Evidence from the original investigation into the Frenchwoman's death in 1996 is being re-evaluated, in addition to new witnesses and modern forensic testing The family of Sophie Toscan du Plantier will mark the 29th anniversary of her death with a private ceremony this Christmas as a garda cold-case review into the killing nears completion. The French mother of one (39) was beaten to death on a laneway leading to her isolated holiday home at Toormore outside Schull in west Cork in the early hours of December 23, 1996.