"Bailey recently stated on his Twitter account that the gate leading up to Sophie's house was always closed, but was open on the morning her body was discovered."
The gate marked the extent of Sophie's property, and also the beginning of the right-of-way over the lane Sophie shared with another landowner for about 30 mtrs.
Thereafter the the r-o-w was over Richardson's land.
She was the only one who wanted the gate closed as far as I know, and this caused friction.
"Strange that Alfie didn't hear the commotion at that time of the morning, nor his Mrs, nor indeed his mutt(s)...??"
Strange alright if it was a morning attack,
Alfie had no dogs at that time ,I believe.
do you know when he died? is his name not in any of the books?
If true - This is a game changer!
Did Sophie name Alfie Lyons in her complaint(s) to the Gards?
Bailey recently stated on his Twitter account that the gate leading up to Sophie's house was always closed, but was open on the morning her body was discovered.
To me, that means a car was present. This would tie in with the skid marks photographed at the scene. Did Sophie intervene in a delivery to Alfie's place?
Strange that Alfie didn't hear the commotion at that time of the morning, nor his Mrs, nor indeed his mutt(s)...??
In fact, nothing strange reported that morning from the Lyons household, except the Good Alfie was sporting a bandaged hand...
Why is the senior garda (now deceased) that was living in the area and who had a history of violence and known to have had many affairs especially with non-locals not named by anyone.
Every other potential suspect has been named, but not this particular garda.
It would be interesting to peruse his history and his whereabouts on the night in question
Very interesting indeed. I had heard she had complained to the Gardai about drugs in the area - but I didnt realise it related to Alfie and Leo.
Leo and Alfie were running a sophisticated drug operation together. Sophie had already gone to the Garda about it. She had enemies let's put it that way. And the Gards were involved in it, turning a blind eye at least for backhanders...
This was all known locally
I don't know. i though his work for her was when she first bought the house?
Is this Leo Bolger - I didnt realise he was doing fencing work for Sophie?
While we're thinking outside the (Bailey) box,
did the local handyman (Leo?) doing the fencing work for Sophie while she was at the cottage, turn up for work that Monday morning?
Was the German man interviewed by Guards at the time?
I didn't realise there were two people in Schull when Sophie was killed who went on to take their own lives. Mentioned in West Cork part 12 which i have but it's a long time since I listened to it
https://extra.ie/2021/07/02/news/irish-news/did-sophie-toscan-du-plantier-documentaries-overlook-crucial-elements-of-the-case
Even if guilty IB doesn't have to talk to a journalist. Foster playing at being a cop
Journalism by nature is intrusive. Don't forget, Bailey wasn't shy at taking pictures of the battered Sophie with the full intention to flog themto the highest bidder.
Didn't Bashir do a number on Michael Jackson as well as Diana? It's a thick skinned occupation.
Nick Foster looking for a debate with Bailey in Schull is .... Well, it's punching above his weight Who is he to call for a debate anyway??
Although Bailey is an intelligent man, and has a string of letters after his name regarding his legal achievements, I doubt he'd do his reputation much good by participating in such a sh*t show.
For one, he'd be half steamed before he shown up at the venue. This magnifies his arrogant side, and is not endearing to a neutral spectator. He has the gift of coming across as a self centred prick without even realising it.
But the other side of the debate debacle is.... Why should he..??
The man has stated that he is innocent. There is absolutely no evidence to place him at the crime scene, no evidence found upon his person, and no reason, motive, or otherwise to murder a stranger. (that's right, no evidence that he even met Sophie)
Why should a man have to defend his innocence? If he is guilty, let Nick Foster provide the evidence to the Gards.. No debate needed.
i agree what is it to him he is not the gardai. Why should Bailey or anyone talk to a tabloid clown like Foster. Why should anyone talk to any journalist. Heard an interview whereFoster said it was his job to find the killer or some tabloid trash like that. That is why I would not buy his book even though i would like to read it. Might be in library. You would want to be some fool to be accused of murder and take part in a public debate .Martin Bashir school of 'journalism' is right
Nick Foster is showing himself up to be a slippery sleazy character. Challenging Bailey and then his lawyer to a public debate to be held in Schull, because he wrote a mediocre book about the case. Gutter tabloid drama at its very best.
The man is trying desperately to insert himself into the murder case to keep his career going. The more he is mentioned in the papers the more radio interviews and the more book sales. Profits from the death of Sofie.
An honours graduate of the Martin Bashir school of journalism.
Good post and I find myself in broad agreement with the points you make.
I would, however, rate the chances of Bailey being the perpetrator at less than 10% . There is, of course, no way to accurately calculate such a probability but, it seems to me, the more I read about the case ( I too am intrigued by it) the less likely it looks.
Big distinction between those two events. One was a tragic accident and the other was a brutal murder very close to where he lived. Hardly the same thing.
