Dermot Dwyer has no credibility. He believed the AGS incompetence in this case was normal. He also thought there was no church-state collusion when there was endemic of child sexual abuse by clergy in Ireland. He's just completely out of touch with reality.
"Of course, it doesn’t look good when a piece of evidence like a farmyard gate goes missing. Dwyer, though, makes the distinction between corruption, which inquiries have said wasn’t a factor, and incompetence, which he seems to suggest is the norm when you’re looking back over time at this type of case. Indeed, the whole true-crime genre is dependent, it would appear, upon police screwing up. "
"Supt Dwyer's report recommended no charges be brought against the senior officers. It concluded there was no evidence of any Church-State collusion."
Maria Farrell stated that the neighbours thought she was having an affair with a Guard - A claim she vehemently denied (Oh well, that's that cleared up then)
But if she was messing around with a Guard, a senior Guard at that... It would explain her refusal to name him, and of course, the Guards reluctance to pressure her.
Where ever she goes, trouble isn't far behind her.
To think after all the controversy she had caused, you would expect her to stay under the radar. keep out of the public eye..? Instead of that, she hooks up with Bailey on the sniff of a pay out... Double crosses the Guards, blames them for making her write untrue statements... Confirms she never saw Bailey at all.... (this woman is class).
That libel action went south, so Maria moved on.. Nothing to be gained here.
Camera.. Action.. She rolls out for a documentary series!! This woman has absolutely no shame at all.
No doubt, many on here were excited about the cold case review being authorised.. New technology and all that.
How many more like me rolled their eyes when it was reported that the same Maria Farrell had identified the man outside her shop from some photographs, but this time it was definitely him.. A French national associated with Danial Du Plantier no less... Sweet Jaysis.. Here we go again!
It was the Ireland back then. What I've noticed back in the 90ies is that Ireland was still recovering from the brain drain the country has seen over centuries. Anybody with brains left to make it in America, in Australia or the UK and sadly not always the smartest stayed. ( I am sorry if this sounds offensive) And then in the late 90ies when the Celtic Tiger economy was roaring loud and strong, the lack of competence in Ireland was often overwhelming for the population to handle, but the solidity of the judicial system allowing secure foreign investments, these were my memories from back then. And in the South West of Ireland it was probably all more pronounced than in Dublin, or Cork.
Also, Sophie made the mistake of buying in the wrong neighbourhood. She didn't understand the society and the kind of characters in the area, had some romantic idea about Ireland, probably expected a police of a competence level like in France? Not certain. She thought she could trust people, trust the police, and expect telling a right from wrong, not knowing the the police was bent, neighbours had drug habits, etc...
As her husband bought the house, money was probably not the concern. Apparently she paid 60 K for the house back then, not certain, if that was overpaid, or if locals would have paid less? Sometimes this happens in some countries, wouldn't surprise me, if it didn't take place there.....
Regarding a property investment, I would never have bought there, as lovely as it is. I wouldn't have gone further west than Skibbereen, as Skibbereen has simply more value, more infrastructure and different neighbours than Goleen or Schull would ever have. And if I liked hiking in the outdoors and the wilderness there, I could always have driven there from Skibbereen to Mizen Head. Kinsale is also a nice choice, and again, money would probably not have been the prime concern of Sophie and Daniel.
The way the police handled the whole murder leads me to believe that the local police had certainly some direct or indirect involvement in her death. If she was killed by a guard who was drug trafficking and Sophie found out about it and complained, or the guards coerced Alfie or Leo to kill her, is all unclear.
The level of incompetence the police showed also has the trade mark of somebody of rather limited international experience and mind and no professionalism at all, but is prepared to go the distance and do whatever it takes. It's pretty obvious that they had ample motivation in doing so.... One simply doesn't lose evidence the size of a gate, or consort with ex soldiers with a drug habit and give them drugs and money to incriminate the wrong man, or coerce witnesses. Maybe they've gotten these fantasies from a cheap movie on TV or something.
If a bent cop actually really wanted to incriminate Bailey he would have done it with more brains and credibility.
Bailey does have a sallow complexion. The only part of the description that didn`t fit him was the height. I don`t hang on Farrells coat tails at all. I can read her like a book. She was a nobody who suddenly was cast into the limelight. I have said here before that I suspect she was in her bed on the night of the murder. I suspect that she got excited by her sudden importance and decided to rev it all up a bit more as Fiona. She enjoys the attention. Like Bailey she probably checks this thread regularly to see what we are saying about her.
I don`t believe all she said about Bailey and I don`t believe all she says about Gardaí. But the fact remains that her first contact and statement has been reconciled with a number of facts. Some were probably established before December 27th, but some didn`t come to light until weeks later.
If you did read the report linked by 'Chooseusername', and still hang onto the coat tails of Maria Farrell, you are deluded.
