Name Stephen Hilder | Rank Officer cadet | |
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Died July 4, 2003, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom Education Defence Academy of the United Kingdom | ||
Sabotaged parachute? - The Stephen Hilder Case
Stephen Paul Hilder (12 December 1982 – 4 July 2003) was a 20-year-old Officer Cadet at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Wiltshire, England. On 4 July 2003, Hilder fell 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) to his death when, during a skydive, both his main and reserve parachutes failed.
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Early life
He was born in Hereford and attended the Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School.
Investigation
The police initially reported that his parachute had been sabotaged, with the risers (fabric connectors between the harness and lines) for his reserve parachute having been cut. A 10-month search for a murderer with a motive ensued, with two of Hilder's friends, Adrian Blair and David Mason, being arrested at one point and later released without charge. A third man, who remained unnamed, was also subsequently arrested and released without charge. From the results of DNA tests on the parachute straps, which revealed the presence of Hilder's DNA alone, the police concluded that Hilder had cut the straps himself. A coroner's inquest recorded an open verdict on the cause of Hilder's death.
The jump took place at the Hibaldstow Parachute Centre in Lincolnshire. One of the few leads that the police had when searching for a saboteur was an old issue of an American skydiving magazine, found at the drop zone, that reported one of the four other recorded cases of sabotaged parachutes in the history of skydiving. The reports of sabotage had noticeable effects on the subsequent behaviour of parachutists at championship events, and resulted in an increase in the sales of secure bags for the storage of equipment.
The laboratory test results that revealed that fibres from the severed risers were present on Hilder's body, leading police to conclude that Hilder had cut his own straps. This caused bafflement for both the police and Hilder's family and friends, who had seen no indication that Hilder was intending to commit suicide. One police officer stated that "Nothing we have discovered during the investigation and no one we have interviewed has said anything to suggest Stephen may have been contemplating killing himself.".
On 25 March 2005, North Lincolnshire coroner Stewart Atkinson refused to accept that the death was a suicide after a forensic scientist testified that the lack of DNA could be attributable to a saboteur wearing gloves and that crucially, the presence on Hilder's body of fibres from the severed risers was of no evidential value, as transfer could have taken place in freefall or when the risers were subsequently removed in the field where Hilder landed. The forensic scientist was therefore unable to support any positive assertion that Hilder had been responsible for making the cuts. Whilst test on scissors found in the boot of Hilder's car demonstrated that they were the implement used to make the cuts, there was no further evidence of where the act had taken place or who may have used the scissors in question. Atkinson also stated that there was no proof that someone else was responsible for the straps being cut, either.
Personal life
His funeral was at St Mary's Church in Burghill, Herefordshire, north-west of Hereford where he was from, on Thursday 31 July 2003. He had a sister.