Parachute trial: Emile Cilliers cheated and lied but proved irresistible to women

Emile Cilliers, found guilty of trying to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute, was described as a cold, calculated, man who would stop at nothing to serve his own needs and satisfy his voracious sexual appetite.

He was "very dangerous, coercive and manipulative" yet also charming and proved irresistible to the many women with whom he embarked on relationships.

The Army sergeant was athletic and with a successful military career and a loving family, he appeared to have it all.

But throughout his life, the 38-year-old physical training officer had one recurring achilles heel which proved his downfall - his weakness for the fairer sex.

Born into an Afrikaans family in the remote mining town of Ermelo in eastern South Africa, Cilliers was the eldest son of a mining engineer and a school teacher.

He studied at a local private Afrikaans school, where he was academically average, but excelled at sport, particularly athletics and cross country running.

A former school friend said: "He was pretty popular at school and was not a drinker but was very much into fitness and running.

"Emile was never in trouble with the law here - all he was interested in was pretty girls.  

"At all the town dances he was always smartly dressed and always had his hair freshly cut and had the aftershave and the charm and drank soft drinks so he was able to drive people home.

"He always had a roving eye so it was not unexpected to find out that when he did get into trouble that women were involved."

Just before Cilliers was due to graduate from High School, his life took an unexpected turn when his 16-year-old girlfriend, Nicolene Gardner became pregnant.

Despite their young age, the couple remained together, but when she became pregnant for a second time, Cilliers bolted.

Ms Gardner has spoken of how she endured serial cheating, demands for her to have an abortion and a paternity test, and even his secret marriage to another woman when she believed he was committed to her.

She told the Mail on Sunday: “Emile can't ever let women go because, even after a split, he wants to get back into your life on his terms and he really doesn't want you to get over him. I misinterpreted that. I took it as a sign that he really loved me.

“Looking back now, I cannot believe I fell for it. I was basically like his plaything to be picked up and tossed aside when no longer needed - like when he'd found someone else. He would never let me move on, his ego would not allow it.”

Cilliers moved from South Africa to the UK, leaving his young family behind but insisting he would return to them.

He travelled around doing various jobs, fully embracing the young free and single lifestyle.

In 2003 he was working in  pub in Oxford when he met a local girl called Carly Taylor.

They began a relationship and when she became pregnant, they agreed to get married. Their first child was born six months later and they had a second in 2006.

The couple later moved to Ipswich and then Norfolk, where Cilliers began was working as an assistant manager in a nightclub.

But when Ms Gardner moved to the UK herself in 2004 he told her he and his wife were divorcing and so they rekindled their relationship.

She later discovered he had lied and she and Mrs Cilliers confronted him together, prompting him to ask which one of them wanted him.

It was in 2006 that on a whim, Cilliers had decided to join the Army.

He said: "I was walking to work and came across an army careers office so I popped my head in, they asked if I wanted to join and it went from there."

He passed through the early stages of his career with ease, winning an award as best recruit in the first phase of his training.

He had ambitions of joining the SAS and was posted in Plymouth, where he and Carly split up.

It was when Cilliers was based at Tidworth in Wiltshire that he met Captain Victoria Kilby, a self-confessed adrenalin junkie, who was recently divorced from a fellow army officer.

The attraction was instant and powerful between the couple and in 2011 they travelled to his native South Africa with 40 guests to tie the knot.

They married in a romantic ceremony on the beach at the 12 Apostles hotel in Cape Town.

Photographs of the wedding, show a couple blissfully in love and just eight months after the wedding Victoria gave birth to their first child.

But by the time their second child was born in February 2015, Cilliers had already strayed, embarking on affairs with ex-wife, Carly and an Austrian skydive instructor called Stephanie Goller, who he met on the dating app Tinder.

His infidelity was not the only secret he kept from his wife, hiding the fact he was also thousands of pounds in debt.

Despite the fact he was sleeping with at least two other women behind her back, he said he was frightened Victoria would leave him if she found out.

One of the reasons for his dire financial situation was that he was splashing out on gifts and expensive hotels on his mistress, assuring her his marriage was over.

By the time he sabotaged her parachute, Cilliers was more than £20,000 in debt. But without his knowledge she changed her will, leaving the vast majority of her estate to her children.

In a letter accompanying the will, she wrote: "I do hope Emile you understand my reasons. I love you and you are an amazing father to my children. I just want to ensure that they have the access to the education I had."

She attempted to defend him in court. Seemingly still in his thrall and unable to believe he was evil enough to twice attempt her murder.