Tourists flocking to holiday home of murdered Sophie Toscan du Plantier in wake of high profile documentaries

THE uncle of murder victim Sophie Toscan du Plantier said he is not surprised that her west Cork holiday home has become a mecca for tourists in recent weeks.

Visitors to the west Cork area are including Schull and Goleen in their itinerary, to incorporate a stop in Toormore at the house where 39-year-old Sophie was murdered in December 1996.

In recent weeks, people have been taking selfies outside the house.

Jean Pierre Gazeau said such an interest in where Sophie spent holidays and where she was murdered was to be expected given the two recent high profile documentaries into the death, which are now streaming on Sky Crime and Netflix.

Mr Gazeau said: “It is difficult to judge because it is a logical consequence of the huge advertising of the story which has been launched by the documentaries. 

"We cannot stop this. People are eager to know more.” 

He added that it reminds him of how members of the public go to the site of the crash in which Princess Diana was killed and take selfies.

He also said the current publicity around Ian Bailey, the man convicted of Sophie’s murder at a trial in France, held in his absence, is also as a result of renewed interest in the case because of the documentaries.

He was found guilty of her murder, in his absence, at a trial in France in 2019. 

Last October, a third attempt by France to have him extradited in connection with the murder was rejected by the Irish High Court.

Mr Bailey has always denied any involvement in the murder. He was arrested twice as part of the murder investigation in Ireland but was never charged.

Mr Gazeau said: “What is most important is that the fact that maybe all this torrent of new events around the case can have a positive effect.”