00:00:00
from audio boom comes mafia a brand new podcast taking us into America's criminal underworld
00:00:06
exploring the lives and careers of the most powerful gangsters the world has ever seen through extensive research and
00:00:13
eyewitness stories mafia reveals what life was really like inside the mob from the people who lived it every Wednesday
00:00:21
mafia dives into the larger than life stories of mobsters and introduces us to the key figures who brought them down in
00:00:28
season one host fleet Koopa will bring us closer than ever to the most notorious mob bosses of all time by
00:00:33
taking us inside the lives of Sam Giancana Dutch Schultz Bugsy Siegel Charles Lucky Luciano John Gotti and
00:00:42
Donnie Brasco discovering how they built their criminal enterprises and revealing
00:00:48
how the Mafia is connected to the assassination of JFK subscribe to mafia on Apple podcasts and every other
00:00:55
listening destination [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
00:01:18
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:01:24
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music]
00:01:32
accidents are to be expected in skydiving it is after all an extreme sport over 99% of people who jump out of
00:01:41
an airplane will do it just once attached to an instructor those people are unlikely to come to any harm they're
00:01:49
strapped to a professional who has performed thousands of jumps and who makes all the decisions for the majority
00:01:55
of participants skydiving is a once-in-a-lifetime thrill just a tick on a bucket list they never do it again for
00:02:03
the tiny fraction who go on to jump solo skydiving becomes more than just a thrill it's an obsession a lifestyle
00:02:11
something they are rather than merely something they do as those studying out get used to the elements of the sport
00:02:20
freefall can it be flying into landing they are bound to experience scrapes and bruises perhaps even a broken bone or
00:02:28
two skydivers do what they can to minimize risks they look out for each other check their own gear into that of
00:02:36
the people they are jumping with looking out for anything amiss frayed loops that
00:02:41
may not hold a closing pin in properly flaps that have become untucked webbing that is wearing out
00:02:47
this close-knit community is built on equal parts adrenaline and trust accidents are to be expected in
00:02:54
skydiving but deaths are rare most skydivers are prepared to encounter a fatal accident at some time if they
00:03:02
stick with the sport for long enough when a jumper loses his or her life a universal traditional toast is given
00:03:11
blue skies black death [Music] 20 year-old Stephen Hilda was embarking on what he hoped would be a solid week
00:03:46
of skydiving his girlfriend root would house often joked Stephen would get withdrawal symptoms if he hadn't jumped
00:03:53
for a few days by 2003 he had become obsessed with the sport he missed an exam in favor of going jumping and maxed
00:04:02
out credit cards to buy expensive equipment he jumped as often as possible even traveling to other parts of the world
00:04:09
when the weather in Britain became too cold in mid-2003 Ruth had taken her first jump with the enthusiastic support
00:04:18
of Stephen but she was not yet sure the sport was for her Stephen hadn't been able to jump on Saturday June 28 2003 he
00:04:29
spent the day at a Bon Jovi concert at Hyde Park he took his father along as an early
00:04:34
birthday present though it was hard to say whether the gift was more for his dad or for him the following day Stephen
00:04:43
managed to get in a couple of jumps at his home parachuting dropzone the village of nether Aven in England's
00:04:48
south on Monday June 30 Stephen visited a theme park with his girlfriend Ruth that evening he made the
00:04:57
160 kilometers rod to the drop zone at Hilde Stowe airfield in Lincolnshire he bolts though airfield was hosting the
00:05:06
upcoming collegiate Nationals a competition between college skydiving clubs Stephen was participating as a
00:05:13
member of a three-man team at around 300 jumps Steven was considered an intermediate level
00:05:20
skydiver as were his teammates Adrian Blair and David Mason both nineteen years old
00:05:27
Adrian and David were cadets with Steven at the Royal Military College of Science
00:05:32
at shriven M both were on a military course and would be arriving to Hibbert's though airfield for the compa
00:05:38
later in the week Steven hopes to get a few practice jumps in before then there were bunk rooms where jumpers could hire
00:05:47
a bed at the drop zone if they wanted to but few did that they preferred the pitch tents throw down a mattress in the
00:05:53
corner of a hangar or sleep in their cars as Steven did the money they saved on accommodation was better spent on
00:06:00
jumps it was a quiet night when Steven arrived to the airfield he had a couple of drinks at the dropzone bar and two
00:06:09
then went to his car and retired for the night the weather was threatening to be
00:06:14
unkind to skydivers that week the plane couldn't take off at all on Tuesday July
00:06:18
1 and 2 chief instructor Paul Hollow soon announced that jumping was off for the day so Steven drove 11 miles to a
00:06:26
gas station where he bought some snacks on Wednesday July 2 there were just two or three jumps before the skydivers were
00:06:36
again grounded Stephen was on one of these with him was his coach wearing a camera on his helmet so that when
00:06:43
Stephens teammates arrived later that evening they could watch the footage and critique his style
00:06:49
nobody knows whether Stephen packed up his parachute himself after landing or if he hired one of the professional
00:06:56
Packers to do it for him but it was likely to be the former no skydivers packed their main parachutes themselves
00:07:02
but there was always someone else ready to do it for five quid after his parachute was packed Stephen left it in