I would be surprised if she could lie straight in bed.
The Guards investigating the murder were nothing short of corrupt gangsters. And even that's an insult to real gangsters.
Was Ireland like Somalia in the 1990's?? Was it really as lawless as described in the report? Could the upholders of the Law really pick and choose who goes to prison for life on a whim? Make the person fit the crime by whatever means.
Detectives supping whiskey in Maria Farrell's house, playing her video's of Bailey, telling her the gruesome details of the murder, and telling her it was Bailey that did it.. No wonder the suspect grew six inches, and lost his sallow complexion overnight.
This wasn't her first rodeo.. She fled from London with the fraud squad chasing after her (couldn't make it up).
The Guards needed a simpleton not adverse to a few shenanigans, one that would sell her Mother for a shilling, enter the UK fugitive Maria Farrell. So easy to manipulate her.
Like the dropping of charges against her Husband... This is Mafia territory!
What about witholding information.... Did the keystone cops not consider that line of approach to get Farrell to name the alleged second witness in the car with her that night? (it was a brutal murder after all)
Or was it easier to keep her sweet, arrange a new house for her... (Can't believe I'm writing this even)
It truly is a shocking document to read.
The Guards were every bit as bad as Maria, No wonder pages were ripped out of the jobs book..
The undigested food found in her stomach could equally have been a late night snack consumed well before midnight. The fact that bloodstains on her body had dried or begun to dry suggests a much earlier time of death. At 8am or earlier dawn would have broken. There would be a slim chance somebody may have spotted something rather than if it were pitch dark. This might be an inhibiting factor against killing in the mind of a calculating killer with a murderous plan already in place but not in the mind of a deranged or enraged "accidental" killer with no prior murderous intent but in a highly emotional state and who acts on impulse.
That`s not the original statement. As far as I can see that`s a paraphrase of what she was saying in 2012. She could not state on December 27th 1996 that the man was not Ian Bailey when she didn`t even know who Bailey was.
Lol have a look at 4.1.3.3. of that GSOC report. It's without doubt 5'8.
4.1.3.3 Marie Farrell stated that on 21 December 1996, Madame Toscan Du Plantier entered her
shop around 3pm. Around the same time, she alleged that she saw a male standing across
from her shop. She described the man as thin, sallow skin, late 30’s to early 40’s, 5’8” tall,
Mediterranean looking and wearing a long black coat. After Madame Toscan Du Plantier left
her shop, the male walked off in the same direction as her. Marie Farrell stated the man was
not Ian Bailey who at this time was unknown to her.
Tibruit did you read the report linked by chooseusername below at all.
5`10 in the original statement. It became 5`8 many years later when she was swinging to Bailey ahead of the libel trial and had "several meetings" with Frank Buttimer. But since you`ve raised it, it is clear that this is the only bit of Garda prompting that she alleges occurred whilst making her original statement. So everything else she said she stands over. She even repeated to the GSOC that the man on the Airhill Road was the same man who was outside her shop the previous day.
Height was estimated at 5'8 rather than 5'10. She said her husband was 5'10 and the man she saw was smaller than that.
As another poster asked, has there ever been any mention of her husbands version of events that night? As in did he confirm she was out of the house for a few hours at ridiculous o'clock?
The 6 pages of the GSOC report relating to Marie Farrell start at page 15 for those who may not have read it.
Believe as much of it as you will, but the timelines of the phone calls and alleged sightings are there ;
He WANTs to be in the story that's what a narcissist does. I wouldn't bother adding to his notoriety. He is obviously detestable, he just didn't murder Sophie. Wish everyone would just stop doing what he wants.
I suspect he inserted himself into the story with a view to making money from wrongful arrest later on, which backfired spectacularly.
Marie Farrell is a Walter Mitty sort of person imo.
From Retired detective garda Jim Fitzgerald
Mr Fitzgerald said he was in touch with Ms Farrell on several occasions to try to determine the identity of the man who she claimed she was with on the night she saw a man on Cealfada Bridge on the night of 22/23 December 1997.
Mr Fitzgerald said from three pieces of information she had given him about the man over a couple of weeks he traced him as Jan Bartel from Longford.
When he approached Ms Farrell to confront her with this information she eventually admitted it in and then later tried to facilitate a meeting between the two.
However, before one such meeting she claimed Mr Bartel had gotten cold feet.
He later managed to arrange a meeting with Mr Bartel through a detective garda based in Longford.
He said Mr Bartel had told him that he knew Ms Farrell well but had not seen her in years and that he was at a function with his wife on the night in question.
Mr Fitzgerald said after a number of further meetings with Ms Farrell she admitted the man with her was not Mr Bartel, but that she could not reveal who it was because of personal problems.
Source; https://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0217/680842-bailey/
Anyway, wasnt Sophie Killed just having Breakfast as an undigested meal was found in her stomach in the autopsy.
