A skydiver accused of killing her love rival by sabotaging her parachute went on trial in Belgium today.
Prosecutors say jealousy drove Els Clottemans to kill Els Van Doren, with whom she shared a passion for skydiving and a lover.
Ms Clottemans (26) denies the murder charges and accusations that she killed Ms Van Doren to have the lover, another Dutch skydiver, to herself.
The case has captured the imagination of Belgians since Ms Van Doren fell about 4,500 metres into a suburban garden in eastern Belgium after her parachute did not open on November 18th, 2006.
A married mother-of-two and skydiving enthusiast, Ms Van Doren had jumped from a plane with Ms Clottemans, their Dutch lover and another skydiver.
Ms Clottemans jumped a fraction too late and did not join in airborne stunts with the other three. When the sign was given to open the parachutes, Ms Van Doren struggled with the cords, before hurtling toward the ground.
Ms Clottemans became a prime suspect when she attempted suicide hours before she was to make a second statement to police, a month after the incident. The investigation revealed that Ms Clottemans had a relationship with the same skydiver as Ms Van Doren.
Prosecutors allege that Ms Clottemans tampered with Ms Van Doren's parachute and cut two vital cords. Experts ruled that both items had been deliberately cut and that it could been done in just 30 seconds with scissors.
No hard evidence has surfaced so far to support the murder charge, but prosecutors hope circumstantial links will secure a conviction.
As her murder trial opened, Ms Clottemans sat nervously in front of the mudcaked parachute bag and helmet that Ms Van Doren wore as she frantically tried to open her parachute before crashing to the ground in November 2006.
In a 68-page indictment, the prosecution said Ms Clottemans had both the time and the knowledge to sabotage the parachute and asserted that eliminating a romantic rival was the motive.
Chief defence lawyer Vic Van Aelst said prosecutors "have nothing" to tie his client to the death.
"It cannot be true that you condemn someone to the most serious punishment based on claims and declarations," Mr Van Aelst said.
A jury was selected today at the trial in eastern Tongeren, the indictment was read and the defence gave its counter-arguments. The trial is expected to last a month and will include testimony from Marcel, the man at the centre of the alleged love triangle.
The trial, which is likely to feature video of the fall shot from a camera on Ms Van Doren's helmet, is due to last four weeks.
Media interest was such that a room next to the courthouse had to be used for journalists to follow the proceedings through remote video.
Agencies