Soldier ‘tried to kill wife by sabotaging both her parachutes’
Court is told Cilliers was conducting two affairs when alleged offences took place
A SOLDIER accused of trying to kill his wife by tampering with her parachutes before she plunged 4000ft from a plane was having two affairs, a court has heard.
Emile Cilliers met one of his lovers on dating app Tinder and allegedly told her he was about to end his marriage to Army officer Victoria. The other woman was his former wife Carly.
Cilliers, 37, had £22,000 of debts and sabotaged the main and reserve parachutes in a bid to get £120,000 from his wife’s estate, jurors were told.
They also heard he had tried to kill her at their home days earlier.
Experienced parachutist Victoria, 40, survived the fall at Netheravon Airfield, Wiltshire, but suffered multiple injuries and was in hospital for three weeks.
Michael Bowes QC, prosecuting, said: “Those attending the scene expected to find her dead.
“Although she was badly injured, miraculously she survived the fall.
“Those at the scene realised something was seriously wrong with her reserve parachute. Two vital pieces of equipment were missing. Their absence meant the reserve parachute would fail and send her spinning to the ground.”
Cilliers, a sergeant in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, is also accused of attempting to kill Victoria and endangering the lives of their two children by damaging a gas valve at their home a week earlier.
He had earlier confided to Tinder lover Stefanie Goller that he had left his wife – and Winchester Crown Court heard he believed he would be paid £120,000 after Victoria’s death.
Cilliers, who has served with the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers, denies attempted murder and criminal damage in March 2015. The trial continues.
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