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Dando police to study 2,100 suspects in case review
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent04.08.08
Police are to launch a cold case review of the Jill Dando murder inquiry after the acquittal of Barry George.
Detectives will re-examine a list of 2,100 suspects who were originally considered in connection with the TV presenter's killing nine years ago.
The move comes after Mr George, 48, walked free from the Old Bailey on Friday after a jury found him not guilty of the murder following an eight-week retrial. He later told newspapers that he could not have killed the Crimewatch presenter outside her front door in Fulham because he was stalking another woman at the time.
Police sources say the review of the case could be carried out by officers from another force. Suspects include 140 men who had a fixation with Miss Dando and a number of her former partners.
The list also contains the names of professional hitmen, criminals brought to justice by Crimewatch and Serbian terrorists angered by the Nato bombing of a Belgrade TV station shortly after Miss Dando, 37, made a BBC appeal to help Kosovan refugees.
Any review of the evidence could mean trawling through 2,500 witness statements and 3,700 exhibits in the hope of finding a fresh clue and is expected to take several months.
However, senior sources say it is highly unlikely it will lead to a new investigation.
Detectives have already used new forensic techniques to re-examine the evidence and found nothing of significance.
Miss Dando was killed by a single shot to the head in Gowan Avenue at around
11.30am on 26 April 1999. Mr George's defence team argued that he lacked the ability to carry out the execution-style killing. Scans of his brain showed "severely abnormal" results and tests placed him in the lowest one per cent of the population for his planning abilities.
Ian Horrocks, who as a detective inspector was second in command in the original inquiry, said that while he accepted the result of the retrial he "agreed with the first jury's verdict". Writing in the News Of The World, Mr Horrocks, who is now retired, said it was ridiculous to suggest police had just "picked the local nutter off the street".
Meanwhile, a claim by Mr George that he was not the man photographed dressed in a gas mask and holding a gun was dismissed by police today. Officers close to the original investigation say Mr George admitted he was the man in the photograph during interviews with detectives.
Mr George is expected to seek compensation for the eight years he spent in jail, which could be at least £250,000.
