Murder at the Cottage | Sky

Did they send this poor Guard into (which ones?) briars to see what scratches he might get?

Isn't that the Garda case?

Why didn't they test that out...

Ok, if you want to be pedantic it's the only turn off in a 1.4km stretch of road, not 1.5km as I stated earlier.

I had avoided giving directions to respect people's privacy, but since the location has been shown clearly on a map / aerial photo I suppose discretion is a bit pointless now.

Ballyrisode bridge / Kealfadda bridge, I'm not going to lose any sleep over which someone calls it - it has been variously called both in this and other threads and in the media.

Take the main road from Schull to Goleen. After approx. 6 miles, turn right at Ballyrisode / Kealfadda bridge. Turn left after approx. 1 mile. House is approx. ¾ mile, 1st on the left at the end of the cul de sac.

That is simple enough for anyone to find on the OS map for the area, or follow without the help of a map. If you're worried about finding it at night, drive it during the day (just as far as identifying the turn off to the cul de sac).

Anyone who has the intelligence to drive has the intelligence to follow directions which basically amount to 'turn right, then turn left'.

The house is very easily located. Anyone who assumes otherwise is making a fundamentally flawed assumption. I hope such an assumption did not play a part in the investigation.

I'm open as to whether the murderer was someone local or non-local or even possibly a random transient and whether they acted alone or with the help or under direction of an other or others. The problem I have is the lack of solid evidence to reasonably prove one above another.

The scratch that Jules only noticed after the murder over the morning coffee that Ian told her he got from a stick.

There are no problems with the above if it is done properly. I listened to the West Cork Podcast again while were all locked out and according to them there was a re-enactment of the Xmas tree episode and there were no scratches. For me it doesn`t matter whether he cut down the tree or not. I don`t see those scratches caused by it.

Why would you be doing a re-enactment when the actual briar scratches are evident on the victim? In this case you just compare the briar scratches on the victim to those on the suspect. The Christmas tree is pretty straightforward really. You go look at the tree he climbed and you re-enact with a similar one.

Don`t you see that you have already lost on this point if you have to explain to this degree?

Are you suggesting that he flailed the saw around cutting himself with it? There is nothing inherent to the kind of tree he climbed and cut that would cause scratches that would be highly visible days later.

Because the Gardai who investigated this case are not the most em trustworthy.

Ah right....so we return to the conspiracy theory territory.

Regarding the scratching, it's not inevitable but it's not unavoidable either

I've lopped some height off fir trees and got quite scratched BUT there were briars growing through the trees and the sides had been cut back previously so there were also rough branch ends to deal with

If a tree has no briars growing through it AND only soft new growth to brush against then there's far less chance of getting scratched

As difficult as it may be for some to grapple with two possibilities, they both exist and they are equally plausible

FFS. Four simple sentences.

Ignore the rest, it is just putting the above in context and explaining the implications.

If someone can't follow the above directions they're too stupid to drive!

Make sure you find the right house now.

The tree wasn't in Jules' garden, since he was seen dragging it down the road. Though it may have been behind the studio. There's a photo shown in one of the documentaries of a tree with the top cut off, presumably from the garda files. I'm almost certain he told the gardai it was a sitka spruce tree so they knew the type of tree and where it had been growing. The relevant clothing is a lack of gloves and a short sleeved shirt or sleeves rolled up.

You wouldn't have noticed the driveway to the first house on the left or the large white gable wall about 20 metres away. 🙄

I guess some people just don't want to acknowledge anything that does not fit in with their own narrative.

If that is any indication of the investigating Gardaí's train of thought I would have no confidence in any of their conclusions.

Is it not your lack of forethought that is evident? Based on your directions the poor old hitman will be driving along a country lane expecting a house to come into view on his left when he will suddenly come to what appears to be a dead end and a driveway up to a house on the right. Oh and Sophie liked to keep the gate closed when she was there to further confuse the situation.