The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders (55 page)

Just five days later the jury returned their verdict, finding George guilty of murder on a ratio of ten to one, after one juror had been forced to leave the jury during the proceedings. The
judge had agreed that he would accept a majority decision which in this instance required a minimum of ten jurors in agreement. George was then sentenced to life imprisonment. The publicity
surrounding the conviction was, however, soon disrupted as a growing band of credible individuals began to voice their doubts and suspicions over the outcome. The doubts raised were soon front-page
news as more and more people joined the protest group which was loosely forming – there was the pressure to get the conviction, the amount of money spent on the investigation, the trial
judge’s decision to allow the publication of photographs of George at the commencement of the trial. One photograph showing George in an SAS-style uniform, crouched in a shooting pose and
wearing a gas mask presented him in an almost biased way. The argument over the handling of the investigation and the conflicting testimonies of the various eyewitness all seemed to fly in the face
of the requirements of a criminal case, namely, that a conviction can only be brought when the evidence is “beyond reasonable doubt”. Newspapers, including the
London Evening
Standard
, the
Telegraph
and the
Daily Mail
all expressed grave doubts over the safety of the conviction. Callers on a Radio 4 programme seriously questioned the evidence, as did
Trevor Macdonald on ITN’s
Tonight
programme. Channel 4 presented the most persuasive case when they reconstructed the murder for an episode of
Cutting Edge
, titled “Did
Barry George Kill Jill Dando?” Unfortunately the media’s influence after the conviction could not match the pre-conviction coverage, although the public were now fully aware of the
conflicts in the case.

Following the conviction, the defence team logged an immediate appeal which was accepted during December 2001, the basis for the appeal being the lack of concrete evidence. In July 2002, after
considering the facts once more, Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, commented, “I have no doubt about the accuracy of George’s conviction,” and with this the conviction of Barry
George still stands, although many lobbying groups continue to pursue another retrial. George himself gave the following statement, “I did not murder Jill Dando and I believe that one day the
truth will come out. I only hope and pray that this happens in my lifetime. I have spent over two years in prison for a crime I simply did not commit. I have struggled hard during this prosecution
against me to keep my faith in the British criminal justice system. Today, that faith and belief has been destroyed.”

George is now serving his sentence at Whitmoor Prison in Cambridgeshire, a top-security prison, where even his elderly mother Margaret is searched before being allowed to see her son. Prisoner
FF5227 is now less troubled by the other prisoners; even they seem more inclined to believe he did not commit the crime. In a letter received by the authors in 2004, lifer Dennis Nilsen explains
that this is more than just “honour amongst thieves”, and that “nobody inside believes he is guilty, this was a professional hit.”

George, now in his mid-forties, shows increasing signs of mental breakdown, still maintaining his innocence but convinced he will now die in prison, probably the target of some assassin. Even
though he now receives fewer threats he is convinced he will die violently at the hands of one of the other inmates.

Whatever the truth behind the murder of Jill Dando, the case demonstrates a number of unique points that emerge when a celebrity is killed. The Dando murder trial commanded more public money and
a larger police team than any other investigation of its type. At the time of writing a young black girl, shot and killed in a drive-by incident, has received much less police and press attention,
yet the crimes are similar. No significant reward has been offered in this recent shooting and yet £250,000 was offered for information leading to the conviction of Dando’s killer, an
amount which, one could argue, reduced the probability of the evidence being wholly accurate. The pre-trial coverage demonstrated the innate desire for the killer to be caught – murder is
murder, we hear of it every day – but thankfully it never seems too close to home, even though our extended TV family brings it into that domain.

Evelyn Nesbit was lucky to be born into a happy family which enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, her father Winfield Scott Nesbit a relatively successful lawyer. She had all the
privileges which are bestowed on an only child and as a youngster was very pretty. She was the apple of her parents’ eyes who were delighted when they found out that they were expecting their
second child. When the baby was born the couple were thrilled that they had been blessed with a son, who they named Howard; he was to be their last child.

