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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Clare McCarthy

Gardai in new appeal to anyone who spoke to Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in days before she was brutally killed

Gardai in Cork have made a fresh appeal to anyone who spoke to Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in the days before she was killed in 1996.

They believe there are people with key information on the French filmmaker's movements and her murder who haven't yet spoken to Gardai.

They have urged these people to come forward with any details of their interaction with Sophie from the day she arrived in Ireland, December 20, 1996, to the day her body was found brutally murdered 100 yards from her holiday home on the morning of December 23, 1996.

At a media briefing in the West Cork village of Schull today, officers gave a dramatic update on the investigation that they said was very much still "open and active" - with new information coming in from previously untapped sources.

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They confirm at the press briefing that they have already talked to new witnesses in the UK and France - and have more to speak to. And they renewed their appeal for all information available from witnesses closer to home in West Cork.

Superintendent Joseph Moore of Bantry Garda Station said: "I appeal to people who have information relative to Sophie’s murder not to assume we know and/or that it has limited value. Let us make that decision. I cannot reiterate that enough."

On 20 December 1996, Sophie arrived in Ireland from France, travelling first into Dublin Airport and then on to Cork Airport, where she arrived at 2.30pm.

She hired a silver Ford Fiesta, with the registration 96-C-14459, and drove to the Mizen Peninsula.

Superintendent Moore made the following public appeal for information today, saying: "I want to speak to any person who met, spoke with or had any interaction with Sophie from when she arrived in Ireland (both at Dublin and at Cork Airport) on the 20 December 1996 until Sophie’s body was discovered at 10am on the morning of the 23rd December 1996.

"I want to speak with any person who was in the Toormore area of County Cork between 20th December and 23rd December 1996, in particular anyone who was driving on the R591 or R592. If you haven’t spoken to Gardaí already, please make contact, we need to talk to you.

"In particular I want to establish the movements of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier between 4.30pm on the 22nd of December 1996 and when her body was discovered on the morning of the 23rd of December 1996 at 10am.

"Any person who has knowledge of this period of time must come to An Garda Siochana and let us know exactly what happened at the home and grounds where Sophie lived during those hours on those dates."

Gardai said on Monday that they believe there are people with key information on Sophie's movements and her murder who haven't yet spoken to Gardai.

An undated picture taken in the French southern village of Combret, shows Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a French woman who was murdered in West Cork in 1996 (PATRICK ZIMMERMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
Sophie Toscan du Plantier (Family Handout/PA Wire)

Speaking today, Superintendent Moore said: "I believe that there are still persons, who have information on Sophie’s murder and who haven’t yet spoken to Gardaí, or may have spoken to Gardaí but were not in a position to tell everything that they know.

"I am appealing to those persons, 26 years later, to please come forward and speak to the investigation team."

The briefing comes just days ahead of the 26th anniversary of her death, and 6 months after it was announced that a Serious Crime Review team would be looking into the case and passing recommendations over to the investigating team in Cork.

Gardai have been tracking down everyone she was in contact with during her time in West Cork, in the hope that it may lead to the 39-year-old's killer being found.

The cold case team had been building profiles for everyone seen near her holiday home in Toormore, in the final years before the 1996 murder.

Anyone with information in relation to the murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier can come forward to either the investigation team at Bantry Garda Station at 02720860, your local Garda Station or the Garda Confidential telephone line 1800 666 111.

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