Love rival found guilty of skydiving murder

A JEALOUS schoolteacher was found guilty of murder yesterday for sabotaging the parachute of a rival in a love triangle, causing her to crash to her death.

The verdict against Els Clottemans, 26, ended a month-long trial that revealed no hard proof that she had sabotaged Els Van Doren's parachute to prevent the safety chute from opening during a jump in November 2006 over eastern Belgium.

Ms Van Doren, 38, jumped that day with 11 other parachutists, including Clottemans, from a small plane flying at 30,000ft.

The 12 jurors agreed with the prosecution that the evidence was circumstantial, but overwhelming.

They agreed that jealousy was a motive: the killer and her victim were intimately involved with the same man, a Dutch skydiver, whom Clottemans wanted for herself.

During the trial, the jury was told that Clottemans, an accomplished skydiver, knew how to disable a parachute.

Evidence showed she also sent anonymous letters about Ms Van Doren's love life to mutual friends and is psychologically unstable, having attempted suicide in December 2006.

The jury saw video footage Ms Van Doren had shot during what would be her last jump. She and Clottemans were among the last four jumpers to leave the plane.

The video, shot by Ms Van Doren's helmet-mounted camera, showed how the victim looked up, yanking at her gear, hoping to see an open canopy above her.

It never happened.

She crashed into a garden in Opglabbeek, a small town in eastern Belgium, and was killed instantly.

Sentencing is set for Thursday. Clottemans faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.