It’s been 15 years since Barry George was released from jail after his wrongful conviction for killing Jill Dando – however not everyone agreed with the decision.
Speaking in the new Netflix documentary series Who Killed Jill Dando?, the lead investigator at the time has revealed that he STILL believes Barry George is guilty.
Hamish Campbell, the detective who led the inquiry into Jill Dando‘s murder, has spoken out in the new three-parter, which streams from Tuesday, September 26, 2023.
Who killed Jill Dando?
Many of us will remember the day that TV favourite and Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando was shot dead on the steps of her Fulham home. She was killed by a single bullet to her head in broad daylight on April 26, 1999. She was just 37.
Despite one of the biggest homicide investigations in British history, the murder remains unsolved. However former DCI Hamish Campbell – who also helped bring down notorious rapist Delroy Grant – believes they DID have the killer when they had Barry George in custody.
Police arrested Barry George on May 25, 2000, and charged him on May 29, 2000. However, his conviction was overturned on appeal. The forensic evidence was later discounted and his conviction was judged unsafe by the Court of Appeal and quashed in 2007.
After a retrial, he was acquitted on August 01, 2008, although his subsequent claims for compensation for wrongful imprisonment have been dismissed.
The evidence against Barry George in the Jill Dando murder case
After months of investigation, “dysfunctional loner” Barry George became the prime suspect in Jill Dando murder. He lived close to her house where she was shot. He was known to be a stalker. And was familiar to the police due to his previous conviction for attempted rape, and assault on a woman.
Furthermore, a witness had potentially placed Barry George at the scene of the crime on the day of the murder, and a particle of gun residue was found on his coat.
In the Netflix series Who Killed Jill Dando?, Jeff Edwards, the crime correspondent at the Daily Mirror at the time, reveals his belief that “Barry George was not the full ticket”. The doc also reveals that he has a way below average IQ.
Meanwhile, detective Hamish Campbell explains his initial reasons for believing Barry George was the killer. He says: “Barry lied about knowing Jill Dando. He knew of her.”
Hamish adds: “It was a big step to arrest the man suspected or accused of killing Jill Dando. I wrote in my logs my fear that it was the ill man, the loner, the infatuated, the psychopath, the disturbed or the obsessed who was responsible. Barry George fit that category.”
Is Barry George guilty of killing Jill Dando?
Barry George, who now lives a solitary life in Ireland, believes he was used as “a scapegoat” for the police. He insists he didn’t know who Jill Dando was. Meanwhile, his sister campaigned to have him freed.
Barry’s high-profile barrister Michael Mansfield KC believes he’s innocent, saying: “What is the case against him? That he’s an oddball character, that he has an obsession with women, but not particularly with Jill Dando. He had an interest in guns. That doesn’t prove he did it.”
But Hamish Campbell stands by the initial verdict. Speaking in the documentary series Who Killed Jill Dando?, he says: “I think the guilty verdict in 2001 was the correct verdict. There’s been so much comment over the past 24 years. Everybody loves a mystery. But I don’t think it’s a mystery at all.”
When asked if he thinks Barry George killed Jill Dando, Hamish answers: “I did. And I don’t think I’ve changed my mind.”
Read more: Who were the top suspects in unsolved murder of Jill Dando, including man seen running from scene?
Who Killed Jill Dando? streams on Netflix from Tuesday, September 26, 2023.
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