When Evelyn was only eight years old she was to experience the first of her life’s traumas – her beloved father died suddenly. Mrs Nesbit was left to raise her two children single
handedly, which was to prove a terrible struggle, as the passing of her husband had left her virtually penniless. The couple had not planned on such a massive alteration to their finances and
therefore had made no provision for the loss of Winfield’s wages.

Mrs Nesbit tried various means of raising money for her young family, initially taking in lodgers, but as this did not provide enough money, she resorted to selling off some of her furniture.
This then resulted in her no longer being able to have paying guests in the house, not one of her best decisions, but the woman was grief stricken and desperate. She made small amounts of money by
working from home, taking in washing and also repairing other people’s clothing, but this was not sufficient to keep them in their own home. Mrs Nesbit and her two young children moved from
house to house with ever mounting bills following them.

As the children grew older they attended school less and less frequently. Howard, a sickly child tried in vain to earn money for the family, but as he was continually tired he was never able to
maintain any form of employment. His fatigue and general ill health was no doubt not aided by the fact they regularly went without meals and the food that they did eat was of poor quality and poor
nutritional value. This could have explained why Evelyn was much more slender than her friends – at the end of the nineteenth century the waif-like look was not fashionable, girls were much
curvier. But her unfashionable slenderness was overlooked when it was added to her now obvious beauty, with flawless olive skin and a head of luxurious, wavy, auburn hair.

In her early teenage years Evelyn dreamt of a fairytale ending to her desperate existence, wishing that a knight in shining armour would come and rescue her. By the time she had reached her
fifteenth birthday she was mature enough to realize that this was nothing more than a young girl’s fantasy and the only way to change her predicament was to take matters into her own
hands.

In her favour were her looks, so she decided that she would use them to her advantage, and the easiest and most convenient way to do this was to pose as an artist’s model. After discussing
her ideas with her mother, the two set about finding a reputable artist to whom they could put their proposition. Her mother was initially reluctant, but as she was virtually impoverished, she was
left with no real alternative but to support her daughter.

One of the most eminent artists who worked in Philadelphia at that time was John Storm. Evelyn and her mother arranged to meet him and after some persuasion Mrs Nesbit agreed that her daughter
could become the artist’s model. Storm found Evelyn to be a fantastic model, she was a beautiful subject to study and soon the work he produced was highly acclaimed, and was published in
magazines. Evelyn’s new-found financial success was much needed and although her mother was not altogether happy with her daughter’s choice of profession she reluctantly accepted the
money which it provided.

Encouraged by her success, Evelyn began to consider her future – after talking with other models she was encouraged that with her stunning looks she could make much more money by working
in New York. She put this proposition to her mother, who was worried that her daughter was biting off more than she could chew, but her complaints soon died away as her daughter was now bringing
more money into the house than she and her son were. So the three of them made their way to New York where Evelyn soon managed to start earning good money by, once again, being a model for a number
of artists working around the city, quickly discovering that there was more money to be earned by posing for fashion photographers, which was a highly popular and lucrative occupation for young
girls at that time.

Her pictures were viewed by many when they were published in both the
Sunday World
and
Sunday American
fashion supplements. Evelyn was still only 15 years old, but was well aware
that this publicity would not harm her career – in fact it could well open new doors for her. The beautiful new face in town was soon noticed by several theatre companies and she found
herself being offered various roles in chorus lines across the city.

Evelyn accepted a role in the Broadway hit show
Florodora
, which featured six young ladies in a chorus line and was an extremely popular show, attracting large audiences. The girls chosen
to take part in this extravaganza were the most beautiful and thus became the most lusted after by the male members of the audience. To have moved from Philadelphia to a hit Broadway show was an
amazing feat, but now Evelyn found that she had much interest from wealthy New York businessmen.

