CLOTHES and boots worn by the slain French film producer, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, have been sent for DNA analysis.
The news comes just two weeks before the first anniversary of the death of Ian Bailey, the self-confessed chief suspect in the case.
The FBI is to carry out improved DNA analysis – not just on the apparel that Sophie Toscan du Plantier was wearing when she was murdered near her holiday home at Toormore, near Schull, on December 23rd, 1996 – but also on stones from the crime scene.
In April 1997, then State pathologist Dr John Harbison reported that Sophie died from multiple injuries, including laceration of the brain and a fracture of the skull caused by blunt instruments, such as stones and a concrete block.
At the time, the only DNA bloodstains detected on the French woman’s white top, leggings and dressing gown, were her own, but modern testing methods may show that in fighting back, other DNA traces were left behind.
Over the last two years, a cold case review team has been going over every aspect of the case. Now, the FBI is being asked to use its technologically-advanced DNA testing methods in a bid to solve the 28-year-old murder case.
Ian Bailey, who was twice arrested and questioned but never charged, maintained his innocence up until the day he died, at the age of 66, on a street in Bantry on January 21st, 2024.
The Englishman collapsed at Barrack Street, a short distance from his apartment, and as Storm Isha coloured the sky overhead, a paramedic tended to the unresponsive figure on the damp ground.
The emergency first responder valiantly administered CPR until the National Ambulance Service arrived, but Ian Bailey never regained consciousness, and died of a suspected heart attack.
At the time, Sophie’s family, who are convinced of Ian Bailey’s guilt, despaired of ever getting justice. But with the launch, last September, of a new book by journalist Senan Molony, entitled Sophie – The Final Verdict, and Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s criticism of the handling of the case, the family expressed fresh hopes that there would be an inquiry into the investigation.
Before Christmas, the family also made an appeal to any person, or persons ‘concealing the truth’ about the murder, calling on them to speak out.
Jean-Pierre Gazeau, Sophie’s uncle, stressed the need for a meaningful investigation into all the circumstances of her death and the subsequent investigative and legal processes.
He said an inquiry is needed to allay continuing public concern, and to deliver closure for the family.
‘The case continues to be a source of considerable public disquiet,’ he told The Southern Star. ‘It is only right and proper that a public inquiry be held to establish for the family and the public the facts of both the crime and the investigation.’
