What Els?
Yesterday, in the Flemish town of Tongeren, 26-year-old school teacher Els Clottemans was sentenced to thirty years in prison for the murder of fellow-skydiver, 38-year-old married mother-of-two Els van Doren. Both women belonged to the same skydiving club, and on the fatal day, they had planned to jump holding hands with their shared lover, Marcel Somers, and another man.
Clottemans jumped a fraction too late, and watched the trio as she floated down after them. She saw them separate; she saw both men's parachutes open, and she saw both Van Doren’s main parachute and reserve parachute fail to open. She watched as Els van Doren, an experienced skydiver with over 2000 jumps under her belt, plunged over 13,000 feet to her death.
It was found that vital straps in her equipment had been cut.
In the week preceding van Doren’s death, Clottemans had been staying with Somers. Van Doren showed up the night before the jump. Somers chucked Clottemans out of his room, forcing her to sleep on the sofa in the living-room, while he invited van Doren to replace her in his bed. Clottemans, it appears, was well displeased.
Clottemans protested her innocence throughout the trial. She was found guilty by the jury, despite there being absolutely no material evidence. It seems that her motive – jealousy , her technical knowledge, and that fact that she had the opportunity to sabotage her club-mate’s parachute, were enough to convince them of her guilt.
Excellent material for a short story- but you wouldn’t get away with giving your two protagonists the same name…
- Yes, this story made the news here, also, guess it filtered in from the States where they seem to thrive on such stuff. How long before it's a movie?
- Thanks, all. No scissors, fingerprints or evidence of any kind was found - I find it amazing that she was convicted on circumstantial evidence alone - maybe she's amazed too - anyway, she's appealing to the Supreme Court...I love you theory, Jean - wonder why the jury didn't consider that angle...
- I worked with someone who died like this. It wasn't murder though. Her boyfriend had bought her a new chute which failed, and was watching from the ground with her mother. Must have been terrible for both of them. That made the TV news and I saw it.
Could this woman have believed she would get away with it? Perhaps the lover found a way to get both women out of his life? - Jealousy is a terrible thing but this woman obviously doesn't love herself either, just the thought of spending the rest of my life in prison would put me off :-)
- Hi Paula,
Sounds like a film I saw once.
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