What happened to Emile Cilliers in Channel 4's The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot and did he go to prison?

When a marriage goes bad and the partnership turns deadly, the worst of humanity comes out. So it was with Victoria and Emile Cilliers, a married couple, with two children who went from living their dream to a coercive nightmare.

Screening on Tuesday (June 11) on Channel 4, The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot reveals the story behind Emile's narcissistic personality and Victoria's near-death experience.

The three-part shows what happened when Victoria, a woman who thought she was living with a man who loved her, was cast in the centre of a dastardly plot that saw him determined to end her life.

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Emile Cilliers is a South African-born former member of the British Army. When he was working as a physical training instructor in the Royal Artillery, he hurt his knee in a skiing accident.

He was treated by Victoria, an army physiotherapist, and they married in 2011. The couple had two children together.

By 2015, the couple had a troubled relationship, including hallmarks of what has been called coercive behaviour. Emile got into debt and would go AWOL from home for periods of time.

He was later accused by a friend of his wife's of sending inappropriate messages to her daughter, who was 16. Victoria discovered emails that he had been sent by a 'sex club' on the family computer, then she found out he was having an affair.

Emile concocted a plan where he killed Victoria off, claimed her life insurance to pay off his debt and started a new life with his girlfriend - who had no idea of his intentions. He had tried to kill his wife by leaving the gas on, but Victoria smelled the leak.

On Easter Sunday 2015, Victoria went on a parachute jump given to her as a gift by Emile. She was a skilled and experienced parachutist, but during the skydive, Victoria's standard and reserve parachutes failed to open.

After she fell 4,000 feet to the ground, she was treated for life-threatening injuries including a broken pelvis - but miraculously, she survived. She assumed the parachute failures had been a terrible accident, but police felt differently.

Detectives felt that that Emile had planned the “accident”, but there was no smoking gun DC Maddy Hennah and DI Paul Franklin spent two years pulling at the threads of his life, revealing affairs, debts, sex clubs, escorts, and murderous intent.

Audio, visual and written evidence they worked non-stop to find revealed him to be a sociopathic narcissist who groomed and exploited people. Emile’s controlling behaviour even saw Victoria turning against the police to side with her husband during trials, being seen as a "hostile witness" for a time by the prosecution.

After two trials, Emile Cilliers was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder. In June 2018 was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of eighteen years and is currently serving his sentence at HM Dovegate Prison in Staffordshire.

Speaking outside the court after sentencing in 2018 DI Franklin said: "From the outset, Emile Cilliers showed no remorse for what he had done; he lied all the way through two trials but in the end justice won out with the guilty verdicts and now a long prison sentence.

“Emile Cilliers is dangerous; he’s a cold, callous, selfish man who cares only about money and his sexual conquests. Today’s sentencing means that society is a little safer with him locked away.

“I also hope this result means that there can now be some closure for his wife Victoria and her family, who were victims in this.

“Wiltshire Police is dedicated in bringing offenders like Cilliers to justice as well as giving help to those who find themselves in subtle abusive and coercive relationships – like the one highlighted here.

“Often, the abuse is not obvious because there may be no physical tell tale signs or injuries. However, a victim suffering emotional and financial abuse, as in this case, can be just as deeply traumatised.

“If you find yourself in that situation please seek help – there are many people who are there for you.”

Victoria and her two children live in Wiltshire. She works as a physio for the Ministry of Defence.

The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot starts on Channel 4 on Tuesday (June 11) at 9pm