The Body was discovered at 10.30am, breakfast was most eaten probably 2 hours at the earliest.
So she could have eaten her last meal Between 8am _ 10.30am.
Farrell apparently seeing someone at 3am, even if true was probably not the killer.
I don't think the killer would be wandering around for several hours miles from the murder location.
In itself, no.
However, I believe that if the identity of Marie's companion could be established, then it may cast some light on the case.
My hunch is that the Guards were in some way shape or form involved in this murder.
Whether, it's down to one Guard and his sex life or several Guards being on the payroll of some drug traffickers, I can't say. However the level of incompetence in this investigation is in my opinion just a bit too much to be just incompetence, it looks like it was more something intentional and organized at a local level. Something like you suggested, one Guard protecting a close friend, etc....
The Fennelly report does not name names though, does it? We don't know who removed those pages or why they were removed or what happened to them. If Dwyer knew they contained information that either might exonerate Bailey or implicate one of his Garda colleagues, who may also have been a personal friend, and ordered their removal then, yes, he is a bent cop. Like so many aspects of this case we will never know the true story.
In the end, that's besides the point. Nothing to do with the murder.
It's just that between closing time of pubs and the time they have allegedly seen Bailey at Kaelfadda bridge, there is an awful lot of time. Also, it's December so, a walk along the beach or so is probably not that comfortable in the cold. There is probably a perfectly innocent explanation, but again, nothing to do with the murder.
Well,
Bearing in mind that this theory is purely speculative, if her companion was also married, then discretion would be essential in an area like west Cork, where they could quite easily be recognised. That would, I think, rule out hotels etc.
What about a quiet corner of a car park? Or some similarly secluded spot?
Unlikely to be spotted at that hour of the morning......
So, if he was married, and she was, where did they go? A hotel? Maybe to Tomi Ungerer.
Incidentally, did you know that Tomi Ungerer was well connected to a certain prostitute from Hamburg, specializing in certain practices?
The Mizen Head was certainly harbouring some strange characters. Suspects, witnesses as well as police officers alike. No wonder this case is unresolved to date.
Yes.
😉😉
a long conversation, discussing Uganda.
Always though Farrell was a joke... She had been working in Cork that Sunday. So a long drive up and down. It was a few days before Christmas so she must have had loads to do with five children in house.
I don't believe her at all that she was out driving around at 2am. Has her husband ever given a statement? Has he confirmed she was out of the house?
Perhaps they stopped somewhere for a long conversation.
Or something like that..........
I think I read somewhere, that Maria explained to the Guards that they (herself & Mr Invisible), were looking for a suitable beach to have a walk....
Yep... At 3am in the middle of winter... As you do!
Well, from Goleen to Kaelfadda Bridge you don't need 2 or 3 hours to drive. And the pubs closed when? 11.30pm back then, maybe 12.30 in the case of a private event? So where did they go ?
In all likelihood, Maria Farrell was at home tucked up in bed with her Husband and five children.
What in the name of sweet Jaysis would she be doing running around the coastal roads in the middle of winter..?
She contacts the Guards and makes them aware that she is the only person on the Planet that has seen somebody scurrying away from the scene of a major incident.. She is hot property.
Then she drops the bomb that another person was in the car with her.. Another witness.. A second person who can validate her eye witness account..
But then...
Sorry, can't tell you who he is? It's just a friend? An old buddy of mine, sorry about that lads.....
Nah, no dice here, just have to take my word for it.
Marie said they drove to Goleen...............
Well, somebody, quite probably more than one individual, was corrupt as **** in this investigation.
Missing pages from the garda ”Jobs Book” in relation to the murder investigation are of the most concern GSOC as the specific pages missing are from an area of the book when Ian Bailey seems to have first been identified as a potential suspect in the murder by gardaí – and as such, “they are potentially very significant”.
Job books are meant to form a complete record of all activity undertaken in a major or critical incident along with the rationale for the decisions made.
The report stated that as the hard-backed book had a glued spine “it would not be possible for pages to simply fall out of the book by accident and for them to be removed, this would have to have been a deliberate act”.
Gardaí investigating the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder were prepared to “contemplate altering, modifying or suppressing evidence” that hindered their belief that journalist Ian Bailey killed her, the Fennelly Commission final report has concluded.
These are only the actions that our toothless watchdogs were able to establish. The tip of the iceberg.
So if you're saying he's not corrupt - I see no evidence of that.
If that is so, I'd suggest, Marie Farrell could easily have hidden an affair.
At this time of the night, pubs were no longer open, and longer drives on the peninsula are rare, given that everything is so close.
They couldn't have driven for more than 30 minutes at best, most likely we're looking at 15 minutes. And they "have seen" Bailey at when? between 2 and 3 am?
So if it wasn't a pub, they must have been somewhere else, somewhere private.
