HUNT FOR KILLER

Jim Sheridan believes ‘answer’ to Sophie’s murder ‘lies in France’ after identifying man seen following her before death

A new episode of Murder at the ­Cottage is expected to feature the French connection

• Published: 8:00, 28 Jan 2024

• John Kierans

DIRECTOR Jim Sheridan has been to France trying to hunt down the man he believes could be Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s killer.

He’s identified an individual who was seen following the French filmmaker in Schull, west Cork, on the last day the 39-year-old was seen alive.

Sophie’s husband, Daniel ­Toscan du Plantier, who died in 2001 aged 61, is understood to have known the man.

Oscar nominee Sheridan has always said he does not believe that self-confessed chief suspect Ian Bailey was the killer.

Englishman Bailey died aged 66 after a suspected heart attack on the streets of Bantry, Co Cork, last weekend.

Sheridan stated: “I never thought he did it. I believe the answer to the murder lies in France.”

The award-winning director has spent time in Paris following up his lead over the last two years.

A new episode of Sheridan’s Sky documentary, Murder at the ­Cottage, is expected to feature the French connection.

It will also include a death-bed interview with Bailey filmed in Bantry Hospital.

It may be a year or so before it is screened.

The interview took place at ­Bailey’s request after one of his previous heart attacks in case he didn’t survive.

But Bailey did not make any last-minute deathbed confession to the murder and continued to maintain his innocence.

Sheridan has already made a statement to the Gardai about the man who was seen following Sophie on December 22, 1996, and gave them a name.

Her battered body was found in a lane 100 yards from her holiday home the following morning.

However it is not known whether the Garda cold case team have been to France yet to follow up the possible new line.

50 suspects

Cops originally had more than 50 suspects in the first few weeks of the probe into Sophie’s killing.

These included a local pervert and peeping Tom who had nicked women’s underwear off people’s clotheslines, a creep who used to break into Sophie’s house to take baths, and a German man who lived near her and took his own life years later after leaving a suicide note stating he had done something terrible in his life.

There was also an individual who lived locally with a ­history of dabbling in the drugs trade.

He is believed to have had a number of rows with Sophie and was known to grow weed on his land.

The man was interviewed by officers but soon eliminated from their enquiries.

Mystery man

Bailey regularly name-checked this man as the killer, or a hitman from France that her husband had hired.

Gardai are still convinced that Sophie was murdered by someone she knew and they have yet to look seriously at anybody apart from Bailey.

A source said: “He was and still is our main suspect.

“The investigation will continue despite his death and let’s see if any new information emerges.

“We will do everything in our power to get the answers that Sophie’s family deserve.”

Detectives raided Bailey’s flat in Bantry on Friday.

Items removed

They removed his phone, computer and various ­notebooks and documents in their hunt for clues.

Gardai were hoping to find a confession.

Bailey had been living in the flat in Glengarriff after separating from his partner of 30 years, Jules Thomas, in March 2021.

Bailey had been convicted of Sophie’s murder in his absence by a Paris court in May 2019, which imposed a 25-year sentence. Irish courts refused to extradite him.

Bailey always denied any involvement in Sophie’s death.

Her son, Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud, said his family is continuing efforts for “truth and justice”.

Earlier this week, he said: “An investigation is still under way in Ireland and we are confident that the discovery of new ­evidence, the hearing of new witnesses, and the revelation of possible ­complicity will enable Irish police to close the case, finally, 27 years after my mother’s murder.”