Cold Case Review of Sophie Tuscan du Plantier murder to proceed

Thanks, I have seen some of the photos on Koude Kaas website and I think I can see what you're talking about. Is it your proposal that the block was in situ as she was being murdered and bleeding, and then some time after it was moved out of the way? Is there some significance you would attribute to this movement?

Thanks, I do see what you’re talking about. There is not really any obvious impact stains etc. as you say. I’m not clear if the block carries much significance though beyond Garda incompetence. There’s a bunch of things in their theory that just seem like guesses really. It does appear that it had been removed from the pump house, and fairly recently, but maybe not directly during the murder. Clearly Sophie was pretty close to death without it one way or the other.

Does is carry any further significance do you think? I would suppose it would mean that the perpetrator didn’t need to be quite so strong as to lift and carry a heavy block

I think in general anyone who thinks Bailey may not have done it, is skeptical of the proposed garda scenario, including time of attack day/night, mode of transport, motive, gate vs house, and as you say what weapons were used. It really just seems like they looked at the various information, and if an option didn't fit Bailey, then it was eliminated without any further thought about it. Pigeon-holed thinking.

I will say for the block, having seen the pump house being dismantled, and the gate open, I can see how they thought it had a part to play in the whole thing. I'm not sure when the pump house roof would have been torn off otherwise. If it was torn off anytime in the previous days or weeks, then a good few other people would have seen it.

I have long held a suspicion that the block was removed to prop the gate open.

I know that it as been said that there was sheepwire fixed to the bottom of the gate which rendered this unnecessary, but I have seen so many gates around the countryside propped by such blocks that I can't get the idea out of my mind. It also links to the theory of the gate being left open as the root cause of Sophie going down there.

They aren't really going to come out publicly and say the answers lie in France if they are being flat out refused access. Which they are. Unfortunately, case is likely dormant and run out of room. Again.

(A bit NSFW here, referring to the autopsy)

Following your points above I went back over the post-mortem and really it does appear that Harbison is noncommittal when it comes to the block itself. He thinks it is one of a few possibilties.

In the summary points, he basically says that the stone was likely the cause of the majority of fractures, and the crushing blow could have been the stone or the block, but he doesn't think the stone would have caused the linear abrasions. Alternatively (and reading this with fresh eyes now) he says the linear abrasions from the crushing blow could have come from the Doc marten boot, albeit he says that's less likely. Is that your reading of it?

I think previously I had just thought the boot might have caused the abrasion, like a stepping or kicking but now I'm reading it as possible the perpetrator stomped down on her head. (I should mention he also refers to a light object for minor injuries such as on the arms)

Again if reading correctly it would indicate two possibilities.

1. Stone followed with crushing blow from block OR 2. Stone followed by crushing blow from boot. Is that your interpretation?

Given there was separately a doc marten boot print found at the scene the relevance of this possibility goes way up.

Cancel my last. I've just found another file with some extra images. My bad.

And this - from Noel Smith (given to the McAndrew investigation). It appears to confirm that the man from Longford - Jan Bartels - was the person who was with Marie Farrell on 23rd December 1996.

I didn't make the slightest reference to Bailey, who all sensible people can agree didn't do it. I just mentioned the facts. Irish cops are being denied access to French suspects as they were back in the day. Anyone expecting this resolved are wasting their breath. We have to move on, the French are protecting their own. End of story.

There is a possible 3rd scenario - that she was on the ground with the left side of her head against the block when she was struck to the right side of her head by some one wielding the flat stone. This, to me, makes far more sense than that the block was used aggressively as a weapon.

Yes, Harbison mentioned that only the stone could have been used also, but couldn’t explain the linear abrasions, but I think the scenario you refer to could explain it. The simplest solution would be using just one weapon of course.

Pretty much any person could swing the stone as a weapon.

Why?

People bring interesting insights to this thread. Of course others are free to stop reading as they wish.

I think the Doc Marten boot is a key piece of information. On reddit Phil Mathers has a post analysing the size and comes to the conclusion that it is between size 4-7, probably a male or female up to 5'9". No reason to doubt this and it should easily be verified by someone who does foot print analysis as we have the exact dimensions.

Given that Harbison independently identified a potential doc Martin print on Sophie's body, and as mentioned above also proposed it could have been used to kick/stomp her head, I personally think that this points to that individual being at the scene at the time of the murder, if not the perpetrator themselves. The shoe size, and Bailey having never been seen wearing Doc Martens indicates it is basically zero chance that print came from him. This is why we don't hear about it, but it is one of the only leads that could still be pursued aside from DNA & revisiting fingermarks.

What is also clear is that the gardai did pursue the line of inquiry, and would have asked people what shoes they had, what size they wore, and also they asked for samples from suspects. However this is for sure in the 'rest of the evidence' that hasn't been released to the public and wasn't part of the files given to the DPP or the French.

For this reason, and simply fresh eyes, I think a revisiting of those questionnaire's, in combination with DNA results, may pinpoint the perpetrator imo.