GUILTY Uk - Emile Cilliers Accused Of Tampering W/ Wife's Parachute, Wiltshire, 5 April 2015

[Tortoise]

Morning Moll.

It'll be interesting to see how they use testimony in the previous trial in this trial. Presumably they have to give the same answers... or sparks will fly.

I do hope VC is less ambivalent this time around.

 

[Alyce]

Still nothing in the Winchester Crown Court listings. Courtserve has Mr Justice Sweeney in Court 2.

I wonder if it's being held up because Justice Sweeney is hearing another case ?

 

[Moll]

Morning Moll.

It'll be interesting to see how they use testimony in the previous trial in this trial. Presumably they have to give the same answers... or sparks will fly.

I do hope VC is less ambivalent this time around.

Greetings, Tortoise!
I hope so too - is it possible the prosecution won't call her?!

 

[Moll]

I wonder if it's being held up because Justice Sweeney is hearing another case ?

Hello Alyce.
Must be. I've just looked again, and there's still nothing on the WInchester site and on Courtserve it says he is hearing an unnamed (because relating to Youth Justice) case.

 

[Tortoise]

Greetings, Tortoise!
I hope so too - is it possible the prosecution won't call her?!

That thought did cross my mind, but I think the case is weaker without her, even with her riddles.

 

[Tortoise]

It has started, there are a few reports up. I'll grab a few links.

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&quot]The retrial of an army sergeant accused of attempting to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute has heard that he was having two affairs and contact with a number of prostitutes at the time of her near-fatal fall.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Mr Justice Sweeney reminded the jury of nine men and three women that the case was a retrial and added: “The fact the previous jury was unable to reach verdicts is wholly irrelevant to your decisions.”

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Michael Bowes QC, prosecuting, told the court Cilliers held his wife in contempt and that he had wanted to “get rid of her permanently”.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He said the soldier was having an affair with a woman called Stefanie Goller, a sexual relationship with his former wife Carly Cilliers and was in contact with a number of prostitutes.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...l-opens-with-accusation-he-was-having-affairs

More to read at link[/FONT]

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&amp]He explained that at the time he was carrying out an affair with a woman called Stefanie Goller as well as having a “sexual relationship” with his ex-wife Carly Cilliers and had “contact with a number of prostitutes”.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]
He was also £22,000 in debt and believed he was set to receive a £120,000 insurance payout in the event of her accidental death, Mr Bowes said.

“When she jumped out of the plane at 4,000ft, both her main parachute and her reserve parachute failed, causing her to spiral to the ground.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]He said the defendant was a “competent skydiver” trained in packing reserve parachutes.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Mr Bowes said a week previously, Cilliers had “deliberately caused a gas leak” at his family home while he was staying elsewhere in an earlier failed bid to murder his wife.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/nati...d____wanted_to_be_rid_of____wife__court_told/
[/FONT]

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&quot]“Those at the scene immediately realised something was wrong with her reserve parachute, two vital pieces of equipment which fix the parachute to the parachutist’s harness were missing and their absence meant her reserve parachute would inevitably fail and the parachutist would just spin to the ground.”

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]He added: “He wanted to be rid of her and wanted to live his life on his own terms.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“He cared nothing for her and in truth cared only for himself.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“He had decided to get rid of her permanently.”

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/n...d____wanted_to_be_rid_of____wife__court_told/
[/FONT]

 

[Tortoise]

I don't remember that he had been seeing prostitutes last time around. Could be grey cell failure.

 

[Moll]

Nor do I.
Btw this case still doesn't show on any listings, I was wasting my time looking.

Nothing new here, but anyway:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-43740304

 

[Moll]

I don't remember that he had been seeing prostitutes last time around. Could be grey cell failure.

See
http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/...-told-737fdebd-9a27-47aa-8f96-ff7663b456ae-ds

'[FONT=&quot]Mr Bowes said that on March 13 2015 Cilliers arranged to meet Carly Cilliers for sex before arranging to have unprotected sex with a prostitute for £100 before asking her “Can I film it?”'[/FONT]

 

[Alyce]

I don't remember the prostitute info last time either. I just had a scroll back through this thread and can't see any reference, so it sounds like new evidence. He certainly was a very busy boy.

