Els Clottemans

Case record: Els Clottemans (parachute sabotage murder)

Els “Babs” Clottemans was a Belgian elementary school teacher and amateur skydiver who was convicted of murder for sabotaging the parachute of fellow skydiver Els Van Doren in a jealousy-motivated love triangle involving Marcel Somers.

The fatal skydive took place on November 18, 2006. Els Van Doren, a 38-year-old married mother of two and an experienced skydiver, died when both her primary and reserve parachutes failed to deploy. The skydive 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) and landed in a garden in the town of Opglabbeek.

Police later established that the cords of the parachute had been cut. The case was described as being entirely circumstantial.

The offence

The prosecution alleged that jealousy motivated Clottemans to sabotage Van Doren’s parachute so neither the main parachute nor the reserve safety chute would open during the fatal jump. It alleged that Clottemans had opportunity to sabotage the parachute during a weekend before the fatal jump, when Clottemans, Van Doren, and Somers spent the weekend at Somers’ home.

According to the prosecutors, the parachute was stored in Somers’ apartment and experts estimated that it would have taken no more than 30 seconds to cut the cables with scissors. The prosecution alleged that Clottemans made two key cuts to Van Doren’s parachute.

While normally the three would jump together to create a formation, during the jump in question Clottemans stayed on the plane a few extra seconds and watched Van Doren’s dive from above. Investigators were not able to determine whether Van Doren knew that Somers also had a relationship with Clottemans.

A BBC account described that the victim’s parachute cords had been cut, and that Van Doren was seen holding hands in formation with her lover seconds before the parachute problem occurred. It also described that Clottemans missed the formation by jumping a fraction too late.

Background and relationships

Marcel Somers was the shared lover in the love triangle. Both Van Doren and Clottemans had a sexual relationship with Somers, and police later learned that both women had been involved with Somers. The prosecutors alleged that Clottemans had the motive to have Marcel for herself alone.

Multiple accounts described Van Doren as being close to Clottemans in the parachuting community and noted that Van Doren had asked that everyone call the younger friend “Babs” to avoid first-name confusion.

A Reuters account described Van Doren as working during the week in a family jewelry store with her husband and spending weekends at the Zwartburg parachute club. It said that Van Doren met Somers there. It said that Somers and Clottemans both jumped with Van Doren from a Cessna light aircraft flying over Belgian countryside. It also described the jealous rivalry as the motivation and stated that the jury concluded Clottemans acted with premeditation and that, as an accomplished jumper, she knew how to disable a parachute.

The BBC account stated that Van Doren and Clottemans had each had passion for skydiving and both loved the same man, while Clottemans was accused of sabotaging Van Doren’s parachute.

Investigation and evidence

Police later established that the parachute cords had been cut. The case relied on circumstantial evidence.

The prosecution alleged that Clottemans had an opportunity to sabotage the parachute while she slept in the living room and the other two were in the bedroom at Somers’ home during the weekend before the fatal jump. It alleged that she could have cut the cables of the parachute, which was stored in the apartment.

A Reuters account described that Clottemans was suspected after attempted suicide just before she was to give a second statement to police about a month after the incident. Another account stated that 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.

Another account described that investigators believed Clottemans wrote an anonymous letter and made anonymous phone calls to Van Doren. A Reuters account described that evidence at trial showed she sent anonymous letters about Van Doren’s love life to mutual friends and that she was psychologically unstable.

The jury heard that the video camera on Van Doren’s helmet recorded the final moments, including her desperate attempts to activate her reserve parachute. Multiple accounts described the video footage being used at trial to show that the primary and reserve parachutes failed to open.

A Reuters account quoted attorney Jef Vermassen, representing Van Doren’s family, in closing arguments:

“Els Clottemans carries an unspeakable anger within her,” Jef Vermassen, attorney for the victims’ family said in his closing arguments. “It has led to the most horrible type of attack: murder. She is totally intensive and feels no empathy.”

A Reuters account also stated that defense lawyers argued there was no forensic evidence linking her to the killing.

The BBC account included a quote from Luc Deijgers, who piloted the Cessna plane:

“Els tried to do everything to try to save herself,” Luc Deijgers, who piloted the Cessna plane, told Belgian TV. “She tried to open the reserve parachute but it wouldn’t open. That never happens.”

Arrest and custody

Clottemans was charged and arrested in January 2007. She was released on bail in 2008.

After the trial began, Clottemans maintained her innocence and was placed on suicide watch.

Trial

Clottemans’ trial began on September 24, 2010 with jury selection. It ended on October 20, 2010 with a conviction.

A Reuters account stated that a room next to the courthouse had to be used for journalists to follow the proceedings through remote video because interest was so large.

During the trial, Clottemans maintained her innocence.

A GlobalPost account described a jury of 12 that took four hours to find her guilty of premeditated murder, and described the verdict being read. It stated that Clottemans faced a maximum penalty of life in prison. It also stated that Clottemans pleaded her innocence in a final message to the jury:

“I’m really innocent and can only keep on repeating it” she pleaded in a final appeal to the jury. “For four years I’ve been accused of something I didn’t do.”

A GlobalPost account described the jury’s view that jealousy motivated Clottemans and that she acted with premeditation.

A Reuters account described that, in sentencing her to 30 years rather than life, the judge took her “feeble psychological condition” as extenuating circumstances.

Defense counsel Vic Van Aelst made arguments denying direct evidence and characterized the case as circumstantial. The BBC and Reuters accounts described defense arguments that prosecutors had “nothing” directly linking her to the death.

Sentencing

On October 21, 2010, Clottemans was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.

Multiple accounts described that the judge considered her “feeble psychological condition” as the mitigating factor for imposing 30 years rather than life imprisonment.

A HuffingtonPost account described that the judge said the only mitigating circumstance in the 2006 skydive murder was her feeble psychological condition.

Appeals

Clottemans appealed the verdict on the ground that she was interrogated by police without the presence of her attorney.

Her appeal was denied in May 2011. A Reuters account described that she lost the appeal against her conviction on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, and it referenced her appeal grounds related to being questioned for more than 100 hours without a lawyer present.

Outcome

Clottemans was convicted of murder for sabotaging the parachute system of Els Van Doren, resulting in Van Doren’s death during the November 18, 2006 jump in Opglabbeek.

Van Doren died instantly after her main and reserve parachutes failed to open during the jump, and police concluded that the parachute cords had been cut.

Other details

• Clottemans was described as 26 at sentencing in October 2010.
• Van Doren was described as 38 at the time of the November 18, 2006 death.
• Van Doren had at least 2,300 jumps to her name, according to one account.
• The trial took place in Tongeren, with jury selection on September 24, 2010 and verdict on October 20, 2010, followed by sentencing on October 21, 2010.
• Accounts described that Clottemans attempted suicide in 2008.
• Accounts described that Clottemans had been released on bail in 2008 before the trial.
• Accounts described that Clottemans and Van Doren were members of the same parachute club, including references to the Zwartburg parachute club and the East Belgian town of Tongeren.