Death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier up for cold case review

A PRELIMINARY review of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier will help Garda Commissioner Drew Harris decide if it will be investigated by the garda cold case review team.

According to Chief Superintendent Con Cadogan, the preliminary examination of the historic case is being carried out for a number of months, before a report is issued to Commissioner Harris.

The French woman’s body was found battered to death near her holiday home at Toormore near Schull in December 1996.

English journalist Ian Bailey 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 here.

Bailey wrote to Garda Commissioner

In May, Mr Bailey wrote to Commissioner Harris seeking a fresh garda investigation into the murder. He wrote that being linked to the murder “robbed me of my career, any reasonable legitimate expectations”. He also wrote that it had “most recently lead to the breakdown of my 30 year relationship” with his former partner Jules Thomas.

Earlier this year, the murder was examined in two docu-series on Netflix and Sky Crime. The programmes raised fresh interest in the case, with visitors to west Cork including Schull and Goleen in their itinerary, to incorporate a stop in Toormore at the house where 39-year-old Sophie was murdered.