UK man convicted in attempted parachute murder

LONDON – A jury in Winchester has found an army sergeant guilty of attempted murder of his wife by sabotaging her parachute and tampering with a gas valve at her home.

Jurors convicted Army Sgt. Emile Cilliers, 38, on Thursday of two attempted murder charges and a third count of damaging the gas fitting following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

The prosecution says he tried to kill Victoria Cilliers, 42, — a highly experienced parachuting instructor — by damaging her main and reserve parachutes in a jump April 5, 2015. She survived by landing on a newly-plowed field.

The prosecution claimed that Emile Cilliers was deeply in debt and that he wanted his wife’s life insurance money to pay off his bills and start a new life with his lover.