00:07:10
the kit room the kit room walls were lined with racks of parachute kids hanging on by their shoulder straps the
00:07:18
racks kept them off the ground and made it easy for skydivers to identify and grab their kit when it was time for a
00:07:23
jump age skydivers parachute harness was distinctive Stevens was black white and
00:07:30
gray unusual in its lack of brighter colors kit rooms are not usually monitored and are accessible to anybody
00:07:39
on the drop zone to come and go as they please the kit room at Hibbard Stowe airfield also doubled as a lounge room
00:07:45
skydivers could hang out or watch TV there when not jumping that Wednesday evening
00:07:52
Stephen Hilda's teammates Adrian and David arrived a welcome party was hold at the drop zone bar
00:08:00
the trio drank conjoining games like past the pass for most of the 78 competitors for the collegiate Nationals
00:08:07
had arrived they all hoped the competition would be starting the next day but the weather on Thursday July 3
00:08:15
had other plans thunderstorms lashed much of the United Kingdom signaling the beginning of a
00:08:21
heat wave skydivers were advised early that there would be no jumping that day and quite likely none the next with
00:08:31
skydiving not an option the competitors dropzone staff and other skydivers known
00:08:36
as fun jumpers had to find something else to do Stevan Hilda went shopping for something
00:08:42
to wear for the fancy dress party that was to be held that evening whilst his teammates went to the cinema in the
00:08:48
great college tradition a scavenger hunt was organized in the afternoon with porn
00:08:53
and female underwear on the list of items competitors had to come up with bonus points were awarded for completing
00:08:59
random gross tasks Stephan valiantly scoffed down some dog food in an effort to win the prize which was so
00:09:07
inconsequential nobody could remember what it was after a barbecue dinner Stephan Adrian
00:09:17
and David spent a couple of hours getting ready for the party they arrived at the dropzone bar around to 9 p.m. the
00:09:25
party was already in full swing with many people having started drinking in the early afternoon the oppressive heat
00:09:32
inside the shed where the bar was housed ensured everyone was thirsty the party had a fancy-dress theme to come as any
00:09:40
character starting with the letters B C P or a the acronym of the British collegiate parachute Association the
00:09:48
organizers of the competition the truly lazy turned up in their jumpsuits as parachutists among the cops
00:09:57
cheerleaders Punk's pilots and angels several men dressed in drag claiming they had come as [ __ ] Steven Hilda
00:10:06
was one of the [ __ ] wearing a leather dress he had found at a thrift store earlier that day skydivers party hard at
00:10:14
the best of times with a bunch of college-age competitors who had pent-up frustration of not having jumped many of
00:10:21
them took partying to the extreme the bar did a roaring trade that night Steven grabbed the karaoke microphone to
00:10:31
build out some of his favorite Bon Jovi tunes it was a natural performer whose other hobby was amateur dramatics
00:10:37
he sang deliberately terribly to the delight of the crowd throughout the night he was joined by Adrian and David
00:10:45
the group howling progressively cheesier tunes into the microphone together the party broke up at 2:30 a.m. if the
00:10:54
weather cleared there was still the chance of competition jumps the next day there is a strict rule skydivers and
00:11:01
pilots must adhere to 80 hours between bottle and throttle when weather permits jumping starts soon after sunrise if a
00:11:11
safety officer saw a skydiver drinking at 2:00 a.m. they wouldn't be allowed to board the plane until at least 10 a.m.
00:11:17
in a competition that could mean forfeiting around and scoring a zero partygoers memories were hazy the
00:11:26
following morning Friday July 4 Stephen Hilda slept late as did a good number of
00:11:32
people at the drop zone knowing that once they started moving the hangovers would kick in there was no hurry to get
00:11:39
up the day was overcast and parachuting through cloud is dangerous and in most cases prohibited after emerging from his
00:11:48
car Stephen joined a game of cards in the drop zone cafe competitors waited onward
00:11:54
from their chief instructor to give the all-clear to junk it was touch-and-go but finally the competitors were told
00:12:01
that if the break in the weather hold on they could jump after lunch Stephen Adrian and David were more than
00:12:09
ready to be on the first flight of the day they were particularly excited for this competition as their team called
00:12:16
Black Rain was doing well earlier that year they came third in a regional competition and first in another they
00:12:24
grabbed their gear from the kick room the first step prior to boarding the plane was the turn on a tiny electronic
00:12:33
device known as a Cyprus the Cyprus was a fail-safe that automatically released the reserve parachute if its owner was
00:12:40
still in freefall at 1,200 feet that is far lower than they should be if a skydiver had not released their
00:12:47
parachute by then there were only around six seconds from Impact most skydivers had a Cyprus including Stephen Hilde
00:12:56
they are a backup if a skydiver gets distracted and forgets to deploy their chute or if they get knocked or somehow
00:13:03
incapacitated in freefall in that case the Cyprus fires it cuts through the loop that holds in the spring-loaded
00:13:11
reserve pilot chute and releases it giving the skydiver the best chance of landing safely even if unconscious once
00:13:21
the little screen confirmed that the Cyprus was activated Stephen gave his ear a quick check over to ensure nothing
00:13:27
looked amiss no flaps untucked no frayed closing loops and ensuring the pilot chute was snugly tucked in its sleeve
00:13:36
