Ep. 050 & 051 | The Fall of Victoria Cilliers

In April 2015, Victoria Cilliers, an experienced skydiving instructor, survived a 4,000-foot fall when both her main and reserve parachutes failed during a jump in Wiltshire, England. Investigations revealed that her husband, Emile Cilliers, a British Army sergeant, had deliberately sabotaged her parachutes in an attempt to murder her and claim a £120,000 life insurance payout to alleviate his debts and start a new life with his mistress. This was his second attempt on her life; a week earlier, he had tampered with a gas valve at their home, hoping to cause an explosion. In 2018, Emile Cilliers was convicted of two counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years. ​

SOURCES:

• BBC News. (2018, May 18). Emile Cilliers: Parachute plot soldier jailed for life. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-44160988

  Britannica. (n.d.). Kosovo conflict. https://www.britannica.com/event/Kosovo-conflict?utm_source=chatgpt.com

  Channel 4. (2018). The Parachute Murder Plot [Documentary]. Channel 4 Dispatches. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-parachute-murder-plot

  Cilliers, V. (n.d.). I survived: I married a charming man then he tried to kill me. [Book].

  Grierson, J. (2018, May 18). Soldier Emile Cilliers gets life sentence for attempting to kill wife. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/18/soldier-emile-cilliers-life-sentence-attempting-kill-wife

  Hill, A. (2018, May 15). The chilling texts of Emile Cilliers: How an army sergeant spun a web of lies to try to murder his wife. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/15/emile-cilliers-the-chilling-texts-army-sergeant-tried-to-kill-wife-victoria

  Judiciary UK. (2018, June 15). R v Cilliers – Sentencing remarks. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/r-v-cilliers-mr-justice-sweeney-sentencing-remarks-winchester-crown-court-15-june-2018-1.pdf

  Laville, S. (2018, May 15). 'It felt like a fairy tale': How Emile Cilliers tricked his wife before trying to kill her. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/15/emile-cilliers-how-tricked-wife-before-trying-to-kill-her-victoria

  Morris, S. (2018, May 1). Emile Cilliers retrial: The full story of how army sergeant tried to murder wife. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/01/emile-cilliers-retrial-how-army-sergeant-tried-to-murder-wife

  NATO. (n.d.). NATO’s role in Kosovo. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49602.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com

  Paxman, J. (2021, April 6). The skydiving wife whose parachute failed – and the husband who tried to kill her. BBC Radio 4, Intrigue: Millionaire Murder. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v30p

  Sherwin, A. (2018, May 15). Emile Cilliers: The army sergeant who tried to murder his wife by sabotaging her parachute. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/emile-cilliers-guilty-verdict-wife-parachute-sabotage-attempted-murder-trial-a8352936.html

  Skydive Paraclete XP. (2017, July 20). How often do parachutes fail? https://skydiveparacletexp.com/2017/07/20/how-often-do-parachutes-fail/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

  The Guardian. (2018, May 24). Shocking betrayal: The soldier, the lover and the sabotaged parachute. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/24/shocking-betrayal-the-soldier-the-lover-and-the-sabotaged-parachute-emile-cilliers#:~:text=Carly%20separated%20and%20Victoria%2C%20an,her%20belt%20and%20an%20instructor

  The Guardian. (2018, June 15). Emile Cilliers: Army sergeant jailed for tampering with wife’s parachute. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/15/emile-cilliers-army-sergeant-jailed-for-tampering-with-wife-parachute#:~:text=Detectives%20found%20that%20Cilliers%2C%20who,benefit%20if%20his%20wife%20died

  The Independent. (n.d.). Victoria Cilliers: The fall and aftermath. https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/victoria-cilliers-emile-wife-channel-the-fall-skydive-b2561127.html

  The Independent. (n.d.). https://www.the-independent.com

  The Times. (2019, April 6). 'He tried to kill me twice': Victoria Cilliers on surviving her husband’s murder attempts. The Times. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/he-tried-to-kill-me-twice-victoria-cilliers-on-surviving-her-husbands-murder-attempts-23zxw9bsx

  Pan Macmillan. (n.d.). Victoria Cilliers.https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/general/victoria-cilliers