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

He may have struck Sophie into submission initially, not fatally , but upon realising she could identify him he decided to finish her off.

I think it will always be a difference of opinion.

If Bailey really did it, he would have behaved differently.

He would have given a different statement, something like never having left the house that night, never been to the studio at all. Not having an alibi would have been the same for everyone or mostly everyone else that night. He would have stayed quiet, probably not even reported on the murder, and even if asked made up some excuse, something like lack of access to real credible information.

He would have gone quiet for a few weeks, stayed out of the public light, no or fewer pub visits, maybe answered some general questions the police asked everyone, and quietly slipped away. A trip to England, a story about a family member with health issues, and maybe stayed there.

And as there were nothing in evidence linking him to the scene of the crime the matter would have been over done for him, even if say the Irish police asked for DNA evidence which he may have submitted to the police in the UK.

Well, we can't be sure that nobody got told off for the godawful wreck they made of the investigation. Maybe words were had in some private office - they were certainly deserved.

A "Cold case review" does kind of imply that a new pair of eyes, a fresh pair of hands may see some insights on this case that were overlooked or ignored on the first round. I really hope so.

Sophie's clothing when her body was found was nightwear and boots. It would suggest that she had been in her home, probably in bed, but put footwear on to go outside.

I think that if I were a woman, residing alone in an isolated holiday home and I heard a strange man's voice calling out to me or rapping on my front door in the middle of the night, I'd probably be a tad apprehensive about going out to meet them. In fact, I'd probably not respond at all. It's possible Sophie was a different kind of person, though, who didn't think the worst of people.

So then, she goes out and her murderer beats her to death with a breeze block. I suppose if one thinks this was Bailey, this occurred after she rebuffed him romantically. Pretty bad way to handle rejection.

I presume the Gardai would have scoured logs of flights to and from Ireland for persons of interest around the time of the murder?

The "fresh pair of eyes" doesn't really help, if there is no new evidence. It's still the same lack of any evidence pointing to anybody.

They most certainly didn't even know whom to look for in the first place. If somebody did travel over from France, it would have been a name unknown to the police.

I would also suggest that the data on passengers travelled to and from Ireland is no longer available, it's too long back. Anybody wishing to hide the trip, could have easily done so, a connecting flight via another city, a forged passport and no biometrics back then and the police would have been in the dark forever.

Well, that's a possibility, but there are many, many, possibilities. However, if we focus on liklihood, then it is more likely that Sophie donned the boots to go outside. That is what most people would do. Sophie had a pair of white moccasin slippers in the kitchen and they would have been more likely, to be her regular indoor footwear. Also, there is no evidence of a struggle at the door - apart from the blood smear on the door itself, which, given its shape and position, is probably linked to the opening, closing or trying of the door handle.

I'm also dubious about her fleeing from an attacker at the door and running down to the gate. It seems to me that it would be more rational to retreat inside the house in such circumstances.

Dublin airport was too much for them? It's a 2 hour drive from Dublin to Cork city. The major inboard port of entry. That's nothing.

A bit more than 2 hours in 1996. Double it and then some.

There was a BBC podcast a couple of years back which spoke about a "sallow" skin individual who was spotted in schull acting strangely across the road from a shop which Sophie was in at the time (I'm guessing the fact he had "sallow" skin stood out in 1996 Ireland).

If I recall correctly he was strangely interested in her. This occurred the day or more correctly multiple hours before she died. The next day the same individual made his way to Galway where he paid a travel agent for a flight to Paris from Dublin in cash (a cash payment being totally normal back then then but why travel from schull to Galway to book a last minute flight to Paris from Dublin???). He somehow made his way to Dublin and presumably took the flight. This fella has never been identified and the podcast says the Gardai never followed up on the lead.

Which podcast is this, please? I'd like to check it out.

Apologies it wasn't a BBC production. Here it is though >

Sophie had either friends or relations living near Loughrea in Galway. Before she bought her house in West Cork she visited them often and used Maurice Sweeney the travel agent to book her flights. She used a Loughrea solicitor to buy her Cork house. This article doesn't mention the name of the man Sweeney dealt with, but it sounds like Bruno Carbonnet;

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/sophies-friend-was-twice-cleared-by-gardai/26462893.html

Thank you! Yes, I've seen heard that podcast; They are scrupulously fair-minded, if i recall. Lending an ear to all ideas, no judging.