Sophie: A Murder in West Cork - Netflix.

This blog is a great resource for everything to do with this case and helpfully includes free links to both the Netflix and Sky programs:

The blog also contains some crime scene photographs which appear to be screenshots from the documentaries.

One in particular caught my attention:

The killer retrieved a cinder block from this concrete structure and used it to to attack Sophie.

This concrete structure is approximately 20 ft behind the location of the attack and on the other side of the boreen, so not immediately to hand for the killer.

The attack almost certainly happened at night so how could the killer have possibly known that there would be a loose cinder block that he could retrieve from this structure?

The only logical answer is that the killer was involved in the construction and/or maintenance of this structure. It's simply implausible that anyone else such as a "French assassin" or some other person unfamiliar with the property would have known about this or stumbled upon it - in the dark.

The structure appears to be communal for the three houses up the laneway and Ian Bailey is known to have done "gardening work" for one of those property owners, Alfie Lyons. Jules Thomas mentions in the Sky documentary in the context of her own property how Ian Bailey had done a lot of hard labour around her property including the building of walls.

I wonder if he was ever asked by Gardaí (or anyone else for that matter) if he had anything to do with the construction or upkeep of the structure from which the cinder block was taken to attack Sophie?

In a related matter, if the Gardaí still have that cinder block they should be analysing it for touch DNA as it would be a good repository for skin cells of the killer if he was ungloved.

I can't find the post now - but early on in the thread, someone mentioned that Sophie was aware that someone had been in her house - used her bath, gone through her stuff. Here's a mad proposal .. maybe it was Marie Farrell and her lover who were using it as a love nest when Sophie was largely away. Maybe it was them who went there for a tryst and were unaware Sophie was there at the time ??? Did the unidentified male murder her to keep his identity and his infidelity a secret? As someone also mentioned earlier, there has always been a rumour that she was having an affair with a guard ..

no DNA is often cited as a Bailey defence,there was no DNA from the murderer so for me it just proves Bailey got lucky .He was probably worse for wear when he started out but the walk and God knows how long he was outside would easily be enough time to sober up.

Just back to that concrete block, perhaps it was nearer to hand to the place where she was killed? That gate was on an incline and maybe the block was used to prop it open as otherwise it might have closed over by itself?

I think the garda is more loving the limelight than Baily even.

He says things like, "When you are investigation a murder you do x, y and z". "And when you are called to a murder scene ...."

Id love if they asked him "Exactly how many murder cases have you investigated then?"

Don't have a link, might have been in west cork podcast. It was a statement from the housekeeper that use to prep the house ahead of Sophie's visits. On an occasion when see arrived, I think with the french bloke she had the affair with, she noticed that the bath had a big black ring mark. The housekeeper had cleaned it a a couple of days in advance. The housekeeper suggested setting up a camera to catch who ever was using the house in her absence, she didn't. She changed the locks and this appears to have stopped the person .

Who else might have got keys and/or made a copy.

Did they continue to snoop around outside?