Victoria Cilliers

Victoria Cilliers is a skydiver, notable for having survived a murder attempt in 2015, when her husband interfered with both her main and reserve parachutes.

Early life and marriage

Victoria lives in Wiltshire, England, and is a physiotherapist for the Ministry of Defence.

Victoria's ex-husband Emile Cilliers was born in South Africa in 1980 and moved to the UK in the early 2000s. He has four children from previous relationships. He met Victoria in 2009, and they have two children. Their relationship deteriorated before his 2015 attempt on her life.

She became a successful parachutist and instructor, with 2,654 jumps.

Murder attempt

During a parachute jump on Easter Sunday 2015, both her main and reserve parachutes failed to open. She fell {{convert|4000|ft|abbr=on}} to the ground. She survived the fall despite life-threatening injuries{{Cite web |title=Victoria Cilliers: the true story behind the parachute murder plot |url=https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/general/victoria-cilliers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427205258/https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/general/victoria-cilliers |archive-date=2024-04-27 |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=PanMacmillan.com |publisher=Pan Macmillan}} because she landed on a soft, newly ploughed field.{{Cite news |last=Kleeman |first=Jenny |date=14 Jul 2018 |title='He has the traits of a psychopath': the inside story of the parachute murder plot |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/14/emile-cilliers-psychopath-inside-story-parachute-murder-plot |access-date=9 June 2024 |work=The Guardian}} It was the second attempt on her life in less than a week.

Emile Cilliers was convicted of her attempted murder in May 2018{{Cite news |date=15 June 2018 |title=Parachute murder bid: Emile Cilliers jailed for life |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-44237336 |access-date=9 June 2024 |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=9 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609204508/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-44237336 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Osborne |first=Samuel |date=24 May 2018 |title=Army sergeant found guilty of attempting to kill wife by tampering with her parachute |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/parachute-murder-guilty-emile-cilliers-victoria-cilliers-kill-attempt-army-sergeant-a8367131.html |access-date=9 June 2024 |publisher=Independent |archive-date=9 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609204508/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/parachute-murder-guilty-emile-cilliers-victoria-cilliers-kill-attempt-army-sergeant-a8367131.html |url-status=live }} after a previous trial failed to reach a verdict.{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Ben |date=23 Nov 2017 |title=Retrial ordered for soldier accused of attempting to kill wife with sabotaged parachute |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/man-muder-wife-parachute-sabotage-trial-latest-retrial-a8072531.html |access-date=9 June 2024 |work=The Independent |archive-date=9 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609204509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/man-muder-wife-parachute-sabotage-trial-latest-retrial-a8072531.html |url-status=live }} He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years. He was also convicted of tampering with a gas valve at their home.

Media

I Survived is an autobiographical memoir published by Pan Macmillan
The Parachute Murder Plot is a 2018 documentary film by All3Media about the murder attempt, with Fiona Bruce
The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot is a 2024 Channel 4 television documentary about the murder attempt (originally commissioned as The Woman Who Fell To Earth{{cite web | url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-commissions-woman-who-fell-earth-wt-story-films | title=Channel 4 commissions the Woman Who Fell to Earth (W/T) from Story Films | Channel 4 }})

Victoria Cilliers

Early life and marriage

Murder attempt

Media

See also

References

Further reading