Who Is Emile Cilliers? Army Sgt. Tampered Wife's Parachute Over Tinder Affair

An Army sergeant tried to kill his wife by sabotaging her parachute during a skydive in order to continue with his Tinder affair and also a sexual relationship with his ex-wife. Emile Cilliers, 37, is accused of two counts of attempted murder of his former wife Victoria Cilliers who survived the incident on April 5, 2015.

This was not the first time Emile tried to kill Victoria. According to reports, he tried to kill his 40-year-old wife on March 29, 2015, by deliberately causing a gas leak in the family home while he stayed away.

After the gas incident, Emile allegedly convinced his wife to go parachuting the next weekend.

When Victoria, a "highly experience parachute instructor," went to jump from the aircraft, both her main and reserve parachutes failed and she fell the ground over Netheravon airfield in Wiltshire. While witnesses thought she died, Victoria survived the 4,000-foot fall but was seriously injured - being left with broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken leg and spinal injuries. She spent three weeks in the hospital to recover.

"Those attending at the scene expected to find her dead, although she was badly injured, almost miraculously she survived the fall," Prosecutor Michael Bowes QC said.

"Those at the scene immediately realized that something was seriously wrong with her reserve parachute, two vital pieces of equipment which fasten the parachute harness was missing," he said.

The Winchester Crown Court heard the case Wednesday where Emile denied all charges against him.

Bowes QC told the court that on the night of the gas leak Emile had left his wife at their home in Amesbury, Wiltshire, to stay at his Army barracks in Aldershot, Hampshire.

The next morning Victoria, a physiotherapist who had previously served as an officer in the British Army, contacted her husband complaining of a gas smell coming from a kitchen cupboard next to the oven. Dried blood was found on the fitting which was later found to be full DNA match to her husband.

"The police investigation was widened to include the circumstances of a gas leak at Emile and Victoria Cilliers' home a few days before," Bowes QC said. "It was discovered that Emile Cilliers had deliberately caused a gas leak at the house just before he left the house to stay elsewhere."

It was also revealed that Emile, a Royal Army Physical Training Corps sergeant, lied to his lover Stefanie Glover that he was leaving his wife because she was having an affair and he was not the father of one of their children. Prosecutor Bowes QC also said that Emile was also having an affair with his ex-wife Carly Cilliers.

Emile and Victoria had got married in 2011, and their wedding photographer Alison Cole said: "I have photographed many weddings but I remember this couple didn’t have to need me to tell them to get close for the pictures."

"They were clearly in love and it was very romantic. I remember the groom went down on one knee to read his vows to her which I had never seen before. He was so happy to be marrying her," he said.