Per Irish Times, the Parisian film producer would often retreat to her Irish holiday home, as it was so far removed from her celebrity life in France. Since the murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier 25 years ago, the grim saga has overshadowed the scenic coastal village of Schull on the Mizen Peninsula in west Cork. Ms Toscan du Plantiers former neighbour, Shirley Foster, who discovered the film producers body that fateful morning, says she wont be watching the documentaries but she has seen it all before media publicity leading to a surge in people coming to the house. Mum-of-one Sophie, 38, had bought her holiday home near idyllic Toormore on Irelands rocky West Cork coast in 1993. The investigation into du Plantier's death wasn't over, however. 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. He was tried in absentia in France after winning a legal battle against extradition. This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. She worked as a TV producer who was staying in Cork, Ireland at the time of her death. The announcement to her husband . 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. But all this goes to show is that Tolstoy is an idiot, since there is nothing ordinary about them. The renewed conversation about the murder may have had an impact as a new statement has now been given to Gardai about the infamous murder. ", "Sophie Toscan du Plantier, un drame sans fin", https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/sophie-toscan-du-plantiers-west-20962469, "Court hears Bailey wrote newspaper articles about murder inquiry", "A 23-year investigation: What next for the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder case? He was not extradited from Ireland following this conviction. [27], In June 2022 it was reported that the Garda Serious Crime Review Team would conduct "a full review" of the murder case.[28]. The daft.ie Estate Agent listing describes it as a, Traditional 2 bed farmhouse with outbuildings on c. 5 acre elevated mature plot. Locals have had to deal with the morbid fascination over the home as the case has stretched on over the last 25 years. But the director of public prosecutions was never satisfied that there was enough evidence to bring him to trial. Readers might prefer instead to visit more tourist-friendly areas such as Ballyrisode Beach which has a carpark or Crookhaven which has a pub and views or Barleycove Beach. [1] She was a French television producer [2] and lived in Paris with her husband and a son from her first marriage. However, Toscan du Plantier's scenic getaway is attracting more than a grieving son. Ian Bailey, with his solicitor, Frank Buttimer, leaving the High Court after his extradition hearing last year. The body of the glamorous 39-year-old TV producer was discovered near her remote Irish cottage with her skull crushed. Bailey said in 2021, "If I went to England, I would be immediately arrested on foot of the European Arrest Warrant.". 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 murder rate in Ireland was so low that there was only one state pathologist, and it took him 28 hours to reach the scene. Netflix. It appeared she had been trying to run away from her attacker the previous night. Bailey was known to local Garda from previous incidents of domestic violence towards his partner, which had resulted in her hospitalisation. And the person who is the suspect, he loves the publicity and thrives on it.. The 2-bedroom farmhouse style dwelling has gone on the market with an asking price of 250,000 (which is still less than what some watches sell for at auctions). ", "Ian Bailey had scratches on hands, court told", "Journalist says he was at home on night of murder", "Ian Bailey case: Marie Farrell walks out of High Court witness box", "Cork murder witness tried to sell her story", "Ian Bailey case: Marie Farrell evidence derailed action", "Association pour la Verite sur L'Assassinat de Sophie Toscan du Plantier ne Bouniol", "Bailey arrested as French authorities up extradition bid", "Ian Bailey's lawyers seek leave to appeal", "Ian Bailey wins appeal against extradition", "High Court endorses Ian Bailey European Arrest Warrant", "British man to face trial in France over 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier", "Long political silence over garda conduct during Ian Bailey case", "Ian Bailey cannot be extradited to France, High Court rules", "State will not appeal refusal to extradite Ian Bailey to France", "Ian Bailey could face 'new trial' if he agrees to come to France, Macron says", "Garda to review Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder case", "West Cork Is a Meticulous and Thoughtful True-Crime Podcast", "RT One to air The Du Plantier Case tonight", "Murder at the Cottage release date: Trailer, news and more", "New Sky Crime doc on murdered Sophie identifies three suspects", "Sophie: A Murder in West Cork. The 39-year-old was found. She had apparently run through briars and encountered barbed wire, possibly in a bid to escape. [10] Investigators could not reproduce those injuries while cutting down trees. Under French law, extraterritorial jurisdiction applies to the murder of a French citizen anywhere in the world. In December 1996 Sophie went to Toormore alone, intending to spend a few days there before returning to Paris for Christmas. 