Cold Case Review of Sophie Tuscan du Plantier murder to proceed

I think that I have written often enough that there is no evidence against anybody, only speculation and hypotheseses as well as motives, some motives maybe stronger others less strong.

The idea that she was possibly attacked right at the door is only fueled by the blood stain at the door. So she must have been at least injured at the door or the killer had Sophie's blood on himself and went back to the house afterwards.

I never knew that the majority here would think that she exited the house to investigate something as opposed to a knock at the door. ( I often presumed those who thought Bailey did it, would think that Bailey knocked )

I would see Jules similar to Shirley. If Alfie or Bailey did it, I would tend to think they both would have either suspected or found out at some point or played some role in it, maybe a minor role?

Again that's a speculation.

If Sophie had been attacked at the door, then one would expect to see more signs of struggle in that area. She she had put her walking boots on….unlaced, strongly suggestive of her intent to go outside.

Additionally, there is compelling evidence that the attack took place in daylight.

The shape (there are photographs somewhere) and positioning of the blood smear on the door is very suggestive of a bloodied sleeve brushing against the door as the door handle was moved.

Whilst, as you say, all possibilities are worthy of debate, imo, the liklihood of Jules involvement, especially active involvement, is remote.

speaking of “cleaning” - it just struck me- was there ever a forensic search of Jules’ house and home studio where Bailey worked carried out?
If all of these wonderful stories about bonfires and coats soaking in baths of bleach are to be believed, then there would have been a rake of forensic evidence left behind - especially if Bailey did all of his disrobing and cleaning in his studio.

It seems unlikely that Sophie was bleeding at the door. The blood was transferred from the sleeve to the door, so almost certainly after the attack began. And to have enough blood on you that you can transfer it, means that it must have been a lot of blood, more than enough to have drops on the ground. To me that means that Sophie wasn't bleeding when she left the house and went to the gate, however the encounter could still have started at the house, just maybe not the attack. I still don't know how the perpetrator could have transferred the blood also without dripping blood on the way up. There were blood drops in lots of places, and on Sophie herself.

Thanks for that - so in other words they had a decent opportunity to obtain DNA evidence from Baileys property albeit it was some weeks after the murder before he was collared - but even so, traces on a chair or sofa etc or indeed a hair could have still been present around his home - not conclusive just because they didn’t find anything but still , it certainly doesn’t point towards guilt either

Yes, and any attempt to clean the car would have been obvious to the investigators and, in any case would be unlikely to remove all traces of blood from upholstery, controls, pedals etc. Logically, if Bailey had killed Sophie, he could not, realistically, have done so without getting bloodstains on his clothing, his shoes his hands etc. If he had used the car to travel to and from Dreenane, some traces would have transferred to the interior of the car. No such traces were found. Hence the rather desperate assertion that he must have walked.

The more thought one puts into this the less likely it seems that Bailey did it.

It also points towards the use of a vehicle, as forensics expert bjsc \ Bridget Chappuis noted.

And why was the gate open? Sophie’s friends say she was fanatical about keeping it closed to stop livestock straying.The police rely on the premise that Ian Bailey came on foot because of the sighting at Kealfadda Bridge. But if you are on foot why open the gate to its fullest extent and ensure that it stays that way? The fact that the gate was wide open and the presence of apparently fresh unexplained tyre marks in the grass verge above her head and clearly visible in the scene photos suggests to me that someone in a vehicle may have been around the little townland close to the time of Sophie’s death.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/was-sophie-toscan-du-plantier-up-and-eating-breakfast-when-her-killer-called/a55584295.html

I suppose if Sophie left of her own accord, and wasn't in a major rush she probably would've walked around the road, I expect this is how she typically walked down, and this is what is shown in the home video. In the image shown, number 5 appears to be over the embankment to the right of the house which is about the least likely route.

Yes, and she moved back to England, Derbyshire I think. After Alfie died and she had the house sold.

Sorry, I didn't know that. I really thought I've heard that she moved back to England, - family and relatives and tired of the endless speculation about the murder as a reason. All would be understandable.

If she left by the front door, why did she lock herself out?

That in itself is problematic for your theory. Why was there blood on the side door, but not the front door?

Revisiting the kitchen scene and just noting some observations. There was discussion about whether someone had met in the house with Sophie at some point, evidenced by the two wine glasses on the dishcloth. It can also be seen that there are two coffee cups too. Sophie may have just used them at separate times, however both are still upturned on the drying cloth, and the drying cloth is full, so they had to be coordinated around the cloth. Why would one navigate around an already dry coffee cup and/or wine glass. You would surely move the dry items to the side where there is still ample room on the wood. It would seem everything was used and the dried at the same time. Coffee is often used as an after dinner drink, however…. on the other hand sometimes orange juice is sometimes served in wine glasses. She had a lot of oranges in the house, far more than would typically be there for eating. I think she most likely liked freshly squeezed orange juice. This would also explain the fruit pieces in her stomach, as it would probably not be filtered. Maybe she had someone with her at breakfast. Two coffee cups, two orange juice glasses….. maybe not, all speculation.