Where the soldier who tried to kill his wife twice is now.
A three part docuseries retelling a remarkable story of Victoria Cilliers is now streaming on Netflix. Across its three episodes, it shows how Victoria, an experienced skydiver somehow survived a 4,000ft fall after bother her parachutes failed to open.
It was originally made for Channel 4 a couple of years ago but is now available on the popular platform. It means more viewers will find out how police investigated the incident and gathered evidence that Victoria’s parachute was tampered with.
They soon suspected her husband Emile. Born in South Africa he moved to the UK in the early 2000s. While he had two children from a previous marriage, he met Victoria later in 2009, after receiving treatment where she was working as a physio.
The pair eventually married and had two children of their own. However, during their marriage, Emile exhibited some worrying behaviour.
This included spending Victoria’s money and racking up debt while Victoria also suspected him of having an affair.
But what happened to Emile Cillers? Where is he now and what sentence did he receive? Here is all you need to know?
View 3 ImagesPart of Emile’s trial is dramatised in the series(Image: Channel 4)
Following their investigation, police charged Emile Cilliers with the attempted murder of his wife. They put forward that he deliberately tampered with the parachute before the jump.
Officers investigating believed that Emile wanted to cash in Victoria’s life insurance to pay off his debts and begin a new life with his girlfriend, who was apparently under the impression he had split from his wife.
Before the jump, Emile tried to kill Victoria by leaving the gas on in their home. Thankfully, her and their children escaped after harm after Victoria smelt the leak.
The case first went to trial in October 2017. However, the jury failed to reach a verdict. The docuseries goes into detail about the reasons this may have happened.
There was then a second trial in May 2018. Following this he was found guilty on two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years.
View 3 ImagesVictoria struggled wit her husband’s conviction(Image: ITV/Channel 4)
BBC News reported that during sentencing, Mr Justice Sweeney told Cilliers he was “of quite exceptional callousness and a person who would stop at nothing to gratify your own desires”.
He described the evidence against him as “overwhelming” and added: “You continued to pursue your selfish financial, emotional, and sexual desires.”
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson at the time said: “The evidence all pointed to Emile Cilliers as the man with the motive and the opportunity to commit these calculated attempts to murder his wife.”
Cilliers is serving his sentence at HM Dovegate Prison in Staffordshire.
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The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot is streaming on Netflix, Disney+ and Channel 4.