Posted by DENIED JUSTICE
Major review of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier murder case launched – here’s other Irish deaths that remain unsolved
- 19:25, 30 Jun 2022
- Updated: 19:25, 30 Jun 2022
A MAJOR review of the investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier was confirmed by gardai this week.
The French film producer was found murdered at her holiday home at Toormore, near Schull, Co Cork, in December 1996.
The file into her death is more than 4,000 pages long and the case remains open.
However, following a review by Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime, the Garda Serious Crime Review Team will now conduct a full review of the case.
It follows two documentaries about her murder, on Sky and Netflix, and a hit podcast, called West Cork.
No-one has ever been charged with her murder in Ireland.
Everything we know about the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder 25 years on
Writer Ian Bailey has been arrested twice by Gardaí but has never been charged here, but he has been convicted in absentia by a French court and was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
But an Irish High Court rejected attempts to extradite him and he still maintains his innocence.
He is one of the many people who have called for this latest review so that his name can be cleared and told the Irish Sun this week that he will help with any review.
Sophie’s death remains one of the most high-profile unsolved murders in Ireland.
Here Nicola Bardon looks at some others who have never found justice.
RAONAID MURRAY
Dublin teenager Raonaid was less than 500 yards from her home when she was attacked and killed over 22 years ago.
The 17-year-old had left Scott’s Pub in Dun Laoghaire at 11.20pm September 3 1999 and had planned to change from her work clothes before meeting friends at a nearby nightclub.
However, she was found in a laneway after being stabbed shortly after 12.30am.
Last year Gardai said there was no ‘prime suspect’ and therefore they had no motive for her death.
EILEEN COSTELLO O’SHAUGHNESSY
The murder of Galway taxi driver Eileen remains unsolved almost 25 years later.
The 47-year-old was working on the night she died, and had collected her last fare at around 8pm, on November 30, 1997.
Her body was found in a laneway off the N17 at Tinker’s Lane the next morning, but it is believed she died two hours after her last customer.
There were sightings at the time of the taxi being stopped on the hard shoulder outside the town before turning onto Tinker’s Lane, while a number of people who were seen in the area of where her body was dumped have never come forward.
ANTOINETTE SMITH
Devoted mum-of-two Antoinette was returning from a David Bowie concert in Slane Castle on July 11, 1987, when she disappeared.
Her remains were not found until Easter Monday the following year, after she had been strangled and her body was brought to the Glendoo Mountain in Dublin and buried in a bog.
Her youngest daughter Rachel was just three at the time but has been campaigning to find the person ever since.
However, no-one has ever faced justice for the murder nearly 35 years ago.
KENNETH FEATHERSON
Kenneth was just 26 when he was murdered and dumped in the Dublin Mountains in 2009.
He had disappeared on September 22, 2009 and detectives believe he was stabbed to death by two men he knew in a row over money he had loaned them.
His partial remains were not found until January 31 the following year.
Gardai opened a cold case review into the murder in 2020, and his father Brian has appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
JEFFREY HANNAN
Limerick teenager Jeffrey Hannan was beaten to death with a hatchet more than 15 years ago.
The 19-year-old was at a bonfire near his home on Galtee Drive on November 22, 2007.
Gardai believe the unprovoked murder was witnessed by a number of other people and Jeffrey’s father has claimed Gardaí know who did it, but no-one has ever been convicted of his murder yet.
He has spent his life since campaigning to get justice for his son and has sought meetings with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and has met with Assistant Commissioner Michael Finn, but no movement has been made in the case.
JOE DEACY
Joe, 21, was on holiday in Ireland when he was brutally killed outside a friend’s house in which he had been staying at Gortnasillagh, near Swinford, Mayo.
The young man was found dead on August 12, 2017, with his cause of death confirmed as “blunt force trauma to the head.
Who Watches the Watchers? 