A neighbour who found the body of tragic Sophie Toscan du Plantier has put her West Cork home on the market. The Studio is a fully-fledged house around 150m along the lane and is where Ian Bailey now lives. So I expect it will be the same now with people coming up the driveway on foot of these documentaries., The house belonging to Sophie du Plantier and the cross which marks the spot where she was murdered. Bailey was known to local Garda from previous incidents of domestic violence towards his partner, which had resulted in her hospitalisation. [13] In 2005, she reported being intimidated by Bailey in her shop. Its creators discuss how they fused intrigue with empathy. Du Plantier had visited Ireland several times as a teenager, and in 1993, she decided to buy a holiday home in Schull, near Toormore. . Sophie was found bludgeoned to death outside her holiday cottage near Schull, County Cork, in December 1996 - two days before Christmas. Police were on the lookout for people with scratches and soon noticed that Bailey had such injuries on his hands. [24] Later that same month, the Irish State decided not to appeal the High Court's finding,[25] effectively ending all attempts to extradite Bailey. Opinions are divided about whether Bailey is the killer, or if someone else got away with murder. The story of her death has haunted Schull, which was otherwise known for its welcoming attitude toward people from all walks of life. I just think the good, decent people of Ireland want somebody to be charged they want the murderer to be found and some rest for Sophies elderly parents and her poor family; people just want to see it finally sorted for their sake.. Her husband got remarried in France, on the same day her family erected the stone cross memorial that stands at her place of death in Cork. Sophie Turners Joan Charts The Rise Of A Famous British Jewel Thief, Morgan Doughty Filed A Lawsuit Against The Murdaugh Family, Heres How To Watch The Alex Murdaugh Trial Live, Alex Murdaugh Faces Life In Prison For Allegedly Killing His Wife & Son. She called the station from her house to say she would not come forward, the call was traced and she was subsequently identified. [3] She arrived alone in Ireland on 20 December 1996, with plans to return to Paris for Christmas. France was hoping to secure an extradition from Ireland on the basis of this sentence but on October 12, 2020, Ireland's High Court ruled that Bailey could not be extradited. But many of the residents of West Cork, who desperately want to forget about the violent incident, aren't so welcoming to these particular tourists. ', According to the Irish Mirror, a spokesperson for the Justice for Sophie campaign in France described the development as 'dynamite'. He had pressed for a cold case review when he met senior officers in west. I think if people want to pay attention to the murder, they will but if they dont, they just really turn off because its too traumatic for them, she said. In 2001, he was convicted of assault in Skibbereen District Court. Many wonder what happened to Toscan du Plantier's beloved cottage, the place where the 39-year-old was supposed to be enjoying a holiday before her life was cut abruptly short. Option 1: Gate Open. The person who gave the statement earlier this week spoke to Gardai before about the investigation and on this occasion spoke to officers at Bantry Garda Station at length about the 'confession' made to him about the bloody clothes. As Netflixs new documentary, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork is due to be released this week, there no doubt will be renewed interest in the sleepy village of Schull. Indeed, this is mentioned throughout the new documentaries, and led Gardai in 1996 to believe the killer must have been a local. [18] In March 2012, the appeal was granted by the Irish Supreme Court. Although it has been 25 years since Mrs Toscan du Plantier was killed, Gardai continue to investigate. The man seen by Marie Farrell was walking west from Kealfadda bridge, towards Goleen, and away from Sophies cottage and the Bailey / Thomas house. Photograph: Eric Luke . An Irish ghost story about a mysterious lady in white haunts the famous murder case of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, the subject of Netflix's new true-crime docuseries Sophie: A Murder in West Cork.. He denies telling Bailey the woman was French as he did not know this information at that stage. But all this goes to show is that Tolstoy is an idiot, since there is nothing ordinary about them. Two days before Christmas 1996, Sophie Toscan du Plantier's body was discovered by a neighbour in an isolated laneway beside the house her husband, Daniel, had bought her in west Cork. The case also drew media attention. Please select the topics you're interested in: Would you like to turn on POPSUGAR desktop notifications to get breaking news ASAP? On 11 January 1997, a woman who lived in Schull rang the Garda from a payphone using an alias to state she saw a man on Kealfadda Bridge at 3am on the night of the murder. No forensic evidence was found to tie him to the murder. Bloodstains were present on a gate as well as a nearby piece of slate and a concrete block. Pic: REX/Shutterstock. Partly because Sophie was really beautiful. In their initial statements to Garda, they both said Bailey had been in bed all night long. [6] The facial injuries were so severe that her neighbour could not formally identify her. Picture taken on December 24, 1996, of a policeman standing in a road leading to the house that belongs to Sophie and Daniel Toscan du Plantier. As we learn in the docuseries, Toscan