A CAREER criminal has claimed Jill Dando's murder was a "professional hit" and warned "if I tell you why, you'd know who did it".
The much-loved Crimewatch star was shot dead as she returned to her Fulham home on the morning of April 26, 1999.
Local man Barry George was tried and convicted of the 37-year-old's murder in 2001, only to be acquitted on appeal seven years later.
Netflix has now produced a three-part series on the killing which is due to air tomorrow.
Noel "Razor" Smith, a British writer and former criminal, is interviewed about the murder in the show.
Smith was in HMP Belmarsh when George, now 63, arrived.
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When asked about who killed Dando, Smith told the Mirror: "I don't really want to talk about that for my own safety.
"But there are rumours in the criminal world. It's not who you would think and it's not Barry George. It was a professional hit."
He was also questioned about why she was shot and replied: "No. If I tell you why, you'd know who did it."
No one else has been charged with Jill's murder, but other theories remain.
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The Met Police were contacted by a woman saying the IRA were responsible for her murder.
There has also been speculation that Jill's murder was a hit by a London underworld gang after she reported on them for Crimewatch.
Another theory was that it was a revenge killing by Serbian warlords after the journalist fronted an appeal for Kosovan refugees.
One is that she was killed on the orders of a Russian mafia don whose advances she rejected while filming a holiday programme in Cyprus, the Daily Mail reports.
Within six months of her death, more than 2,500 people had been spoken to and police had taken more than 1,000 statements.
An investigation by the Metropolitan Police, named Operation Oxborough, proved fruitless for over a year.
Eventually, attention was focused on George, who lived about half a mile from her home and had a history of stalking women and sexual offences.
He was charged with murder and during his trial at the Old Bailey it was alleged a minute particle of gunshot residue found in his pocket came from the murder weapon.
Smith spoke to George when he was first remanded to Belmarsh prison and asked him: "Do you like guns?"
George responded: "I like Guns'n'Roses."
Smith added: "I thought 'he is not capable of a cold-blooded execution in broad daylight and then not speaking about it for a year'."
Mysteries remain on day Jill was murdered
On the morning of 26 April, Jill made breakfast for her fiance before he went to work.
She then went clothes shopping in Hammersmith before making her way to her home in Gowan Avenue.
At 11.30am, neighbour Richard Hughes heard a surprised cry from Jill "like someone greeting a friend" but no shot.
He also saw a man in a dark three-quarter length coat "calmly walking away" and, assuming he was a pal, thought nothing of it.
But 15 minutes later another neighbour, Helen Doble, discovered Jill lying on the doorstep.
Not knowing what was going on, she took her mug of tea with her.
She told the Daily Mail: "What I saw as soon as we stepped through the front gate hit me like a physical blow."
Jill's body was lying at an odd angle and looked like she had collapsed on the spot, with her head against the front door.
Mrs Saunders said: "She was in a pool of blood, and I noticed her lips were blue and there were some small drips of blood running from her nose."
Speaking publicly about the horrific incident for the first time, she described how Jill was still holding a bunch of keys in one hand and her handbag in the other.
Mrs Saunders added: "That image of Jill lying there… I would have visions, snapshots of it in my dreams and even when I was doing my laps when I went swimming. I couldn't get it out of my head.
"It has given me many sleepless nights."
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Jill was declared dead on arrival at Charing Cross Hospital at 1.03pm.
Who Killed Jill Dando? airs tomorrow on Netflix.
Barry George – The man wrongly convicted of Jill Dando’s murder
Barry George, who lived close to Jill’s home, quickly became a suspect because of past instances of stalking.
At 22, he had been convicted of attempted rape after following a young woman to her home and assaulting her on the doorstep.
He was also released without charge after being found in the grounds of Kensington Palace, then home to Princess Diana, with a 12-inch hunting knife and 50ft of rope.
Police found a stash of photos of female celebrities at his home along with a photo of a man – alleged to be George – holding a blank firing pistol.
They also claim to have found firearms discharge (FDR) residue in the pocket of his jacket, which appeared to match that found on the cartridge.
On July 2, 2001, George was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison but an appeal, in November 2007, quashed his conviction and a subsequent retrial found him not guilty.
Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke ruled George was "not innocent enough" to receive a payout.
In 2013, the High Court backed decisions by successive governments to refuse him compensation for the eight years in prison because this is only paid when a new fact emerges to show beyond reasonable doubt that they did not commit the offence.
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