A month before Jill Dando was gunned down, Milorad Ulemek, a ruthless Serbian assassin, was reportedly asked to murder a target on his doorstep who turned out to be the high-profile journalist. Ulemek claimed that he declined the request as he was fighting in Kosovo at the time. Ulemek, nicknamed the Legionnaire, played a leading role in some of Serbia’s most violent acts, including the murders of newspaper owner Slavko Curuvija and former Yugoslav president Ivan Stambolic. He was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.