Thirteen months after the killing of the BBC television presenter, Ms Jill Dando, a man from central London will appear in court later today charged with her murder.
Detectives investigating Ms Dando's killing charged Mr Barry Michael George (40), also known as Mr Barry Bulsara, yesterday with her murder after nearly four days' questioning. He will appear at a court in west London.
Mr George, an unemployed musician and the son of a former policeman, was arrested on Thursday morning. He made no resistance. Detectives arrested him at his home, which is less than half a mile from the scene of Ms Dando's killing in April last year. She was shot in the head on her doorstep.
Within a matter of hours of the arrest, police took the unusual step of describing the development as "highly significant". Mr George was the first person detained on suspicion of Ms Dando's murder and over the next three days detectives removed several boxes containing Mr George's belongings from his Fulham flat for forensic examination.
Under legal rules governing the questioning of suspects, police were obliged to release Mr George without charge, release him on bail or charge him with an offence by 6.30 a.m. this morning. It is understood that Mr George, who has an interest in the former Queen singer, Freddie Mercury, changed his name by deed poll to Bulsara. Freddie Mercury was born Farok Bulsara.
Journalists and television crews had besieged the police station and the area around Mr Bulsara's home since news of the arrest was made public.
Ms Dando, who presented the BBC's Crimewatch UK programme, was killed with a single shot to the head as she returned to her terraced house in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, west London, last year. She was given emergency treatment at the scene by a helicopter ambulance crew and at Charing Cross Hospital, but was certified dead less than two hours later.
The popular presenter, who was engaged to marry her fiancΘ, Mr Alan Farthing, when she died, was buried near her family home in the west country resort of Weston-super-Mare.
The star was one of the golden girls of BBC television, also presenting Holiday, and the Six O'Clock News.
Her murder stunned the country and baffled detectives made two appeals on Crimewatch, the most recent one on the first anniversary of her death last month.
The investigation was one of the most high profile in British police history and at one time members of the 50-strong murder squad had a list of 280 possible suspects to interview.
Miss Dando's brother Nigel said tonight that he could not comment on the arrest.
Mr Dando said: "Because of the legal situation now surrounding this investigation I would prefer not to comment at this stage."
Meanwhile, detectives investigating the Suzy Lamplugh case hope new DNA techniques could solve the mystery of her disappearance 14 years ago.
Ms Lamplugh was last seen at 12.40 p.m. on July 28th, 1986, when she drove her white Ford Fiesta to a meeting with a client who called himself Mr Kipper at a house in Shorrolds Road, Fulham, west London. At 2 p.m. her car was found abandoned a mile away.
Scotland Yard announced the reopening of the inquiry two weeks ago in the wake of fresh DNA advances and a new witness.