Police have new information that allegedly shows self-confessed suspect Ian Bailey knew Sophie Toscan du Plantier before her murder – and allegedly even had lunch with her.
A new garda statement taken by detectives in recent weeks claims Mr Bailey admitted he was acquainted with Ms Toscan du Plantier but then allegedly added: “I don’t want the cops to know about it.”
A major re-investigation into all the facts and disputes in the case is looking into the area with progress on alleged encounters between the pair linked to Cape Clear Island, off the coast of south-west Cork, and elsewhere.
The re-investigation is said to have “marked” Guard developments in a number of areas, with advances in a number of areas.
Meanwhile, Ms Toscan du Plantier’s former lover, Bruno Carbonet, who lives in France, is being investigated over claims he and the slain French director dined at Mr Bailey’s home with his ex-partner Jules Thomas.
Mr Carbonnet, previously cleared by gardaí as a suspect, declined to comment Irish Independent this week on the specific allegation that he had dined in the company of Mr. Bailey and Mrs. Tuscan du Plantier.
He told Irish Independent: “As you should know, I have not made any (public) comments regarding this criminal case.”
Mr. Carbonet has not spoken about possible contacts by the Guard or the French police with him, but he has long since established his innocence through an iron-clad alibi and official records.
He was indisputably in Paris at the time of the brutal murder in Thurmore, near Shull, west Cork, on the night of December 22, 1996.
Mr Bailey has long maintained he never knew the victim before her brutal murder in December 1996, although he admits he may have seen her once through the kitchen window.
A former neighbor of the French woman, Alfie Lyons, gave a statement to police claiming Mr Bailey and Ms Toscan du Plantier were dating. At a libel trial in 2003, he said publicly that he was “90% sure” he had impersonated Mr Bailey and the murder victim. Mr. Lyons is dead.
His partner, Shirley Lyons, told the court at the time: “I don’t think you can identify anyone through a kitchen window. It is quite unclear. The sink is opposite the window.’
Ian Bailey. Photo: Mark Condren
Meanwhile, gardaí received reports of a festival in Cape Clear in 1995. In one, a witness said he recognized Mr Bailey, whom he knew, in an alleged conversation with a blonde woman, whom the witness later identified in the media as Ms Toscan du Plantier. reports of her murder.
There is also a separate report of an alleged encounter with the victim on the ferry to Cape Clear from Baltimore.
Mr Bailey is believed to have previously told others – including Yvonne Angerer, Anne Cahalan and Helen Callanan, who all gave statements to police – that he knew Ms Toscan du Plantier. He rejects these interpretations.
There are also claims that he was seen by witnesses in the main street of Schule, close to where Ms Toscan du Plantier was on Saturday 21 December 1996. Her battered body was found in the driveway of her holiday home the following morning.
Counterclaim of mistaken identity.
Mr Bailey has always vehemently insisted he is innocent of the crime, while his lawyer described a 2019 absentee trial in France that found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison as a “farce”. Irish courts refused to extradite him to France.
Meanwhile, key witnesses in west Cork are being sworn to secrecy amid growing signs a re-investigation by the gardaí is steadily gathering pace.
Local residents are now campaigning for action over Ireland’s most famous unsolved murder, with Taoiseach Mikel Martin invited to a ‘Concert for Sophie’ at the shul next month.
Mr. Martin is unable to attend due to a prior commitment.
In a statement made in February 1997, two months after the murder, local resident Bill Fuller told gardaí: “I also want to make one other point that I think is important.” What he said next was disputed in court by Mr Bailey.
“About three weeks after the murder, I was at the home of Jules Thomas in Prairie, Schull, Co Cork. This was before the arrest of Ian Bailey. Jules Thomas and Ian Bailey were there. Ian Bailey was wearing a woman’s skirt. I asked him why he wore a woman’s skirt. He said it helps him relax.”
Local residents are now campaigning for action over the notorious unsolved murder
Mr Fuller continued: “Ian Bailey spoke of a French woman and her French lover who had been murdered… (and) stated that the French woman and her French boyfriend (Bruno Carbone) had been at their house for dinner two years ago (1995). “It was the Saturday before Ian Bailey’s (40th) birthday,” which fell on Monday, January 27, 1997.
In recent months, Mr Fuller has given a wide-ranging new statement to the Guard.
Again, Mr. Bailey completely denies the allegations and has said under oath that no such conversation ever took place, while maintaining – as did Ms. Thomas – that individual claims by Mr. Fuller, the chef at Schull, are completely false.
Yet Mr. Fuller said Irish Independent that he had “always told the truth” and would do so in the future.
Meanwhile, the investigation is said to be particularly aided by the fact that in December 1996, Shula’s telephone exchange was, surprisingly for the time, switched to digital. “He was in a position to provide detailed billing information,” the statement, which is in the possession of gardaí, said.
This allowed for verification of witness claims that they allegedly received phone calls from the homes of the individuals concerned in the period after the murder, and sometimes for years afterwards. The investigation is ongoing.
Mr Bailey made a complaint to An Garda Síochána this week, alleging he was verbally abused by a man visiting Shul Market last Sunday.
He told his “friends, fans and followers” on social media: “I’m just sending a message that I will not tolerate abuse.”
An attempt was made in Irish Independent to contact Mr. Bailey and Mrs. Thomas.
