Barry George has today been cleared at the Old Bailey in London of the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando.
George (48), bowed his head, took a deep breath and his eyes filled with tears as the not-guilty verdict was delivered, according to Susan Young, a clinical psychologist sitting next to him in the dock.
"I am overwhelmed," Mr George said in a statement read outside court by his solicitor Jeremy Moore. "I want to thank my family and legal team."
His sister Michelle Diskin, who has campaigned for his release and was in court to hear the verdict, punched the air and cried "yes".
His defence lawyer William Clegg had argued that the 48-year-old lacked the skills, ability, motive and expertise to have committed such a crime.
Dando was shot at point blank range with a gun pressed against her head on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, west London, in April 1999.
Her murder prompted one of Scotland Yard's biggest murder investigations.
Before arresting Mr George, detectives examined a wide range of theories. One was that she was killed by a Serbian, angry that she had presented a TV fundraiser for Kosovan refugees.
Others suggested she was killed by an ex-lover or by an underworld hitman for her work helping the police on the BBC's Crimewatch.
Mr George, who stalked women and took thousands of photographs of them as they walked home, was first convicted of her murder in 2001. He had pretended to be an SAS soldier and liked to pass himself off as a cousin of the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury. He lost an appeal against his conviction in 2002.
Dando was one of the most popular figures on television and thousands of viewers turned out to pay their respects at her funeral in her home town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
She was engaged to gynaecologist Alan Farthing at the time of her murder.
Mr George's counsel William Clegg told the court this weeek that his client did not have the skills, ability, motive nor expertise to carry out such a crime.
The defence accepted Mr George had stalked and frightened women in the area, but said that did not make him a killer.
"It is perfectly true he follows women every day, hundreds and hundreds in a year, but he has not shot them dead."
None of his large collection of newspaper clippings, which included stories about celebrities, featured Dando, Mr Clegg noted.
Mr George, who lived near Dando, was originally tried for her killing in 2001.
He did not give evidence during his trial.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw told the jury that there was no evidence "directly linking George" to the murder.
With no murder weapon, witnesses to the attack or a clear motive, the case was based on circumstantial evidence which failed to convince the jury.
The Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police said they were disappointed with the verdict.
"It would not be appropriate to comment any further at this time except to say that we will be reflecting upon today's verdict and considering how best to proceed," said Commander Simon Foy, head of the Metropolitan Police's homicide command.
Agencies