Sophie: A Murder in West Cork has proved to be a Netflix hit – but who killed her?
When Sophie Toscan du Plantier was brutally murdered at her home in West Cork in December 1996 it didn’t take police long to zone in on their suspect.
A horrified neighbour discovered the 39-year-old French television producer’s body outside her holiday cottage.
What happened to Sophie?
Sophie was beaten to death, struck over 50 times with a stone slab.
Read more: Who is Ian Bailey and why is he a suspect?
The crime was unprecedented for a rural Irish village such as Schull and there was a limited list of potential perpetrators.
One man stood out to the Gardai because of his alleged inexplicably detailed knowledge of the crime.
British journalist Ian Bailey lived close by with his partner Jules Thomas.
His eccentric character coupled with articles he wrote which contained unreleased details very quickly placed the spotlight on him as the prime suspect.
Ian, 64, has maintained his plea of innocence throughout the past 25 years.
Evidence in favour of the vilified writer being Sophie’s murderer is circumstantial and questionable.
Unreliable witnesses, accusations of bribery, and lack of DNA or physical proof have all hindered the case against him.
So we have to ask the question if Ian wasn’t the killer, who else might have been?
Sophie: A Murder in West Cork: Karl Heinz Wolney
Officers investigating the murder have been accused of failing to probe all potential leads in the case. One example is German musician Karl Heinz Wolney.
I have done something terrible.
According to a 2001 DPP report, he and Sophie were having an affair.
Wolney had relocated to West Cork with his wife after the fall of the Berlin Wall and had played a gig at a local venue in Crookhaven on the night of the murder.
He had returned home alone and had no alibi. He committed suicide in February 1997 after allegedly telling a friend: “I have done something terrible.”
At the time of her death Karl denied knowing Sophie.
Bruno Carbonnet
Gardai quickly eliminated Bruno as a suspect.
Despite admitting he had felt hurt when Sophie abruptly ended their three-year relationship in 1993, the artist had a strong alibi.
When police travelled to France to interview Bruno they found a receipt which confirmed he was in Paris on the day of her death.
The man in the blue fiesta
Ian Bailey notably claimed that a blue Ford Fiesta was seen speeding away from the direction of her home on the morning Sophie’s body was discovered.
Investigating officers allegedly failed to pursue the report.
The witness said the car sped by them almost causing a crash at around 7am on the morning of December 23.
What’s interesting is a second witness also contacted the guards separately in January 1997 mentioning a blue fiesta.
The man claims he was working at a petrol station in Skibbereen, West Cork, on December 20 1996 and saw Sophie in the car with a mystery man. The sighting occurred just hours after she flew in to Ireland on December 20 – three days before she died.
The man claimed to the Irish Sunday Mirror: “There was someone in the car with her, a man. He was very tall, his head was touching the roof of the car. He was wearing an anorak that was turned up high so you couldn’t really see his face.
Read more: What happened to Sophie Toscan Du Plantier?
“She caught my attention straight away because her looks were so striking. She was tiny, a very small woman. I’m 110% sure it was Sophie I saw that day. I have no doubt about it. I think that it’s very important that the gardai look into this sighting again.”
Sophie: Murder in West Cork: ‘Peeping Tom’
Gardai questioned an unknown man from the Schull region of County Cork.
The suspect – referred to only as ”Peeping Tom” – was allegedly well known in the local area for his suspicious behaviour.
He reportedly enjoyed looking through the windows of residents around Schull.
He claimed he did not know Sophie in his interview, so Gardai didn’t take him seriously.
Sophie: A Murder In West Cork is on Netflix now.
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