So he did ask questions then. Chances are the guards might have been more forthcoming with answers at the scene of an accident versus providing answers at the scene of a murder where their heads are on the block to crack the case and find the murderer.
In fairness, if the investigation was conducted properly and professionally the first time around, there would be no need for potential witnesses having brain farts 25yrs later..
Let me hazzard a guess here... Old man McTavish recalls meeting Sophie in an airport lounge in France, she see's he's three sheets to the wind and assumes he's Irish.. Gets talking about her little piece of the Emerald Isle on the West coast of Cork, and shares with him the news she it to meet a tall English dude in the locality, a fellow in a long black coat, that writes poetry in his spare time (when not out killing folk).
And there we have it... The final undisputed piece of evidence that Bailey new Sophie.
It would fall in well with the rest of the nonsense being spouted around here..
Some great contributions here. Thanks all.
The main takeaways for me are........
Did the Gardai make a complete balls up of the investigation? Yes.
Did notes and evidence go missing because they were trying to protect one of their own? Unknown. Most likely incompetence or trying to cover up incompetence.
Did the gardai try to frame Bailey because they knew they didn't have enough evidence to convict? Yes.
Was this because they wanted a patsy so they could protect another member of the force? Unknown. Unlikely.
Does this mean Bailey is innocent? No.
Did the fixation on Bailey damage the investigation? Absolutely.
Does any of MF's testimony have value? Absolutely not.
Based on the known verifiable facts what is the probability Bailey is guilty? Probably close to 50\50 in my mind. I think this is why people find the case so compelling. Theories involving Bailey are probably a little more believable, yet facts around other theories are lacking because of the guards fixation with Bailey.
Should Bailey be extradited or locked up? Absolutely not.
Should people believe Bailey is innocent or guilty, and allow this to cloud their judgement? Absolutely not.
If Bailey knew Sophie he would likely have been enamored by her. If he knew she was home and saw activity in her house on the night of her murder, it would be believable to me that he would go over, filled with drunken ardor, after Jules went to bed.
What is less plausible is him being able to leave no evidence and behave as normal if he did do it.
If I was a member of Sophie's family I would be gunning for the Gardai, not Bailey.
^^^Imv as you get older a memory of an event becomes a memory of the last time you remembered that event ... The memory of an event will have changed substantially in the 25 intervening years to what actually happened 25 years ago
Whilst I'd be very very sceptical of the various people who suddenly remember things, I would say that you'd be very surprised at how accurate an elderly person's memory can be when talking about things many years ago.
The short term memory is different and you can be forgetting what you did yesterday or last week or even an hour ago, yet have near photographic memory of something 20, 30, 40+ years ago. I saw it with my own dad as he moved into a dementia stage - his recall of events in the 50's when he had to move from Northern Ireland was phenomenal, yet he would not remember having breakfast.
But on the other hand, as its the indo, its likely to be balderdash
Exactly. Lets be honest an elderly persons memories of 25 years ago may not be the clearest. Its hard to believe this information can lead anywhere unless its somehow verifiable.
I guess while one could infer this elderly person is in Ireland the article doesn't explicitly say so. And the docs were shown worldwide.
If the info is something that happened immediately prior to her arrival at Cork Airport that could be someone on the plane. The person sitting next to Sophie said they hadn't spoken to her but is that likely on a Paris-Dublin-Cork flight?
I mean.... I feel like the french are clutching at straws at this stage, finding people who miraculously remember information from 25years ago. Just more hearsay.
According to the Indo.. Some old boy in sheltered accommodation has contacted the Gards, with what is believed to be critical information regarding the French woman's murder.
Erm...... Could he not have done this 25yrs ago??
IB tweeted he was living in States.
There has always been something weird about all this. I wonder if AL was an undercover cop or FBI agent in the US. Speaking Italian and Russian would be useful infiltrating crime gangs.
And being relocated to the back of beyond when your cover is blown would make sense.
Might explain why law enforcement didn't go after him.
I guess many yachts and 'fishing' boats have been used to bring in merchandise along that coast over the years.
Official reports suggest heroin was more common in Ireland than cocaine, but the latter was more hidden. But trafficking on to other countries...
from the Observer newspaper 2007
Ireland's cocaine coast
A recent bust in the 'Irish box' shows drug smugglers are ruling over the Cork shore
It was Wright who pioneered the landing of huge cocaine shipments off the south-west of Ireland in the early 1990s, leading to him becoming one of Europe's top drug smugglers. The 'Milkman's' route was first used in 1996, when the Sea Mist, a chartered yacht carrying 599kgs of cocaine, was seized in Cork harbour
Had a feeling someone might get insulting about that little bit of statistical context, didn't expect call to ban it. False accusations of trying to start rumours should be banned.
Calling him a San Francisco hippy doesn't necessarily mean he lived in San Francisco, it could simply mean that he fits that archetype.
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