Cold Case Review of Sophie Tuscan du Plantier murder to proceed. **Threadbans lifted - see OP**

Why assume that a contract killer would not have previously visited the area? Whether it took them one time or ten times to find the cottage is irrelevant. I don't believe the contract killer theory, however it can not be dismissed because some people have a lack of sense of direction.

All this talk of remoteness and difficulty is weird. If a person wanted to find the cottage, they would. Somebody hiring a contract killer would know exactly where it was and how to get there.

"We only have our guesses that the killer must have known Sophie at least to the degree that the killer knew that Sophie was at the cottage and that she was most likely alone. "

But we don't even know this; where is the evidence that Sophie was the intended victim? There's nothing to suggest that the intruder even went any further than the gate across the lane before the attack took place. It could have been ANY resident from any one of the three houses up there, who might have approached the gate and got into a violent altercation.

We do know that the killer went to Sophie's house after the attack, leaving a smear of Sophie's blood on the outside of the door.

But they probably didn't go to her house first, getting her up from bed or leaving her breakfast, and then somehow, leaving no trace, lured her down to the much more visible gate in the lane before murdering her. This doesn't feel plausible to me.

I mean, it could happen, but it absolutely doesn't sound like a "contract killer" with any professional experience.

“empty for large parts of the year” could be key to all of this. Sophie generally didn’t visit at Christmas, somebody trying to collect or steal something from the pumphouse would not have expected her to be there. Sitting by the window she may have seen something down by the pumphouse and went out to confront them.

"Murder at the Cottage" on Reddit appears to have been blocked, (to me anyway). Which is a great pity as it was a mine of information and facts. A hige piece of work over the years by "Philmathers". Is it blocked to anyone else here?

I think there is reason to say it was damaged that night. When you walk down a street past a car and it has a window smashed, you are not going to assume the owner left it that way. The pumphouse lid/roof is all torn up an the felt is bent up into the air. That didn't happen by accident. The wind didn't do that. There is other evidence. When you leave blocks out in the rain, they go green. you can see that in the other blocks around the scene. The block used is mostly white, though one end looks a little green, presumably the end facing out to the field.

It was the opinion of the scene of crimes officer and the forensic pathologist that the block came from the pumphouse. These were professionals, looking at the scene with their own eyes, not peering at badly digitized photos as we are. Even so, looking at those photos I think most people would agree the block came from there. Can we prove the damage to the pumphouse happened that night, no. Can we prove the stone that was used came from the space in the pumphouse exactly the same size as the block? No we cannot. But in my view common sense would suggest that is the most likely scenario. The pumphouse roof was ripped off and a block is missing. A block exactly this size was used to fracture the victim's skull.

I am not saying you are wrong, it just doesn't make sense to me to say the block didn't come from the pumphouse in the light of all this.

I know you have asked the question why would the killer go to all that trouble, when there were other blocks around? It's an excellent question, but unless the killer is found and tells us, we will never know why. We can make some guesses.

We know it was dark (even if it was dawn) so perhaps he just didn't see the other blocks. Perhaps in his rage he fixated on the one block he knew was loose in the pumphouse. Maybe he was a thief, trying to steal the electric pump, and he had already pulled the block out. Maybe he was determined to get precisely the largest block he could lift, with convenient handholds. These are all just guesses here they are plausible.

If we are honest we have to admit don't know. The crime is complex and the crime scene is complex. There were multiple phases to this attack, at least three different weapons used (in the opinion of the pathologist) and at least three different locations (back door, pumphouse, gate). We know something happened by the pumphouse because blood was found there. So likely blood was shed there before the subsequent events. Maybe that's why he got the block there, it was the last place in his mind and remembered a loose block.

Incidently from the other photos, it looks to me like the flat stone was also taken from this area. Look at the photos below, showing the displacement of the stones of the pier of the gate. It looks from this like the flat stone was prized out of this pier. Now take a look at the moss on the stone at the base of the pier. Now look at the third photo of when the flat stone was lifted, see the moss (circled in red)? It looks black because of the light & it is wet, but it is the same moss. I think the killer went twice to this area, first to get the flat stone and then a second time to get the block. It is a possible reason why he went to the pumphouse. It was where the altercation started, and it might explain why he went back, it was a repeat of his first search, looking for a heavier weapon.

