Jill Dando News
13th May - 19th May, 1999

Detectives seeking the killer of Crimewatch UK presenter Jill Dando say an appeal for information on the programme prompted hundreds of calls.

The man heading the inquiry, Detective Chief Inspector Hamish Campbell, said they had received more than 500 calls from the public following Tuesday night's broadcast.

He said he was particularly interested in two calls from passengers on the number 74 bus, who overheard the prime suspect speaking on his mobile phone shortly after the murder.

The BBC's Stephen Cape: Detectives may have the break they needed

Mr Campbell said they still had no idea of the motive and he said: "We need to know who has gained financially from this murder after 21 days. Has someone gained financially or emotionally?"

Ms Dando was murdered with a single shot to the head outside her home in Fulham, west London on 26 April. Tuesday's edition of Crimewatch UK opened without titles or music and her former co-presenter Nick Ross said described the programme as "sombre and surreal". He said: "It has been almost unbearable working on Jill's death."   But he added: "This programme was her passion and now, as Jill helped others, our help can do the same for her, her family and her fiancé Alan (Farthing)."  Mr Farthing told the programme: "Somebody has murdered the person I had hoped to spend the rest of my life with."  He said: "It's always difficult for anyone to cope if you don't know why something has happened. It just defies logic."

Alan Farthing: "Somebody has murdered the person I had hoped to spend the rest of my life with"

Mr Campbell said they wanted to trace two men who had been seen in the Gowan Avenue area on the day of Ms Dando's death.

He said he believed the pair were probably different men but it was not clear if they were acting together. The prime suspect was a dark haired, heavily sweating man seen waiting at a bus stop in the Fulham Palace Road.

Where did he go?'

This is a gun similar to the one used by the killer

He got off at Putney Bridge underground station and disappeared. Another man was seen sitting in a Range Rover close to Ms Dando's home on the morning of the killing. A traffic warden was about to give him a parking ticket when he knocked on the windscreen to indicate he was about to drive off. Mr Campbell said he needed to speak to both men to eliminate them from the inquiry. He said: "They probably think they were there innocently and can't be any help. "But we have to find them. It will help us to ascertain the motive, by working out how many people were involved in her murder."

Mr Campbell said they were keen to trace Range Rover drivers who were in the Fulham area on 26 April and he offered a guarantee of immunity for minor traffic offences. He said it was still not clear whether the killing was a conspiracy or the act of a "loner".

Detective Chief Inspector Campbell: "If he is a loner he may have had a fascination with Jill Dando"

'Does this sound familiar?'

"If it was a loner, maybe someone has noticed a friend or relative who had a fixation or fascination with Jill Dando. Was his behaviour different on that day?" Mr Campbell also appealed for help on finding the murder weapon. He said it was a 9mm "short" automatic, which was very different from the larger Browning gun. Mr Campbell said the killer had used 9mm Remington ammunition. At the end of the programme there was a tribute to Ms Dando.

Crimewatch UK's tribute to murdered crimefighter Jill Dando

'No hollow reassurances'
Nick Ross, wearing a solemn, dark suit, usually signs off the programme with his trademark "Don't have nightmares. Please sleep well." He said "hollow reassurances" were incongruous in the wake of her death. But Mr Ross added: "Her death was unprecedented. It was a one off and crime in Britain is still falling." He said: "But we say it as we have always said it. Don't have nightmares. Do sleep well."

Fresh leads in hunt for Dando's killers

Police are investigating fresh leads in the hunt to find Jill Dando's killer after two new witnesses have come forward.
The latest lines of inquiry came after an emotional appeal on the Crimewatch programme, which was normally fronted by Dando along with presenter Nick Ross.

Both the new witnesses claim to have overheard the main suspect's mobile phone conversation on a bus. Police haven't revealed details of the conversation.

Detective Chief Inspector Hamish Campbell, who heads the murder inquiry, said they had received 500 calls offering information on the case following the show.He said: "There are two people who rang in who were on the 74 bus and they claim that they heard the man speak on the mobile phone so that is important."

He added that he believes the case, though difficult, is solvable and that the murderer will be brought before the courts. The Crimewatch show dispensed with its usual music and title sequence to launch almost straight into a detailed reconstruction of the killing last month, designed to jog as many memories as possible.

When Crimewatch returned for its regular update around 35 minutes after the main programme ended, Mr Ross said he had hoped most calls would have been about the murder of  "the person who should be, tonight, standing beside me - Jill Dando."

Mr Ross announced the studio had received "hundreds" of calls about Miss Dando's shooting, whereas some previous appeals had prompted thousands of responses.

There were many callers from Range Rover drivers - including one who admitted driving "rather badly", which links in with a witness statement, said Mr Campbell.

But the officer and Mr Ross again appealed to the criminal underworld to provide information about the distinctive 9mm gun used in the killing, about which the police had been hopeful of getting new leads. The appeal and reconstruction had been a sometimes harrowing affair, with scenes shot around Miss Dando's west London home interspersed with anguished appeals from her fiance, gynaecologist Alan Farthing.

The programme was first introduced by Mr Ross. Looking ashen-faced, he described the edition as "a sombre and for me a surreal Crimewatch UK". Calling her "everybody's friend", he urged viewers to help catch her killer "as Jill helped others".  The reconstruction focused on two people seen by a number of witnesses in the Fulham area around the time of Miss Dando's death - a man in a dark wax cotton jacket suit and a man, wearing a dark suit, seen running down Fulham Palace Road, whose photofit was distributed by police.

Police said they also want to find a blue Range Rover seen in the area by a number of witnesses. Mr Campbell outlined the two possible theories about Miss Dando's murder - a criminal conspiracy or a lone obsessive - and reminded anyone harbouring suspicions about the rewards for information, which total £150,000.

Last night's show was the first edition of the crime-busting BBC1 show since Miss Dando was gunned down outside her home on April 26. Among the most emotional parts of the appeal were the sections of an interview with her fiance. Looking drawn and pale, the 35-year-old doctor said: "The horrifying fact is that somebody has murdered the person that I planned to spend the rest of my life with. "Somebody has murdered a person who was so widely loved and respected by everybody she came across. It's impossible to comprehend that one is the victim of crime." Ross finished the programme with a moving testament to the shock caused by his co-presenter's murder, calling it "almost unbelievable". "It's not a perfect world. But it's not one to be frightened of either. So we say tonight as we always have, and mean it: Don't have nightmares.".

"Do sleep well. And what could be a better epitaph for Jill? It is lonely here without her." A tribute film showed a montage of moments from Miss Dando's first and last Crimewatch editions. Alongside were written tributes, many from police officers or victims and their families helped by the programme.