Man wanted for questioning in Jill Dando murder ‘bears resemblance to assassin’
A man wanted for questioning over the murder of a Crimewatch presenter in the 1990s bears a striking resemblance to a Serbian assassin, a new investigation has found.
The unidentified person was spotted on CCTV shortly after the shooting of Jill Dando in April 1999 – and a facial comparison expert has found a number of similarities between ‘Man X’ in the footage and twice-convicted murderer Milorad Ulemek.
The Mirror’s investigation found that at the time Jill was killed, Ulemek led a squad of hitmen responsible for targeting opponents of brutal dictator Slobodan Milosevic.
Ulemek is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence.
When Jill died, the Yugoslav war was raging and British planes were bombing Serbia as part of a NATO campaign.
She had made an appeal for Kosovan refugees who were being massacred by Milosevic’s forces. Within hours of her death, a call was made claiming the murder was in response to the bombings.
The assassin bears a striking resemblance to the ‘sweating man’ e-fit of a suspect who got on a bus in Fulham, south west London, minutes after Jill was shot outside her nearby home.
He was captured on footage along the gunman’s likely escape route.
Facial comparison expert Emi Polito, who gives expert evidence for the police, said Man X and the Serb killer have a similar shaped mouth, chin, hairline and right sideburn, while the general shape and sizes of their noses and right ear were the same.
His report concluded: ‘Within the imagery limitations, no differences were found between Man X and Mr [Ulemek].
‘There are a number of similarities between the two men… in particular the appearance of the mouth and of the hairline that add some light weight to the contention that they are the same person.’
However, he could only give limited support to them being the same person because of a lack of detail in the blurry still of the CCTV image.
Ulemek’s lawyer Aleksander Kovacevic said his client did not wish to ‘participate’ when asked if he murdered Jill. He wrote: ‘I inform you that my client has been made aware of this and that he is not interested in participating.’
In response to the new findings, Jill’s brother Nigel, 72, said: ‘I’m always interested in any new lines of inquiry about Jill’s death, especially if those lines of inquiry might lead to somebody being arrested and convicted of her murder.’
Barry George, the man convicted of Jill’s murder only to be cleared eight years into his sentence, commented: ‘If he’s the person who committed that crime then he should face the full letter of the law and be brought from Serbia to the UK and be dealt with through the courts.’
Michael Mansfield KC, who defended Mr George during the first trial, said: ‘I would call for there to be a review and for the investigation to be resuscitated.
‘There was a recent Netflix show called “Who Killed Jill Dando?” Well, you may have the answer.
‘The Metropolitan Police has a duty to Jill Dando’s family and loved ones, to Barry George and the public to fully investigate this new line of inquiry.
‘This should include a full forensic examination of the original CCTV of the unidentified man, all recovered finger and palm prints and to ascertain the movements of Ulemek at the time.’
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘On the 25th anniversary of Jill Dando’s murder, our thoughts remain with her family and all those affected by her death.
‘In the years since her murder, the investigation has been subject to numerous reviews, aiming to identify whether matters could be progressed with advances in technology and forensics.
‘The investigation is now in an inactive phase, which means that it is not currently subject to routine reviews.
‘However no unsolved murder is ever closed and detectives would consider any new information provided to assess whether it represented a new and realistic line of enquiry.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.