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It is understood a resident in west Cork came forward to tell Gardai that a person had told him about helping another person clean blood from clothing around the time of Sophie's murder. ', According to the Irish Mirror, a spokesperson for the Justice for Sophie campaign in France described the development as 'dynamite'. As the documentary progresses, it becomes a subtle but searching inquiry into grief, whose entire focus is the particularity of the lost person. Bailey denies knowing the victim. Any tourists who happens to be near the area should note there is nothing to actually see there apart from a small cross. 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. The case also drew media attention. Please, Jules Thomas owns two separate properties in Lissacaha. Cookies help us deliver our Services. But even after investigating the case for years, there is still no definite answer as to who committed this violent crime, or why. Bailey changed his story to say that he got up at 4am, wrote an article for about 30 minutes and returned to bed.[11]. These grabs from Google maps show just how sparsely populated and remote this area is. n the morning of 23 December 1996, Sophie Toscan du Plantier was found murdered in a lane near Schull, West Cork. Du Plantier, a French film producer, was found near her holiday . The French autopsy uncovered no new evidence, but a magistrate believed there was a case against Bailey. The second request was not to show the body of Sophie. It is this property he first rented from Jules when they first met as friends, and before their relationship developed. In 2004, she was threatened with legal action by Bailey to retract her statements. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. A Murder in West Cork: What Happened to Sophie Toscan du Plantier's Holiday Home? The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. There has been a new development in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder case, which could be significant going forward. Bailey was also tied to the crime by a witness who'd told police he'd been in the vicinity of du Plantier's farmhouse on the night of the murder. Opinions are divided about whether Bailey is the killer, or if someone else got away with murder. He attributed these to cutting down a Christmas tree on the morning of the 22nd. By Roger L. Kennedy 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. Its the perfect place to escape the confines of Pariss creative society, and thats just what Toscan du Plantier did. People were flabbergasted that she, a mother, would be there by herself so late in December. The location was so remote, the community so tight-knit, that such violence seemed incongruous. Given the time that elapsed before his arrival, it was impossible to pinpoint a time of death. . Thomas subsequently retracted that account and said Bailey had got out of bed about an hour after they had gone to bed at 10pm, and returned at 9am with a new injury to his forehead. Her body was left outdoors until the arrival of State Pathologist 28 hours later. The Studio is a fully-fledged house around 150m along the lane and is where Ian Bailey now lives. After his failed libel case, the judge stated that "Mr Bailey is a man who likes a certain amount of notoriety, that he likes perhaps to be in the limelight, that he likes a bit of self-publicity". Indeed, this is mentioned throughout the new documentaries, and led Gardai in 1996 to believe the killer must have been a local. So the mystery has clung on for 25 years. Im here 40 years the overwhelming sentiment and my grasp of it, such as it is, is that people feel sorry for him [Bailey]. He thinks most locals don't believe Bailey had anything to do with Ms Toscan du Plantier's murder and that he was treated unfairly by the Garda. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. A 14-year-old boy said that two months after the killing Bailey told him that he "smashed her brains in with a rock", though Bailey disputes this. Where is Sophie Tuscan du Plantier's house? Two days before Christmas in 1996, the battered body of 39-year-old French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier was discovered outside her isolated vacation home in Ireland. The executive producer is Simon Chinn, the double-Oscar-winning documentary producer behind Man on Wire and My Scientology Movie (which shares this projects director, John Dower). But its hard to play armchair detective and empathise at the same time. 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. [18] In March 2012, the appeal was granted by the Irish Supreme Court. Other forensic evidence may have been lost due to this delay. Netflix's 'poisonous propaganda' series is gripping", "Death in December: The story of Sophie Toscan du Plantier", "The Murder of Sophie: How I Hunted and Haunted the West Cork Killer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Sophie_Toscan_du_Plantier&oldid=1139420637, The murder was the subject of a 2018 true-crime podcast miniseries titled, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 01:38. Be the first to read breaking news, the best sports coverage & top entertainment stories. Sophie's House in relation to Bailey & Thomas The distance between the two properties is around 2.5km as the crow flies, but the two possible road routes are much further. Despite the passage of time, Sophie Toscan du Plantier's West Cork holiday cottage looks much as it did on that fateful evening in 1996. 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 . 