Sophie: A Murder in West Cork - Netflix.

Best theory I've seen put forward so far. Especially the first line about the stakes involved matching the brutality of the murder. Remember the gunning down of Veronica Guerin in broad daylight about 6 months previously because of her investigations into drug crime.

Yes, I've always thought this was a morning crime too.. someone arrived at the gate and she threw on her boots to go down and deal with a situation.

Was it Alfie that was using her house when she was away? I don't know if this was ever confirmed? I can't imagine he would admit to it. But if it wasn't Alfie then someone else had used her house when it was empty - this person could be an unknown to us all? Perhaps this person had turned up hoping to stay at the house over Christmas and Sophie surprised him by being there?

If I remember correctly.. she noticed that her bath had been used after the house keeper has cleaned it? And other little things prompted her to have a conversation about it to the housekeeper, Josie. She had talked to Josie about changing the locks and this was done earlier that year I think. So, this occasional squatter would certainly be a person of interest in this case? This person never came forward to rule themselves out?

I have held a nagging doubt about Alfie for a long time. A poster who was personally acquainted with both Alfie and Shirley partially convinced me that he could not have been involved and , to be fair, although he had a somewhat fractious relationship with Sophie, it is difficult to see that as a reason for such a vicious and sustained assault.

But Alfie and Shirley are the only people who were definitely at the scene of the crime when it happened.

I find it hard to accept that neither heard or saw anything.

Alfie had a bandaged hand which he explained as a dog bite.

I'm not accusing Alfie or Shirley, but I think that, if the tenuous evidence against IB is regarded as incriminating, then the circumstantial evidence ( based on that information in the public domain) against Alfie is at least as compelling.

If it waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, the chances are, it is a duck.....

They say Alfie was in ill health, and couldn't possibly have sustained an attack, lifting and rendering numerous blows with a concrete block..?

What about fight or flight?

Everybody, when under extreme duress, has the ability to summon energy to escape a dangerous situation, weather that be running away, or fighting for one's life...

In all probability.. This was a morning murder, the pointers seriously outweigh the chances of it being a nighttime attack.

So, who was there...?

Remember, this is the backend of nowhere, it's a dark, wintry morning, with nobody around..

Except for the residents of this bleak spot.

Enter, Sophie, Alfie & Shirley.

So, by their own written admission, they had an early night, went to bed early the previous night, didn't hear a thing...

Would that not suggest that they risen early too the following morning?

We know that Sophie and Alfie had been in dispute with regards to leaving the gate open.. We also know, that Sophie had arranged a delivery of fencing posts and barriers to segregate her property, which surly bothered Alfie? (I believe they had argued already about this)

Logically thinking, Sophie made her way down to the flash point - The gate. What motivated her to put on boots and go down there in the morning? Who else could possibly have been down there? Logically thinking, it has to be somebody that shared the entrance, somebody that was already on the site?

Alfie could have been irritated already about the prospect of having his access reduced due to Sophie's fencing? The sight of the delivery of fencing posts must have brought the reality home? Words were exchanged, madness ensued....You know what happens next.

In a fit of rage, Alfie lost all control of himself, picked up the nearest thing to him and battered Sophie with it. Realising the consequences of his actions, he had to finish her off.. Walks up to the pump house were he knows the top tier of blocks is loose, takes a concrete block and finishes her off.

An injury is sustained to his hand during this frenzied attack. (Later to be passed off as a dog bite) (Even though they don't have a dog..)

Maybe he was fully clothed for winter during this attack? The removal and disposal of these clothes could have been done efficiently with nobody around.

The Gards didn't forensically examine his property... Christ, they even turned a blind eye to his freshly bandaged hand...?

I'm not saying Alfie Lyons murdered Sophie... I'm suggesting the laws of averages swing towards him being a prime suspect at the very least.

He had the opportunity, the motive and the means to clean up after himself.

This is a far more likely scenario that the drunken poet skipping over in the middle of the night...

[Replied without quoting, fixed below]

See the crime scene photo's - Posts and fencing already delivered and stored besides the house.

She was threatening to either cut off or reduce his access in and around her property boundries.

She originally thought she owned the shed, she didn't - Alfie owned it.

It's possible it was tit for tat carry on... Sophie threatening to enclose all her property, possibly causing resentment with her neighbour.