Toscan du Plantier murder was ‘very solvable’ case but for Garda errors

The murder of French woman Sophie Toscan du Plantier in Co Cork was a “very solvable” case and would be solved if it occurred today, an experienced former Garda investigator has said.

Pat Marry, a retired detective inspector who led multiple successful murder inquiries, also believes it is still not too late to achieve some closure for the dead woman’s family and the community of Schull, where she was murdered in 1996.

However, he argued a completely new Garda investigation, with a handpicked team of detectives, should have been created to carry out a fresh investigation. It was unwise of the Garda to persist with “reviews” of the evidence gathered by previous investigators, he said.

During his time in the Garda, Mr Marry was centrally involved in bringing to justice Joe O’Reilly for the murder of his wife, Rachel, at their home in Naul, Co Dublin, in 2004. He was also a lead member of the investigation team that secured a murder conviction against Armagh man, Aaron Brady, for the 2013 gun murder of Det Adrian Donohoe in Bellurgan, Co Louth.

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Mr Marry also helped solve the murder of Irene White by Anthony Lambe in the kitchen of her home in Dundalk, Co Louth, in 2005, some 13 years after the killing. Mr Marry is due to publish a book about that case in May.

Mr Marry said the management of the Toscan du Plantier murder scene – which was not properly secured – proved very problematic. It could have contained much of the evidence required to solve the killing but became contaminated, including when Ian Bailey visited it in the guise of being a working journalist, only to later become the chief suspect.

“Every contact leaves a trace,” Mr Marry said of samples the killer would have left behind. “I’m a fully trained scenes of crime examiner and I’ve done serious crime scenes, and we’re always told every contact leaves a trace. There’s always something there, so just go and find it.”

Mr Marry pointed out the murder – in which rocks were used as weapons – had all the hallmarks of an unplanned so-called crime of passion. Due to the lack of planning, the killer would have made mistakes. He believed evidence the killer left behind would be found if the murder occurred today.

“It was a very solvable crime if it was handled properly in the first place,” he said.

While “identifying, preserving, collecting and examining” information and evidence – in a professional manner – was the key to any investigation, the likely evidence-rich scene in Schull, Co Cork, in December 1996 did not yield the results it should have, he said.

And once the shortcomings in the initial investigation became clear, he said a complete break from the history of the investigation should have been made.

“There should have been a whole new team picked,” he said. “Six, seven or eight detectives and a detective inspector who has a senior investigating officer’s course done. And then sit them down to start afresh from the beginning rather than doing reviews of old evidence.”

Garda sources have told The Irish Times an investigation file will be sent to the DPP for a final determination on the murder. This would centre on if there was sufficient evidence to charge Mr Bailey, who collapsed and died last weekend.

Mr Marry said while putting Mr Bailey on trial was now a lost possibility, he agreed that if the DPP ruled on a final case file, it may allow for closure. It may also help restore some of the confidence that had been lost in the Garda over the lack of progress in the case.

“It’s in our psyche, we like to know who did it,” Mr Marry said of high-profile unsolved crimes. “We want to draw a line under things and move on, that’s the way we are. It’s what the public want.”

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