Was Jeffrey Archer Responsible For Jill Dando's Murder? (11 July 2005)
Two national newspapers have today claimed that the television presenter Jill Dando might have been killed by a hit man hired by disgraced peer Jeffrey Archer.
The revelation follows an announcement by Archer that he will be appealing against his conviction for perjury because allegations were made against him that he had hired a hit man, who mistakenly killed Jill in 1999. Archer apparently hired someone to murder a witness in his earlier libel case, who lived on Gowan Avenue (the street where Jill Dando was shot dead in broad daylight). The witness, Angela Peppiatt, drove the same type of vehicle as Jill (a blue BMW) and was blonde, just like the television star. It is suggested Archer’s alleged hired hit man killed Jill after she left her BMW, mistakenly believing that it was Peppiatt.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission has been asked, by the man who runs the Justice for Barry campaign, to study the claim Archer was responsible, when deciding whether they should refer Barry George’s conviction to the Court of Appeal. George, whose innocence I am one hundred percent certain of (read my book ‘Who Killed Jill Dando?’ for my full demolition of the case against him), was jailed for life in 2001 after a jury found him guilty by a majority of ten to one. The case against him was incredibly weak and his conviction has remained controversial, although I am the only author to argue a miscarriage of justice has certainly occurred.
Personally I doubt Archer was responsible for Jill’s death. A professional hit man would not have made such a simple mistake regarding identification. Peppiatt and Jill do not look alike and Jill was shot quite a distance away from Peppiatt’s home.
However, this is an important issue, in conjunction with the possibility Jill’s cousin could have been the intended victim. The important point is that if the police did not disclose to the defence the claim Archer was responsible, and the information relating to Jill’s cousin, what else did they keep secret? If the information had been made available to the defence at trial then Michael Mansfield QC could have introduced the credible argument that Jill Dando was not the intended victim and therefore the police had been on a wild goose chase by searching for those who had motive to murder her.
I have no doubt whatsoever, having studied evidence the jury never heard and having consulted those who know Barry George, and the man himself, that George did not murder Jill Dando and that a dangerous killer is still on the loose. I hope that the Criminal Cases Review Commission refers his case to the Court of Appeal before long so that he can regain the freedom he rightly deserves.
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