Explosive DNA revelation in Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder riddle as Ian Bailey’s sister admits ‘real lead’ hope

MURDER-accused Ian Bailey gave a new DNA sample to Gardai in the months before he died, we can reveal.

The prime suspect in the killing of French beauty Sophie Toscan du Plantier knew “he was seriously ill” and wanted to make sure authorities had an updated genetic sample.

He had given his DNA to Gardai years previously following his first arrest after the 39-year-old’s murder on December 23, 1996.

The explosive revelation was made by Bailey’s only sibling, his sister Kay Reynolds, as Gardai conduct a worldwide DNA search to identify a tiny blood sample found on Sophie’s boot on the night she died.

Detectives are now hoping that by discovering whose blood it actually is they might make major inroads into finally identifying the killer.

A relieved Kay last night welcomed the new move and said if the sample found was Ian’s she would have been told by now.

She told The Irish Sun on Sunday: “The Gardai have had Ian’s DNA for a long time and I know that he voluntarily gave them a new sample shortly before he died.

“He knew he was seriously ill and wanted to ensure that no one could say there was a problem with his DNA after he was dead and gone.”

She added: “I have been calling on the Gardai to step up their efforts to find the person that this unidentified DNA belongs to.

“I am absolutely sure if the sample belonged to my brother they would have said it publicly by now.”

Kay feels that if “they identify the person who the blood belonged to they might identify the real killer”.

She said: “It would be remarkable for Sophie’s family to finally get the answers that they are looking for.

“I know they felt all along that Ian did it. They were convinced it was him but wouldn’t it be extraordinary if the case is finally solved and that they, as a family, get the truth and justice that they deserve?”

Kay added: “I never felt for one second that Ian was the killer. I know he was highly intelligent, could be very impatient, and didn’t suffer fools gladly but he wasn’t, for all his faults, capable of murdering anyone.

“He spent his final years saying he didn’t do it.”

Kay said she’s not “fed-up” waiting for the truth to come out because over the last 30 years since Sophie was battered to death, she never felt that her brother did it.

She told us: “My daughter, my son, my husband, we all believed he was not a murderer.

“Sophie’s death was such a gruesome crime that all of us felt whoever did it could not leave that horrific crime scene without leaving some DNA mark behind.

“We are hoping Gardai can identify this particular sample and it will give them a real lead in the case.

“I genuinely feel for Sophie’s family and we think about them all the time. It would be nice to see closure in this case for everyone and to see the killer finally being caught.”

She added: “My understanding is Ian gave his DNA again because he knew there are huge developments in modern forensic technology, and that this might eventually lead to a breakthrough in the murder hunt.

“You don’t voluntarily give up your DNA to the Gardai if you are guilty, do you?”

Kay, who lives in London, said she really misses her late brother.

He died in January 2024 from a massive heart attack while walking down the street near his home in Bandon, Co Cork.

She admitted: “I miss him like mad. He was really into his music and loved Leonard Cohen.

“We have a two-year-old grandniece who sang one of his favourite songs, Hallelujah, at a family function recently. Tears were running down my face, thinking of Ian.”

Forensic Science Ireland, as part of the Cold Case Review of Sophie’s murder, have shared the identified genetic material with DNA databases in other countries, but so far no match has been found.

But the whole process could take several weeks as cops still keep all avenues open in the investigation.

Bailey himself, in interviews before he died, believed Sophie was killed by someone local she knew who had contacts in the criminal world.

Another factor in the mystery is that an unknown man was seen following Sophie in Schull, West Cork, by postmistress Marie Farrell in the afternoon before the young French mum was killed.

Gardai arrested Bailey twice over the murder but never charged him because the DPP ruled there was a lack of evidence.

However, some local gardai and residents were convinced he was the murderer.

The French courts also took a similar view when they convicted Bailey of the murder in absentia in 2019 and sentenced him to 25 years in jail.

Bailey refused to go to Paris for the trial, which contained a lot of hearsay evidence that would never have been applicable in an Irish court of law.

Ireland refused to extradite him to France to serve his sentence and he spent the last few years of his life living here under a cloud, with the French conviction and sentence hanging over him.

Sophie’s family are convinced Bailey got away with murder, while he said the murder and the fallout ruined him.