Shirley Foster, key witness in Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder case, dies aged 90s

Shirley Foster, who discovered the body of French producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in 1996, has died peacefully in Ballydehob.

West Cork woman who found Sophie Toscan du Plantier's body dies in her early 90s

Shirley Foster, the first person to discover the body of murdered French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier near her west Cork holiday home almost 30 years ago, has died, TheJournal.ie reports. She died peacefully at her home in Ballydehob on Wednesday. She was in her early 90s.

On the morning of 23 December 1996, Foster was driving from her home in Toormore towards Schull when she noticed what she initially thought was a piece of white material caught on a fence along the lane shared with Toscan du Plantier's holiday home. On closer inspection, she found the badly beaten body of the 39-year-old Frenchwoman lying near the entrance to the property.

Foster immediately alerted her partner, Alfie Lyons, who contacted gardaí. The discovery triggered one of the most high-profile murder investigations in the history of the Irish State.

Born in England, Foster was a retired art teacher who had lived in west Cork for many years. A death notice published on RIP.ie said she will be sadly missed by her sisters Jane and Pam, her daughter Gilly, extended family and friends. Her cremation service is due to take place on Saturday at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork.

Foster and Lyons, who died in 2021, both provided statements to gardaí and became central witnesses in the investigation. Foster later gave evidence during a libel action taken by the late Ian Bailey in 2003, and was among the witnesses who met detectives as part of a garda cold case review launched in 2022.

Ian Bailey, the self-confessed chief suspect in the murder, died in 2024. Originally from Britain, he had been arrested and questioned by gardaí in connection with the killing but was never charged in Ireland. Bailey consistently denied any involvement in Toscan du Plantier's death, though a French court convicted him of her murder in absentia in May 2019.

Source: TheJournal.ie