Jill Dando may have been killed by hitman ‘in case of mistaken identity’

Jill Dando may have been mistakenly murdered by a hitman hired to kill another blonde BBC journalist, according to documents submitted to a French court.

Lawyers representing Lisa Brinkworth, a former BBC undercover reporter, claim that she may have been the intended target when the Crimewatch presenter was shot dead on her doorstep in Fulham, west London, on April 26 1999.

At the time, Ms Brinkworth was working on an investigation into allegations of sexual exploitation in the fashion industry and her lawyers believe someone may have been hired to silence her, but accidentally mistook Miss Dando for her.

Both BBC journalists were blonde, lived close to one another in west London and Alan Farthing, Miss Dando’s fiance at the time, was also Ms Brinkworth’s doctor.

The astonishing claims emerged as part of a legal case involving Gerald Marie, the French fashion mogul, who is being investigated over numerous historical allegations of sexual assault and rapes. He denies all the allegations.

Ms Brinkworth, 55, has claimed that the 72-year-old sexually assaulted her in 1998 when she was working undercover to expose sex abuse in the fashion industry.

She is currently embroiled in a legal challenge over France’s 20-year statute of limitations on sex crimes and as part of her case, lawyers have raised the prospect that attempts may have been made on her life.

In documents submitted to the Judicial Court in Paris, lawyers reference a conversation said to have been witnessed by a model agency executive in which Marie allegedly ordered a member of the Russian mafia to “deal with a problem”.

The documents from Bourdon Associes, a French law firm, continued: “Shortly thereafter… a BBC journalist, Jill Dando, was shot dead in April 1999. Indeed, these two journalists were in their thirties, were blonde with the same facial features of the same height and of similar stature.

“They lived close to each other and had people in common.”

Miss Dando was killed when a gunman approached her outside her house in Fulham and shot her once in the head.

Barry George, a local man, was found guilty of her murder in 2001, but his conviction was later quashed and he was acquitted in a retrial in 2008.

There has been widespread speculation as to the identity of her killer and the motive for her murder.

The numerous theories include claims that she was killed by gangsters who had featured on the Crimewatch programme, to suggestions that she was assassinated by Serbian warlords in revenge for the Nato bombing of Belgrade.

Responding to the fresh claims that Miss Dando may have been killed in a case of mistaken identity, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The investigation into the murder of Miss Dando remains open, as with all murder investigations. We will always explore any new information which may become available.”

Ms Brinkworth was working undercover as part of a Donal MacIntyre documentary series in 1998, when she claims she was sexually assaulted by Mr Marie.

Posing as a model, she had been filming surreptitiously when she alleges Mr Marie, a powerful executive with the Elite model agency at the time, pinned her down on a chair and attacked her.

At least a dozen other women have also made sex assault allegations against Mr Marie, who used to be married to the supermodel Linda Evangelista.

The BBC subsequently broadcast an expose on the fashion industry, but Elite Models sued the corporation.

As part of the settlement, the BBC agreed not to broadcast the programme again.

Ms Brinkworth claimed that she was barred from having access to the material she had filmed and that prevented her going to the French police with any evidence.

She now wants to provide all relevant evidence to the authorities in Paris, but is prevented from making a legal complaint against Mr Marie because of France’s 20-year statute of limitations on sex offences.

Her lawyers have filed papers to the prosecutor in Paris arguing that the statute does not apply in her case because years of fearing for her safety meant that she was unable to come forward.

It is not clear when the French authorities will decide whether or not Mr Marie will face any charges.