Army sergeant Emile Cilliers ‘sent 50 Shades of Grey text to lover and asked her to be his nude cleaner a day after tampering with wife’s parachute in a bid to kill her’
AN army sergeant sent a host of flirty 50 Shades of Grey inspired texts to his lover a day after allegedly tampering with his wife's parachute in an attempt to kill her, a court heard today.
As his wife lay in hospital Sgt Emile Cilliers was messaging his mistress asking her to call him "Mr Grey" and asked her to be his "nude house cleaner".
Jurors at Winchester Crown Court were shown dozens of racy messages between Cilliers and Stefanie Gollier - as they planned a life together while his wife, Victoria Cilliers, waited for surgery after plummeting to the ground.
She survived the 4,000ft skydive when her parachute failed but broke her pelvis and ribs and fractured her vertebra.
It is alleged Cilliers, who serves with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, removed two vital pieces of equipment called slinks from his wife's parachute.
On the same day of the fall, Cilliers messaged Miss Goller: "I can't imagine anything like that happening to you. I think about you all the time."
He told Miss Goller that his 40-year-old wife would be likely to walk with a limp for the rest of her life as a result of her injuries.
The very next day Miss Goller messaged explaining she is cleaning to earn some extra money and Cilliers said: ";Will you be my cleaner? I only like nude house cleaners. I pay with hugs and kisses."
When Miss Goller tells Cilliers she loves him in uniform, he replies: ";You going onto (sic) salute me?"
And in reply to her message "I guess sometimes I will have to obey you", Cilliers said: "Will you call me your Mr Grey?"
In two messages four months before the incident, Cilliers tells Miss Goller, who was in the United States: "I will sacrifice and give up so much for you... I just never want to let you go."
In court earlier this week Cilliers showed no emotion when told the chute was missing vital equipment, a court heard.
Cilliers is also accused of trying to kill his wife a few days earlier at their home in Amesbury, Wilts, by damaging a gas valve in a bid to cause an explosion.
Winchester Crown Court, Hants, has heard Cilliers, who had around £22,000 of debts and had started an affair after meeting a woman on Tinder, believed he would receive £120,000 life insurance as a result of Mrs Cilliers' death.
Mark Bayada, chief instructor of the Army Parachute Association, invited Cilliers and Mrs Cilliers' father Michael to the base after Cilliers called asking for information the day after the incident on April 5, 2015.
In a statement by Mr Bayada read out in court, he said: "I would describe Emile as very quiet throughout, slightly bewildered and perhaps in shock.
"He seemed very matter of fact with what happened and very unemotional."
The court heard a statement by James Lowrey, who was the only person who saw Mrs Cilliers' main parachute malfunction.
In his statement, read out by Elizabeth Marsh QC, defending, he said: "I had been sat outside with friends when my attention was drawn to what I can only describe as a mess of a main parachute.
"It had come out of the container as normal but it became clear it appeared to be wrapped around itself. The lines were clear to the canopy, not around the jumper, but the main had collapsed in on itself.
"From what I saw I would assume it was a line over (when a line is twisted around the parachute or the jumper) which I have experienced myself once before."
The statement from Mr Lowrey added that in Mrs Cilliers' case, he had "never seen anything like this before".
The court heard when lines, which are connected to the parachute, are twisted, skydivers can 'kick out' - meaning holding on to the lines and kicking in order to correct the lines, before using the brake and steering the parachute correctly.
Miss Marsh QC, asked Mr Bayada: "If twists had been kicked out, one would expect to release the brake to control the canopy.
"Had that not been done but the twists kicked out, it suggests no effort to regain control."
Mr Bayada said: "In my mind, it is most likely that there is another problem stopping the releasing of the brakes.
"To me no effort means not bothering but for me, it [not using the brakes] suggests there is a reason they [the parachutist] did not take control but not that it was due to no effort."
He added: ";It would suggest she could not kick out or solve the problem and, rather than waste time, she carried out a malfunction drill which we would expect."
Mr Bayada was working at the base on Salisbury Plain on April 5, 2015, when both of Mrs Cilliers' parachutes failed and she spun to the ground having made the 4,000ft jump.
It's alleged South African-born Cilliers tampered with both her main and reserve parachutes before storing them in a locker the night before she made the jump.
Cilliers, now of Aldershot Barracks, Hants, denies two counts of attempted murder and criminal damage as to recklessly endanger life.
The trial continues.
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