the pilot chute is a miniature parachute that sits in an elastic sleeve at the bottom of the parachute container with
00:13:43
just a padded cushion sticking out when it's time to deploy the skydiver grabs hold of the pad and pulls the pilot
00:13:51
chute then comes out once it hits the air it inflates it then pulls the pin that allows the main parachute out of
00:13:59
the container Stephens team donned their jump suits and parachutes and performed
00:14:05
a dirt dive a ritualistic dance mimicking the formations they planned to do in the sky each new formation would
00:14:12
count as a point in the competition they laughed and ribbed each other and handed
00:14:17
up for the cameraman someone drawn from the competition's camera pool and whom they didn't know particularly well the
00:14:25
cameraman's job was the saw a little above the team and make sure every formation was captured on film so that
00:14:31
it could be judged some people considered Stephen a little cocky but that was par for the course for young
00:14:38
men involved in extreme sports especially when they were doing them older skydivers are well aware of
00:14:45
the problems of being too cocky and make sure young jumpers don't forget their safety checks the highest risk group for
00:14:53
serious injury is young male skydivers with around 200 to 500 jumps using a fast high-performance parachute Stephan
00:15:03
Adrienne and David had all pumped out jumps at a much faster rate than average Adrienne and David had gone through
00:15:10
training together the previous December since then virtually all of their sky dives had been together and the two had
00:15:17
become close many of their jumps occurred in the United States where planes were bigger drop zones busier and
00:15:24
two jumping was a year-round sport previously the team had candidly talked about different ways of dying Steven
00:15:33
told the others that if we was going to end his own life he would want to jump out of a plane the other two agreed for
00:15:42
all his larrikin behavior Steven took safety seriously Adrienne and David often found his rigid adherence the
00:15:49
safety manuals annoying as a result they play pranks on the older cadet lock booking him in for a student jump that
00:15:57
he was overqualified for or hiding pieces of his skydiving gear these pranks were designed to annoy Steven
00:16:04
rather than endanger him prior to boarding the plane the men performed a flight line check on each other once
00:16:12
again they made sure everything was as it should be safety conscious Steven performed with a check on both his
00:16:18
teammates David performed the check on Steven David had a patent he followed when conducting checks of his teammates
00:16:27
gear he did so in a methodical order that he stuck to every time he believed if you changed your system it was too
00:16:35
easy to miss something once finished each man firmly padded the backpack of the other code for you're good to go
00:16:48
black rain shed the light single-engine aircraft with one other team a total of eight skydivers were on board dropzone
00:16:58
planes have no seats so the skydivers sat on the floor facing the rear each person was between the legs of the
00:17:04
skydiver behind them the two cameramen node at the back of the group so they could see everyone on board the
00:17:12
propeller fired up for the first load of the day and black rains first jump for the competition as the plane took off
00:17:21
black reigns videographer turned on his camera the footage caught Steven the hill dart laughing and joking as the
00:17:30
plane got near the competition height of 13,000 feet he and his teammates did one
00:17:35
last gear check they performed a ritual handshake before climbing into position in the door of the airplane the three
00:17:44
then launched up the edge into the open sky their exit didn't go completely to plan had funneled in skydiver speak
00:17:54
meaning they didn't come off cleanly but they recovered after a few seconds and started their pre-planned formations
00:18:02
after 10 seconds they reached the terminal velocity the speed at which the body stops accelerating at this stage
00:18:10
they were falling at around 200 km/h toward the earth for the next 45 seconds the team
00:18:21
continually changed their hand and leg grips to maneuver in the sky with each new formation they earned points for the
00:18:28
competition for an intermediate team 10 points was good 15 points was excellent that day black rain received a
00:18:40
competition winning 19 points it was the best jump the team had ever done together they knew they'd ace that
00:18:49
before their free fall was even finished barring a miracle from another team that
00:18:54
would be crowned national champions the three exhilarated men made eye contact and screamed through their huge grins at
00:19:01
each other even though it was impossible to hear anything through the rushing wind at 4,000 feet around a minute after
00:19:10
they had exited the plane the three teammates turned away from each other to gain horizontal separation before they
00:19:16
deployed their parachutes the camera no longer needed to stay on them but in any
00:19:21
case the camera lost sight of them due to cloud after deploying their parachute the
00:19:29
first thing a skydiver is trained to do is to look around to see where everyone else is two people colliding midair
00:19:36
spells disaster as he descended a big wad of white fabric swept past Adrienne's vision it registered as out
00:19:46
of place but he didn't make anything of it at the time he was still buzzing from
00:19:51
the amazing jump and was focused on preparing his landing usually the most dangerous part of the skydive chief
00:20:00
instructor Paul holo was on the ground eyes on the sky with the cloudy weather he knew it was possible first god of it
00:20:07
over shooed the hanger in the land in the nearby cornfields anyone making such a transgression would be made to buy a
00:20:14
