Whatever Happened To Sophie Toscan Du Plantier's Husband?

In 1996, French national Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered just outside her holiday home in West Cork, Ireland. The mystery surrounding her death has led to decades of investigations and speculations. A new Netflix true-crime series titled "Sophie: A Murder in West Cork" looks into her death and the impact her murder had on the tight-knit community in Ireland.

At the time of her death, Tuscan du Plantier was married to film producer and promoter Daniel Toscan du Plantier. Daniel was considered "French film royalty" by many. He was the head of the French Academy of Cinema Arts and had worked alongside many famous names, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Catherine Deneuve, and Robert De Niro (per Women's Health Magazine).

The couple, who had been together since 1991, lived in Paris with Sophie's son from her first marriage, but Sophie often traveled alone to her isolated cottage in Ireland to recharge. In 1996, the couple had been going through some troubles, but according to Biography, Sophie's plans were still to return to Paris to spend Christmas with her husband and son.

Her husband, who spoke to her on the phone on the night she was murdered, later told the police she didn't appear distressed in any way during the conversation. But this would be the last time the couple talked. Sophie would be dead just a few hours later and he would learn about it the next day as he was watching the French news (via Irish Times).

When news of Sophie's death broke out, members of her family made the trip to West Cork to identify the body. Her husband, however, did not, and while he was questioned by the police, he was never officially a suspect. The Irish Examiner reported that years later, when asked why he didn't rush to Ireland to say his goodbyes after hearing the news, Daniel explained that "When I learned of her death I preferred immediately to fix her image with her last words. I never saw her body or photographs. She's buried in a little cemetery in my village in Gascony. I feel very close to her every day but in a quiet way, in a quieter way than before."

After Sophie's death in 1996, Daniel remained active in film production and directing. In 1998, less than two years after his wife death, he married Melita Nikolic. The couple had two children together (via The Guardian). Throughout his life, he remained hopeful that his wife's killer would be found, though he told the press that he didn't see "any possible motive for such an act, other than it being an act of violence" (per Newsweek). He never publicly commented on whether he believed Ian Bailey, the main suspect, was guilty or innocent.

Daniel Toscan du Plantier died in Berlin in 2003. He had worked tirelessly to set up a French-German cinema academy and was in Germany in business when he had a heart attack. He was 61.