The expert evidence revealing how Jill Dando was killed is terrifying and graphic but it also is central to understanding the case.
Jill was about to put her key in the lock of her front door in Fulham, South West London, when she was grabbed from behind and pulled to the ground. A fresh bruise on her right arm and the trajectory of the bullet indicated that the killer had forced her head close to the floor. The gun muzzle was then pushed against her skull. The “hard contact” attack meant the sound of the single shot, made by gasses expelled by the weapon, was absorbed by her head.
Neighbour Richard Hughes reported hearing a short cry but no gunshot. Police files record how the rapidly expanding gases generate a major component of the noise of a gunshot. Laboratory tests had shown a “75-80% reduction” in the measured sound level, the papers state.
The customised bullet passed through Jill’s brainstem, immediately shutting down her heart and lung functions. The opening of her inquest was told it was an unsurvivable injury. The whole incident took less than 30 seconds and the gunman calmly shut her garden gate as he left.
Mr Hughes told police: “The man I saw outside on the 26th gave me the impression he knew exactly what he was doing and gave the appearance of a cool, calm and calculated individual.”
The bullet and the cartridge, later recovered from the scene, provided two further clues. Firstly, there appeared to be no rifling marks on the bullet. These are made by the gun barrel as the bullet is expelled, spinning it to provide greater accuracy over distance.
The prosecution in the trial of Barry George argued that the absence of markings indicated that he had used a deactivated, smooth-bore weapon that had been reactivated but still had no rifling.
But another possibility was that the killer had used a custom-made, smooth-bore weapon that would be easier to smuggle over borders while still being deadly at close range if used by an experienced gunman.
Someone had definitely altered the cartridge which had six tiny indentations or “crimp” marks around the edge, made by a pointed tool, possibly to tighten its grip on the bullet. This could have been done by the killer after he removed some of the gunpowder to lessen the noise and velocity of the bullet – a 9mm “short” which is less powerful than the more common 9mm parabellum.
The bullet had a smear of white paint on it, indicating it might have hit Jill’s door after passing through her head.
World-renowned Home Office pathologist told Mr George’s 2001 Old Bailey trial: “The pattern of the shooting indicated either that the killer handled the firearms professionally, i.e. was used to and experienced in handling handguns..or the killer was not used to handling firearms, but coincidentally managed to produce the pattern of injury on Miss Dando. The effect of the silencing of the weapon and the projectile track through the brain stem would, in this scenario, be purely coincidental.”
Mr George was jailed for life only to be cleared in 2008 after a re-trial.
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