Hitman sensationally claims on This Morning that he knows who murdered Jill Dando – but won’t name them for fear of reprisals
A new look into the unsolved case has revealed there were 100 potential suspects that weren't followed up
A HITMAN has claimed he knows who was behind the murder of BBC Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando almost 18 years ago - but won't reveal who it is for fear of being killed himself.
On ITV's This Morning programme on Tuesday, the anonymous gunman gave his take on the notorious murder to investigative journalist and former police officer Mark Williams-Thomas.
The journalist has uncovered new information on the presenter's killing back in 1999 and is urging the Metropolitan Police to look again at the unsolved case.
Jill Dando was gunned down outside her home in Fulham, London, on April 26 18 years ago.
The 37-year-old's body was discovered by her neighbour, having been killed by a single shot to her temple.
Local man Barry George was convicted and jailed for her murder in 2001 based on forensic evidence from gun residue which was later discredited and he was acquitted eight years afterwards.
Speaking to Williams-Thomas on the show today, the hitman, who is one of 100 suspects on a list compiled by police that was never followed up, said he had "no doubt in [his] mind" that Jill Dando was murdered by a "professional killer".
He said: "It was a professional. No doubt about it. The person still at large is very dangerous."
When asked about the other names on the list of suspects he said: "One particular name stands out to me but I won't identify that person because he is very dangerous. If I said who it was they would come after me."
Also appearing on the ITV programme was Jill's neighbour at the time, Helen Doble.
She told Williams-Thomas: "I was walking up the road and saw her car. I made a deliberate point of looking at her front door and in one step everything changed because I saw the most horrific thing.
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"She was lying in a strange position and there was a lot of blood. At first I thought she had been stabbed or attacked. Her hand was blue and from the way she looked I knew she was dead.
"It all looked very professional."
After going through the police files on Jill's murder, investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas claims there are several new pieces of information the Met now needs to look at because they "weren't looked into" at the time due to the trial of Barry George.
He claims that cops ordered two "offender profiles" during their initial investigation to try and put together a picture of who might have taken the presenter's life.
But he alleges police also asked for a third profile, even after charging Barry George. When his legal team asked to see the profiles he claims the Crown Prosecution Service said they "never existed".
The reporter, who is a former policeman himself, also says there is a list of 100 potential suspects that was never properly "followed up" because Barry George was on trial for the murder.
Speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on Tuesday, Williams-Thomas said the Met Police had thanked him for his report and said it would "take on board the new information and act on it".
A spokesman told The Sun Online: "The MPS would welcome any new information or evidence that relates to the murder of Jill Dando, which remains unsolved.
Who killed Jill Dando?
There are several theories about who killed the BBC presenter and why. Here are a few:
She was murdered by a hitman hired by a prominent London crime family
Jill was shot with a single bullet to the head in broad daylight, yet the killer slipped away without leaving a trace of DNA at the scene.
Neighbours didn't hear any gun shots fired, and the shooting appeared to be that of a professional gangland hit.
It has been suggested the presenter was being targeted for reporting crime on television.
She was killed by the Serbian mafia as revenge for a bombing on a TV station
Detectives have looked into the possibility that Serbian mobsters based in the UK plotted to murder the presenter.
The tip-off claimed they carried out the hit in revenge for a Nato-led bombing of a Serbian TV station.
It's alleged they planned it over drinks in a club in London's West End and that "one of those involved is a tall male with a swallow tattoo on his neck".
Files also reveal that a call to BBC Television Centre three days after Jill’s murder contained a death threat against Watchdog stars Anne Robinson and Alice Beer.
A record of the call said: "From Serbia, going to kill Anne Robinson, Alice Beer and two others."
Police traced it to Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, but found no way of tracking the culprit.
Jill had fronted a TV appeal for Kosovan-Albanian refugees just weeks before her death, which is believed to have enraged Serb paramilitaries.
Four Serbs are currently on trial accused of assassinating Slavko Curuvija, a journalist and critic of the Serb regime who was shot in the head at point-blank range outside his home 15 days before Jill's death.
It was an IRA revenge killing
Files held by Barry George’s legal team revealed a convicted killer penned a letter from prison claiming he was part of a four-man IRA hit squad that murdered Jill.
Wayne Aird claimed senior paramilitaries chose her as a target because of her links to police through her work presenting Crimewatch.
Aird claimed that the IRA was being allowed to get away with Jill’s killing to avoid harming the Northern Ireland peace process.
She was murdered for trying to expose a paedophile ring
In 2014, a former colleague claimed Jill tried to raise concerns to BBC bosses about allegations of paedophile ring and other incidents of sexual abuse at the organisation months before her death.
The Mirror reports that a source said: "I don’t recall the names of all the stars now and don’t want to implicate anyone, but Jill said they were surprisingly big names.
"I think she was quite shocked when told about images of children and that information on how to join this horrible paedophile ring was freely available."
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