Murder at the Cottage | Sky

Is this Gemma’s imaginary Garda sergeant who beat up women and had loads of affairs with foreign females and somehow drove a very old blue fiesta etc. I’m surprised her man wasn’t known for carrying around a concrete block in his boot and was also noted for his irrational hatred of French cinema.

There is a conspiracy theory forum for this stuff.

Well this seems like a new development and not from MF: https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/new-statement-about-alleged-cleaning-of-bloody-clothes-after-sophie-murder-40727240.html

it’s paywalled and I didn’t pay for it.

If she was leaving at 4 a.m. for Cork Airport I'd say she was opening it just before bed for fast exit in the morning.

Thinking about that, Shirley Foster AFAIK in her statement on finding the body didn't say she stopped to open the gate. If the gate was open then if Sophie was opening it for early departure she had already done it.

Or perhaps Sophie had closed it when she got back the previous evening but heard someone open it and went down to close it again in high dudgeon.

Sophie's normal preference was gate closed so it being open is of significance.

If it wasn't an early departure for flight home ergo she wasn't the last person to arrive back to Dreenane that evening.

Okay. Seeing as nobody else would buy it.

The Indo story is a local elderly man who has previously given statements to the gardai yesterday gave a "consolidated statement" which took three hours on foot of a "sworn deposition". This after contacting a solicitor having seen documentaries.

He said he was "told the story of the bloodied clothes in complete confidence". This happened "face-to-face" in 2001.

The person making "the confession" seemed scared.

"At least partial proof of his allegations can be obtained" it is understood.

The old man discussed it with someone "now living in Europe" last year. This person is expected to talk to gardai.

Sophie's family welcomed development and want official action "as soon as possible".

AGS "no comment"

Realistically.... If somebody shared some highly confidential information, pertaining to blood stained garments after an horrific murder...... What do you do?

1) Would a potential murderer share this information with somebody else (as long as they keep it a secret)?

2) Would a witness who seen the blood soaked garments (probably a family member) confide in a villager of the same?

3) Based on the above, at least two people were aware of this information going back 20yrs ago - And said nothing?

If true, then a three hour deposition has been handed over to the Gards - What next?

Why was Sophie even at the cottage just before christmas?

The whole fix the heating seems questionable given the housekeeper living locally would be better placed to sort it

She has asked friends to accompany her so doesnt suggest she was planning a liaison, or just wanted some alone time either.

It just occurred to me, the person making "the confession" is an accessory to murder.

If they are still alive shouldn't they be arrested and questioned?

Would the killer really go back to a public house to change his blood soaked clothes??

I mean any bar (gossip centre), in a one horse town would be the last port of call for me... ?? - Unless he was a total moron!

The person who has come forward with this revelation, could well be a Doctor, Priest, Therapist or Councillor.... Their Patient / Priviliged information M'larkey might have come into play here... Although, I wouldn't be sure how water tight that would be with regards to a Murder, or indeed the likelihood of a murderer still running around the village at large..??

Did the Gards know this back then...??? Did the dispose of this little nugget too??

Why is the person bringing this information up now, after 20yrs?? Because he watched a couple of documentaries and felt a pang of guilt? It isn't really going to cut the mustard is it.....? Back 20yrs ago it would have been prime news on every television / radio station 24/7... Did it really take a Sky / Netflix series to bring home how potentially important this item of information is..??

Why does he deem it 'alright' now to spill the beans..??

Is this just another layer of WTF to add to the already complexities of the case....

I believe she had an open ticket and changed her original plans.

She made arrangements to meet her housekeeper at 11 am on Monday.

and told her husband on the phone that she would be back in Paris lunchtime 24th.

If you put on subtitles then go to settings (along the bottom of the screen) and change the subtitles from french autogenerated to english.

The translation is dire but you'll get the jist easy enough.

Someone else.

"A new statement about the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier – and the alleged cleaning of blood-stained clothes – has been supplied to An Garda Síochána. A man yesterday gave a statement claiming another person had confessed to him that they had helped clean bloodied clothes following the killing. The murder of the filmmaker, which shocked Ireland and France in 1996, has recently been the subject of two TV documentaries that were seen in nearly 200 countries. The Irish Independent has learned that a local man – who knew Ms Toscan du Plantier before her death – contacted a solicitor in the wake of the documentaries to make a new sworn statement. In it he discloses the confession to him about bloodstained items. The elderly man has previously given other statements in connection with the investigation. It is understood he gave a three-hour interview to gardaí yesterday, when a consolidated statement was taken, in addition to the formal deposition he supplied himself. It is believed the witness has long grappled with his conscience after claiming to have been told the story about the bloodied clothes in complete confidence several years ago. The man claims there was a face-to-face conversation, which took place at a named premises in 2001. He was unnerved at the time, he asserts, and told the other person to contact gardaí, but this did not happen. He says that the other person appeared to be in fear at the time. A senior source said last night that the fresh claims, reported to Bantry garda station nearly a quarter-of-a-century after the killing, could be dynamite. It has long been felt by investigators that the killer would have been bloodstained after smashing Ms Toscan du Plantier skull with a rock and cavity-block, raining down 50 blows, the majority inflicted after she was dead. It is expected to prompt a fresh round of investigation and examination of witnesses and any supporting evidence that may lie behind the mans claims. It is understood he has made an assertion that at least partial proof of his allegations can be obtained. The man also said he discussed the matter last year with another person, who now lives in Europe. This conversation came before the recent documentaries were broadcast, and it was not known to their makers. The elderly man has now spoken to gardaí about the allegations and made a comprehensive separate statement on foot of his own sworn deposition. The person living in Europe is among those expected to speak to gardaí as investigations proceed. Alain Spilliaert, the lawyer for the Justice for Sophie campaign in France (ASSOPH), said: This is a major new statement. We look forward to other developments within a short time. Ms Toscan du Plantiers uncle, Jean Pierre Gazeau, said: This statement is of the highest interest, and I will be seriously following the further developments. He said he would like to see official action on the matter being taken as soon as possible. Throughout this investigation, An Garda Síochána has appealed to any person with any information in relation to the investigation to come forward in order to assist us. An Garda Síochána does not comment during investigations on interactions it may or may not have had with individuals with information. It is the second potential new lead to emerge in the investigation in recent weeks. New information was also passed to gardaí by film director Jim Sheridan, who made one of two recently-shown documentaries. The information came from Marie Farrell, a former Schull shopkeeper, who was once the key witness and whose evidence was later discredited. Ms Farrell believes she can now identify a man who was wearing a long dark coat outside her shop days before Ms Toscan du Plantier was beaten to death."

It seems strange that the gardaí would chase down a retelling of hearsay rather than go straight to the source and interview the person who the local elderly man claims told him that they had helped clean bloody clothes following the killing

I think the assumption has to be they are dead. Rules out Jules. As I said earlier if the person who helped wash the clothes knew at the time they were destroying evidence for a murderer then they too committed a crime.