du Plantier worked as a film producer in France, where she often crossed paths with the French elite. The Irish Supreme Court ruled against extradition in 2012, and again refused to extradite Bailey in 2017. Netflix's latest documentary Sophie: A Murder in West Cork looks at the murder of French television producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier. He was tried in absentia in France after winning a legal battle against extradition. It seems important whether the gate was open when Sophie arrived at it. Previously the location of the Tuscan du Plantier house was extremely difficult to find. Her body was left outdoors until the arrival of State Pathologist 28 hours later. The autopsy revealed that du Plantier had 50 injuries. "The house in Ireland, for me, is the only place where I would go with my mother and where I still go today," Baudey-Vignaud explained in the docuseries. And Daniel, who spoke to du Plantier on the phone a short time before the attack, was in France. The force has made it clear in recent times that the case is not a cold case and it remains an active investigation. The house in Toormore still stands and is now owned by the filmmakers son, Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud. It's like going to stay with her every time. She was not carried there. Ian Bailey, whom garda say remains a suspect for the murder and who was convicted in his absence and without legal representation at a trial in France in 2019 of the voluntary homicide of Ms Toscan du Plantier, has repeatedly denied any involvement in the killing. Eddie Cassidy. The cottage as documented in the award-winning Acast podcast, West Cork was decorated in a relaxed, minimalist manner. Sophie was born in Paris on July 28, 1957. But even after investigating the case for years, there is still no definite answer as to who committed this violent crime, or why. My wish was to give to Sophie a real place in the story, to have a balanced treatment between the main suspect and the victim. Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered in west Cork 25 years ago. After she passed, he decided to keep the house, and it remains largely as it was when she was alive. When asked about the new statement, a Garda spokesperson told extra.ie: 'An Garda Sochna does not comment on ongoing investigations. This week the pretty coastal village was abuzz as its brightly painted cafes and pubs shook off a year or more of Covid restrictions. On this point, the DPP report is mistaken because it wrongly believes The Studio to be a building adjacent to the main Thomas house on the same plot. Sophie was murdered after her head was brutally bashed with a concrete block on her driveway, 100 yards from the front door of her holiday home near Schull on December 23, 1996. Sophie Toscan du Plantier was born in 1957 and lived in Paris with her parents Georges and Marguerite Bouniol, and brother, Bertrand Bouniol. my grasp of it, such as it is, is that people feel sorry A timber yard company has been fined 90,000 having pleaded guilty to three charges under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act following an incident in which a 53-year employee died in 2019. Gazeau, when he became involved in the film, had only three requests. 'This is a major new statement. Please, Jules Thomas owns two separate properties in Lissacaha. Sophie Toscan du Plantier. She worked as a TV producer who was staying in Cork, Ireland at the time of her death. It's a townland on the road from Schull to points West such as Goleen/Crookhaven/Barleycove. She obviously arrived at the gate under her own free will. [10] Investigators could not reproduce those injuries while cutting down trees. She was 39 years old and a regular visitor to Ireland from Paris, where she lived with her husband, a celebrated film-maker, and 13-year-old son, Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud. 5 hours ago, by Alexis Jones Another woman, who also declined to be named, had come to live in Schull relatively recently, and said she too had become familiar with the grim story. THE murdered Frenchwoman Sophie Toscan du Plantier was in the early stages of pregnancy at the time of her brutal death. " Sophie: A Murder in West Cork ," a new Netflix three-part, true-crime series revisits the brutal killing and the circumstances around 39-year-old Sophie Toscan du Plantier's death. Just months after Bailey's attack on Jules, Sophie the wife of a wealthy director of the Gaumont cinema chain was killed. Where is the West Cork house where Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered? [citation needed] A Garda Sochna Ombudsman Commission report concluded that while there was a lack of administration and management in the investigation, there was no evidence of high-level corruption. In a statement given to The Irish Times, Shirley Foster, the neighbor who discovered Toscan du Plantier's body, spoke out about the situation. In the Nineties,. As per Bustle, the home is now in the possession of Sophie's son Pierre-Louis Baudey, who is using the space to pay tribute to his late mother. There is no way anyone present in the main house could know anything of the actions of a person in the studio house. The most obvious and straightforward road route is over the top via Dunmanus, but there is a road route that goes via Kealfadda Bridge too. What Sophie Toscan Du Plantier's Life Was Really Like. Yet the constant stream of murder mystery tourists forces the disturbing incident to keep hanging "like a cloud over the town.". Who was she when she was a human being? [citation needed]. In order to get away from