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Murder at the Cottage: The Search for Justice for Sophie is our new true-crime obsession 

Are you a fan of true crime? 


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Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
April 19, 2021
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Sky Crime and NOW have released their first trailer for Murder at the Cottage: The Search for Justice for Sophie, and it looks seriously good. The true-crime documentary will look at the unsolved case of Sophie Toscan du Plantier who was murdered at her holiday home in 1996. 

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The five-part series will be narrated and directed by Oscar-nominee Jim Sheridan, and will look at the 25-year-old mystery in West Cork - and just how it is still unsolved. Sophie's family and the prime suspect in the case, Ian Bailey, have opened up about the case for the show. 

WATCH: Murder at the Cottage: The Search for Justice for Sophie trailer

So who was Sophie? In 1996, two days before Christmas, Sophie, the wife of French filmmaker Daniel Toscan du Plantier, was brutally murdered at her holiday cottage in Schull, West Cork. She was 39 at the time of her death. 

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The documentary synopsis read: "The murder rocked the quiet, Irish town and 24 years later, the case remains a mystery. The key suspect, English journalist Ian Bailey – the first reporter on the scene – was quickly arrested by local police following eye-witness reports, yet was never found guilty in Ireland, owing to a lack of reliable evidence. 

murder cottage

Will you be watching the true crime show?

"Despite this, Bailey was found guilty in absentia by the French courts in 2019 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Having successfully fought repeated extradition requests from the French authorities, Bailey still resides in West Cork and maintains his innocence to this day." 

The series is coming soon to Sky Crime and NOW, but if you want to find out more about the case, the murder was featured in the true-crime podcast West Cork back in 2018. 

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