Jill Dando: TV presenter’s brother Nigel Dando gives his theory on star’s unsolved murder 24 years on

Published

2 years ago

September 18, 2023

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The brother of murdered TV presenter Jill Dando says despite the case remaining unsolved 24 years, he has a theory about who could be behind her death.

The execution style killing of one of Britain’s best-loved broadcasters in broad daylight on her own doorstep in April 1999 shocked the nation, leaving the press, public and police united in disbelief.

One of the biggest homicide investigations in British history – finally resulting in a conviction one year after her murder, only to be overturned seven years on – remains unsolved to this day.

Her brother, Nigel Dando, has told Sky News he believes it was “a random killing” carried out by a stranger, and that the presenter “was just in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Speaking ahead of a new Netflix documentary, looking into the murder and resulting police investigation, Mr Dando said that even all these years after his sister’s death, he is hopeful “the killer is out there watching” and could “come forward… to confess what they’ve done and get it off their chest”.

‘It’s a heck of a story’

Receiving news of the death of a loved one is hard – and all the more so when that death is sudden and violent.

Mr Dando says he hadn’t seen Jill for around three weeks before her death, but then received a phone call telling him his sister had been killed.

He says: “Within a couple of minutes, really, of hearing that Jill had died, half of my brain wanted to grieve for her loss and be close to my dad… He was in his eighties and not in the best of health. So, you had the family side of things.”

However, as a fellow journalist, Mr Dando also had a second part of his mind clicking into gear.

He goes on: “But, you know, one of the leading TV celebrities in this country gunned down on her own doorstep. It’s going to… It’s a heck of a story. And you kind of knew what was going to come down the line.

“I was trying to prepare myself to deal with that, knowing that you had to deal with the media. But trying to protect my dad from any excesses of it.”

It is of course that same power of the story that attracted true crime producer Emma Cooper to the case, and she would go on to spend over a year heading up the three-part documentary.

She explains: “An act that violent with a gun happening in an area of London, that would be outlandish now in 2023. So, to look back at that happening at that time is extraordinary.”

But she says it was also key to remember the person at the heart of the story: “It was very important to all of us that Jill was very present in the series and that we reminded people who knew her and remember her. And also [it was important] we brought it to a new audience of young people who don’t necessarily know about Jill and don’t necessarily know what happened to her and what a huge part she was in all of our lives.”

Who was Jill Dando?

Born in the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, Dando’s first job was as a trainee with her local weekly newspaper, the Weston Mercury, where her father and brother also worked.

Quickly progressing from print journalism to television, her talent paired with a girl-next-door persona saw her rise through the ranks of regional shows to national TV, going on to present Holiday, the Six O’ Clock News and Crimewatch.

Just two years before her death, she was voted BBC personality of the year.

On 26 April 1999 she was shot dead outside her home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, southwest London. She had been due to present the Six O’ Clock News the following evening.

The many theories about Jill’s killer

One of the theories of a possible motive behind her killing, was that her presenting role on Crimewatch had made her vulnerable to criminals who might bear a grudge against her for her part in bringing them down.

Another was that a Serbian assassin could have killed her, in revenge for NATO bombing, after seeing her front an appeal for aid for Kosovar Albanian refugees.

However, Mr Dando doesn’t believe such theories stand up to robust investigation, calling them “interesting lines of inquiry” but which “never went anywhere”.

Of the Crimewatch connection he says “there was no evidence, it was just someone jumping on the bandwagon”.

And of the theory of links to Serbian mafia – Mr Dando says there was “no real evidence of a Serbian hitman”.

But he does have his own thoughts about who could have been behind his sister’s death.

“My theory before this happened and that’s been reinforced since by watching this documentary, is that Jill was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that somebody walking down the street, holding a gun for whatever reason, spotted her, either knowing her or not knowing who she was, and shot her dead.”

Mr Dando adds that some of the “theories would make great stories in fiction, but… There’s no line that really holds a huge amount of water apart from you know, a random killing, which I think it was.”

Who is Barry George, and how does he fit into the case?

Local man, Barry George, who had previous convictions and a history of stalking women, was arrested for Jill’s murder almost a year after her death, and later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr George spent seven years in jail, but was later acquitted due to unreliable forensic evidence, leaving the case again unsolved.

Speaking about Mr George’s original conviction, Mr Dando says: “At the time I thought that the police had got the right person, and a jury agreed with that sentiment because he was obviously found guilty and jailed for life. But the legal system moves on.”

But Mr Dando does have one concern – that Mr George chose not to give evidence, at either his trial or re-trial.

Mr Dando says: “I would just liked to have seen him tell a jury exactly what he was doing on that day, because he’s never actually explained where he was. It’s all a bit jumbled up. It would have been interesting to have heard him explain where he was, and for him to have been cross-examined about his movements on that day.”

While the conviction against Mr George was quashed, he has been unsuccessful in his attempts to gain compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

Mr George is also a contributor to the Netflix documentary.

Executive producer Emma Cooper says she felt it was vital to have Mr George’s side of the story in the film, to present “as clear of a rounded picture of all the events as possible from as many different perspectives as possible”.

