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Woman who survived one of ‘most unusual murder plots ever’ explains why she tried to sabotage court case

Home> News> True Crime

Published 21:10 10 Jun 2024 GMT+1

Woman who survived one of ‘most unusual murder plots ever’ explains why she tried to sabotage court case

The bizarre case is revisited in a new Channel 4 documentary

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

On 4 April 2015, army sergeant Emile Cilliers took his wife Victoria's parachute rig into the toilets of Netheravon Airfield and sabotaged it.

The next day she jumped from a plane and fell to what he expected would be her death which he would frame as a tragic accident.

However, Victoria survived her 4,000 foot plummet to the ground as she crashed back down to earth at about 60mph.

She suffered a broken spine, fractured ribs and shattered pelvis, but she was small of frame and had landed in a soft and freshly ploughed field which may have saved her life.

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It wasn't even the first time Emile had tried to murder his wife that week, having tried to cause a gas leak at the family home.

When the British Parachute Association investigated her fall, they found that Victoria's main parachute and her reserve chute had both been sabotaged.

Victoria managed to survive a 4,000ft fall after her parachute was sabotaged by her husband. (ITV)
Victoria managed to survive a 4,000ft fall after her parachute was sabotaged by her husband. (ITV)

The investigation pointed the finger of blame at Emile, but Victoria was a victim of coercive control and tried to help cover up her husband's crime.

Her near-death and the subsequent investigation are the subject of new Channel 4 series The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot, which is showing on TV this week.

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It's not the first documentary made on this 'most unusual' murder plot, and over three episodes the show will recount the murder attempt made on Victoria, feature interviews with those involved and play dramatic reconstructions with MyAnna Buring playing Victoria.

The docudrama will also include Victoria's account of why she tried to cover up the crime to a court, as she explained: "I didn’t know truth or reality from what was false.

"I felt like a prisoner in my own home and in my own head. I said: ‘I want you to drop the case so we can move on with our lives.’ I wanted my husband back."

Emile Cilliers was jailed for life in 2018. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
Emile Cilliers was jailed for life in 2018. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

In the original court case the jury failed to reach a verdict, with Victoria saying that she 'couldn't compute that someone I'd married, who said he loved me, could take my life away from me'.

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She also couldn't believe that her husband could 'take my life away from the children', as Victoria and Emile had two children together.

In a subsequent trial Emile Cilliers was jailed for life, with the man being told at Winchester Crown Court that he'd have to serve at least 18 years behind bars.

The judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said Cilliers was 'of quite exceptional callousness' and described the man as 'a person who would stop at nothing to gratify your own desires'.

Evidence in the trial against Cilliers was described as 'overwhelming' by the judge, while jurors were told that the man was riddled with debt and believed he would be paid £120,000 in life insurance if his wife died.

Cilliers had also revealed to police that he was having an affair with an Australian skydiving instructor he'd met on Tinder, while Victoria said in court that she had suspected infidelity and was planning to leave him.

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The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on 11, 12 and 13 June.

Featured Image Credit: Channel 4/ITV

Topics: Crime, True Crime, TV and Film, Channel 4, UK News

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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