The Survival Tale of Vicky Cilliers
Morbid
02/08/23
•92m
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On April 4, 2015, thirty-nine-year-old Victoria “Vicky” Cilliers leaped from an airplane flying 4,000 feet above the ground. Vicky was an expert parachutist, so the dive on that Easter Sunday should have been no different—but this one was... For some reason, her chute failed to open, and she plummeted three-quarters of a mile to the ground.... BUT SHE SURVIVED THE FALL! The question remaining? Who had tampered with Vicky's chute?
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References
Bell, Bethan. 2018. Parachute plot: The ex-girlfriend who walked away. May 25. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-44226692.
—. 2018. Sex, lies and payday loans: The parachute murder plot. June 15. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-44209421.
Brown, David. 2016. "Soldier Charged Over Wife's Parachute Fall." The Times, September 14.
Bynorth, John. 2017. "Trial Told Army Sergeant Tried to Kill Wife By Removing." The Herald, October 4.
Cilliers, Victoria. 2020. I Survived: I Married a Charming Man, Then He Tried to Kill Me. London, UK: Pan Macmilan.
Farmer, Ben. 2015. "Soldier Held for Attempted Murder after Wife's Parachute Fails." Daily Telegraph, May 11.
Gazette & Herald . 2017. "Wife Who Survived Murder Attempt is Top Parachutist, Court Hears." Gazette & Herald, October 6.
Gazette & Herald. 2017. "Paris Rowing Trip for Army Sergeant Awaiting Attempted Murder Trial." Gazette & Herald, January 12.
Humphries, Will. 2018. "Life in Jail for Sergeant Who Sabotaged Wife's Parachute." The Times, June 16.
—. 2017. "Sergeant's 'Parachute Plot to Kill Wife'." The Times, November 5.
—. 2017. "Wife Was 'Out for Blood' after She Survived Parachute Fall." The Times, October 26.
Kleeman, Jenny. 2018. "He Has Traits of a Psychopath: the Inside Story of the Parachute Murder Plot." The Guardian, July 14.
Morris, Steven. 2018. "'Shocking Betrayal:" The Soldier, the Lover and the Sabotaged Parachute." The Guardin, May 24.
Myers, Russell. 2015. "Wife of man arrested for her attempted murder after her parachute failed to open." Daily Mirror, May 10.
O'Sullivan, Kyle. 2020. Emile Cilliers' final disgusting insult to wife Victoria after trying to murder her twice. August 10. Accessed January 12, 2023. https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/emile-cilliers-final-disgusting-insult-22486913.
Press Association. 2017. Jury in Emile Cilliers case defends itself after judge's bullying direction. November 23. Accessed January 12, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/23/jury-in-emile-cilliers-case-defends-itself-after-judges-bullying-direction.
Sewer, Patrick. 2018. "Wife Who Stood by Husband after He Tried to Kill Her Sees Him Jailed." Daily Telegraph, June 16.
Siddique, Haroon. 2017. Parachute trial jury fail to reach verdict forcing retrial of Emile Cilliers. November 23. Accessed January 12, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/23/jury-dismissed-in-trial-of-man-emile-cilliers-accused-of-tampering-with-wifes-parachute.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
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Previous Episode
The Brutal Hoia Baciu Forest
February 6, 2023
•61m
Today we travel to Romania where everything is terrifying and awesome. Come on, it's the birthplace of Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) and it's got one of the scariest forests on this planet. The Hoia Baciu forest is a place where the trees bend like a rule, there is a dead zone in the center that might be a portal to hell, it may have been the location of one of the earliest doomed Romanian settlements and a truly macabre slaughter may have taken place there. Need more? Trust us, there is an endless slew of mystery and terror lurking in this place. The locals won't go in there after night falls, will you?
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
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Next Episode
Listener Tales 68
February 10, 2023
•74m
It's Listener Tales 68!!!!
We didn't theme this one, but as you all know sometimes they just theme themselves. It's a wild bunch of tales including one of our listeners being kidnapped from a Disney cruise, multiple haunted tales from one listener which ends on a heartwarming note, and Abe Lincoln haunting a shed. No, seriously, it was him! These are brought to you by you, for you, from you and all about you so if you have a listener tale please go ahead and send it to Morbidpodcast@gmail.com with "Listener Tale" somewhere in the subject line :)
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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