The key to unlocking the mystery of the long-standing Jill Dando murder case may lie within the extensive collection of evidence stored in 223 boxes by the police.
The Metropolitan Police’s recent declaration of reviewing our discoveries marks a significant step forward. It is important to note that this review is not an active investigation but rather an effort to determine if the new information could lead to a viable line of inquiry.
Nigel, Jill’s brother, has mentioned the occasional emergence of “fresh” details over the years, only for them to lead to dead ends. Following an extensive examination of the case alongside former colleague Matt Young, I am convinced that there are new avenues of investigation that warrant exploration.
The inquiry into Jill Dando’s murder stands as the second-largest homicide investigation ever conducted by the Metropolitan Police, surpassed only by the ongoing probe into the Stephen Lawrence case. Each of the 223 evidence boxes related to Jill’s case contains approximately 1,000 pages.
The digital records amount to 23,246 documents, stored within the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System known as “Holmes,” a database utilized for significant criminal investigations. The 1999 investigation, codenamed Operation Oxborough, faced immense pressure from the outset.
Shortly after being criticized in the Macpherson report for being “institutionally racist” in relation to the Stephen Lawrence case, Scotland Yard encountered challenges in solving the Jill Dando case.
The murder squad led by Detective Chief Inspector Hamish Campbell conducted over 2,500 interviews, traced 1,200 vehicles, and collected 3,700 exhibits. The investigation, costing £2.75 million, pursued numerous leads, with a team of 45 officers scrutinizing 80,000 mobile phones and sifting through extensive CCTV footage.
The team looked into 60 cases of women murdered with firearms, investigated 8,000 names provided to the police, and traced 20,000 blue Range Rovers. According to former Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens’ autobiography from 2005, the authorities received 3,000 communications daily via letters, calls, and emails. Mr. Campbell was informed by security services that there was no evidence supporting the theory of Jill’s murder being part of a Serbian conspiracy.
Barry George was apprehended in April 2000, and it took a year to build an airtight case, as recounted by Stevens. He expressed relief at the conviction, aiming to avoid a repeat of the failings seen in the Stephen Lawrence case. However, George was acquitted in a 2008 retrial after spending eight wrongful years in prison.
Mr. Campbell, highly respected by his former peers, oversaw the case until his retirement from the force in 2013. He remained steadfast in his belief that the correct suspect had been identified, a sentiment echoed in a Netflix documentary two years ago.
Former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Superintendent Barry Webb conducted a review of the case within five weeks. He