case of beer that night entering a bell above the bar alerting everyone that there was free beer to be had that
00:20:22
looked like there would be freebie that annoy Hollow noticed the skydiver had landed in the cornfield he dispatched
00:20:29
one of his instructors to go and retrieve them the instructor returned with a bundle in his arms
00:20:38
that was a white parachute a main parachute maybe many colors but only reserve parachutes of what years of
00:20:48
experience meant hollow only had the glance at the straight white parachute to know something had gone seriously
00:20:53
wrong accidents are accepted as being an integral part of skydiving deaths are rare death by double malfunction we're
00:21:04
both parachutes fail is almost unheard of usually some sort of error on behalf of the skydiver causes a fatality they
00:21:14
may turn their parachute too close to the ground hoping to build up speed for a really cool ending but misjudge and
00:21:21
hit too hard they may deal badly with the malfunction of their main parachute and deployed their reserve parachute
00:21:28
into it causing the two to tangle two skydivers might collide midair either in freefall or under their parachutes
00:21:35
rendering one or both unconscious and unable to land safely but never had Paul Holocene nor heard of an incident where
00:21:45
a reserve parachute broke away from the rest of the skydiving kit and the person
00:21:49
wearing it a main parachute has special release rings so a skydiver can detach it if
00:21:56
it's malfunctioning however a reserve parachute is permanently attached there's no getting rid of it unless you
00:22:04
cut it with a knife or climb out of the harness in midair Paul hollow clunk under the roof of a
00:22:11
car and scanned the surrounding fields he spotted a large unnatural indentation in the tall stalks of corn he climbed
00:22:20
down and headed into the field towards the indentation he found Steven Hilda having hit the ground at almost 200 km/h
00:22:31
the corn had done nothing to break Steven's fall he was still wearing his skydiving harness but neither of his
00:22:39
parachutes were billowing around him as he would normally expect a single glance
00:22:44
at Stevens shoulder area told hollow all he needed to know Stevens gear had been
00:22:50
tampered with his parachute sabotage chief instructor Paul holo called the police
00:23:04
detective Superintendent Colin Andrews of homicide police arrived at the airfield
00:23:10
Paul Hollow took him aside and told him immediately that this was no ordinary skydiving accident the dead man's
00:23:17
equipment had been interfered with skydiving experts were able to piece together what happened a long piece of a
00:23:25
webbing called the bridle connected the pilot chute to the pin that opens the container where the main parachute is
00:23:31
stored Stevens bridle had been cut the cut bridle and the pilot chute had been stuffed back into the elastic sleeve
00:23:40
there would be no way of telling it was tampered with without pulling the pilot chute out of the sleeve and there would
00:23:47
be no reason to do that unless you suspected something was wrong this meant the pilot chute was no longer
00:23:55
attached to the pin when Stephen pulled it out at the ployment height and let it
00:24:00
go there was nothing to pull the pin and drag the main parachute out of the container so it stayed lodged in there
00:24:06
impossible for Steven to do anything to get it out when he realized his main parachute was malfunctioning
00:24:14
Stephen pulled the handle that deployed his white a reserve chute it launched but all four pieces of webbing that
00:24:22
attached the reserve canopy to his harness called the risers had also been cut the reserve parachute simply flew
00:24:31
away Stephen had no more parachutes left all this would have happened between 4,000 and 2,000 feet above the ground
00:24:42
plummeting at terminal velocity Stephen had to endure at least 10 to 20 seconds of knowing he was going to die and if
00:24:50
there was nothing he could have done about it the Cyprus he had so carefully set prior to takeoff did its job and
00:25:00
fired but there was no reserve parachute for it to release from the moments they've been exited the
00:25:07
aircraft he was a dead man nothing could have saved him whoever sabotage this kid knew exactly
00:25:16
what they were doing both in terms of guaranteeing the sabotage would kill him and ensuring it was done in a manner
00:25:23
that it would not be picked up by a regular pre-flight gear check the damage to the reserve Rises would only have
00:25:31
been made evident by firmly pulling on them this action is not part of a regular check and he's not recommended
00:25:37
from a safety perspective as it could disturb the back job whoever tampered with Stephen Hilda's parachute knew
00:25:45
exactly how to hide the evidence from even experienced skydivers therefore that could only have been done by
00:25:52
somebody with intimate knowledge of skydiving equipment a skydiver thank you for listening we'll be back
00:26:10
soon today's episode is brought to you by quip no matter who you are brushing your
00:26:17
teeth is one of the most important parts of your day to stay healthy Equipe knows that and their team of
00:26:23
dentists and designers is focused on helping you take care of your mouth better quip is an electric toothbrush
00:26:29
that's a fraction of the cost of bulkier brushes while still packing just the right amount of vibrations to help clean
00:26:35
your teeth quips built-in tamo helps you clean for the dentist recommended 2 minutes with gliding pulses that remind
00:26:42
you when to switch sides 75% of us don't refresh our bristles every three months
00:26:47
let alone visit the dentist every six that's why you need quip to put a necessary yet annoying aspect of your
00:26:54
personal care on autopilot they deliver new brush heads on a dentist recommended schedule every three
00:27:00
months for just five dollars including free shipping worldwide their subscription plans are for your health