In the documentary, she asks Mr George outright, “Did you kill Jill Dando,” to which Mr George answers, “No”.

She says: “I thought it was important to ask, I thought that the audience would expect that of us to ask him a straight question. And so, we did.”

One of the biggest homicide investigations in British history

Mr Dando says he bears no anger towards the police over the lack of a conviction, calling the investigation “a difficult job” and adding: “I don’t have any negative feelings towards the police at all with their inquiries. I didn’t at the time, and as the years have gone on, I don’t.”

As the documentary shows, while Dando’s fame ensured that news of her murder travelled far and wide, it also played a part in hindering the investigation.

Mr Dando says officers were inundated with people trying to “do the right thing” by offering up information, and the result was an avalanche of tips “overwhelming all the potential lines of inquiry that came in”.

While the investigation was moved into “an inactive phase” nine years ago, Met Police told Sky News detectives “would consider any new information provided” in a bid “to determine whether it represented a new and realistic line of enquiry”.

Offering further information around the combined reward of £250,000 which was initially offered for information leading to an arrest, the Met told Sky News, “Any discussion about any reward would have to take place in the event that new information came to light.”

Jill’s legacy

Mr Dando says he is still approached in public – in the supermarket, at the carpet shop – by people “wanting to talk about Jill” and “how they remembered her”.

Jill was just 37 when she died, and five months away from getting married to her fiance, Alan Farthing.

Mr Dando says: “She was on an upward trajectory… Whether family life would have taken over from her broadcasting career or whether she could have juggled the two. Who knows what would have happened, where she would have been today.”

Will we ever get an answer?

Ms Cooper says: “It’s really important for a shared audience to look back at that and for new people to discover what happened. And for older people to be reminded about it and to be reminded of the fact that it is still unsolved.”

The film documents aspects of the investigation that most – including some of Jill’s family – have never heard about before.

Other contributors to the film include Dando’s ex-partner, television producer Bob Wheaton, her agent Jon Roseman, and former detective chief inspector Hamish Campbell who headed up the murder case.

Ms Cooper says: “If somebody could see something that could jog a memory that has been unclaimed for 20 years, that would be an amazing outcome for all of us.”

Mr Dando too, has hopes – even if they are vanishingly slim – that the documentary could lead to some sort of answer for himself, and all those who loved and knew Jill.

He says: “We’ve lived for 24 years not knowing who did it, but maybe more importantly, why they did it. Why would you go up to a stranger and do what you did? I just don’t know. So, it would be nice to have some closure from that point of view to know why that person pulled the trigger.”

He goes on: “Maybe even the killer is out there watching this documentary and their conscience, even after all these years may be pricked and it may just encourage them to come forward to confess what they’ve done and get it off their chest.”

Who Killed Jill Dando? is released on Netflix on Tuesday 26 September.

Entertainment

Rob Reiner death: ‘Sick’ Trump sparks backlash with ‘disgusting’ post about murdered film director

Published

4 hours ago

December 16, 2025

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Rob Reiner death: 'Sick' Trump sparks backlash with 'disgusting' post about murdered film director

Donald Trump has been branded “a sick man ” after launching an extraordinary attack against murdered film director Rob Reiner.

The Hollywood luminary was found stabbed to death with his wife on Sunday – and the filmmaker’s son had been arrested on murder charges.

Reacting to news of his death, the US president said in a post on Truth Social that Reiner was “tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star”.

Mr Trump said Reiner and his wife died “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS”.

“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace,” Mr Trump wrote.

Celebrities and politicians have criticised Mr Trump for his comments, labelling them “disgusting” and “petty”.

‘Can you get any lower?’

“What a disgusting and vile statement,” actor Patrick Schwarzenegger said on X, while Californian Democrat Zoe Lofgren condemned Mr Trump’s comments as “a new low for this petty, hateful man”.

Talk show host Whoopi Goldberg compared the president’s comments to those he made after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, when Mr Trump hit out at critics.

“I don’t understand the man in the White House. He spoke at length about Charlie Kirk and about caring, and then this is what he puts out. Have you no shame? No shame at all? Can you get any lower? I don’t think so,” she said.

‘Sick’

“This is a sick man,” California governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X.

Republican US House member Thomas Massie also addressed the comments, saying: “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered.”

Meanwhile, Reiner’s son, Nick, 32, has been “booked for murder”, Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell said. The LAPD later said Nick Reiner remains in custody without bail.

Mr McDonnell said the department’s robbery and homicide division was handling the investigation.

“They worked throughout the night on this case and were able to take into custody Nick Reiner, a suspect in this case,” he said, calling the deaths “a very tragic incident”.

It comes as it emerged Nick was reportedly disruptive when he joined his father and mother, Michele Singer Reiner, at a party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien on Saturday night, the day before the killings.

Reiner and his wife were upset and embarrassed about their son’s behaviour, Sky News’s US partner NBC News cited a source as saying, and expressed concerns about his health.

The outlet cited another source saying Nick’s behaviour had made other guests uncomfortable. They said he interrupted a conversation comedian and filmmaker Bill Hader was having with two guests and, when told it was a private conversation, stood still and stared before storming off.

