Murder plot chute husband guilty
A “VERY dangerous, coercive and manipulative” Army sergeant has been found guilty of attempting to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute and sabotaging a gas valve at their home.
A jury of nine men and three women convicted 38-year-old Emile Cilliers, of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, of two attempted murder charges and a third count of damaging the gas fitting following a retrial at Winchester Crown Court.
The defendant showed no emotion as he was convicted unanimously on the two counts of attempted murder and by a majority of 10 to two on the criminal damage charge.
Victoria Cilliers, a highly experienced parachuting instructor, suffered near-fatal injuries when both her main and reserve parachutes failed as she took part in a jump at the Army Parachute Association at Netheravon, Wiltshire, on Easter Sunday on April 5, 2015.
Mr Justice Sweeney thanked the jury for fulfilling their duty “with distinction” and told them: “The burden now falls on me on what to do as far as this defendant is concerned. That, too, is a heavy burden.”
The judge added that he would have to consider the “dangerousness” of the defendant and said: “It may well be that I may need a report from an expert probation officer on this but as the judge who has presided over this case twice, you may imagine I have my own views.”
Speaking outside court, Detective Inspector Paul Franklin, of Wiltshire Police, described Cilliers as “cold and calculated” and a “very dangerous man”.
Saying that he could easily have escaped being caught for the attempts on his wife’s life, he said: “He tried very hard, it was due to due diligence of the staff at the Army Parachute Association who brought it to our attention but it could have passed off as an accident should they have not been so diligent. So it was certainly calculated and there was the opportunity of him getting away with it.”
Hannah Squire, junior counsel for the prosecution, said Cilliers used “coercive and manipulative behaviour” to satisfy his sexual and financial needs.
She said: “The evidence all pointed to Emile Cilliers, the man with the motive and the opportunity to commit these cold and calculated attempts to murder his wife.
“The jury heard details of his coercive behaviour towards his wife and his continued manipulation of all the women in his life to satisfy his own desires, whether financial or sexual.
“He showed complete and utter contempt for his wife and this culminated in his desire to have her dead whether that be to start a new life with his lover Stefanie Goller, benefit financially from the death of Victoria Cilliers, or both.
“We hope this conviction will allow VC to move on with her life. We do not doubt the ordeal the investigation and trial have been for her and her family.”
Cilliers will be sentenced at a later date.