Jill Dando murder: Brother hopes case is solved

Barry George was convicted of Jill Dando's murder and spent eight years in jail before being acquitted

The brother of murdered BBC presenter Jill Dando has said he will find out who killed her "no matter how long it takes".

Nigel Dando learned of his younger sister's death 20 years ago from a TV news bulletin.

Barry George was convicted of her murder and spent eight years in jail before being acquitted at a retrial.

Mr Dando said: "I will eventually find answers... no matter how long it takes."

He said the unsolved case "still leaves the questions open of who killed Jill and why".

"At the moment these questions are still open-ended and still haven't been answered," he said.

BBC journalist Nigel Dando said "Jill was in the wrong place at the wrong time"

The TV presenter and newsreader was 37 when she died in April 1999.

At the time, Mr Dando was working at the Bristol Post when a fellow journalist called him, saying his sister had been involved in an accident and asking whether he knew anything.

As he was trying to get hold of his sister on her mobile, minutes later the news broke that she was dead.

"Back in the day we would have a bank of TV news screens and we would monitor them regularly," he told BBC Points West.

"One of them broke that news was coming through that Jill had been killed, that she had been found dead on her doorstep."

Ms Dando was a hugely popular star on the BBC, having presented the Six O'Clock News, Breakfast News and prime-time shows such as Holiday and Crimewatch.

'Random brutality'

Her brother said he wanted to ask the killer, if he or she was ever found, why they did it.

"It's such a pointless thing to have happened," he said.

"I believe there was no reason, it was just an act of random brutality and Jill was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

• Dando murder case 'will never be solved'

• Dando documentary to mark anniversary

Like her brother, Ms Dando had pursued a career in journalism, having started on the local paper in her home town of Weston-super-Mare.

Since her death, Jill Dando news centres have been set up to encourage more young people into journalism.

The latest one to open has been at King Alfred School in Highbridge.

"I think it's brilliant, I think it's a superb tribute to Jill and what she meant to so many people in the community and the West Country," said Mr Dando.

The Murder of Jill Dando will be shown on BBC One at 21:00 BST on Tuesday 2 April.