Belgian skydiver 'killed rival by sabotaging parachute' as love-triangle dived together

Belgium has begun trying a woman accused of murdering her love rival by sabotaging her parachute on a sky dive. Els Clottemans is accused of murdering Els Van Doren who fell 1,000m (3,200 ft) to her death in 2006 while jumping with her and her lover. The three were holding hands together just seconds before Ms Van Doren found her parachute strings had been cut. Ms Clottemans, 26, denies the charges against her. She went on trial in the Flemish town of Tongeren (French: Tongres) on Friday.

Els Van Doren, then 38, died on 18 November 2006, crashing into a garden in the village of Opglabbeek after both of her parachutes failed to open. Her horrific death was captured by her own helmet video camera. She and the accused woman had jumped over the Zwartberg area at 4,000m (13,000 ft) along with a man referred to in Belgian media reports as Marcel S., and a fourth person, all of whom were experienced parachutists. After a formation free fall, the four separated at 1,000m to open their parachutes, and Ms Van Doren tried in vain to activate hers.



"Els tried to do everything to try to save herself," Luc Deijgers, who piloted the Cessna plane said. "She tried to open the reserve parachute but it wouldn't open. That never happens." After establishing that the victim's strings had been cut, police arrested Ms Clottemans in January 2007. Investigators piecing together the events leading up to the death believe Ms Clottemans wrote an anonymous letter and made anonymous phone calls to Ms Van Doren.

According to Marcel S. he had been trying to "shake off" Ms Clottemans. A week before the fatal jump, the two women spent the night in his flat, Ms Van Doren sharing his bed while Ms Clottemans slept on a mattress or sofa. Ms Clottemans would have had the opportunity of sabotaging the other woman's parachutes, which were in the flat at the time, investigators say. More than 200 witnesses are expected to be called to the trial, due to last four weeks. A verdict is expected on 20 October, Le Soir says.