It was the shocking true crime that gripped Netflix subscribers who watched documentary The Parachute Murder Plot and now Channel 4 looks to retell that jaw-dropping story.
A brand new series will lay bare the incidents of the attempted murder of skydiver Victoria Cilliers by her husband Emile – over three nights with dramatic reconstructions
In April 2015, Victoria plummeted a horrifying 4,000ft at Netheravon airfield, Wiltshire, after her main and reserve parachutes failed to open.
Miraculously, although she suffered a broken spine and pelvis and fractured ribs, she did survive because she landed on freshly plough farmland.
The subsequent investigation revealed that her kit had been tampered with by her husband, Army sergeant Emile, but Victoria, a victim of coercive control, didn’t want to believe that the man she loved could be so callous – and she herself tried to cover up his heinous crime.
This docuseries featuresdramatic reconstruction starring MyAnna Buring (The Responder) as Victoria, as well as testimony from real-life detectives DC Maddy Hennah and DI Paul Franklin.
In a show first, Victoria, 41, explains why she attempted to sabotage the case against her husband.
“I felt like a prisoner in my own home and in my own head.
Victoria Cilliers
“I didn’t know truth or reality from what was false,” she admitted.
“I felt like a prisoner in my own home and in my own head.
“I said: ‘I want you to drop the case so we can move on with our lives.’ I wanted my husband back.”
During the original court case, in which the jury failed to reach a verdict, Victoria – who has two children with Emile – falsely alluded that she had cut her own parachute.
“I couldn’t compute that someone I’d married, who’d said he loved me, could take my life away from me, take my life away from the children,” she said.
“I was always very, very aware of every answer I gave [in court], the impact it could have on my future. I don’t think I lied a lot. I think I kept a lot of secrets.”
Channel 4 will broadcast the shocking programme over three consecutive nights kicking off on Tuesday 11 June at 9pm.
