"What makes you say she couldn't move it? "
I'm saying the exact opposite .
I'm saying the gate appears well hung and would not be a problem for Sophie.
Why would she want the gate kept closed if she had a problem opening it?
It goes back to the suggestion that Alfie was not that frail if the gate was heavy.
I wasn't asked to remove the link to the photo, Thompsonette's post suggested it was in poor taste.
It's in the public domain I wouldn't worry
What makes you say she couldn't move it? No one as far as I'm aware ever accused Sophie of being frail.
Were you asked to remove the picture? Odd decision if it is in the public domain.
I have removed the link to that photo.
Could I ask anyone referencing it to delete their posts also please.
(That's TimeLadsPlease and DivilsAdvocate, thanks)
It's well known on here she preferred the gate closed for security.
What would she do when arriving at the closed gate, wait for a neighbour to help her open it?
Would seem counter-intuitive that the killer would go to those leengths but make no effort to conceal the body.
Seems so. You can make out the stretched long johns caught on the wire and the cavity block.
Yes, that's her body but blurred out.
Crime scene photos only certain ones released to public, and only certain edited statements. I think people on these threads forget that sometimes.
Is that Sophies body in the photo?
Where can you find pictures of the crime scene?
Apparently Sophie was pregnant when she was murdered.
"Asking not to be identified, he said the disclosure came on a film set in Le Mans in late 1997. “I remember it well, it was a buffet lunch on the set and Daniel approached.
"He knew I had written on the French reaction to the murder. Down the years, we had met regularly. He gave me a very definite impression he knew Sophie had been pregnant.
"He talked continuously about her for about three-quarters of an hour and I hardly got a word in. I’m also sure I wasn’t the only person he talked to about the likelihood of Sophie expecting a baby. At that time, he was very annoyed about the progress of the police investigation. He also told me he was quite sure who the killer was.”
I know that it was reported that no useful forensic evidence was found at the time either on the body or gates or elsewhere. Was there any evidence of an attempt at a clean up i.e. use of bleach or absence of any fingerprints on used articles/surfaces?
Certainly not looking at all well hung there, appears to be tied on with rope. Such gates can be painful to open/close if you need to lift and drag across uneven ground.
A 5 bar tubular steel gate ,well hung as this one appears to be, would be easy to open even for a petite person like Sophie
That last part confirms for me that Alfie was not as frail as portrayed.
Well two things would happen. Either she would remain inside and there would be a strong possibilty of the call to the gardai, or else she would come outside and confront the person. I'm of the belief the murder happened in the morning so the percieved security of it being bright out or partially bright would have played a part. Also considering what kind of person those closest to her have decribed her as there is a fair liklihood that should would have laced her boots up and came outside. Then the person could have backed down the driveway towards the gate which might have enticed Sophie to follow thinking she was gaining the upper hand due to the person fleeing. It's just a theory of course, no evidence of it, but it would explain how the boots were on, how she was down at the gate and why she was enticed out of the house. As i said previously it may even account for the wine bottle if she carried it with her as a weapon.
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/crime/gardai-given-name-frenchman-seen-24409179
"Gardai have been given the name of a Frenchman reportedly seen with Sophie Toscan du Plantier on the afternoon before her murder.
Detectives are to check out whether he secretly stayed with the French TV producer at her Schull home .
The man is in his fifties and currently lives in Paris. He is known to Sophie’s late husband Daniel and also some members of the extended family.
He was allegedly spotted by Marie Farrell standing outside her shop wearing a long dark coat in the west Cork village on the last day she was seen alive while Sophie bought a copy of the French Le Monde newspaper inside."
I wonder has Jim Sheridan gone to Maurice Sweeney with the same photo.
Much has been discussed of the German man in West Cork who committed suicide, but on the West Cork podcast there was mention of a man from Marseille who lived in West Cork and also committed months after the murder.
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/film-director-is-key-sophie-du-plantier-witness-say-french-authorities-30242064.html
However, in a second police statement, which has not previously been published, Mr Carbonnet described an "odd meeting" between Ms du Plantier and a "man from Marseilles" in Schull.
