Death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier

[MrBarnett]

Is anyone familiar with this case?

I only came across it recently while researching the area of West Cork where the murder took place. I’m now avidly looking for any info I can find on the case. From what I’ve seen and read so far (two documentary series and numerous press reports) I think the culprit is pretty obviously the main suspect in the case, Ian Bailey. If he is guilty, then the way he behaved in the aftermath of the murder is very strange.


https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/inews...er-1079492/amp

[erobitha]

I know of the case living in Ireland for past 13 years.

it is a famous case. But I confess I have not paid it too much attention.

The general consensus from conversations I’ve had with others is that most people believe he is guilty and it was because of police incompetence he was not charged.

[MrBarnett]

Yes, it’s a fascinating case:

A prime suspect who was found guilty in France and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, but who cannot be extradited because the Irish DPP considers there is insufficient evidence to even charge him with the crime.

A witness who originally placed the suspect close to the murder scene on the night of the murder, but then recanted her evidence saying she had been pressured to give it by the police.

A crucial piece of forensic evidence - a farm gate covered with blood smears - that went missing.

And above all, a suspect who confessed to the crimes and then claimed his confessions were merely examples of black humour.

The way Blair kept himself involved in the case by making his confessions, writing articles about the murder and attempting to sue the Irish and British press and the Irish police is very strange. If he is guilty, which seems highly likely, he’s a perfect example of a murderer involving himself in the investigation of his crime.

[MrBarnett]

Not sure where I got Blair from.

[Pcdunn]

I hadn't heard of this, so I followed the link and read the article. Did this Bailey guy ever explain his scratches and strange behavior following the murder?

[seanr]

Netflix have recently released one of their true crime documentary series on the case recently 'Sophie: A Murder in West Cork'. It includes interviews with many of the people involved in the case, including interviews with Ian Bailey, the suspect. Which if he is actually a sociopath who glorifies in the attention, as some allege, he will have been given exactly the attention he craves by the film-makers.

[MrBarnett]

I hadn't heard of this, so I followed the link and read the article. Did this Bailey guy ever explain his scratches and strange behavior following the murder?

He claims he got the scratches while climbing a pine tree to saw the top off to use as a Christmas tree. His ‘confessions’ he says were attempts at black humour.

[MrBarnett]

Netflix have recently released one of their true crime documentary series on the case recently 'Sophie: A Murder in West Cork'. It includes interviews with many of the people involved in the case, including interviews with Ian Bailey, the suspect. Which if he is actually a sociopath who glorifies in the attention, as some allege, he will have been given exactly the attention he craves by the film-makers.

Yes, there’s also a 5-part Sky documentary by Jim Sheridan.

https://www.sky.com/watch/murder-at-the-cottage

Perhaps the weirdest aspect is the witness who claimed she saw Bailey following the victim outside her shop on the day of the murder and saw him again near the murder scene in the early hours of the next morning. After several years, she recanted her statement, claiming the police had encouraged her to ID Bailey. She went on to identify the man she had seen as someone from Paris with connections to STdP.

[MrBarnett]

STdP received 50 blows from a rock and was finished off by a concrete block being dropped on her head. A pretty grisly death, the police and the priest who attended the scene were clearly deeply affected by the sight of the body.

Bailey comes across as a very unpleasant individual. His partner of almost 30 years, who suffered domestic violence at his hands, has finally plucked up the courage to turn him out of her house. He is now apparently looking for a new partner via an online dating site.

[seanr]

Yes, there’s also a 5-part Sky documentary by Jim Sheridan.

https://www.sky.com/watch/murder-at-the-cottage

Perhaps the weirdest aspect is the witness who claimed she saw Bailey following the victim outside her shop on the day of the murder and saw him again near the murder scene in the early hours of the next morning. After several years, she recanted her statement, claiming the police had encouraged her to ID Bailey. She went on to identify the man she had seen as someone from Paris with connections to STdP.

