No idea how my blood got on gas fitting, says accused

AN ARMY sergeant accused of trying to kill his Scots wife in an explosion at their home yesterday told a court he had no idea why his blood was on a damaged gas fitting.

Emile Cilliers, 38, is alleged to have used tools to damage the fitting, causing a leak which prosecutors say he hoped would lead to a blast killing his wife Victoria.

A jury heard blood was found on the fitting. Mrs Cilliers, 42, who claimed she ‘elaborated the truth’ during police interviews, said her husband cut himself on March 29, 2015, while cooking.

Cilliers said: ‘I cannot remember in particular [if I cut myself], but it is not unusual for me to cut myself while cooking. I did not use any tools in that cupboard ever. I don’t have a clue how the blood got there.’

The court heard the day Cilliers allegedly tampered with the fitting, he arranged to meet his ex-wife Carly that night for sex.

Elizabeth Marsh, QC, representing Cilliers, said he messaged his ex-wife to say he would be at her house in five minutes. Cilliers said he could not remember if they met, but said it was ‘more than likely’.

He is accused of trying to kill his wife, who is originally from Haddington, East Lothian, in a bid to claim her £120,000 life insurance as he struggled with £22,000 of debts.

He told the court yesterday he was ‘cowardly’ and had an affair with Stefanie Goller, but was just stringing her along.

The 38-year-old, of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, told Miss Goller he had split from his wife, who was pregnant, but nobody yet knew about their break-up.

Cilliers is also accused of tampering with his wife’s parachute at Netheravon Airfield, Wiltshire, on April 4, 2015, tangling the main canopy and removing vital links from her reserve. Physiotherapist and former Army officer Mrs Cilliers, then 40, plummeted 4,000ft to the ground when she leapt from a plane on April 5, 2015.

She survived the terrifying fall, suffering a broken pelvis, ribs and spinal injuries.

Cilliers, who lives in barracks in Aldershot, Hampshire, told the court he could have removed the vital missing links from his wife’s sabotaged parachute if he had wanted to, but denied actually doing it.

He denies two counts of attempted murder and one of damaging property being reckless as to the endagerment of life. The trial at Winchester Crown Court continues.

‘Did not use tools in that cupboard’