38 year old elite skydiver Els Van Doren fell to her death in 2006 after both her main and reserve parachutes failed to open—an almost impossible coincidence. Investigators soon discovered sabotage, her parachute lines had been cut.
With no forensic evidence and only a web of emotional motives, prosecutors built a purely circumstantial case. Was it jealousy? Opportunity? Or a tragic misinterpretation?
SOURCES
Primary reporting & factual verification
- VRT NWS (Flemish public broadcasting) – trial coverage & psychological reports
- De Standaard – Belgian national newspaper reporting on the investigation and conviction
- Het Laatste Nieuws – Flemish coverage of relationships, timeline, and trial testimony
- Reuters – English-language reporting on conviction and appeals
- The Guardian – international coverage of trial outcome and controversy
- Archived Belgian court summaries (public portions) – conviction, charges, appeals status
Supplemental contextual sources
- Skydiving gear & malfunction statistics via USPA and European parachuting associations
- Expert rigging commentary cited in Belgian press regarding line-cutting time and method
- Publicly available interviews & commentary from Belgian legal analysts regarding circumstantial cases