00:27:06
not just convenience quip also comes with a mount that suctions right to your mirror and unsticks to use as a cover
00:27:13
for hygienic travel wherever you take your teeth everyone loves quip they were on Oprah's
00:27:19
o list named one of Times best inventions and it's the first subscription electric toothbrush
00:27:24
accepted by the American Dental Association plus they're backed by a network of over 20,000 dentists and
00:27:31
hygienists and hundreds of thousands of happy brushes who use quip every day quip starts are just $25 and if you go
00:27:39
to get quip comm slash case file you'll get your first refuel pack free with a quip electric toothbrush that's your
00:27:46
first refill pack free at get quip comm slash case file that's a GE t qu IP dot-com slash case file
00:27:58
today's episode is also brought to you by ship station when you're selling online getting your orders out the door
00:28:05
quickly can be tough that's why you need ship station calm it's the fast and easy
00:28:10
way to manage and ship your orders all from one place whether you're using Shopify Squarespace Etsy BigCommerce
00:28:18
WooCommerce or over 75 other popular selling channels ship station brings all your orders into one simple interface
00:28:25
making them really easy to manage from any device even from your cell phone ship station helps you get orders out
00:28:32
quickly and keep customers happy you can create shipping labels for all the top carriers including UPS FedEx and USPS
00:28:40
with shipstation you'll ship more in less time with the best rates available and ship station is
00:28:47
also available in the UK Australia and Canada no wonder ship station is a popular
00:28:52
choice of online sellers right now you can try ship station free for 30 days plus get a special bonus when you use
00:29:00
promo code a case file don't wait go to ship station calm before you do anything
00:29:07
else click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and type in case file that's ship station comm enter promo
00:29:14
code case file ship station make a ship happen the drop zone was officially declared a
00:29:30
crime scene detective Superintendent Andrews was certain whoever killed Stephen Hilda was present and watched in
00:29:38
door police said to work interviewing everybody on the airfield the 78 competitors and 20 or so others every
00:29:46
person willingly agreed to submit to a DNA swab as soon as they were allowed to all of the skydivers checked their own
00:29:54
parachutes the police insisted everyone pop out their reserve parachutes this was a big
00:30:00
deal as a reserve parachutes are rarely deployed and they have to be repacked by
00:30:04
certified reserve Packer no skydivers are not qualified to pack their own police wanted to determine whether
00:30:13
Stephen had been targeted specifically or if the perpetrator had targeted other skydivers all other parachutes were
00:30:20
checked but there was no evidence any other reak had been tampered with police asked an expert from the British
00:30:29
parachute Association John Hitchin to cut some of Stephens riser webbing so that it could be sent for DNA testing
00:30:36
they provided itchin with a pair of kitchen scissors but he was unable to cut through the webbing so Heejun asked
00:30:43
for a hook knife which was easily able to cut through hook knives are a standard part of a skydive this kit they
00:30:51
have a protected blade a compact easily stowed and removed and attached to the harness they are a last resort used to
00:30:59
cut through any malfunctioning or hazardous equipment such as a parachute cord wrapped around a limb or helmet
00:31:05
every skydiver carried one this meant police had around a hundred potential murder weapons on the drop zone that day
00:31:15
police wanted to shed some light on the events leading up to Stephens death specifically the party the night before
00:31:22
partygoers were asked to hand over video and photographs from that night to police who spent hours poring over them
00:31:29
but all they found was a raucous party there was no sign of any tension arguments or fights
00:31:36
when asked for a possible motive for the murder everyone came up blank it was not
00:31:43
Stevens usual drop zone so he wasn't as well-known as if he were a local everyone who did know him or who had
00:31:49
interacted with him repeated the same thing Steven was popular fun-loving and enthusiastic one friend stated it was a
00:31:58
good lad fun in the air and on the ground the time frame of his parachute being sabotaged was believed to have
00:32:06
occurred sometime between Stevens last jump on Wednesday and the early hours of Friday morning there were a finite
00:32:13
number of suspects and had the base guard over who was at the drop zone over those days which came to less than 100
00:32:21
people police left the crime scene with over 200 pieces of potential evidence and they had DNA samples from everyone
00:32:29
present to compare against Stevens equipment they were confident who wouldn't be long before a suspect was
00:32:36
identified less than 48 hours later on Sunday July 6 skydivers including Stevens teammates Adrian and David were
00:32:47
back in the air in tribute they all had added an extra step in their preflight checks the sabotage of Stevens gear had
00:32:55
been expertly carried out to avoid detection from a standard check so now a firm tug on the reserved risers prior to
00:33:02
jumping became part of the routine over the next week police formally interviewed Stevens family friends his
00:33:11
girlfriend Ruth as well as skydivers who were at the drop zone they were hoping to find a motive someone he had a beef
00:33:19
with jealousy were perceived his flaw but the worst thing anyone could come up with was that Steven could be perceived
00:33:27
as arrogant his mother described him as quote an extraordinary son an ordinary infuriating lad who above all else loved
00:33:39
