It's been stated numerous times in this thread that the Gardaí confirmed the house was locked up. Here is a post that claims it was Superintendent JP Twomey that stated this, as reported by the French Magazine Paris Match:
I can't find this article, Google results for Paris Match are all in French, perhaps @tibruit has a link?
I don't really understand what you call offensive here? You know the old saying, "I've been offended far worse by people far better than yourself".....
Also I am certainly not Father Ted, - the actor is long dead as far as I know.
Everything is just a speculation here, exploring possible motives and ability to kill. Essentially, we have nothing to pin anything on anybody. Theoretically any of us here could have done it, given one was alive and capable to lift a cavity block back in 1996.
Oh btw if there is anyone I haven't offended I'm sorry
how could I offend mr. lovely, mr agreable tinytobe. I call him Father T
you geezers always want to drag us back to was she hit with a fence post or my mother's walking stick, when we already have a number of court cases where someone has been convicted in the public eye. looks to me like there's a vested interest. No worries, we've loads of time
Also if it was Garda cover-up, what were they covering up for and why? The sexual intentions of their fellow officer from Bantry, or their involvement in drug trafficking?
If it was purely the former, I don't find it plausible that the guards spontaneously instigated a massive plot to cover up for him and frame Bailey. Is there a history of them doing such a thing to cover up for other individual 'bad apples' in the force? Whatever reputational damage they would suffer if it emerged that one of their number did such a terrible thing on his own bat would surely be dwarfed by that if it came out that they had engaged in an extensive campaign of witness tampering, destruction of evidence etc. to conceal the crime.
The killer was/is a possible psychopath or, at least, a sociopath. It would be unlikely he would exhibit any emotional distress, agitation or changed patterns of behaviour even after committing such a terrible act. He would be calmness personified, pottering about in the kitchen before brewing a morning cuppa for his sleeping partner upstairs.
I am not kidding, I am just speculating as everyone else however far fetched it is. I also considered that since she and her husband were producers, maybe the killing was motivated by somebody not liking or taking offense in their work. I also had a look at her husband's work, but found nothing that would arouse the interests and fantasies of extremists, or at least nothing that came to my attention.
However the speculation you're describing sounds more likely. As I have written so often before, the main reasons for murder are either financial, sexual, or drug related matters. She's interfering in my drug business, am I losing large amounts of money because of her, or doesn't she want to sleep with me (anymore)? She needs to be out of the way thinks the killer..... I still believe it's one of these three motives or a combination of it.
I don't believe for a minute there has ever been collusion in murder in AGS. They(we) are simply not able to carry out black ops like the murder of someone like Pat Finucane because of the independence of the ordinary Guard. Maurice McCabe is almost proof of this. So the idea that there are Guards who know what really happened is naive. I can easily undersrtand a Gardai cover up where most of the local Guards don't realise that they're being used. That's what this looks like.
I don't know if you are kidding or not with your speculative theories. Those you mention seem very far fetched indeed!! A bullet in the brain would be the 'RA' method. In cold blood. Witness the McCabe shooting. Major British drug traffickers were known to land huge shipments of Cocaine destined for European markets along the West Cork coast at that time. Did Sophie perhaps come into conflict with one or more of their locally based facilitators? A large number of English ex-pats reside in the area. It's a theory that should not be discounted completely, I suppose, but is pretty outlandish. Look, given the exact nature of her killing, this has the hallmark of a crime of passion committed by an enraged, rebuffed and probably psychotic individual acting completely alone who, for various reasons, managed to avoid capture and may well be still living in the local community.
AGS knew when they surveyed the scene. Fiesta seen speeding away. Doc Martin boot mark beside the body. French police want to help, no thanks. Pathologist says to move the body. No thanks. It's Bailey, show us your proof. Sorry we disposed of all that evidence but we definitely had it. Small town cops protecting small town cops. They will take it to the grave. Love to see Dwyer and Bailey take a live lie detector test. Now that would be TV!
?? there had been an investigation into the 1974 Dublin bombing where forensics budgets to the Gardai were brought up to requirements. In 1992 there was a massive bomb that tried to take out what was the state of the art forensics laboratory up North, who were happy enough to help out law enforcement down south. Let's not be stupid about this.
You could be right, but it's far from clear.
The black square is to point out the parking/turning space on the ground.
It looked like it did not align with the triangle on the map.
I wonder if Sophie was in the process of buying this space from Alfie?
It would only be second hand hearsay at this stage. Dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi....
There are cases though such as Graham Dywer where a terrible act was committed and the person has gone on with 'normal life'.
Wrong , this couldn't be any clearer on landdirect ....the black square which should be a triangle has an application pending on it..
People really are overestimating the capacity of forensics at the time.
I agree with the above statement. Can't mask mental anguish though.. Not from everybody. You're nearest and dearest would cop it.
