Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘Panto villain hubby had no motive to kill’
AN army sergeant accused of trying to kill his wife in a parachute fall may be a “pantomime villain, unfaithful, driven by lust” but he had no motive for murder, a court has heard.
While Emile Cilliers, 37, could be characterised as a “penniless scoundrel” the suggested motive that he wanted to pay off debts with 40-year-old Victoria Cilliers’ estate and insurance was “utterly rubbish”.
Elizabeth Marsh QC, defending, told the jury at Winchester crown court that due to a prenuptial agreement: “If she died, he wouldn’t get a penny.”
Cilliers, 37, denies sabotaging his wife’s main and reserve parachute and a few days earlier tampering with a gas valve at their home in Amesbury, Wilts.
The trial continues.