The BBC presenter Ms Jill Dando was murdered on the doorstep of her home in South West London by a single gunshot wound to the head, Scotland Yard said last night.
Soon after the former Crimewatch presenter had been pronounced dead at Charing Cross Hospital yesterday afternoon, police said there was no immediate evidence to link her killing to the crime-fighting programme she had co-hosted for four years.
However, Scotland Yard's confirmation of a post-mortem finding that she had died from a brain injury caused by a single bullet immediately triggered speculation that she could have been the victim of a contract killing, possibly related to a criminal investigation assisted by Crimewatch.
One crime expert said the massive police investigation was most immediately concentrated on the search for a smartly-dressed white man, in his late thirties or early forties, apparently seen fleeing the blood-stained scene at Ms Dando's terraced home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, shortly before noon.
The man was spotted by Miss Dando's neighbour, Mr Richard Hughes: "I was upstairs in the house and heard her car alarm go off briefly. It was about 11.30 a.m.
"Between 30 and 40 seconds later I heard her scream. It was a very distinctive scream, she sounded quite surprised. I opened the shutters and saw a man. He was very well dressed, wearing a Barbour-style jacket, and at first I thought it must have been a friend of Jill's as he looked very respectable." Mr Hughes went on: "I went to the door and saw her lying on the doorstep, she was unconscious and covered in blood . . . I took a look at her and she wasn't breathing, she was lying in front of my doorway as we share the same doorstep."
Of the man departing the scene, Mr Hughes said: "He walked very calmly away and at the time I didn't really think anything of it. He had dark hair and he was white. He didn't look at all flustered and looked quite well together."
The emergency services arrived within 10 minutes of a 999 call.
Three ambulance crews and a doctor flown in by air ambulance, treated Ms Dando on the spot for about 30 minutes, before taking her on the short drive to Charing Cross Hospital. She was treated there for another 30 minutes by a team of six doctors and nurses, led by Hugh Millington, the consultant in charge of the accident and emergency department, but to no avail. Mr Millington said later: "Despite all efforts by ambulance paramedics and hospital medical staff, she was certified dead at 1.03pm."
Earlier this year Miss Dando had told police officers of her concerns about her personal safety before taking the Crimewatch job. And last year, during a "stalking" episode, an unwanted "admirer" reportedly put a note through her letter box after she had been pictured with her new partner, gynaecologist Dr Alan Farthing, whom she was due to marry in September.
Newsreader Miss Jennie Bond, a friend and colleague for many years, broke the news on air of Miss Dando's murder. And Queen Elizabeth and the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, led a wave of tributes to the "Golden Girl", as colleagues and friends at the BBC - described as "a desolate place" last night - struggled with their grief and shock.
The Director General of the BBC, Sir John Birt, said: "Jill will be forever remembered for her sweet, unaffected elegance. She was modest and lacking in self regard, a popular member of any team. "