatch is when she was speaking to the camera you genuinely felt she was speaking to you.
“She really was a star, the biggest on British TV, and yet it didn’t affect her at all. It didn’t matter if you were sweeping the floor or you were the editor of the programme, you were just a colleague.
“She was one of the lads, one of the girls, one of the crew.”
I think she was just a very unlucky TV presenter in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I can't see it being a hit but if so the wrong person hit, if it's not BG.
It could of been BG or someone that had a gun a couple of bullets and as soon as done regreted it.
If it had not been Gill Dando killed we would hear no more about it and that's sad as another family would still not have answers.
I ask, do the police know what gun was used, what type of ammunition age etc those things can make a big difference to who you are looking for.
My theory is that it was possibly an eastern European that came over with a gun used it and fled.
'M' wrote: I ask, do the police know what gun was used, what type of ammunition age etc those things can make a big difference to who you are looking for.
What led police to Barry George?
From my recall of the recent BBC documentary (linked above and/or the documentary below, which I also watched recently) both these points were covered. The police had found a bullet casing, for example, and it matched the particle of gunshot residue found in BG's coat pocket and the gunshot residue on Jill Dando's body. There are apparently four types of gunshot residue and all the types found were type 2. The fact that the bullet had been tampered with to make it the shot quieter and the fact that no silencer was used had apparently suggested that it wasn't a professional killer. BG's name had been put forward to the police (or variations of it, as he seemingly used different names) by people at a disability centre, who thought he'd been behaving suspiciously on the day in question and people at a taxi firm, who thought the same. However, it had taken the police a year to get round to BG, as they had been pursuing a huge number of tip-offs and other lines of inquiry. When the police searched his flat, they had found various items of interest, such as an empty gun holster, a photo of him posing with a gun that they considered was of a type that could have fired the fatal shot and the coat subsequently found to contain a particle of gunshot residue. More about the gunshot residue on BG's Wikipedia page:
On 7 November 2007 the Court of Appeal reserved judgement in the case and on 15 November 2007 announced that the appeal was allowed and the conviction quashed.
In summary, the reasoning of the Court was that at the trial the prosecution had relied primarily on four categories of evidence:
One witness who had identified him as being in Jill Dando's street four and a half hours before the murder and other witnesses who, although they could not pick George out at an identity parade, saw a man in the street in the two hours before the murder who might have been George;
Alleged lies told by George in interview;
An alleged attempt to create a false alibi;
The single particle of firearm discharge residue (FDR) found, about a year after the murder, in George's overcoat.
The prosecution had called expert witnesses at the trial whose evidence suggested that it was likely that the particle of FDR came from a gun fired by Barry George rather than from some other source.
Those witnesses and other witnesses from the Forensic Science Service told the Court of Appeal that this was not the right conclusion to draw from the discovery of the particle of FDR. It was instead no more likely that the particle had come from a gun fired by Barry George than that it had come from some other source. The Court of Appeal concluded that, if this evidence had been given to the jury at the trial, there was no certainty that the jury would have found George guilty. For this reason his conviction had to be quashed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_George#Appeals
Jill Dando’s murderer will only be caught if the gun which was used to kill her is found, according to the policeman who investigated the crime.
Hamish Campbell was the officer in charge after the Crimewatch host, 37, was shot 20 years ago this month.
He said: “What remains outstanding is the handgun.
“If that were to be discovered, and could be directly attributed to a person, and that person’s timeline determined for April 1999, then perhaps matters could progress.
“But after two decades, it becomes a remote possibility.
“The Dando investigation is clear on what evidence it has at a forensic level, and what the witnesses said they saw or heard or knew in 1999. They remain unchanged.”
...
TV investigator Mark Williams-Thomas last year claimed he had been given the name of the killer.
But Mr Campbell said all “new leads” that crop up as years go by should be questioned.
“Especially when persons state the theories through the media or TV, and not the police,” he said.
Ouch!
JK2006 wrote: When I arrived in Belmarsh in 2001 Barry George had just moved off to another prison and everyone who'd met him, from other inmates to officers to health care and chaplains, said he was almost incapable of tying his own shoe laces let alone shoot anyone.
I suspect the rumour mills of prisons to be akin to rumour mills outside of prison? Plus he became obese during his time at HMP.
Barry George’s sister is patron to the Jeremy Bamber campaign. On the 31st Anniversary of the “White House Farm” murders, in support of Jeremy Bamber, she chose to write the following....
"It was well after midnight on August 6th 1985 and I couldn’t sleep. Switching on the T.V., I absent-mindedly tuned into a news channel. We were living in Co. Cork, in Southern Ireland, and I was joyfully awaiting the birth of our first child who was already overdue, making me feel restless; that was why I was up and about at such an hour.
Becoming aware of a breaking-news story I began to listen in more closely. A siege was taking place at a farmhouse in England. The broadcaster relayed that five people were inside and there was great fear for their safety. As the story unfolded it became apparent that this was an older couple. A farmer and retired Magistrate, Nevill Bamber and his wife, June; their daughter, Sheila, and her six year old twin sons. Jeremy, their son, was outside with police who were trying to communicate with someone inside the house who had been seen pacing back and forth in front of an upstairs window and carrying a firearm. The reporter said that police were reluctant to get too close to the house for fear of causing that person to become more agitated, thereby, escalating the danger to the family. I watched for an hour or so but there was no resolution and, heavily pregnant, I became exhausted and had to go off to bed.
Awaking early I was anxious for news, hopefully of a rescue, so I put the News on immediately. The siege was over, police had stormed the house and five bodies had been found inside. I was heartbroken, a whole family! My heart went out to the young man who had waited all night long with the police for news of his family; this was not what he wanted to hear.
My own child was born a few days later and I became engrossed in motherhood. It was a real shock to hear, sometime later, that the son, Jeremy Bamber, had been arrested for the killings…how was that possible when he was outside during the siege and everyone knew that? I presumed the police knew something we did not; there must have been strong evidence to convict a man of killing his entire family…I pushed my unease aside and got on with motherhood and my own life.
Since then I have revisited the facts of this case in light of so many high-profile miscarriage of justice cases coming to light, including that of my own brother, Barry George, for the murder of Jill Dando. More recently we’ve heard of the lies and cover-ups in the Hillsborough deaths and The Chilcot report exposing the same type of cover ups in the Iraqi war scandal. In the Bamber case I can find no evidence to convince me of the guilt of this man. Nothing that can account for a man languishing in jail for more than thirty years. How did a jury convict a young man without proof? jeremybamber.blogspot.com/2016/08/justic...d-by-conviction.html
In his book ‘Mike’s Story the battle to clear Barry George of the Jill Dando murder, Michael Bourke (Uncle of Barry George) wrote... “He then reminded me how angry he could be if things were done without his approval, referring to the awful argument we had back in July. I was annoyed but I said nothing. I was a little concerned that he was again trying to threaten me. That type of behaviour undermined my belief in him.
JK2006 wrote: My point about Belmarsh is those were people who had spent months with Barry George; not rumours, direct contact.
No idea how it would feel to end up in prison on a murder of a high profile celebrity but I can only imagine it would be a struggle to do most day to day tasks? Was he medicated? How long was he in Belmarsh?
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