A French judge has ordered the body of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was murdered in Ireland 12 years ago, to be exhumed.
Legal sources say the judge wants a new post mortem carried out on the body.
The 39-year-old was found beaten to death on 23 December 1996 in a country lane leading to her holiday home in Schull Co Cork.
No one has been charged with her murder, the wife of the late Daniel Toscan du Plantier the former chief of France's Gaumont film studios.
The exhumation of her body, which is buried in a French cemetery, will take place next week.
A first post mortem was carried out on the day after her death.
Ms Du Plantier's body, in nightclothes and wearing boots, was discovered by a neighbour. There were no signs of a struggle.
A preliminary inquest was told she had suffered severe head and facial injuries that had been caused by a blunt instrument.
No murder weapon was ever found.
