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West Cork — True Crime
West Cork

In West Cork, it’s simply known as ‘the murder’. In 1996 French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier is found dead near her holiday home. There are no witnesses and no known motive. The police suspect one man in this community but they can’t make a charge stick and he refuses to leave, becoming the embodiment of everyone’s unsettled nerves. Reported and hosted by Jennifer Forde and Sam Bungey.

West Cork has been named an Apple Podcasts Series Essential.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © Audible

Latest Episodes:

Introducing: The Witness: In His Own Words Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Acast Classics 2026: four exceptional limited series hand-picked for their journalism, craft, and storytelling. If you loved West Cork, you'll be hooked on The Witness: In His Own Words so we made episode one available for you right here - enjoy!

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Trailer Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

The murder of a Frenchwoman transforms a rural Irish community.

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He Sees Sophie Everywhere May 14, 2021

Show notes

New Feature Episode: An Englishman is on trial in a French court for a murder committed in Ireland. With no defendant present. And no defence.

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Blow-ins Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

West Cork, Ireland is an outpost at the edge of Europe, the jumping-off point for America. Rugged windswept and coastal, it was a place of farmers and fisherman until the 1960’s, when it was discovered by the ‘blow-in’s.’ People who drove until the road ran out, artists and urban runaways – a haven for those ready to turn their backs on their old lives and start again. But then there was a murder in West Cork, and overnight, everything changed.

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The Back of Beyond Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

A body is found at the end of a path leading to three houses. In West Cork, the police, known in Ireland as ‘the guards,’ have little experience with serious crime, and the victim—a French woman with a holiday home in the area—is a mysterious figure in West Cork. That night, as news of the murder snakes through the community, everyone begins to question whether or not they were ever, truly, safe.

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Sophie Bouniol Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

Sophie Buoniol, commonly referred to by her married name, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, was 39 years old when she was murdered, a well-connected French film producer. In a place where there had been no murder that anyone can remember, locals speculated that the murderer must have come from out of town. But West Cork grapples with which version of Sophie to believe. Rumors about Sophie and her love life, fueled by tabloid headlines, abound. But there was a quieter, more bookish side to her, a side better represented by the small, simple, white house she kept in West Cork.

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Killer Among Us Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

In the weeks following the murder, Schull, the jewel-box vacation town closest to Sophie’s home, becomes a very different kind of place to live. With no answers, and the police focusing on locals, the townspeople start watching their neighbors more closely. And the guards begin receiving anonymous calls about a ‘strange man’ in town.

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A Good Suspect Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

The guards have a suspect—one who has spent the last 20 years trying to convince Ireland that he is not a murderer. We begin on the first day of the investigation, tracing the suspects’ behavior over the six weeks following the murder, up until the day of his arrest. What was he up to, and how did he become the central figure in one of Ireland’s most notorious murder cases?

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The Englishman Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

A blow-in from Manchester, England, the suspect has been grating on locals ever since he first arrived in West Cork. He has been accused of inserting himself into the investigation and delighting in his notoriety, at the expense of figuring out what really happened to Sophie. Though he is often perceived as arrogant and tactless, his history and personal diaries reveal deep insecurities, and a man increasingly desperate to save himself.

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The Arrest Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

On February 10th, 1997, the guards make an arrest in a well-orchestrated plan to snare their chief suspect. There’s an interrogation, a question of coercion, and an alibi that doesn’t quite hold up—but no confession. The charge doesn’t stick, for now, but someone close to the suspect appears to waffle on his guilt.

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