<p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">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&nbsp; fellow-skydiver, 38-year-old married mother-of-two Els van Doren. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">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&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>both<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Van Doren&rsquo;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, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>plunged over 13,000 feet to her death.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>It was found that vital straps in her equipment had been cut.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">In the week preceding van Doren&rsquo;s death, Clottemans had been staying with Somers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Clottemans protested her innocence throughout the trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She was found guilty by the jury, despite there being absolutely no material evidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It seems that her motive &ndash; jealousy , her technical knowledge, and that fact that she had the opportunity to sabotage her club-mate&rsquo;s parachute, were enough to convince them of her<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>guilt.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Excellent material for a short story- but you wouldn&rsquo;t get away with giving your two protagonists the same name&hellip;</span></p> <p> <p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/8078445/Belgian-skydiver-murderer-sentenced-to-30-years.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/8078445/Belgian-skydiver-murderer-sentenced-to-30-years.html</a></p> </p>

<p>We were lost when we met;<br />I, returning from a stroll<br />through tessellated eucalyptus;<br />you, snuggled on saffron-sprinkled pavement,<br />fast asleep.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Or perhaps we were found, <br />though I named you Perdida.</p> <p>I stroked you, woke you, <br />promised I'd be back.<br />Jaded dik-dik eyes looked up,<br />searching. Can I trust?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Later I returned. Your ears pricked,<br />recognizing. You knew two frames: <br />now and forever. Now was peace; forever, terror,<br />like the long night when fireworks filled the sky<br />driving you frightened from who-knows-where,<br />so young, bewildered, five tiny beating hearts within.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>And I, in arrogance, claimed you,<br />chose for you, cleansed you, freed you inside,<br />offered the prison of my home,<br />bartered my warmth and love for yours.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>You played, chased bees, got stung, forgot,<br />began again. In warm austral sunshine<br />your wet tongue licked my sleeping face.<br />Those were now times.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>With whimpering chatter you'd welcome me home<br />like I'd been gone forever. &lsquo;I'm here now,' I'd whisper,<br />&lsquo;I won't leave you.'</p> <p>Did you believe?</p> <p><br />And now I move on to a new land, forever.<br />Again I choose, this time for you to stay.<br />You'll pull through: they'll love you like I do.<br />Who wouldn't?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Already your liquid amber eyes once dull<br />shine at me, not accusing, but confused.<br />Do you mean now or forever, they ask.<br />I'd pledged now meant together.<br />Will you ever trust again?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>