Hi Paul, I read all of Phil Mather’s posts and agree he is an expert or actually THE expert on this crime. His knowledge is extraordinary. I was surprised to read that there were explicit photos of the crime scene on Reddit as I haven’t seen any. There’s only one that I can see that has the body in it and most of it is blocked out. Have I missed them, not that I particularly want to see explicit photos but your comment made me wonder if I’ve missed a whole swathe of stuff on Reddit.
The briars evidence is compelling and points to a very sober, careful and deliberate killer, changing the narrative of someone in a drunken rage. I think the cold case review needs to employ Mr Mather if they want to solve this crime but I don’t think he’s optimistic that it will ever be solved.
I'm new to the app so only learning to navigate. Is there any links to interviews with Sophie's neighbours? Alfie & Shirley..im particularly interested in what Shirley looked like any photos?. Also the Richardsons?
Hi Naomi it's so great to see you. The Richardsons were away so were not witnesses. I've never seen anyone talk about them on any documentaries. There's a YouTube video of Shirley in French. Let me look.
If Shirley found Sophie I'd imagine the first thing she would do is turn her over if she was lying face down? Is it possible herself & Alfie cut the briars? Not realising they were disturbing the crime scene?
Thank you yes it's very logical. The explanation given is that Shirley was so shocked and surprised that she acted on instinct and ran straight back home, leaving the car door open and engine running.
Interesting article on the briars In my opinion it seems unlikely that the killer cut the briars. Did the police take samples of the briars especially if they had blood on them . ? Can you check if they did take briar cuttings.?
The Gards did take briar cuttings but this research shows that the cut briars can be seen in the crime scene photos before the Gards cut them so they had to have been cut by the killer. Nothing else fits.
The Reddit Thread Murder At the Cottage (to which I believe Phil Mathers and Kerry Muston frequently contribute) are well worth reading. I came across them when I was putting the finishing touches to my book "The Blow-In: Ian Bailey's fight to clear his name" and I included it in the "Recommended Research" section of the book. Phil Mathers has clearly done a great deal of forensic research though he stops short of actually suggesting who the killer was. Some of the contributors on that thread seem to have gone down the rabbit-hole with theories that Sophie was killed by a police detective, an hitman or a semi-destitute crazy local musician (all would have had to go out of their way to reach the cottage clean up after themselves and coerce many disparate cohorts of people to cover up for them for three decades).
We know you favour Alfie lol. I really want to believe. It fits Occam's razor. But come on he was very old and some say frail. Help me see it your way!
I don't believe he was frail. Also he was the only person with motive and opportunity to kill Sophie and clean himself up quickly (indeed he could easily have hidden the weapon and thrown his bloody clothes into the load of rubbish his girlfriend was taking to the dump that morning without arousing even her suspicion). He would also have had ample time to cut the brambles to extricate Sophie's corpse and move her to the gateway where Shirley would find her. On top of all that, as another commentator has pointed our here, the evidence of the cut brambles suggests that this crime was committed by a calm person. And sensible men in their sixties tend to be calm (if for no other reason than that they need to avoid a racing heartbeat).
Hi Paul, I read all of Phil Mather’s posts and agree he is an expert or actually THE expert on this crime. His knowledge is extraordinary. I was surprised to read that there were explicit photos of the crime scene on Reddit as I haven’t seen any. There’s only one that I can see that has the body in it and most of it is blocked out. Have I missed them, not that I particularly want to see explicit photos but your comment made me wonder if I’ve missed a whole swathe of stuff on Reddit.
The briars evidence is compelling and points to a very sober, careful and deliberate killer, changing the narrative of someone in a drunken rage. I think the cold case review needs to employ Mr Mather if they want to solve this crime but I don’t think he’s optimistic that it will ever be solved.
There's a lot of stuff that's going around that isn't on Reddit mercifully. It's about as horrible as anyone can imagine.
I'm new to the app so only learning to navigate. Is there any links to interviews with Sophie's neighbours? Alfie & Shirley..im particularly interested in what Shirley looked like any photos?. Also the Richardsons?
https://youtu.be/UxVfe-t_rc0?si=lJz7DDMZqfptIvKd
Shirley is 2 minutes in speaking English
Hi Naomi it's so great to see you. The Richardsons were away so were not witnesses. I've never seen anyone talk about them on any documentaries. There's a YouTube video of Shirley in French. Let me look.
If Shirley found Sophie I'd imagine the first thing she would do is turn her over if she was lying face down? Is it possible herself & Alfie cut the briars? Not realising they were disturbing the crime scene?
Thank you yes it's very logical. The explanation given is that Shirley was so shocked and surprised that she acted on instinct and ran straight back home, leaving the car door open and engine running.
I agree with Kerry Muston. I also believe this points to the neighbour, Alfie Lyons - and no one else.
Interesting article on the briars In my opinion it seems unlikely that the killer cut the briars. Did the police take samples of the briars especially if they had blood on them . ? Can you check if they did take briar cuttings.?
The Gards did take briar cuttings but this research shows that the cut briars can be seen in the crime scene photos before the Gards cut them so they had to have been cut by the killer. Nothing else fits.
Thanks for that
It does look that way.
The Reddit Thread Murder At the Cottage (to which I believe Phil Mathers and Kerry Muston frequently contribute) are well worth reading. I came across them when I was putting the finishing touches to my book "The Blow-In: Ian Bailey's fight to clear his name" and I included it in the "Recommended Research" section of the book. Phil Mathers has clearly done a great deal of forensic research though he stops short of actually suggesting who the killer was. Some of the contributors on that thread seem to have gone down the rabbit-hole with theories that Sophie was killed by a police detective, an hitman or a semi-destitute crazy local musician (all would have had to go out of their way to reach the cottage clean up after themselves and coerce many disparate cohorts of people to cover up for them for three decades).
We know you favour Alfie lol. I really want to believe. It fits Occam's razor. But come on he was very old and some say frail. Help me see it your way!
I don't believe he was frail. Also he was the only person with motive and opportunity to kill Sophie and clean himself up quickly (indeed he could easily have hidden the weapon and thrown his bloody clothes into the load of rubbish his girlfriend was taking to the dump that morning without arousing even her suspicion). He would also have had ample time to cut the brambles to extricate Sophie's corpse and move her to the gateway where Shirley would find her. On top of all that, as another commentator has pointed our here, the evidence of the cut brambles suggests that this crime was committed by a calm person. And sensible men in their sixties tend to be calm (if for no other reason than that they need to avoid a racing heartbeat).
Ok this is great. I'm gradually working my way through the podcast planning. Would be great to talk about Alfie properly.
Yes we could do a podcast. Alfie needs to be dragged kicking and screaming from the Other Side
I will be in touch!