3. The house is a large cottage with an outbuilding, like a garage, with a lean-to greenhouse shown extensively in the Sky documentary. Pic: Family Handout/PA Wire. Bailey, who willingly provided a hair sample, denied any involvement in the murder when he spoke with police. Photograph: Eric Luke, It's just taking away from the horror of what happened and how violent and brutal it was because it was a shockingly violent crime. The main suspect, Ian Bailey, was a journalist and poet, an extraordinary character, attention-seeking, narcissistic, grandiose, incredibly irritating to almost everyone and, as one neighbour describes, persistently violent to his partner. A local shop owner, who often has people stop in and ask for directions to the cottage, described the boost in tourism as "awful" because it takes away from the "horror of what happened and how brutal it was ", Another West Cork native added that many longtime members of the community are "embarrassed" by what happened in their beautiful area. It seems important whether the gate was open when Sophie arrived at it. 4 hours ago, by Eden Arielle Gordon 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. In fact, the case has never been solved. "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," Shirley Foster, Toscan du Plantier's former neighbor who found her body, told The Irish Times. 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. Speculation about other potential killers has ranged from a theory that a hitman tracked and killed du Plantier to the unlikely supposition that she was attacked by a stray horse. The "Stranger Things" Prequel Stage Play Dives Deep Into Vecna's Origin Story, Can't Wait For "Daisy Jones & The Six"? Though she had been killed in Ireland, French law sanctioned official inquiries into the death of French citizens abroad. Her fingers were broken, presumably from trying to defend herself. 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's blood was also found on the door of her cottage. A neighbour of the Toscan du Plantier home in West Cork has sold their house amid a surge in dark tourism to the area. 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. 2010), Jim Sheridans Murder At The Cottage: the search for justice for Sophie on NowTV.com, Netflixs Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, less than what some watches sell for at auctions, West Cork handmade biscuits brand to be sold inSuperValustores nationwide, Cork TD Holly Cairns to make maiden speech as leader of Social Democrats, New legislation will see credit unions grow as a key provider of community banking in Cork, BioMarin Shanbally lights up for Rare Disease Day, Top destinations in Europe for somebody looking for recreational gambling, WEST CORK TRAVEL: Green Party delivers new bus routes for Skibbereen, JOBS: Dominos pizza recruiting for new Wilton outlet. I slept at her house because her, her son and me, we were like a trio. The devastation her son describes of losing her in his teens is so hard to hear. In the 2003 libel trial, she gave evidence on behalf of the newspapers that the man she saw on the bridge was Bailey. 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. According to the Irish Mirror, a spokesperson for the Justice for Sophie campaign in France described the development as 'dynamite'. The victim becomes three-dimensional again, her character restored. Photograph: Collins Courts, I'm here 40 years the overwhelming sentiment and He explains: The house is a real link to her, to explain who she was. To mark the place of Toscan du Plantiers murder, there is a Celtic cross in the place where her body was found. 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. Enjoying spectacular panoramic views to the Fastnet Rock the property is c. 1 mile north of Toormore on the scenic Mizen Head peninsula.. 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. One reporter who covered du Plantier's murder for several publications was Ian Bailey, a British national who'd worked as a journalist in England before relocating to Cork in 1991, where he focused on poetry and gardening. Between 1975 and 1985, he was director-general of the Gaumont Film Company and from 1998, he was the president of Unifrance - an organisation . The commission concluded that while there was evidence Garda were "prepared to contemplate" altering or suppressing evidence that Bailey had not committed the murder, there was no evidence Garda had actually done so. She had visited Ireland several times as a teenager and bought the cottage at Toormore (Irish for great omen) in 1993 as a holiday retreat. It has a poor BER (Building Energy Rating) of G, which would be typical for an older property. The 39-year-old was bludgeoned to death at her holiday home in Ireland, with. On February 10, 1997, Bailey was arrested, as was his partner, but both were released without charges. Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered in west Cork 25 years ago. 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. [22] Bailey was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison on 31 May 2019.[23]. There is an antagonist in this story. She obviously arrived at the gate under her own free will. I wont be watching the Sky series because Im fed up with it all and I just think that chap Sheridan is just trying to make a name for himself.. 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. 08/08/2021. She was a regular visitor with her son. The house in Toormore still stands and is now owned by the filmmakers son, Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud. Now that it's been over two decades since her death, what happened to Toscan du Plantier's holiday home? She was married to fellow French film producer, Daniel Toscan du Plantier. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. She was having/had an affair, and had brought her lover to Ireland before. Citizens abroad murdered in West Cork and thrives on it murdered in West Cork years... 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