New judge in Sophie Toscan du Plantier case

A lawyer advising the family of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was killed near Schull in 1996, has welcomed the appointment of an experienced judge to head up the investigation taking place in France after the previous investigating judge was promoted.

Ms Toscan du Plantier (39), a French film producer, was found beaten to death outside her holiday home near Toormore, Schull, two days before Christmas 1996.

Alain Spilliaert, who advises Ms Toscan du Plantier’s parents, Georges and Marguerite Bouniol, and her son, Pierre Louise Baudey-Vignaud, said Judge Nathalie Turquey was an excellent choice to replace Judge Patrick Gachon in heading up the French investigation into the killing.

“Nathalie Turquey is . . . a very experienced magistrate who has investigated many high-profile cases . . . so she is a very good choice to replace Judge Gachon who led the investigation for the past seven years,” said Mr Spilliaert.

Among the high-profile cases which Judge Turquey investigated was the killing of French actor Marie Trintignant (41) by her husband, rock singer Bertrand Cantat, in 2003, he said.

Killed wife

The couple had been in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Ms Trintignant was shooting a film about the writer Colette when she and Cantat had a row. The media reported she fell and hit her head against a wall and went into a coma. She had surgery in Vilnius but failed to regain consciousness and was brought back to hospital in Paris, where she died. Cantat, lead singer with the French band Noir Désir 2003, was later convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of Ms Trintignant and served a four-year jail sentence.

Fatal assault

According to Mr Spilliaert, Judge Turquey is a very thorough investigator and, as was evident from her investigation of Ms Trintignant’s death, had no difficulty investigating a fatal assault on a French citizen outside France.

“The Trintignant case had huge profile here because not only was Marie Trintignant a well-known actress, she was the daughter of actor Jean-Louis Trintignant and Bertrand Cantat was a leading rock star but Judge Turquey did a good job in the full glare of the media spotlight.”

Mr Spilliaert said the judge was involved in other important cases in France but he expected she would familiarise herself with Judge Gachon’s file on Ms Toscan du Plantier’s killing over the coming weeks.

Judge Gachon sent his file of 17 volumes and statements from more than 40 witnesses to the public prosecutor for Paris, François Molins, at the end of December. Mr Molins will advise Judge Turquey on whether to bring a prosecution or not, said Mr Spilliaert.