Cold Case Review of Sophie Tuscan du Plantier murder to proceed. **Threadbans in OP**

LoL at all the Miss Marples here.

Sorry, Christmas stuff to do.

No, quote is from this Times article;

But he has not been tried in an Irish court for the murder of Sophie Toscan de Plantier;

and based only on all the snippets of evidence quoted in this thread, it would be very difficult for a jury to find him guilty "beyond all reasonable doubt" of committing that crime.

He may have - and he may not. The Gardaí would need to have something more solid than all of the above to bring it home to him, that's all I'm saying. And yes, they may have that - or they may not.

I think the most significant factor linking both these cases is the complete lack of evidence linking anybody but the main suspects to the committing of each crime. Not a single scintilla.

Dando was not a working journalist who was about to unveil some shocking story that would rock the British establishment. Far from it. She was just a presenter of mostly light entertainment TV. Her killer was obviously some deranged "fan", a lone nutter/oddball type - a profile which fitted the chief and only suspect perfectly. The fact that the gunshot residue found on his clothing was considered insufficient evidence to convict does not remove the fact that such evidence was found, nor is it grounds for dismissing potential motive. I think the great injustice done to Dando and her family was the culprit getting off scott free on the flimsiest of technicalities.

What an odd point of view! Imagine living in an Orwellian world where an accused person is condemned because of

Especially in these two cases where there is a notable absence of convincing evidence against anyone.

Otherwise, these two cases present total contrasts.

In the case of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, there was no forensic evidence at a blood- and hair-strewn crime-scene due to the breath-taking incompetence of the Gardai and the State Pathologist. In the case of Jill Dando, a highly-skilled assassin left no evidence except his trade-mark bullet, which experts recognised but no-one (at least, not Tony Blair) wanted/ was able to pursue. The only alleged eye-witness in either case was Marie Farrell. Has there ever been a more perjured witness in Irish history? (Step aside, Major Sirr!)

In the Jill Dando murder, the English DPP brought a prosecution which initially succeeded but ultimately the conviction was quashed. I don't blame the jury in the Jill Dando case - they knew that, after their verdict, the media would be filled with stories about "the evidence that the jury didn't hear" and they couldn't live with themselves if they acquitted a "guilty" man.

In the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, the DPP refused to prosecute because the evidence would not support a conviction. The series of subsequent legal actions, including a murder conviction in a French court, have not produced a "scintilla" (hat-tip) of additional evidence. I have no doubt that the Irish DPP was right not to prosecute and the English DPP was wrong.

Does anyone believe a gormless loner like Barry George was capable of Jill Dando's clinical assassination? Tragically, we will never know who killer Sophie Toscan du Plantier unless someone comes forward with new evidence (not another "Suddenly I remember seeing Ian Bailey was washing blood from his hands twenty-five years ago"). The reputation of An Garda Siochána has suffered by association with this terrible investigative failure but there are plenty of examples of excellent police work by the Gardai.

I agree with you that the DPP' decision not to prosecute Bailey was correct and the Crown's decision to prosecute George was incorrect - in a strictly technically legal sense - but many killers and other types of criminals who are clearly guilty have managed to escape free on some technical point of law and because they have brilliant defence lawyers working for them.

George is far from being the simpleton he is portrayed as and it does not require military training to conceal a firearm and then use it effectively to kill somebody. Not at all - which kind of debunks this theoretical nonsense about some Serbian hitman being responsible.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it is a duck.

The Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six, the Central Park five ...

Christopher Jefferies is another one that could be added to this list

The least interesting aspect of Jill Dando's killer was "concealing a firearm". He used a 9mm semi-automatic pistol which would fit in a coat pocket.

His skills were demonstrated by the clinical manner in which he waited until she put her key in the lock (i.e. her hands were fully occupied) then brought her face down to the ground, put the pistol to her head, pulled the trigger and was back out on the street within a minute. No one heard the shot because he had removed most of the gunpowder (unnecessary when the gun is against the victims head). No one saw him leave.

Whoever killed her was a trained killer who must have been delighted to see the English police and forensic lab fit up a doofus like Barry George. At least our DPP put a stop to the Gardai who wanted to cover their own mess in a similar way.

It would not take the skills of a professional assassin to kill Dando in the manner that you describe. Whoever did it was just lucky - lucky that nobody heard the gunshot or witnessed him leaving the scene.

The killer of Sophie has had Lady Luck on his side as well - so far. Again, it says a lot that not one single lead has been uncovered that might identify alternative suspects for both crimes.

It's an interesting little nugget.

Bailey claims that what he said was already known and had been in witness statements

I wonder will Bailey produce any evidence of where in the public domain he got the details from.