skydiving the forensics lab discovered nothing noteworthy on the vast majority of Stephens items the slashed risers had
00:33:49
many people's DNA on them so it was impossible to pick out individuals from the mix this was not unexpected as well
00:33:58
as Stephens DNA there would have been the DNA of anyone who had packed his reserve as Stephen was not qualified to
00:34:03
pack his own as well as DNA of the first responders and perhaps those who had been in the plane with him given the
00:34:10
close proximity in which the skydivers were packed together one week after Stephens death police had
00:34:20
no firm suspects and were no closer to making an arrest they sent a message to all four thousand active skydivers in
00:34:28
the UK who read the investigation into the death of Stephen is ongoing I am appealing for your help many of you
00:34:37
will have known him and enjoyed his company socially and through his love of skydiving someone knows who committed
00:34:44
this vile act and I ask that you contact me in total confidence you may have opinions or information as to how
00:34:51
Stephen met his death was he killed if so why or would he ever contemplate taking his own life I need to speak to
00:35:01
as many of his friends and associates as possible please contact the incident room if you have any information that
00:35:07
could assist us I would also like to thank the many who already have sincerely Humberside police
00:35:18
the mention of suicide seemed to be just covering all possibilities certainly suicides were more common on the drop
00:35:26
zone than murder however nothing in Stevens demeanor suggested he was in any way suicidal witness statements and
00:35:34
video evidence showed Steven was in a good mood too the night before and day of his death he displayed actions to
00:35:41
save his own life not end it this included setting up his Cypress pre-flight and going through life-saving
00:35:48
emergency procedures whilst falling these were not the desperate actions of a suicidal man changing his mind at the
00:35:56
last second and frantically trying any method to save himself they were the responsible practiced
00:36:02
actions of a seasoned skydiver media scrutiny in the weeks following Stevens death was intense his parents
00:36:11
made impassioned pleas for anyone who might know anything to come forward they visited the airfield patron makes some
00:36:18
sense out of what happened police hoped the presence of grieving family members would stir the conscience of someone who
00:36:25
was keeping a secret Stevens Black Rain teammates Adrian Blair and David Mason were interviewed
00:36:33
by the press they relived the day where that best jump ever became a nightmare they remarked Steven was bright excited
00:36:43
and in his normal buoyant mood before the skydive David felt guilty he had been the one to do Stevens gear check
00:36:50
prior to the jump he said he didn't notice anything amiss and the experts are great
00:36:57
there was no way a standard pre-flight check would have discovered the sabotage on July 12 2003 The Times reported quote
00:37:10
the police have failed to identify any suspects and skydivers are gripped by the fear that there is a murderer in
00:37:16
their midst a few facts are clear say the police the death of Steven 20 was neither an accident nor suicide this was
00:37:26
not a prank gone wrong and the killer is almost certainly a skydiver he or she may strike again Stevens case
00:37:38
was a major topic of discussion because of the competition there had been skydivers from all over the country at
00:37:44
Hill boards though that week this meant the culprit could be a jumper at any one
00:37:48
of the two dozen or so drop zones in the United Kingdom many skydivers changed their habits in fear of being targeted
00:37:56
by the unknown offender next parachutes were kept a lock in cars when not in use
00:38:02
Hibbert stow installed lockers to take the place of the pegs in the common room for you some drop zones toyed with
00:38:09
installing CCTV cameras in the hangars and sales of tamper-proof gear bags soared three weeks later the death of
00:38:18
Steven Hilda featured on the TV show crime watch police believed someone other than the person responsible knew
00:38:25
something they encouraged that person to come forward they also released the video footage of the fancy dress party
00:38:33
there not before Stevens death they hope that would jog attendees memories or that viewers would notice something that
00:38:39
the police had not the televised appeal resulted in several calls to police a number of people gave information about
00:38:48
an argument that had occurred at the party before Stevens death but whether this was determined to be relevant to
00:38:55
the events of the following day remained unknown stevan Hilda was laid to rest on July 31
00:39:07
four weeks after his death hundreds of mourners attended including skydivers college mates military personnel and the
00:39:16
detectives investigating his death Stevens coffin was draped in the Union Jack and too carried him to the church
00:39:23
by pallbearers one of which was his teammate and friend Adrian Blair Stevens girlfriend Ruth Woodhouse
00:39:32
spoke of the service she recounted Stevens love of theater and his many humorous antics
00:39:38
her words drew laughter from the crowd but there was a collective sense of unease within the 300 strong
00:39:45
congregation was there a murderer among them the month later detectives were still sure the answer to what happened
00:39:55
to Stephen Leigh among the skydiving community they suspected the overwhelming sense of loyalty within the
00:40:02
close-knit group stopped witnesses from coming forward with the investigation reaching a dead end it was decided fresh
00:40:12
eyes were needed on the case on August 27 senior officers from across the force were called in to review the case in its
00:40:19
entirety in the hope they would spot something that was missed Detective Inspector Steve clay now in charge said
