Nothing like a threesome - at 13,000 feet!
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Authorities have opened a murder investigation into the death of a skydiver, saying they believe someone tampered with her parachute in an apparent fight over a lover.
Els Van Doren, 37, fell 13,000 feet to her death last November after her parachute and emergency chute failed to open.
A fellow female skydiver was detained for questioning last week and is the “prime suspect” in the investigation, prosecutor Michel Zegers said Wednesday. No charges have been filed.
Investigators believe Van Doren and the suspect, who belonged to the same parachute club, also dated the same man, a Dutch national identified as “Marcel.”
News reports say the suspect killed Van Doren in a jealous rage after learning Van Doren had an affair with her boyfriend.
“I believe we can call this a crime of passion,” Zegers said.
A court date is set for Feb. 16 in the eastern city of Tongeren to assess the evidence.
Van Doren had jumped from a plane with three others, including the suspect and the Dutch boyfriend. She crashed to her death at 130 mph near Opglabbeek, a small town in central Belgium.
Police have video footage of the fateful jump _ taken by Van Doren herself as she tried desperately to open her parachute.
At her funeral, some 1,000 people heard her sister deliver a bitter eulogy. “You did all you could during that final jump to save yourself,” she was quoted as saying in the Belgian press. “But someone did not want you to live.”
Police said someone with extensive skydiving expertise had tampered with Van Doren’s parachutes.
The main suspect initially escaped attention during a first round of police questioning. She became a suspect in December when she attempted suicide hours before she was to make a second statement to police.
Posted: January 25th, 2007 under News.
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