Reiner and his wife apparently died of stab wounds, US media reported.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman were found dead inside a property in the Brentwood neighbourhood, without identifying the victims. The victims were later confirmed to be Reiner and his wife.

The case against Nick Reiner will be presented to the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office for filing consideration on Tuesday, according to the LAPD.

Nick Reiner has spoken publicly of his struggles with addiction after he had cycled in and out of treatment facilities by the age of 18, with periods of homelessness and relapses in between.

Reiner and his son explored their difficult relationship and Nick Reiner’s struggles with heroin addiction and homelessness in a 2016 film called Being Charlie, which they co-wrote.

Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene referred to Nick Reiner’s “drug addiction and other issues” in a statement on X.

“This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” Ms Taylor Greene said.

“Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”

Reiner was a celebrated director whose work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and 1990s.

He directed classics such as This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men and Stand By Me.

He also acted, starring in Sleepless In Seattle and The Wolf Of Wall Street among others. His most recent high-profile work was a recurring guest role in the hit show The Bear.

He met Michele Singer in 1989, while directing When Harry Met Sally. They have three children together.

Singer used to work as a photographer and took the photo of Donald Trump that appears on the cover of his book Trump: The Art Of The Deal.

Former US president Barack Obama has led tributes. He wrote on X that “Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele. Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen”.

Harry Shearer, who collaborated with Reiner on This Is Spinal Tap, said in a statement: “Rob was a friend and collaborator through much of my life. He was funny, he was smart, he was a mensch.”

He said Reiner’s wife was a “very good friend” to his own wife, Judith, adding: “This is unspeakable, the stuff of Greek tragedy.”

Christopher Guest, who starred in Reiner’s films This Is Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride, and his wife Jamie Lee Curtis said in a joint statement that they were “numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends Rob and Michelle Singer Reiner”.

The couple said: “There will be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared and the great political and social impact they both had on the entertainment industry, early childhood development, the fight for gay marriage and their global care for a world in crisis. We have lost great friends. Please give us time to grieve.”

Reiner was a champion of liberal causes and a political activist.

In the 2004 presidential election, he backed Democrat candidate John Kerry and featured in advertisements taking aim at incumbent president George W Bush.

Reiner also supported Democratic presidential hopefuls Al Gore and Hillary Clinton.

“This is a devastating loss for our city and our country. Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said.

California governor Mr Newsom paid tribute to Reiner’s activism as he said he was “heartbroken” over the director’s death.

“Rob was a passionate advocate for children and for civil rights – from taking on Big Tobacco, fighting for marriage equality, to serving as a powerful voice in early education,” Mr Newsom said in a statement.

“He made California a better place through his good works. Rob will be remembered for his remarkable filmography and for his extraordinary contribution to humanity.”

Former House speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, said: “Personally, Rob cared deeply about people and demonstrated that in his civic activities – whether by supporting the First 5 initiative or fighting against Prop 8 in California.

“Civically, he was a champion for the First Amendment and the creative rights of artists. And professionally, he was an iconic figure in film who made us laugh, cry and think with the movies he created.”

Entertainment

Trump sues BBC for $5bn in defamation lawsuit

Published

6 hours ago

December 16, 2025

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Trump sues BBC for bn in defamation lawsuit

Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC, alleging the corporation’s Panorama documentary portrayed him in a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious” manner.

The complaint relates to the broadcaster’s editing of a speech he made in 2021 on the day his supporters overran the Capitol building.

Clips were spliced together from sections of the US president‘s speech on January 6 2021 to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.

It aired in the documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which was broadcast by the BBC the week before last year’s US election.

The US president is seeking damages of no less than $5bn (£3.7bn).

He has also sued for $5bn for alleged violation of a trade practices law. Both lawsuits have been filed in Florida.

‘They put words in my mouth’

Speaking in the Oval Office earlier on Monday, he said: “In a little while, you’ll be seeing I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth.

“Literally, they put words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said coming out.”

The scandal erupted earlier this year after a leaked memo highlighted concerns over the way the clips were edited.

After the leak, BBC chair Samir Shah apologised on behalf of the broadcaster over an “error of judgement” and accepted the editing of the 2024 documentary gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action”.

The fallout from the saga led to the resignation of both the BBC director-general Tim Davie and the head of news Deborah Turness.

Earlier, BBC News reported the broadcaster had set out five main arguments in a letter to Mr Trump’s legal team as to why it did not believe there was a basis for a defamation claim.

In November, the BBC officially apologised to the president, adding that it was an “error of judgement” and saying the programme will “not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms”.

A spokesperson said “the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited,” but they also added that “we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim”.

Entertainment

Rob Reiner death: Whoopi Goldberg among stars to condemn ‘disgusting’ Trump post about murdered film director

Published

7 hours ago

December 16, 2025

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Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on film director Rob Reiner, who was found stabbed to death with his wife on Sunday, as it was revealed the filmmaker’s son had been arrested on murder charges.

The US president said in a post on Truth Social that Reiner was “a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star”.