Murder at the Cottage | Sky

Article from 1996, a week after the crime.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-known-to-french-woman-may-be-on-video-1.119689

"GARDAI believe they may have identified a man known to Frenchwoman Ms Sophie Toscan du Plantier, on video footage at Cork Airport. The identification has not been confirmed but the man is similar in appearance to a male believed to have been known to Ms Toscan du Plantier and who may have travelled from France on the same day to Cork."

"Strands of bloodstained hair were found between her finger nails. The results of the considerable forensic evidence removed from the scene are expected within the next few days and should go a long way towards filling in the many blanks in the investigation."

"The heavy gate at the entrance to the laneway, about 100 yards from the house, was wide open. Gardai say Ms Toscan de Plantier was always particular about keeping it closed and that it would take considerable strength to open it fully."

Hang on, is this the guy who demanded we do not respond to each other's posts earlier in the thread returning again and again with the mother of all straw men? I think he's a good suspect, I don't know if he did it or not.

Moonunit should be banned from this thread. Is there any decent mods here? Surely rail roading one agenda while ignoring all other posts is against boards charter?

Although don't always agree with Moonunits takes, it would be a bit harsh to ban him no? Giving opposing views or playing devils advocate is fair enough if it's factual info IMO

I don't think it's a requirement to hold a certain set of opinions to post here. I don't think you really want this to descend into groupthink? It would be best to put me on ignore if you want to.

Banned because it's makes me dizzy with the constant repetitive nature of their posts going around in neverending circles. 😂

But for holding a different view even if it's a flawed view that they are seemingly the only holder of, nope.

I think the point people make about someone being sent to kill her being just as plausible as Bailey is because like you said, as far as we know Bailey was also a stranger to Sophie.

So her being willing to open the door to Bailey is pretty similar to opening the door to a stranger, no?

Of course if a undeniable link between Bailey and Sophie can be found its a different story but right now any evidence is hearsay.

Her husband has also said she was the kind to go outside and investigate if there was a noise. I perhaps don't see it as farfetched as others that making noise outside to lure someone out is beyond the realms of imagination.

It would actually be a common method in gangland killings, smash a car window outside or make a rucus to lure a target out. It has happened several times in Irish gang shootings alone.

I'm not saying someone from Irish gangland killed Sophie just to clear up, im just talking about the method not being uncommon.

Quotes from an article about Maurice Sweeney talking about a French man who came into his travel agents the day Sophie's body was found.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/missing-link-man-in-sophie-case-offers-new-help-26461911.html

"The mystery man came into Mr Sweeney's travel agent business in Loughrea, Co Galway around 2.30pm on December 23, 1996 -- some four-and-a-half hours after Sophie's bludgeoned body was discovered outside her holiday home near Schull, Co Cork. "He came in looking for a hotel near Dublin Airport and also inquired about numbers for bed and breakfasts in west Cork," said Mr Sweeney.

"He had been in a bed and breakfast there and had left without paying. I assume he wanted their number so he could send on the money.

"It was two days before Christmas and I thought it was a bit odd."

Quotes from a separate article:

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/sophies-friend-was-twice-cleared-by-gardai-26462893.html

"Travel agent Maurice Sweeney (64) told officers he encountered a suspicious Frenchman, who made inquiries about bed and breakfasts in the West Cork area, around the time of the December 1996 murder.

The Irish Independent can reveal that Mr Sweeney identified the mystery man as a friend of French filmmaker Sophie (39) -- after being shown his photograph.

However, gardai have insisted they thoroughly investigated the movements of the Frenchman identified by Mr Sweeney, both in 1997 and 2002, and concluded he was not in Ireland at the time of the murder.

Checks confirmed the man was actually at a public function exhibition near Paris on the day Sophie was murdered and could not possibly have been the killer, garda sources said.

The travel agent, who has a business in Loughrea, Co Galway, has stood firm over his claims and says he will co-operate with the Paris magistrate leading the new investigation.

"This is all very clear in my mind and I am sure of what I am saying," he said."

Another article:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-10060824.html

"Yesterday, in a Sunday newspaper, Mr Sweeney, 62, said he told gardaí a man fitting Ms Farrell's original description of the suspect had booked flights from Dublin to France the day after Ms du Plantier's murder. Ms Farrell originally described the suspect as sallow and of medium height, at odds with Mr Bailey's stature.

Mr Sweeney said he tried to pass the information to the gardaí several times but was rebuffed. He also contacted his local TD Noel Treacy, and wrote to Justice Minister Michael McDowell last year. He said the Justice Minister said it was an internal garda matter.

Mr Sweeney said the man who booked flights was very similar to a man pictured in an Evening Herald article in 1997 who was alleged to have attacked Ms du Plantier after she refused to include his paintings in a programme on French television.

He also claims he contacted the French embassy but was told by a diplomat the gardaí "knew" the culprit."

Well no because I'm making the assumption that Sophie knew Bailey at least a little and so was not scared to open the door to him in the middle of the night. The unlikely conjecture in the Bailey as killer narrative is that he and Sophie had somehow established a connection completely unbeknownst to everybody else in the community. But that's just one thing. The hitman hypothesis contains several such implausible conjectures, to the point where it collapses into absurdity, to my mind.

From Senan Moloney a few weeks back.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/investigators-are-again-studying-whether-a-car-was-used-in-killing-of-french-filmmaker-sophie-toscan-du-plantier-40674312.html

"Senior investigators are studying again whether a car was used in the killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, despite a popular belief that the murderer made his way to her house on foot.

It can be revealed that a near neighbour of Sophie’s, who was blind and suffering from insomnia, heard the noise of a passing car at 3.30am on the night the Frenchwoman was brutally killed."

Sadly the article is paywalled and I would rather sh*t in my hands and clap than give them my money.

Do you think the same if it was a current or ex-lover from France?

There's a brilliant podcast by Senan Molony at the bottom of the article. He was reporting on the murder from the scene a few days after it occurred. Very much worth a listen.