Scrolling back also reminded me of ECs barrister - wonder if it is the same one this time ( should be ) and if she will give us the same odd summing up - pantomine villian etc.

Also interesting.
First Jury was 9 women and 3 men

This Jury is 3 women and 9 men

 

[Tortoise]

Yes I noted the jury mix too Alyce. Knitting needles definitely banned this time.

 

[Moll]

The prosecuting counsel seems to have sharpened and added to the details of what Cilliers was up to before the alleged murder attempts.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6040787/army-sergeant-hook-romp-parachute-murder/
He also seems to have pre-empted much more clearly the insurance issue - that whatever the truth of what he might get, Cilliers thought he would get a payout.

I've lost all faith in the listings - nothing there again and Mr Justice Sweeney still dealing with a youth case. Perhaps it's not on till the afternoon.

 

[Alyce]

Doesnt seem to be anything happening today - apart from, as you said Moll, Justice Sweeney and his youth case.

Have to wonder why they began this week, rather than wait until JS had finished other business.

 

[Legally Bland]

This was published about an hour ago, but I've no idea whether it's from today or not.
________________

The court heard Cilliers and his wife exchanged a number of messages while she was waiting to jump, with her considering returning her parachute and going home.

But Cilliers encouraged her to stay, telling her the weather would be nice later in the day for her skydive.


[...]

He said: 'Vicky was talking to friends while the defendant went to the toilet. What he also did was take the parachute in with him.

'Why did he need to take the parachute rig in with him, it was club kit and most obviously he could have left it outside [the toilet] or possibly with Vicky.

'He did not though, he took it in with him and he was in there sufficient time to remove the slinks [links that connected the parachute to the harness].

'You simply do not need to take a parachute rig to the toilet with you.'

[...]

'He sends a message to Miss Goller from the hospital saying, 'I cannot imagine anything like this happening to you. I think about you all the time'.

'At 22 minutes past midnight, we see another message to Miss Goller, he says 'I am just tired now. I now need to try break into a house'.

'You might look at that and think what is that about, why is he saying that.

'Remember, quite early on [in his affair with Stefanie Goller] he lied about having moved out out of the house he shared with Vicky.

'Even now, after his wife almost died, he can remember to lie about not living there anymore.

'Your wife is in hospital and you remember to keep the lie going.'

Finishing his opening speech, Mr Bowes QC added: 'There is no one anywhere who would wish Vicky harm except the defendant.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-parachute-convinced-jump.html#ixzz5CZ2qr7uq

 

[Moll]

Thanks, LB. This does seem to be from this afternoon, given that last bit, and the bit that's been added now:

Finishing his opening speech, Mr Bowes QC added: 'There is no one anywhere who would wish Vicky harm except the defendant.
'No one else could have damaged the gas fitting, there was no random stranger tampering with the parachute.
'The defendant believed he stood to receive her life insurance payout.'
Cilliers, who is living in barracks in Aldershot, Hants, denies two counts of attempted murder and one of damaging property being reckless as to the endangerment of life.
The trial, which is due to last five weeks, continues.

 

[Alyce]

Thanks for the updates.

Just looked for Monday's sitting and Justice Sweeney is still listed with the other youth case.
So looks like it will be an afternoon hearing yet again for EC.

 

[Tortoise]

Mr Bayada, who began parachute jumping almost 30 years ago, said there was no other damage to Mrs Cilliers' equipment on April 5, 2015, which was proof the material links - known as slinks - had not been there in the first place.
In a video played in court, Mr Bayada said: 'The material used to make the slinks on a reserve parachute is thicker than that on a main parachute.
'This is our last chance, so we don't want it to fail. That's the last thing we want to happen.
'The slinks on a reserve parachute are basically bomb proof.
'If there was enough force to snap a slink during a jump, then that would cause a lot of damage to other parts of the equipment.
'The amount of friction [from the slink detaching] would cause burning around where the slink should be.
'[After Mrs Cilliers' fall] the slinks were never found, there were also no signs of wear or tear [on the parachute she used], or even minor damage to the reserve parachute.
'There was nothing at all.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-parachute-convinced-jump.html#ixzz5CfrLoQTS