25-09-10, 12:19 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Woman skydiver on trial for murdering love rival
Woman skydiver on trial for murdering love rival - Telegraph
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Quote:
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Els or "Babs" Clottemans, 25, is alleged to have murdered her married skydiving partner Els Van Doran, 37, in November 2006, after apparently growing jealous that they were both having an affair with the same boyfriend, a fellow parachutist.
Parachuting with both women, the lover, Marcel or "Mars" Somers, 25, watched in horror as Mrs Van Doran, a mother with two children, crashed over two miles to her death into a garden in the Flemish Limburg town of Opglabbeek.
The three had taken off from the small aerodrome of Zwartberg on a regular their Sunday skydiving trip. Unlike other jumps, when the trio would hold join a star formation before splitting up to open their chutes at 4,000ft, it is claimed that Miss Clottemans hung back when leaving the aircraft.
She allegedly then watched from above as her friend Mrs Van Doren, an experienced skydiver with 2,000 jumps, struggled to open both her main and reserve parachutes. The fall was captured on the victim's head-mounted video camera and footage of the jump, showing her frantic efforts to open her main and reserve parachutes provided key evidence for police.
Detectives found signs that both parachutes had been sabotaged.
Miss Clottemans is said to have befriended Mr Somers and Mrs Van Doren in 2004 and used to sleep on a mattress in his living room while he shared the bedroom with the other women.
Then a second affair allegedly began between Mr Somers and Els Clottemans, known as "Babs" to distinguish her from Els Van Doren.
At the weekend of the death, both women had apparently spent Friday night with Mr Somers. According to the prosecution, Miss Clottemans, slept in the living room was close to Mrs Van Doren's parachute, which was in the house's hall.
Their jump the next day was postponed from the Saturday until Sunday because of bad weather and Mrs Van Doren went home to her family. Miss Clottemans stayed with Mr Somers.
Belgian court psychiatrists have declared Miss Clottemans to be "a danger to society" and to be a "psychopath with dramatic features".
The accused, who was released from prison on bail over two years ago, is said by family and friends to acted "mature and calmly" since.
"My client has evolved since her release in January 2008 and does not behave like a psychopath. She started working as a teacher," said Vic Van Aelst, her lawyer.
Opening the trial, Mr Van Aelst insisted that prosecutors "have nothing" to directly tie Miss Clottemans to the death.
"They have to prove they have something, but they are trying to do it since four years and it is not going very well for them," he said.
Miss Clottemans denies the charge.
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Pfffft. What's being a teacher supposed to prove? I had a bunch of teachers who behaved like psychopaths.
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