Among the many men showing a sudden interest in her was wealthy architect Stanford White, who had designed many of the opulent houses in New York for the richest families living in the city. His
designs were bold and elaborate and always very expensive, but as White always insisted, “you get what you pay for.” He not only designed private dwellings but also worked on and added
to decorative finishings on buildings around the city, including the Church of the Ascension, Washington Square Arch, the Lambs and the Brooks, the Players Club and Saint Bartholomew’s
Church. One of New York’s most famous landmarks which White was responsible for is Madison Square Garden, a stunning gilded building with a fabulous rooftop garden.

White owned part of the splendid building, a prestigious apartment, where he would spend time away from his family, in seclusion, enabling himself to have time and space to concentrate on his
work. He would also entertain colleagues and friends from time to time and would host lavish parties where his guests would marvel at the wonderful decorations and expensive furnishings of his
private dwelling. White had a penchant for young girls, especially young ladies in the chorus line and Evelyn Nesbit did not go unnoticed by him. Initially he spent time talking to her after her
show and complimenting her on her performance. She was still at this time barely 16 years old, but had already been warned sufficiently by her mother to be wary of older men making advances towards
her.

A good friend of Evelyn’s was also a member of the chorus line, Edna Goodrich, and White saw in her an opportunity to spend more time with Evelyn away from the crowds in the theatre. He
invited both young women to have lunch with him and one of his friends in the tower of his building. Despite being over 30 years older than Evelyn, White did not consider this to be a reason to be
deterred from ingratiating himself with her. He provided a banquet for the four to enjoy and after the meal he took them on a grand tour of his apartment. The young girls followed him in wonder, as
he moved from room to room, each elegantly furnished with expensive decorations, from pieces of furniture to priceless tapestries which were hung from walls throughout the rooms.

When they reached a room which was filled with White’s drawings and sketches of buildings, they were amazed to see in the centre of the room, taking pride of place, a sumptuous red velvet
swing. What the girls didn’t already know was that White had seen many a young girl enjoying taking their turn on the swing; it was quite a masterpiece. Evelyn was invited to have a go on the
unusual piece of furniture, which she did and thoroughly enjoyed herself, noticing that her host appeared to be enjoying himself too.

The girls regained their composures and were about to leave when White happened to notice that Evelyn had a discoloured tooth. He pointed out to her that she would benefit from seeing a dentist
and having it repaired, or better still replaced. As money was still a relative luxury to Evelyn and her family – living in New York was not cheap – she said that it was not troubling
her and that for the time being she would leave the tooth as it was. White obviously saw his chance to help a damsel in distress and offered her the services of a dentist for whom he had high
regard, and gave Evelyn his details on a card.

When Evelyn told her mother about the strange afternoon with Stanford White, she was immediately suspicious of him and would not allow her daughter to make a dental appointment with the famed
dentist. When White next saw Evelyn he was disappointed to see that she had not taken up his offer to improve her smile. She explained that it was her mother who had refused her permission to make
an appointment so White asked if he might meet Mrs Nesbit. The meeting was arranged at his offices and Mrs Nesbit arrived with the sole intention of telling White to find another plaything and
leave her daughter alone.

What Mrs Nesbit was not prepared for was the effortless charm which White exuded. She was more taken in by him than her daughter and came away from the meeting giving her consent for Evelyn to
visit the dentist who White had recommended.

The appointment was duly made and Evelyn benefited by gaining a perfect set of teeth to add to all her other attributes. Shortly thereafter Mrs Nesbit and her daughter relocated from their tiny
cramped boarding rooms in the poorest part of the city to the sumptuous upmarket Audubon Hotel, evidently paid for by White. He also provided Howard with the opportunity to attend Chester Military
Academy back in Philadelphia, which he duly accepted. Mrs Nesbit’s previous unhappiness over her daughter using her looks to raise money for the family now seemed to be a dim and distant
memory.