Bizarre Buffet Podcast
The Parachute murder is the name the Belgian media gave to the crime that led to a 2010 Belgian love triangle skydiving murder trial.
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” The Parachute Murder ” I Episode Credits
Hosted By Mark Tauriello , Jen Wilson , & Marc Bluestein .
Original Episode Art By Mark Tauriello
Original Episode Story & Production By Marc Bluestein
” The Parachute Murder ” I Show Notes
The Parachute Murder / Els Van Doreen
Lets start out with a question! How do you guys feel about skydiving? Are you open to it, would you consider trying it ?
Today we’re gonna talk about the story of a woman by the name of Els Van Doreen. Van Doren was known to be a very experienced skydiver, so when she died after both her primary and reserve parachutes failed to deploy, it was a big shock to everyone to say the least…
The 37-year-old mother of two worked with her husband Jan De Wilde in the family jewelry store. Weekends she spent at the Zwartburg parachute club to enjoy her passion for skydiving.
So, you’re probably thinking “Shit, well…freak accidents DO happen.” Which is true! But you’re listening to Bizarre Buffet, so you probably already know thats not the case here.
Now, I’m not sure if this video can be found anywhere on the internet but 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. Police later established that the cords of the parachute had been cut. Now, cords don’t cut themselves..so…..
Who Cut The Parachute Cords?
Alright, we’re gonna circle back to this, but for the time being I’m gonna escort you all into a Bizarre Love Triangle for a moment.
Unbeknownst to many, including Van Doreen ( The Victim), Van Doreen was tangled in a little bit of a love web…. to the extent that even the victim herself had no awareness of……and it doesn’t include her husband….so theres no “Husband has wife murdered”, etc, going on here.
I’m gonna try to break down this relationship situation, and hopefully paint a clearer picture.
- Van Doreen ( The Victim ) Married to Jan De Wilde, her husband that she works at the family jewelry store with .
- Marcel Sommers ( The victims long-time lover, & fellow club member at Zwartburg Parachute Club)
- And finally Els Clottemans, (a friend of Van Doreen & her lover Marcel Sommers)
Recap
SO, heres a quick recap of what the hell is going on here. Van Doreen, who died in the parachute accident, she was married. She was having an affair outside of her marriage with Marcel Sommers, who she would meet up with on the weekends at the parachute club. Els Clottesmans is simply a friend that Doreen and her lover have made at the parachute club that they all go
to.
Its important to note that the victims real life husband only discovered that his wife was having an affair after her parachute death.
Moving On
Now, Van Doreen, Marcel, & Clottesmans, three BFF’s who love skydiving!
The three were friends, but unknown to Van Doren, Somers had also begun an affair with Clottemans. A week before the fatal jump, the three of them spent the night at Somers’ home in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. Van Doren shared Somers’ bed, while Clottemans was consigned to the sofa in the front room.
So Van Doreens lover who she’s cheating on her husband with, the lover is now cheating on Van Doreen with their friend Els Clotteman.
CONFUSING I KNOW BUT STAY WITH ME
Now that you know the more important details, lets head back to the parachute club ! On Nov. 18, 2006, Van Doren, an experienced skydiver with 2,300 jumps to her name, leapt out of a Cessna with Clottemans, Marcel and another skydiver to perform aerial maneuvers during their fall.
Clottemans, however, said she jumped a fraction too late to join the other three. When the sign was given to open the parachutes, Van Doren struggled with hers and hurtled toward the ground. The helmet-mounted camera recorded her desperate attempt to release her reserve parachute.
Motive To Kill
A week before Van Doren’s death, all three stayed at Somers’ home, with Clottemans sleeping in the living room while the other two were in the bedroom. Prosecutors say that during that weekend, Clottemans could have sabotaged the parachute
While its unclear as to whether or not Van Doren had any knowledge of her lover and their mutual friend Clotteman, its believed that the victims lover Marcel was seeing her on Saturdays & the mutual friend on Friday ( For sex I’m guessing ).
The Trial
Prosecutors say this love triangle led to high-altitude murder when Els Clottemans sabotaged her friend’s parachute in a fit of jealousy as they skydived together, sending her romantic rival plunging to her death in a horrifying fall captured on video.
Clottemans sat nervously in front of the mudcaked parachute bag and helmet that Els Van Doren wore as she frantically tried to open the chute before hitting the ground in November 2006 from a height of 13,000 feet
Clottemans, a 26-year-old schoolteacher, denied the murder charge and accusations that she killed her friend to claim for herself Dutch skydiver Marcel Somers
The 68-page indictment read out by Prosecutor Patrick Boyen said there was enough evidence for the murder charge.
“As skydiver, she had the knowledge and opportunity to sabotage the parachute,” the indictment said. It alleged she made two key cuts to Van Doren’s parachute.
“On top of that, she had a relationship with Marcel … who also had a relationship with the victim, giving the accused a motive to have Marcel for her alone,” the indictment said.
Chief defense lawyer Vic Van Aelst said prosecutors have nothing but circumstantial allegations.
Clottemans became a prime suspect when she attempted suicide hours before she was to make a second statement to police a month after Van Doren’s death.
Ending
While there was nothing other than circumstantial evidence , Clottemans was charged and arrested in January 2007, then released on bail in 2008.[7] Her trial began on 24 September 2010 with jury selection and ended on 20 October 2010 with a conviction. Media interest in the trial was so great that “a room next to the courthouse had to be used for journalists to follow the proceedings through remote video.”[8]
After the trial began, Clottemans, who maintained her innocence, was placed on suicide watch.[9] On 22 October 2010, Clottemans was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment. In sentencing her to 30 years rather than life, the judge took “her feeble psychological condition” as an extenuating circumstance.[10]
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