English journalist Ian Bailey has once again denied any involvement in French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier's death and speculated that the person who killed the 39-year-old mother of one in west Cork almost 25 years ago is now dead.
Mr Bailey (64) told Colette Fitzpatrick on The Big Interview on Virgin Media One on Monday night he knows that Ms Toscan du Plantier's family including her son, Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud (40), believe he is the killer but that they are mistaken in this belief.
Mr Bailey, who was twice arrested but never charged in the Republic in connection with the killing, said he is still “hoping and praying that the truth will come out”.
Ms Toscan du Plantier was killed at her holiday home near Toormore in west Cork in December 1996.
Mr Bailey, who was convicted of murder in absentia in 2019 in France, told Fitzpatrick, "I have my own theory that the killer is actually dead".
Earlier this month, Mr Baudey-Vignaud appeared on RTÉ One's Late Late Show and issued an appeal to anyone who has any information about the killing to contact either himself or gardaí, who have never closed the file on the case.
Mr Bailey, who admitted that the case had consumed him for 25 years and at times led to some “really really low dark periods”, said he watched Mr Baudey-Vignaud on the Late Late Show and believed his appeal, which he found “very sad”, was directed at him.