Mr Carbonnet recalled: "One day, when on a visit to west Cork, we went to a restaurant in Goleen . . . There was a Frenchman at the neighbouring table and somebody called him the man from Marseilles. I cannot remember his name." He said he had a Marseilles accent and was a "Mediterranean type", with an athletic body and between 40 to 50 years of age.
He was dressed "like a gentleman farmer", he said.
"He came over to our table and introduced himself. He talked to us and asked where Sophie lived. When she told him he said he had tried to buy the same house. He asked me was I a hunting man and I said no."
He then said to Carbonnet: "But you're interested in women?"
According to Carbonnet, Sophie didn't like this remark. The man from Marseilles went on to talk about fishing and good bathing spots, and Sophie tried to find out where his house was.
"The meeting was odd," concluded Carbonnet.
A fisherman, originally from Marseilles, but who lived in West Cork, took his own life three months after Ms du Plantier's murder. It is understood that this man did not feature as a suspect in the garda's original investigation file.
Sophie used this particular travel agent in Galway, even though her house was in West Cork and it was at least three years since she bought it.
Sophie had stayed with friends in Galway several times before she bought the house in West Cork.
She and her friends had used Sweeney to book their tickets several times.
He was, but he doesn't speak himself on the podcast.
He said a man came in hours after sophies body was discovered. He never took his details but the man was 'frazzled'. He asked a question about West Cork and looked for recommendations for a hotel near the Airport.
It doesn't mention what Airport, but I think I've read before Dublin Airport.
TELL IS WHO DID IT IAN!!!
And if it's you, this time we're counting it as a confession if it's on national TV.
Other thoughts... How did VM let him on air dressed like that? It's offensive to the eyes.
It's 4 hours now with the M20 and M18 motorways that weren't there in 1996. I think he probably did have someone in his office that day, was he French? Was he Dutch maybe or Belgian?
Was he interviewed or spoken with by the couple who did the West Cork podcast? I remember reading or hearing that he had had dealings with Sophie while she was looking for a home in Connemara but can't find any reference to it now.
Conveniently he was dead at the time she mentioned his name so he couldnt confirm it. There was no records found of John Reilly being in Schull just before christmas 1996. It seems this is more of MF's lies. Lets face it she was probably at home in bed with her husband that night.
https://twitter.com/VirginMedia_TV/status/1435966229290766351?s=19
Ian Bailey interview on Virgin Media next week
The Longford guy... a Detective said he went there on her wild goose chase only to find out he was dead.
I'm not sure if there was someone in the car with MF that night, or even if she was in the spot where she said she was, but I'd be pretty certain she wasn't there with this scapegoat.
Just like the 'facts' in the Guilford Four, Birmingham Six, Maguire Seven cases or a little closer to home in this case, Patrick Dils, thirteen people in the Outreau case or Marc Machin.
I hadn't known that Marie Farrell had at some point named the passenger in her car that night.
The married mother of five had named John Reilly, a man from Longford - who she said has since passed away in England - as the person with whom she was with in a car at Kealfada Bridge on the night of December 22nd, 1996.
I wonder if the details she provided had been confirmed.
Is Maurice Sweeney still alive does anyone know?
It would have been great if he featured in one of the documentaries, I can't find anything about him dying. He would be 77 now if articles are correct with his age.
But what if it was his only place to run? It was a 3 or 4 hour drive I think to Galway, i'd imagine its better than going into a travel agents in West Cork just after a murder of a French woman?
Perhaps he booked through Maurice Sweeney on the way over? Maybe through Sophies recommendation?
Do you think Maurice Sweeney is lying or?
The possibilities are endless. When I read the account though, I can almost hear the voices of Bill and Ted behind me going 'No WAY!' at each turn:
By chance, the suspect for her murder also happened to use the same travel agent the day after the murder, even though he too had been hundreds of kilometres away in West Cork and wanted to go to Dublin to get a flight.
This guy may have been a friend of Sophie's and might have known Sophie's favourite travel agent so thought this was the best place to go while on the run from justice.
The French guy stayed at a B&B and left without paying but the B&B contacted no one about the dodgy Frenchman who ripped them off/rang to send a cheque in the post after sneaking off.
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