2010 Belgian love triangle skydiving murder trial
Encyclopedia
The Parachute murder is a name the Belgian media gave the 2010 Belgian love triangle
skydiving murder trial
. The defendant, elementary school teacher and amateur skydiver
Els 'Babs' Clottemans, was found guilty of murder by sabotaging the parachute
of another woman, fellow skydiver Els Van Doren, because Van Doren was a rival for the love of Marcel Somers, also a skydiver. The skydive in which Van Doren died occurred on November 18, 2006. Van Doren, who was a 38 years old married mother of two and a very experienced skydiver at the time, died when both her primary and reserve parachutes failed to deploy. The dive was captured by a video camera mounted on Van Doren's helmet. Van Doren dropped from a height of over 2 miles (3.2 km) landing in a garden in the town of Opglabbeek
.
The case was entirely circumstantial
. Clottemans became a suspect when she attempted suicide
just before she was going to give a second statement to police a month after the incident. Police later learned that both Clottemans and Van Doren had a sexual relationship with Somers. The prosecutors alleged that Clottemans had the opportunity to sabotage Van Doren's parachute the week before the fatal jump, when Clottemans, Van Doren, and Somers all spent the weekend at Somers' home, with Clottemans sleeping in the living room while the other two were in the bedroom. According to the allegation Clottemans could have had the opportunity to cut Van Doren's parachute's cables, as the parachute was in the apartment, and experts estimated that it would have taken no more than 30 seconds to have cut the cables with scissors. While normally the three would jump together to create a formation, during the jump in question, Clottemans stayed on the plane a few extra seconds and watched Van Doren's dive from above.
Investigators were not able to determine if Van Doren knew that Somers also had a relationship with Clottemans. For her part, Clottemans told the Belgian media in 2007 that "[she] always knew that [she] was number two for Marcel and that Els was number one. [She] never had a problem with this at the time as [she] had such a low image of [her]self that [she] could only ever imagine being number two."
Clottemans was charged and arrested in January 2007, but released on bail
in 2008. Her trial began on September 24, 2010 with jury selection
and ended on October 20, 2010 with a conviction. Interest in the trial was so large, that "a room next to the courthouse had to be used for journalists to follow the proceedings through remote video."
After the trial began, Clottemans, who maintained her innocence, was placed on suicide watch
. On October 21, 2010 Clottemans was sentenced to a 30 years imprisonment. In sentencing her to 30 years rather than life
, the judge took "her feeble psychological condition" as extenuating circumstances
. Clottemans appealed the verdict on the ground that she was interrogated by police
without the presence of her attorney. The appeal was denied in May 2011.
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
skydiving murder trial
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
. The defendant, elementary school teacher and amateur skydiver
Skydiver
A skydiver is a person who engages in the sport of parachuting. It may also refer to:* SkyDiver a futuristic submarine featured in the TV series UFO* "Skydiver" a carnival ride produced by Chance Morgan...
Els 'Babs' Clottemans, was found guilty of murder by sabotaging the parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
of another woman, fellow skydiver Els Van Doren, because Van Doren was a rival for the love of Marcel Somers, also a skydiver. The skydive in which Van Doren died occurred on November 18, 2006. Van Doren, who was a 38 years old married mother of two and a very experienced skydiver at the time, died when both her primary and reserve parachutes failed to deploy. The dive was captured by a video camera mounted on Van Doren's helmet. Van Doren dropped from a height of over 2 miles (3.2 km) landing in a garden in the town of Opglabbeek
Opglabbeek
Opglabbeek is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Opglabbeek had a total population of 9,607. The total area is 24.98 km² which gives a population density of 385 inhabitants per km².-External links:*...
.
The case was entirely circumstantial
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
. Clottemans became a suspect when she attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
just before she was going to give a second statement to police a month after the incident. Police later learned that both Clottemans and Van Doren had a sexual relationship with Somers. The prosecutors alleged that Clottemans had the opportunity to sabotage Van Doren's parachute the week before the fatal jump, when Clottemans, Van Doren, and Somers all spent the weekend at Somers' home, with Clottemans sleeping in the living room while the other two were in the bedroom. According to the allegation Clottemans could have had the opportunity to cut Van Doren's parachute's cables, as the parachute was in the apartment, and experts estimated that it would have taken no more than 30 seconds to have cut the cables with scissors. While normally the three would jump together to create a formation, during the jump in question, Clottemans stayed on the plane a few extra seconds and watched Van Doren's dive from above.
Investigators were not able to determine if Van Doren knew that Somers also had a relationship with Clottemans. For her part, Clottemans told the Belgian media in 2007 that "[she] always knew that [she] was number two for Marcel and that Els was number one. [She] never had a problem with this at the time as [she] had such a low image of [her]self that [she] could only ever imagine being number two."
Clottemans was charged and arrested in January 2007, but released on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
in 2008. Her trial began on September 24, 2010 with jury selection
Jury selection
Jury selection are many methods used to choose the people who will serve on a trial jury. The jury pool is first selected from among the community using a reasonably random method. The prospective jurors are then questioned in court by the judge and/or attorneys...
and ended on October 20, 2010 with a conviction. Interest in the trial was so large, that "a room next to the courthouse had to be used for journalists to follow the proceedings through remote video."
After the trial began, Clottemans, who maintained her innocence, was placed on suicide watch
Suicide watch
Suicide watch is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that an individual does not die by suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital, or military bases...
. On October 21, 2010 Clottemans was sentenced to a 30 years imprisonment. In sentencing her to 30 years rather than life
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
, the judge took "her feeble psychological condition" as extenuating circumstances
Extenuating circumstances
In law, extenuating circumstances in criminal cases are unusual or extreme facts leading up to or attending the commission of the offense which, though an offense has been committed without legal justification or excuse, mitigate or reduce its gravity from the point of view of punishment or moral...
. Clottemans appealed the verdict on the ground that she was interrogated by police
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
without the presence of her attorney. The appeal was denied in May 2011.