Podcasts · True Crime · Society & Culture

West Cork

yarn fm

16 episodes · in order · Explicit

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.

More about the show

West Cork has been named an Apple Podcasts Series Essential.

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

Episodes

  1. An Intimate Conviction

    · 47 min · Episode 13 · Explicit

    While the case has reached a stalemate in Ireland, a parallel investigation in France--pushed along by Sophie’s family--is moving forward. The suspect finds himself confronted with new charges, the community grapples…

  2. Loose Ends

    · 43 min · Episode 12 · Explicit

    So if the guards’ chief suspect didn’t kill Sophie, who did? Theories abound: a ‘French Connection,’ a murderous horse, a misidentified man in a long black coat. There are promising leads that seem to have gone…

  3. Enemy #1

    · 34 min · Episode 11 · Explicit

    After the defamation trial, no one understands why the suspect is still a free man. But the case against him is quickly unraveling; there’s a new, seasoned lawyer, trouble with a key witnesses’ story, and questions…

  4. Shanghaied

    · 43 min · Episode 10 · Explicit

    Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s murder is big news in Ireland—so big that the suspect takes the newspapers to court for defamation, intending to clear his name with the public. But it backfires spectacularly when the…

  5. The Moonshine Effect

    · 36 min · Episode 9 · Explicit

    After the arrest is made public in West Cork, the town is terrified, convinced there is a murderer next-door. And yet, the suspect remains. It seems everyone has a theory, a story about the suspects’ strangeness, from…

  6. The Game Is On

    · 38 min · Episode 8 · Explicit

    After the guards fail to get a confession, a game of cat and mouse ensues; the guards need more evidence, but worry that they are being outsmarted. In this episode, secret recordings of the guards give an insight into…

  7. The Arrest

    · 38 min · Episode 7 · Explicit

    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.…

  8. The Englishman

    · 39 min · Episode 6 · Explicit

    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…

  9. A Good Suspect

    · 33 min · Episode 5 · Explicit

    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…

  10. Killer Among Us

    · 36 min · Episode 4

    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…

  11. Sophie Bouniol

    · 34 min · Episode 3 · Explicit

    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…

  12. The Back of Beyond

    · 27 min · Episode 2 · Explicit

    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…

  13. Blow-ins

    · 28 min · Episode 1 · Explicit

    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…

  14. He Sees Sophie Everywhere

    · 53 min · Episode 14 · Explicit

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

  15. Trailer

    · 2:16 · Trailer

    The murder of a Frenchwoman transforms a rural Irish community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  16. Introducing: The Witness: In His Own Words

    · 29 min · Explicit

    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…

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