According to his attorney, a British man who was long accused of killing the wife of a well-known French film director in Ireland passed away at the age of 66.
In 2019, the Paris Criminal Court found TV producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier murdered in absentia, and Ian Bailey was given a 25-year prison sentence.
Former journalist Bailey has denied any role in the murder, which has been the focus of two TV documentaries, one of which is available on Netflix, as well as a well-liked podcast series.
In the West Cork region of Ireland, 39-year-old Toscan du Plantier was discovered dead from a blow to the head close to the gate of her holiday house at Toormore on December 23, 1996. On her body, the police discovered almost fifty wounds.
Due of the victim’s marriage to renowned French film producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier, the case received a lot of media attention.
Days after the murder, Bailey, who was assigned to write about the homicide for a major newspaper and lived nearby, was questioned by the local police. He was taken into custody twice: in January 1998 and again in February 1997.
Bailey was freed without being charged because there was insufficient forensic evidence to connect him to the crime site. He denied any role in the murder for many years.
When Bailey’s attorney provided a statement to the news agency PA Media on Sunday, word of his passing spread. Bailey had been under Frank Buttimer’s care since March 1997, and the doctor indicated Bailey had a serious cardiac ailment.
Bailey said he was wrongly arrested and a victim of police corruption in the years after his arrests. On those grounds, he lost a civil action in the High Court in 2015. Bailey’s arrest was handled improperly, according to a later investigation by the Irish policing authority, which decided in 2018 that there was no proof of police wrongdoing.
