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Sun, 21 Jan, 2024 – 17:24
Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s uncle has said the family “know” Ian Bailey, who died today, killed the French woman and said the Irish State must still probe her murder.
Jean Pierre Gazeau, who has campaigned for several years for justice for the murder of his niece, said that he hopes that Ian Bailey died peacefully.
Following the death of Ian Bailey on Sunday, Mr Gazeau told the Irish Examiner: “We will never get the truth from him now. We know he is a killer because the judge in France ruled it so, but it is not the same judgement in Ireland. The Irish State still has not solved the case.”
In May 2019, a trial in the absence of Ian Bailey got underway in Paris’s Cour d’Assizes, presided over by Judge Frederique Aline.
It found Mr Bailey guilty in his absence of the murder of the well known film producer and imposed a 25-year sentence on him.
However, over a year later, the Irish High Court ruled that Mr Bailey would not be surrendered to France following the issuing of a European Arrest Warrant for him.
Mr Gazeau said that on one level, his death shortly before his 67th birthday next Saturday is sad, adding:
I hope he died peacefully, as a human being. We are not in the spirit of vengeance. Our objective is for the truth to be told.
He continued: “We ask the Irish police to continue their investigation into Sophie’s murder. Ireland, after 27 years, still has not been able to reach a conclusion.
“In France, Bailey has been considered a killer since 2019. We wanted to hear the truth from Bailey. We are not in a position of vengeance at all.”
For many years following the 1996 murder, the family of Ms Toscan du Plantier marked her killing by travelling to the holiday home in Toormore where she died. The family still own the property, and her son Pierre Louis still visits.
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