00:40:28
police would write once again to all four thousand registered UK skydivers in the hope of the murderer had shared
00:40:34
their secret he was absolutely positive the killer was at the week-long parachute
00:40:39
competition when Stephen fell to his death he said quote our line of inquiry is that the murderer could have told a
00:40:48
fellow skydiver about the dastardly deed the person who committed this dreadful crime probably has no criminal history
00:40:55
and is likely to be a well-educated young man with a bright future there's little doubt that he will have shared
00:41:02
the burden of what he has done with a loved one we are getting closer all the time the answer lies among the skydiving
00:41:09
community when the UK mail out didn't have the desired response inquiries were taken
00:41:18
worldwide police took out a full-page advertisement in skydiver for the magazine the leading magazine for the
00:41:25
sport asking for assistance in tracing the murderer skydivers from the United States responded to the inquiry
00:41:33
detailing two similar incidents from their homeland the first incident occurred in 1996 the sabotage parachute
00:41:43
belonged to champion skydiver Kirk Averna however Berner happened felonious parachute to his friend Carrie hot would
00:41:51
like Steven Hilde hopwood had a double malfunction during his jump video taken by hop woods helmet camera showed him
00:41:59
trying to deploy his parachute his pilot chute floated away juda were cutting the
00:42:04
bridle just the Stevens would have he then deployed his emergency chute but it too malfunctioned pop woods hands
00:42:13
reached up the camera caught his chilling shouts of oh my god I'm gonna die before he hit the ground
00:42:21
but remarkably Hopwood survived only one riser of the reserve parachute had been
00:42:28
cut it should have been enough to kill him but the parachute managed to catch enough air to slow him down before
00:42:34
impact the fall left him with permanent brain damage as well as pins and metal down his entire right side the person
00:42:43
whom it had been targeting Kirk Verner was never identified the following year in 1997 Charlie Mullins the son of a
00:42:53
well known and a controversial skydiving identity opened his reserve pack to swap
00:42:58
it with a new one in doing so he discovered his reserve risers had been cut if he had used it there was no way
00:43:06
he would have survived there were many people who were envious of Charlie as his father owned a drop zone and an
00:43:13
aircraft meaning Charlie had been able to amass an astonishing six thousand jumps by his young age of 25
00:43:20
he moved in many of the same circles as Kirk Verner like in Verna's case the person who cut Mullins reserve Rises was
00:43:29
never identified u.s. police provided British authorities with the names of all those present at the time of these
00:43:37
attempted murders they also handed over the video footage of Kari hop woods for giving real shocking insight into what
00:43:44
Stephen Hill don't must have gone through the u.s. police hoped a breakthrough in the Stephen Hilda case
00:43:51
might lead to a similar advance in their investigations which at seven years old
00:43:55
had gone cold but nothing came of it the similarities in the cases seemed to be mere coincidence on October 22 2003
00:44:11
three and a half months after Stephen Hilda's death police announced two arrests they didn't release their names
00:44:19
to the press but they eventually got out the two people arrested were Stephens black reign teammates Adrian Blair and
00:44:29
David Mason news of their arrests ripped through the skydiving community some condemned the pair immediately stating
00:44:39
they suspected Adrian and David from the beginning and unsubstantiated rumors spread about a love triangle being the
00:44:45
motive others recalled David's history of playing pranks on Stephens parachuting gear in one instance David
00:44:54
called our Stevens pilot chute causing the pin to dislodge and the main parachute to tumble out in its bag
00:45:02
skydivers had a mixed reaction to this prank on one hand somewhere angry anyone would mess around with another person's
00:45:09
gear knowing the risks on the other hand Stephen could not have put his parachute
00:45:14
on without replacing the pin and pilot chute first so it was more of a playful annoyance than an attempt to harm him
00:45:21
David said his pranks were merely a joke highlighting the hypocrisy of Stephen leaving his kid unsupervised in an
00:45:28
unsafe area when he was always going on about safety regulations after the initial anger about the
00:45:37
arrests skydivers adopted a wait-and-see attitude one friend said quote these two
00:45:44
are good friends and I've jumped with them many times as someone who knows them unwilling to give them the benefit
00:45:50
of the doubt for the moment there was also the fact that the team had pulled off the skydive of their lives that day
00:45:57
it was an incredible feat if either Adrian or David or both were focused on killing Steven could they have also
00:46:05
performed an intricate jump to such a sensational level the two men were held overnight the next
00:46:13
day police applied to the court for an extension to hold the pair for an extra 24 hours the request was granted
00:46:21
however after 48 hours both men were released on bail without charge the law in the UK allowed suspects to be
00:46:30
released on conditional police bail in cases such as Stephen Hilda's where the evidence was very marginal and police
00:46:37
weren't sure if it would get a conviction they passed the file to lawyers who act for the Crown
00:46:41
Prosecution Service the lawyers review the evidence and decide if it's sufficient to bring charges against the
00:46:47
accused despite there being no charges laid Adrienne and David found themselves under a cloud of suspicion their home
00:46:57
drop zone never even told them not to bother coming back three weeks later on November 17 police
