‘The truth’s important when we know justice we may solve sorrow’
Uncle of Sophie de Plantier appeal Hopes to solve murder mystery
SOPHIE Toscan du Plantier’s uncle made a poignant visit to her former home, where she was brutally murdered.
Jean-pierre Gazeau lit a candle at the cross which marks the spot in West Cork where his niece’s body was discovered in December 1996.
Mr Gazeau also took part in a special memorial concert which took place in the Harbour Hotel in Schull, Co Cork, in memory of the murdered French filmmaker.
Ian Bailey, a former suspect in the case, was not at the event.
Filmmaker Jim Sheridan, who produced a documentary on the case, and Jules Thomas, Ian Bailey’s ex-partner, were among those paying tribute at the concert on Friday evening.
Ms Toscan du Plantier’s son Pierre-louis Baudey-vignaud, 39, could not attend the event because he had been re-traumatised by the surge of international interest in the case. Lighting a candle in the
victim’s memory, Mr Gazeau said it is vitally important the murder is solved.
He said: “We still have so much mystery. Even the place is full of mystery… it’s full of questions that are not answered.
“We are strongly expecting definite answers. The loss of a daughter, the loss of someone who was very much loved is still there, but when we know the truth… when we know justice, we solve to a certain extent the sorrow.
“If there are still people who know something or some event then I think it’s very important to contact gardai to tell them what they know.
“It is very important for the truth to be known. What happened here almost 26 years ago? What exactly happened? It’s very important to know the truth.”
At the concert, Mr Gazeau said Sophie’s son was delighted the event was keeping his mother’s memory alive.
He added: “He is, of course, very pleased at this concert taking place in Schull in his mother’s memory and we as a family have a very strong willingness to participate. But he was too exposed for the last two or three years. He gave a lot of interviews in those moments, when there were big TV documentaries and new interest around the world.
“He was depressed for a while outside those events, because he was brought back into what happened. He cannot overexpose himself emotionally too often.”
Mr Gazeau also brought messages from Ms du Plantier’s parents, Georges Buoniol, 96, and his wife Marguerite, 91, thanking the local community for its support.
The victim’s father, Georges, sent a single sentence: “Sophie very much wanted to be Irish.”
Separately, the Justice for Sophie campaign released a series of poignant home videos of the murdered filmmaker.
A French court convicted Ian Bailey, 65, in his absence, of Sophie’s murder but he has long protested his innocence and his solicitor has claimed those proceedings were a farce.
Extradition has been refused by the Irish courts.
What happened here almost 26 years ago? JEAN-PIERRE GAZEAU UNCLE OF SOPHIE