Met Police re-examine Putney Bridge CCTV in Jill Dando case with 'Serbian assassin' under suspicion

From the Newshound archive · first published 26 September 2026 · last updated 28 September 2026.

Cold-case detectives spent ten months locating and digitising footage of 'Man X', an unidentified individual captured on camera running along the killer's probable escape route at Putney Bridge station roughly 20 minutes after Jill Dando was shot dead on her Fulham doorstep in April 1999. Advances in CCTV enhancement technology have allowed investigators to re-examine that footage for potential links to Milorad Ulemek, a Serbian assassin and paramilitary commander currently serving a 137-year prison sentence. The Met warned that the review is part of wider continuing inquiries and should not be interpreted as a significant new line of inquiry. Barry George, wrongly convicted of the murder, spent eight years behind bars before being acquitted at retrial in 2008.

Ulemek, 58 and nicknamed Legija, helped plan the assassinations of two Serbian leaders and commanded units responsible for Yugoslav war atrocities.

A facial comparison expert found that Ulemek and Man X share similar noses, mouths and chins; two witnesses said they were '80%' certain he was the man seen 'running for his life' near the scene.

Scotland Yard is reportedly investigating whether Dando's murder was a professional hit ordered by the late Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.