I am in general agreement with this, and wow great find on the flat stone! I was under the impression it was just laying on the ground, didn't realise it also may have been pulled from elsewhere. Both stones indicate a clear train of thought for the killer imo. It wasn't a "blind" rage as such. Maybe initially it was, but ultimately the killer made clear decisions and choices in how to carry out the murder, imo.

I want to add though that there should certainly be 'evidence' of when the pump house was dismantled. Both Alfie and Shirley, as well as the Hellen's, should know if it had happened in the preceding day or so. They would have passed it regularly. Also Leo, his wife, the repairmen, the postman and the Richardsons would be able to corroborate when they last saw it intact. There are probably more than a dozen people who had seen it at some point in the prior week or two.

This leads to the question, what did the guards say about it, did they ask about it to these witnesses, was it in any statement etc. were there conflicting reports from witnesses as we have seen with other statements?

Some of the things in this case are totally unknown, but many of the things that have been left open in the publics eyes should be able to be confirmed relatively easily from the witnesses. We just get radio silence on anything that doesn't point to Bailey, which is itself quite disconcerting.

Re the damage to the pumphouse and the witnesses, absolutely the Gardai should have asked about it but they didn't. Finbarr, Alfie, Shirley could have confirmed it. As far as I know Shirley is still alive, so she may be able to say.

I think it is an incredible gap. I would like to think they checked it for trace evidence. The Gardai put in a lot of brute effort, perhaps to show they were being assiduous. They completely tore the whole scene to pieces looking for a murder weapon. They literally left no stone unturned. It was like a bomb hit it after the Gardai left (see pic).

Murder at the cottage on Reddit - has it been deleted?

Is all PhilMathers stuff lost I wonder? It was invaluable as reverence. It looks like they had the Bailey files like yourself. Also a Flann fan going by the usernames

The way they left it seems a bit odd. They may have taken the roof for further forensic analysis as well as some of the blocks. Perhaps used a couple of remaining ones to prevent the gate being inadvertently opened.

The thing is there was no 'normal' for Sophie, she only owned the house what, 4 years? She probably visited maybe 20 times in total? The assumption in general for anyone local or repeat visitor would be that she wasn't there most of the time, and so whoever it was probably just going about their business as usual on that day/night, whatever business it was.

The opposite case is for someone who wasn't local carrying out nefarious activities. Unless they were observing/preparing the assumption would always be that someone could be in any house within view.

In addition, two other houses used the same right of way past the pump-house. Alfie/Shirley and the Richardsons. Alfie and Shirley in particular were there almost all the time, and would have a way higher likelihood of spotting or hearing some nefarious activity throughout the year than Sophie at any time, day or night, even if it wasn't directly in their view.

Alife and Shirley may have been turning a 'blind eye' / don't ask don't tell - to some nefarious activities going on, out of fear… it would explain some of their conduct.

There is no evidence for that. But if there was, I would often thing about drugs or other controlled substances. This would point anywhere from Bolger to even the police being in on it. But again, just speculation.

It could have been…… It certainly makes for an interesting theory. I would suggest that the time of the year for the trip did surprise many. I think she asked friends in France to come along, but nobody could really spare the time. Possible rush around Christmas, etc… It's possible that Sophie didn't know how long it would take to organize everything in Ireland, like repair work at the house, so that she was uncertain on the return dates of travel.

Either bad timing or some other inconvenient time factor could have been part of the motive for murder.

It's from a long time after the murder, it says 12 years ago. I just kept it for this sort of thing. You'll notice tractor tyre marks into the lawn, and silage stored there, probably Hellen's. This fella suggested a horse might have killed her. The still is at 1:40

https://youtu.be/uOS1ALsW-08?t=101

Typically single houses in remote areas of the the countryside would each have their own private water supply with a well and pump.