I don't know what evidence was found of, for instance the doctor, the priest, Alfie and Shirley or anyone else who may have had reason to be at the crime scene.
The killer may have hidden the bloody clothes in an obvious place, did a bad job of cleaning their car and may have been behaving odd after the murder.
All irrelevant if they aren't investigated because of the inappropriate and unprofessional fixation with Bailey.
The odd behavior could easily have been masked by a standard Christmas booze bender.
People really are overestimating the capacity of forensics at the time. It was most likely an outdoor murder in the middle of winter. The limited and inexperienced forensics teams didn't get there until days after the murder. Bog hopping guards, rubberneckers and the wind and rain would have destroyed the scene by then. The killer may have left a slew of evidence that would have been detectable by today standards, but not back then.
The black rectangle is part of Alfie's property,
the triangle under review is immediately to the right of this space and is not part of any of the 3 properties as far as I can see.
The yellow square is Sophie's space and is not under review.
The red triangle is part of the 3rd property where Sophie parked her car.
Ok, it looks like she could have driven down by the back of the house and parked at the western gable -the yellow square,
but that doesn't look like a hardstanding and would be a tight squeeze to either turn around or reverse out of.
Alfie's property has changed hands so all the property in that folio is under review.
They could speak out here, it's anonymous. Also the theories are already known, it's more about somebody confirming it.
Not dismissing what you have said but what legal standing would something said by a now dead person to another now dead person who relayed this to others have? Not much I'd say unless some aspect of the confession could be corroborated somehow.
I remember a paragraph in the DPP report where it said when Bailey and Jules would leave a pub, the patrons and bar staff would give a round of applause because they were gone.
Imagine the actual killer, or someone who knew who the killer was, sitting there and clapping along.
Why would anyone poke the wasps nest when everyone was happy to believe Bailey did it?
And get blamed for “causing trouble”, “speaking ill of the dead”, “airing dirty laundry” and all the other shite that gets spewed in these parts?
Good point, I don't know .
Thinking about it, it was more likely the previous owners of Alfie's house.
All four, for sure.
Well I suppose it's helpful to ask why aren't they speaking out? A few examples might be - I'm not saying anything because :
1) Bailey is only a Bollocks anyway so let him suffer
2) I'll be hung out to dry, the Gaurds are still powerful here.
3) My family will suffer, the media attention will cause problems and the Gaurds are still powerful here.
4) The community will close ranks, call me a liar and I'll have done it all for nothing.
The more I think of it the more it becomes apparent that if someone like Jim Sheridan can't get a local to talk, (that's presuming he didn't get information. He did say he couldn't report everything on Sky because of legal issues), then no one can.
The British 'establishment' were forced to intervene in Guildford especially. I don't see any of our own hobnobs coming clean about this and giving Ian Bailey a break. It's shameful. The fact that they won't allow extradition is an admission they are aware of his innocence. They have to step in before the poor fuc*er dies and hand him a few quid for 'Irish ways'.
Wouldn't the family (of the Nurse) go to the Guards with this information? Surely they would want Baileys name cleared? Even Guards in Cork City if they don't trust ones in local areas.. It just seems too... convenient.
Yes he did, to his nurse. Documented? No, or we wouldn't be here 25 years bloody later. She's deceased too but her family certainly know and have told people.
I know about that one in Guildford and also seen the film "In the Name of the Father".
Regardless of Alfie's health and Shirley being just nice, the one thing that simply doesn't add up here, is they didn't hear anything that night. Sure it's possible that Sophie was hit in the head unexpectedly from behind, went down, was unconscious, an later on was hit with that cavity block. Sure there could have been wind that night, or Alfie and Shirley sleeping with earplugs, foxes screaming, or other animals, etc... Despite Alfie's age or health, I'd say, he could theoretically have done it, same as Shirley or both of them. Both of them or one of them could also have cleaned up the house, or any other evidence outside in the morning. With the Richardsons absent, they could also be certain, they were completely alone in the neighbourhood. is there evidence? Clearly not, not a shred, nothing, same as there is nothing on Bailey or the Guard from Bantry.
An ex British soldier, even with an honorable discharge, not being able to integrate into civilian life, guards offering "rewards" in form of drugs, a divorced British journalist beating up his partner, a whiteness who lies and walks out of the courtroom... back in the 80ies I recall hippie colonies in the area as well. The behaviour of the Guards in this case sadly stinks to high heaven.
If I would have been Sophie, I wouldn't have gone further west than Skibereen to buy a house, places like Clonakilty or as a top choice Kinsale would have been real value for whatever money she or her husband would have spent, and if one loves the peninsula one could have driven out there as well.....
Also estate agents are very much aware that they can achieve higher prices if they sell to a foreigner who is looking for something very specific in countryside, scenery, etc... and pay prices the locals wouldn't pay, even if they had the money.
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