Cold Case Review of Sophie Tuscan du Plantier murder to proceed

And the opinion of a blood pattern analyst.

...

This shot may be clearer. Sophie’s body is to the right. There is s broken stick directly behind the breeze block and the blood referred to is that on the bottom left hand corner of the block.

There is plenty more to the report but I was sent it confidentially so cannot publish the entirety.

No - this one.

Struggling to grasp how the concrete block could have ended up in that position without some manual handling involved. It's covering quite a substantial portion of the nightgown. At least more than the forensic reports would have you believe. I'm not in any position to question their expertise and if they claim it was already in situ when the final blows were delivered, well ..fair enough.
But logic would dictate, due to size and weight, it didn't just land there from a nudge, an incline in the terrain causing it to roll or whatever else was suggested.
If it's accepted that it was not the weapon used to administer the final blows (and it would be a very weighty item to raise and swing, particularly for an individual with weak upper body strength.. a woman or a minor) it could still be physically possible to manoeuvre it into position to aid ballast or 'cushion' to inflict maximum damage from a lighter object.

Doesnt sound like something a 'heavyweight' like ex rugby player Bailey would need to do...

I pointed it out as it was mentioned on the thread by posters ruling out certain people as being unable to wield the heavy block. So needed to be someone of certain strength.

But if thats not how the block was used it makes that point moot.

To me it would seem that the method of killing was using the two hard surfaces with Sophie's head between, sort of crushing it rather than just impacting it. This is exceedingly brutal to me.

I would presume that the possibility of two attackers was examined after the murder.

Doubt is a very good thought here.

Why was Bailey really so much in the focus?

Just hate against the original colonial masters, the English?

Just an unpleasant and difficult personality?

His history of alcohol and beating up his partner Jules?

His journalism activity and something he may have written and offended unrelated to the case?

I think Bailey was unpleasant and unpopular with the locals so he was an easy target for the gardai as they knew very few would defend him. Plus that they had to pin it on someone. At first the gardai thought Sophie was a nobody foreigner like most of West Cork. They then realised after Christmas that she was well connected in France and this murder wouldnt be forgot about. They had to find the person responsible for the murder be it by fair or foul means. I dont think they cared whether they found the actual murderer they just had to pin it on someone quick - Big, Loudmouthed, unpopular Engishman Bailey fitted for this purpose.

That's the most common thought here in this context.

The problem with this, and indeed with all the photos, is that they have been compiled into albums each of which contain a variety of images by different photographers taken on different days. For example the album of photos which contains the images of the scene taken on the morning of 23rd ( as evidenced by the presence of Shirley Foster's car) is attributed to Garda Tony Byrne who didn't actually arrive until late that night.

My best guess would be that the photo of the door was taken on 24th as it appears to be daylight and the forensic officers did not enter the house until well after dark on 23rd, but it is only a guess.