Murder at the Cottage | Sky

Certainly not. The question is ultimately, did she always park there when she was at the house sort of out of habit, or was this only once, like on the night of the murder or when she expected visitors?

Good point. Do you have any information as to how she normally parked, reverse in or drive in?

Interesting points...who had organised the new fencing and why? Most likely it was Alfie given the location. Were they arguing over the boundary? It's clear from overhead shots that some fencing was being done. Was that line of enquiry followed? It's quite possible an argument escalated and the killer hit Sophie, then panicked and in the spur of the moment decided she needed to be finished off otherwise he was in big trouble for a horrific assault...and maybe other things would be uncovered when he was investigated?

Tosca Toscan De Plantier, Daniel's child with the 4th wife was born in March 1998, so conceived around the 10th of June, 6 months after Sophie's death. So no, 4th wife was not pregnant when Sophie was killed, but their relationship was being reported in French Media well before the pregnancy.

All was not well between Daniel and Sophie's family, but it seems her family thought she wanted a daughter, possibly with Daniel.

"By 1999, Daniel was remarried and not on good terms with Sophie's family. Her aunt Marie Madeleine Opalka told the Irish Times that they didn't approve of his criticism of the police handling the investigation, especially when he hadn't even gone to Ireland in the wake of his wife's murder ("We, the family of Sophie who truly loved her, are grateful to the Irish police")—or that he and his fourth wife had named their new baby girl Tosca, the name Sophie had wanted to give to the daughter she still hoped to have."

Bailey is now a homeless washed up alcoholic, with ailing health, I can't see him lasting more than a few years. If he doesn't secure accommodation in the next few weeks he has no hope of staying in the Schull area. He craves an audience and limelight, if he really can't live without the lime light and he did it, all he has to do is admit it, he will go down in history for fooling us all for 25 years.

Any professional would be well aware of blood spatter forensics from such a violent manner of attack.

If it was designed to look like a crime of passion, then stabbing slowly or strangulation would suffice?

Further, strangulation would likely prevent the ability for the victim to scream.

Based on that, I can't buy hitman theory.

Further, I think that anyone who would disfigure a defenceless human being to such an extent, could likely have a past history of such actions on animal or other in their past.

Somewhere mentioned of local suicides in years following and supposed admission of "i have done something terrible".

I wonder have their past foreign lives been investigated to find out if there were latent histories, even in childhood?

Agnes Thomas was Sophie's best friend who told a court in 2019 how she remembered Sophie talking about meeting a 'weird' guy, a poet but she was uneasy. Unfortunately Agnes' power of recollection is worse than Alfie Lyons' was even though she'd spoken twice to Sophie during her last days.

"It was pointed out to her that when French magistrates began investigating the murder in 2008, she had not related anything about this conversation.

“The brain is a complex thing,” Ms Thomas said. “I lost my best friend, it was so shocking. Something blocked in me and it took years before it came back to me when I saw the footage that mentioned something about poetry.”

I'll put up a few images, and you can draw your own conclusions.

The first 2 are in the aftermath of the murder.

The first one shows fence posts strewn around the lawn, indicating work being done around the boundaries either by Sophie or her neighbours;

The 2nd one shows an unfinished fence along Sophie's eastern gable, ie. 4 posts bit no wire yet.

Did a workman turn up to complete this fencing early Mon. morning only to be confronted by an irate Sophie fearing her car parking space was about to be fenced off?

Was this the reason for her impromptu visit? maybe a call from her neighbour or housekeeper to tell her of the work going on?

The 3rd one is sometime later, and no sign of any fence?

The thing is, these are only all indications and our own deductions and not proof of anything.

One would have to have known her habits und ways of doing things.

Yes, the driveway on her land to the west of the house seems small, but it would fit 2 cars for parking easily. It's just more complicated backing out from there and then reversing the car, I would say.

Where the Fiesta was parked during the night of the murder it would fit 3 cars easily. It's also probably only convenience that she parked there, rather than anything else

However we're inclined to think that "there must have been a reason for parking there", or was she possibly expecting a guest or a visitor who's car could have been parked more hidden on her own property?

We all don't know.

Same as the 3 suitcases? Was she used to bringing 3 suitcases for such a short trip? It's not an impossible thought for somebody in the show business, I'd say? Or is this an indication of wanting to stay longer? Or just bringing personal stuff over for a longer stay later on in the next year?

Would she always park where the Fiesta was on the pictures or was this only a one time thing?

Nobody could answer these questions anymore. Possibly Shirley, as she's the only neighbour still alive, but moved away, and could easily answer with "I don't remember anymore" after 25 years.

I'd say that it's entirely possible that Bailey knew that Sophie owned a house there, and Bailey knew what the Toscan du Plantier family was all about how known they were in France, and what kind of line of business they were in.

I would also be inclined to speculate that if Bailey had any contact with Sophie or Sophie's office in Paris, the nature of the call wasn't personal or potentially at some point sexual in nature, but quite possible regarding the commissioning of journalistic or some other artistic work.

Sophie wouldn't have made contact with Bailey, she would not have needed him, but Bailey would have made contact with her, in order to get some free-lance job and a commission in a financial spectrum Bailey could only dream about. Maybe Bailey persuaded Sophie into a meeting when she'd be in Ireland but Sophie then rejected him in regards to any possible fre-lance work?

Yes, it's very far stretched, very speculative, but not beyond imagination.

Maybe he rang her up from a phone box and said hello my name is Fiona, I was thinking about making a futuristic comedy about myself and I will not find it very funny.

Even if IB had known Sophie what difference would that make? He would have been incredibly foolish denying he had been introduced to her when he knew that Alfie could have said "no I remember it well he told her he was a poet" and Leo would recall saying "oh la la you're the charmer Bailey". But of course he didn't know her, as the DPP's file says;

"The Garda contention that Bailey is being untruthful and evasive regarding his knowledge of Sophie Toscan du Plantier is not supported by convincing evidence."

I don't know where the story of the "3 large suitcases" originated .

The stills from the airport shows a trolley with one large suitcase and a couple of hand and carrier type bags..

I know, i was saying that, if it was a planned hit, they would be a forensically safer method.

Hence my discounting hitman theories.