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Twenty years after the murder of Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando and we still don't know what actually happened to her.

On April 26, 1999, the 38-year-old BBC star was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, West London in what remains one of the UK's most high-profile unsolved murders.

Barry George, a loner who lived a few minutes from Jill's house, was jailed for eight years for her murder but cleared after a retrial in 2008 following concerns raised over forensic evidence.

The case remains open.

In 2015, files obtained by investigative reporter Mark Williams-Thomas and the Sunday Mirror revealed a number of leads which appear to have been pushed to one side as Scotland Yard pursued its case against Barry George.

The investigation has never been officially closed but despite calls for a fresh probe it is understood little or no police time has been devoted to the case since December 2013.

(Image: BBC) (Image: Getty)

But the police officer who led the investigation into her senseless murder has told how he now fears the culprits will never be caught.

It was reported that cold case reviews by the police after 2008 concluded Dando was killed by a professional assassin in a "hard contact execution".

The gun used was pressed against her head, preventing the killer being splattered with blood.

We re-visit the theories which appear to still be unexplained as the mystery over Jill's killer goes on.

1) Jill was murdered by a hitman ordered by one of London's most prominent crime families

Jill Dando was shot with a single bullet to the head in broad daylight on a busy London street.

The killer then slipped away without leaving a trace of DNA at the scene or even a definitive sighting.

The shooting appeared to have all the hallmarks of a professional gangland hit.

An intelligence report named two men from one of London's most prominent crime families.

(Image: Philip Coburn)

It suggested Jill was being targeted for investigating crime on television.

But the lead detective on the Dando case , DCI Hamish Campbell, ordered no further action on the report. Prime suspect Barry George had already been charged.

2) Serbian mafia carried out hit in revenge for Nato-led bombing of TV station

Detectives were told Serbian mobsters based in Britain plotted the assassination over drinks at a nightclub.

The tip-off accusing the Serb gangsters claimed they carried out the hit in revenge for a Nato-led bombing of a Serbian TV station.

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A message filed to detectives said: “Dando was murdered by a Serb hitman in revenge for the attack that Nato mounted...

“The people who planned Dando’s murder meet and drink in a club called Scandal in London’s West End. 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 over a killing with striking similarities - they are 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.

3) IRA revenge killing

Among 52,000 documents provided to Barry George's legal team, were files revealing 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 .

He wrote the letter from his cell at Wakefield prison where he was serving life for killing a man two months after Jill’s death.

(Image: BBC)

Aird said a member of the gang shot her with a 9mm bullet before they escaped in Land Rovers to a safe house in the capital.

He said he was confessing because he did not want George to be part of an Establishment cover-up.

Aird claimed that the IRA was being allowed to get away with Jill’s killing to avoid harming the Northern Ireland peace process.

It is understood that police were made aware of Aird’s letter but did not investigate further.

4) Jill was murdered after trying to expose 'VIP 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 Beeb months before her death.

The 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.

“Jill said others had complained to her about sexual matters and that some female workmates also claimed they had been groped or assaulted."

The colleague claimed BBC bosses "didn't want to know" when Jill reported the allegations.

A BBC spokesman said they would always investigate any allegations of this nature, but added: “We’ve not seen anything that substantiates these claims.”

5) 'Joe' the Spanish barman

A report, from the now-defunct National Criminal Intelligence Service, said Jill’s killing could be traced to a gunman called Joe in Spain.

He was linked to murderer Kenneth Noye, who is serving life for a 1996 road rage killing and was put away with the help of a Crimewatch appeal.

The report said: “Joe runs a bar in Tenerife, frequented by leading ex-pat criminals. He's described as a frustrated gangster reputed to owe money to Kenny Noye.

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

“There’s been talk Joe has been keen to rehabilitate his reputation with gangster creditors.”

Joe allegedly came to the UK specifically to carry out the crime.

It appears that Joe was never traced.

What happened that evening

Monday April 26, 1999

10.03am A postman delivering mail to Jill’s empty home at 29 Gowan Avenue, Fulham, notices he is being watched by a dark-haired man wearing a suit standing opposite.

10.05am Jill leaves her fiance Alan Farthing’s home in Chiswick to go shopping in nearby Hammersmith.

10.05am A traffic warden patrolling in the Gowan Avenue and Munster Road area spots a blue Range Rover parked illegally. She begins to note the number but stops when the driver protests. She erases the information.

10.10am A woman driver turning into Gowan Avenue notices a dark-haired man wearing a suit walking along the road. She is then followed at close quarters by a blue Range Rover before it stops near Fulham FC’s Craven Cottage stadium.

10.23am Jill is seen on CCTV stopping in her BMW convertible for petrol at a BP garage on the Great West Road.

10.40am A window cleaner working at 26 Gowan Avenue notices a man standing outside Jill’s house talking on a mobile phone. 10.46am Jill is seen at Rymans stationers in Hammersmith shopping mall.

10.55am She is spotted at The Link electrical shop. She also bought two Dover sole fillets. She received and made a number of calls during her shopping trip.

11.00am A blue Range Rover is again spotted parked in the Gowan Avenue and Munster Road area. A motorist driving along Gowan Avenue sees a dark-haired and smartly dressed man standing in the road speaking into a mobile phone.

11.00-11.29am While leaving home, a female neighbour of Jill spots a man, again dark-haired and wearing a suit, standing between parked cars. Another woman sees a man of similar description walking along Gowan Avenue.

11.30am After parking her blue BMW, Jill walks to her front door and is shot in the head. Two witnesses saw a man running from No 29. He was said to have thick black hair and be wearing a waxed jacket. by a 9mm calibre semi-automatic pistol.

11.32am CCTV images show a metallic blue Range Rover travelling at high speed down Fulham Palace Road.

11.40am A man is spotted crouching by railings in Bishops Park furtively talking into a mobile phone.

11.52am A motorist is forced to brake hard as a man runs across Fulham Palace Road from Gowan Avenue.

1.03pm Jill is pronounced dead at Charing Cross Hospital. A i m A m f J The bullet The e-fit suspect T The house Shopping trip S CCTV The gun The scene D

Jill Dando timeline