Emile Cilliers isaccused of attempting to murder wife Victoria, 40, (pictured on their wedding day in South Africa in 2011) a few days earlier when he damaged a gas valve at their home.
Emile Cilliers isaccused of attempting to murder wife Victoria, 40, (pictured on their wedding day in South Africa in 2011) a few days earlier when he damaged a gas valve at their home.
An Army sergeant who allegedly tried to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute was "unemotional and bewildered" when he visited the airfield the following day, a court heard today.
Emile Cilliers, 37, from the Royal Army Physical Training Corps is on trial at Winchester Crown Court on two charges of attempting to murder his former Army officer wife Victoria Cilliers.
She suffered multiple serious injuries at Netheravon Airfield on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, on Easter Sunday in 2015, the Daily Mail reports.
Emile Cilliers has pleaded not guilty to three charges.
The jury heard blood matching Mr Cilliers' DNA was found on the gas tap, which had damage marks made by a pair of pliers found in the house. Photo / Wiltshire Police
Cilliers is also accused of a third charge of damaging a gas valve at their home a few days earlier in the second allegation that he attempted to kill his 40-year-old wife. He denies all three charges.
The court was told that the day after the incident, Cilliers visited the airfield and met Mark Bayada, who has been chief instructor of the Army Parachute Association at Netheravon since 2013.
In his third day of giving evidence to the court, Mr Bayada said he had said in his police statement that Cilliers had appeared "unemotional" and "bewildered" during the visit.
He added that Cilliers had seemed "very quiet" and "in shock", but added that he did not know him very well personally.
He said that after further investigations by his staff, a decision was made later that afternoon to contact the police about the parachute malfunction.
Emile Cilliers has served with the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineer regiments. Photo / Facebook
The prosecution allege that the main parachute was tampered with and Cilliers removed two slinks from the reserve which are used to attach the harness to the rigging.
He said that the landing area had been searched for the missing parts, including 45 people searching a week after the incident.
The court was told that witness James Lowrey saw Mrs Cilliers' parachute "collapse in on itself" and compared it to a "quilt with a weight attached".
His statement, read to the jury, said: "From what I saw I would assume it was a line over (when a line is twisted around the parachute or the jumper) which I have experienced myself once before."
The statement from Mr Lowrey added that in Mrs Cillier's case, he had "never seen anything like this before."
Pictured, an inspection of Victoria Cilliers's parachute following the incident. The white material is the reserve parachute. Photo / Wiltshire Police
The jury has been told Emile Cilliers believed he would receive NZ$223,300 life insurance as a result of Mrs Cillier's death. Photo / Wiltshire Police
He also described how "it appeared to be wrapped around itself, the lines were clear to the jumper".
Responding to the description, Mr Bayada said it appeared that Mrs Cilliers was not entangled in the main parachute and 'was stable at the time of deployment'.
Mr Bayada was asked by Elizabeth Marsh QC, representing Cilliers, if he felt there had been "no effort" by Mrs Cilliers to "kick-out" of the twists in the lines or use the brakes in the malfunctioning parachute.
He said: "In my mind, most likely, there was another problem, something stopping being able to release the brakes.
Mrs Cilliers, pictured on another skydive, suffered multiple serious injuries in the fall in 2015. Photo / YouTube
"It might be a legal thing but to me no effort means not even bothering. To me it suggests for a reason, they didn't take control, but not that it was no effort."
Mr Bayada said that weight of a jumper would not affect the outcome of a malfunction.
The court has heard that Mrs Cilliers is of petite stature.
He said: "When it's a malfunction, it's a malfunction and even the lightest person is going to die if they do not do anything about it. When it's not working, it's not working and it's irrelevant."
Mr Bayada said that he and his colleagues had followed the procedures set out by the British Parachute Association following a parachute accident but said he had not taken photographs or video at the scene to protect Mrs Cilliers' privacy.
He said: "Should someone still be living, I would take offence if people were taking photographs. If I had seen someone with a camera, I would have had a word with them."
He said that as soon as it was clear that Mrs Cilliers was alive, the priority was to "get her medical help.
Emile Cilliers allegedly collected a parachute for his wife and took it into the men's toilets at the base, which is when the prosecution claim he tampered with it. Photo / Facebook
"Then it was to have an initial look at what happened because what happened to her was very unusual which I have never seen before in my whole time jumping, so when we were to start jumping again it would be safe for all the other club jumpers," he said.
Mr Bayada said he carried out a thorough search for the missing slinks and said: "I was still trying to find out in my mind a parachuting reason why this could happen.
"I was looking for missing slinks, I was looking for missing slinks, I was looking for parachuting damage or what slinks weren't there."
He said that the Safire 149 parachute used by Mrs Cilliers was a "high performance" parachute which was 'more fun' to handle and one which would not be issued to normal club jumpers, but added that she was experienced at using it.
The trial was adjourned until tomorrow, when the jury will take part in a court visit to Netheravon Airfield.