At one time, she did claim Bailey had intimidated her and spoke of fears of repercussions of testifying against him. It's claimed she has also attempted to sell her story. Her motivations might be complicated/ conflicted.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/16/ireland

[MrBarnett]

At one time, she did claim Bailey had intimidated her and spoke of fears of repercussions of testifying against him. It's claimed she has also attempted to sell her story. Her motivations might be complicated/ conflicted.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/16/ireland

Yes, I think her change of heart came about when Bailey was suing the press(police?) for slandering him. Perhaps he offered her a share in any compensation he received. It was said in the Sheridan documentary that the Guards did a few favours for Marie Farrell after she had made her statement identifying Bailey.

[MrBarnett]

Marie Farrell claimed the man she had seen outside the shop in Schull and at Kealfadda Bridge was wearing a long black overcoat - a type of garment that Bailey was in the habit of wearing.

A few days after the murder, a friend of Bailey’s partner’s daughter went to stay at The Prairie, the house where Bailey and his partner lived. She claimed that she saw a black overcoat soaking in a bucket of water in the bathroom there.

[erobitha]

Netflix have recently released one of their true crime documentary series on the case recently 'Sophie: A Murder in West Cork'. It includes interviews with many of the people involved in the case, including interviews with Ian Bailey, the suspect. Which if he is actually a sociopath who glorifies in the attention, as some allege, he will have been given exactly the attention he craves by the film-makers.

Sociopath is not in the diagnostic handbook. It’s a made-up term by psychologists to make ‘psychopath’ sound better. There is no clinical difference.

Ian Bailey from the little I have seen presents as a psychopath.

[rjpalmer]

STdP received 50 blows from a rock and was finished off by a concrete block being dropped on her head. A pretty grisly death, the police and the priest who attended the scene were clearly deeply affected by the sight of the body.

Bailey comes across as a very unpleasant individual. His partner of almost 30 years, who suffered domestic violence at his hands, has finally plucked up the courage to turn him out of her house. He is now apparently looking for a new partner via an online dating site.

He should be convicted on his bad poetry alone.

But seriously, the recent bonfire outside Bailey's backdoor, that included rubber boots, clothing, and a mattress, was particularly damning.

Also the fact that he cancelled his appointments that morning, and referred to a murdered French woman--which he shouldn't have even known about.

His 'black humour' excuse for his tortured confessions is beyond lame.

We had a strong circumstantial murder case here in the U.S. against a New York millionaire named Robert Durst, suspected in three homicides.

The case twirled and twirled in limbo for many years until Durst stupidly agreed to be in a documentary. His guilt then became so apparent that he was subsequently arrested and charged with murder, and is currently on trial.

It will be interesting to see whether the two documentaries involving Bailey will lead to the same result. They made him look very bad indeed, and the Irish probably won't want to look like idiots.

I'm thinking that Bailey, if he is even capable of sweat, is sweating right now.


[P.S. I stupid wrote 'the Crown.' I've been living so much in the 19th Century these days, I still think of West Cork as part of the Union!]

[erobitha]

I watched the Netflix series on the crime, and I'm halfway through Jim Sheridan's series.

Ian Bailey did this murder 100%. It has shown the inadequacies of our provincial police forces here, and I don't believe much has changed since. We still only have one state pathologist covering the whole of the Republic. It was the first murder in a hundred years in West Cork, and the local police had no clue how to handle a crime scene or optimally handled forensics. Dwyer also shot himself in the foot by meeting Bailey 'Man to Man' in private. Of course, Bailey would play the victim card. He's a narcissist! Everything the local police and the press did at that time played into his egotistical mindset, and he believed he was smarter than everyone else. Since then, he has played the victim card all the way through this. He thrives on attention. He basks in its glory.

He even described how she was killed in one of the early articles he wrote. He was the first reporter to print that she was not sexually assaulted. The sheer audacity of the man knows no bounds. The man's poetry is vandalism against art itself.

To paraphrase Stephen Morrissey, "Oh, I didn't realise that you wrote poetry. I didn't realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry, Mr Bailey."

The du Plantier's have to take it out of Ireland's hands and pursue it through the EU legal system. As France is a major member state and the case resonated with the French public, I'm sure such a route would find favourable success for the family. I'm almost certain the EU can overrule Ireland on this matter.