the hustle and bustle of that life, she found a remote cottage in the coastal village of Schull. While that was 25 years ago, there has been a sudden international resurgence of interest in the crime now, in Summer 2021, because of the release of two documentaries on competing media platforms; namely Jim Sheridans Murder At The Cottage: the search for justice for Sophie on NowTV.com, and Netflixs Sophie: A Murder in West Cork. Du Plantier's body, dressed in a T-shirt and leggings, was left outside until the pathologist arrived the next day. The two-bedroom home in Toormore had gone on the market with an asking . However, Toscan du Plantier's scenic getaway is attracting more than a grieving son. In the days following the murder, Bailey was noted to have multiple scratches to his forearms as well as an injury to his forehead. Bailey denied knowing du Plantier, saying he had only seen her while gardening for her neighbor, though this assertion was contradicted by others who said the two had been introduced. The region of West Cork in Ireland was shaken to its core on December 23, 1996 when one of its residents, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a French television producer, wife, and mother of one, was murdered at her isolated cottage. As new Netflix documentary Sophie: A Murder in West Cork details, the small town of Schull was rocked by the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier back in December 1996. As stated in the documentary, not only did he have a history of domestic violence, but he was also spotted near Sophie's cottage on December 23 and allegedly informed three people that he did, in fact, kill her (although he later claimed that to be a joke). The warrant sought to extradite Bailey to France to stand trial for the voluntary homicide of Sophie Toscan du Plantier and the High Court of Ireland endorsed the warrant. Shirley Forster, who made the horror discovery at the front gate of Sophie's house on . [22] Bailey was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison on 31 May 2019.[23]. Get the daily inside scoop right in your inbox. Sign up for Bustle UK's twice-weekly newsletter, featuring the latest must-watch TV, moving personal stories, and expert advice on the hottest viral buys. Though she had been killed in Ireland, French law sanctioned official inquiries into the death of French citizens abroad. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. But its hard to play armchair detective and empathise at the same time. These were the worst possible crime-scene circumstances: outdoors, in the middle of the road, when it takes 12 hours to get there and there is a community culture of staying quiet. Various true crime accounts have been produced: "Eoin Bailey" redirects here. A neighbour of the Toscan du Plantier home in West Cork has sold their house amid a surge in dark tourism to the area. Several witnesses reported being told by Bailey before noon that he was reporting on a murder of a French woman. And now you have the Sky and Netflix documentaries and we're all discussing it again. Its a townland on the road from Schull to points West such as Goleen/Crookhaven/Barleycove. We had people bringing their grannies and their small children to look at the cross marking where Sophie was found, and then some of them were cheeky enough to drive up to the house and peer in the windows that sort of thing. 7 hours ago, by Monica Sisavat By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Share your story: have you recently obtained an Irish passport for the first time? By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. I didnt want to be involved in a voyeuristic project. Enjoying spectacular panoramic views to the Fastnet Rock the property is c. 1 mile north of Toormore on the scenic Mizen Head peninsula.. Updated: 14:00, 29 Jun 2021 SOPHIE Toscan du Plantier was found murdered at a cottage in Cork in December 1996. No signs of sexual assault were found. We have no choice.. Bailey felt he'd been "set-up" by police. Du Plantier's family remain convinced of Bailey's guilt, but his conviction hasn't resolved the mystery surrounding du Plantier's death for everyone. A murder hadn't occurred locally for decades, meaning the police had no experience with this type of investigation. The landscape becomes a character it sounds like a cliche but it really does. That sheds its own light on Sophies idiosyncrasy: The view from her window in Toormore [an outcrop six miles west of Schull] is incredibly stark, it is just so isolated. ", by Sarah Wasilak It was expected there would be a swift resolution. The police tried to track du Plantier's movements from the time she'd flown into Cork Airport on her own on December 20, spoke to numerous witnesses and received anonymous tips on the phone. [27], In June 2022 it was reported that the Garda Serious Crime Review Team would conduct "a full review" of the murder case.[28]. Ive had people coming in to me wondering where the murder happened. A Murder in West Cork: What Happened to Sophie Toscan du Plantier's Holiday Home? But the director of public prosecutions was never satisfied that there was enough evidence to bring him to trial. , Awesome, Youre All Set! On 12 October 2020, the judge Paul Burns in Ireland's High Court ruled that Bailey could not be extradited. He found "laceration and swelling of the brain, fracture of the skull, and multiple blunt head injuries". July 1, 2021 by Stacey Nguyen Netflix's Sophie: A Murder in West Cork follows the tragic death of a French television producer named Sophie Toscan du Plantier. 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