00:47:06
announced another arrest in relation to the murder of Steven Hilda an unidentified 24-year old man from Leeds
00:47:13
was taken into custody the arrest came two weeks after police interviewed members of Leeds University skydiving
00:47:21
Club they regularly use tabled Stowe airfield and were present during the competition when Stephen was killed a
00:47:30
university newspaper didn't publish the arrested man's name but did reveal he was studying at Leeds after hours of
00:47:40
questioning this man too was released on bail without charge his identity as well
00:47:46
as his connection to Stephen or the reason he was a suspect was never released to the public
00:47:53
on December 5 2003 Stephen Hilda's parents made another impassioned plea determined to keep his case in the media
00:48:02
one police officer told the press they had found out Stephen Hilda had one or two disagreements with fellow skydivers
00:48:08
in the week before his death yet they also revealed they had discovered several witnesses lied to them over the
00:48:14
course of their investigation one witness had falsely suggested Stephen had been involved in a love triangle
00:48:23
Stephens teammates Adrian and David were officially released from Babel but homicide police refused to eliminate
00:48:30
them as suspects the third arrested man remained a mystery the police stated a dossier on
00:48:36
each man was prepared and forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service by the end of January 2004 Humberside
00:48:46
police had interviewed 2,500 people and still had no concrete motive for Stephen
00:48:52
Hilda's murder detectives set up in a room at the British parachute Association's annual general meeting on
00:48:59
January 24 and 25 hoping somebody would come forward with fresh information the AGM was a two-day affair that included
00:49:08
demonstrations of new equipment and talks from experts on different aspects of skydiving being in the middle of
00:49:15
winter that was attended by a large percentage of the UK skydiving population providing them with their
00:49:20
skydiving fix while there were no drop zones operating yet no further information was gained from the event
00:49:29
with all avenues for murder explored detectives returned to a theory that had been briefly raised then discarded at
00:49:37
the beginning of the investigation that Stephen Hilde had taken his own life police Renault viewed Stephens family
00:49:49
and friends except this time questions were focused on Stephen specifically not on others who may have had issue with
00:49:56
him they asked if Stephen gave any indication he was suicidal did he have problems in his life how was he in the
00:50:04
weeks days and hours leading up to the jump Stephens mother had spoken to him at length the Friday before the
00:50:11
competition she recalled he was his same talkative self he'd had a good time with
00:50:17
his father at the Bon Jovi concert the Saturday before his father said Stephen was an energetic enthusiastic fun-loving
00:50:25
and confident young man planning for his future nobody noticed anything different in his
00:50:33
demeanor before the jump they were adamant Stephen would never take his own life however there was known Stephens
00:50:41
skydiving obsession had caused him to neglect some other parts of his life including study and his relationship
00:50:50
there were no reports of what happened on the case over the next six weeks but it was clear police had not yet finished
00:50:57
with Stephen Hilda's teammates on March 10 2004 detectives searched the rooms of
00:51:03
both Adrienne Blair and David Mason without warning on David's personal computer they found a draft obituary for
00:51:11
Stephen written in a humorous style David said it was for a skydiving magazine although police did not
00:51:19
publicly reveal the contents of the obituary they found it disturbing and inappropriate David said it was being
00:51:27
misconstrued by police and it was merely the type of dark humor typical of Stephen and skydivers in general
00:51:35
the lawyer representing Adrienne and David stated quote they were taken aback when the police turned up out of the
00:51:42
blue I don't know what the police were looking for the boys had no involvement in Stephens death whatever the police
00:51:52
were looking for it seems they didn't find it two weeks later to their great relief Adrienne and
00:51:59
David were notified that they were no longer suspects they were cleared of any involvement in Steven Hilda's death
00:52:07
however the suspicion uncertainty and relentless targeting took its toll Adrienne quittez degree at the Royal
00:52:15
Military College and moved to Canada with all suspects officially cleared and to know others on the horizon police
00:52:25
doubled down on the suicide Theory speculation why Stephen would stage such an elaborate suicide was varied the
00:52:34
question being why if Stephen had decided he was going to die that day did he simply not the please parachute at
00:52:41
all and just for some suspected his conversion to Roman Catholicism a few years earlier played a part the church
00:52:50
regards suicide as a sin so perhaps he hid the act behind the illusion of murder others speculated that it was to
00:52:58
ensure his parents could cash in life insurance others wondered if he sabotaged his own gear to ensure he
00:53:05
couldn't back out of his plan tests found Stephens sweat around the frayed edges of material that was slashed on
00:53:14
one of his parachutes assuming this referred to the main bridle that had been cut this discovery was meaningless
00:53:21
it would have been far more surprising to discover the Stephens DNA was not on there a sweat would be expected to
00:53:27
transfer onto the main bridle every time the parachute was packed further tests found that my new fibers from the cut
00:53:36
webbing were found on stephen's clothing beneath his jumpsuit this was more interesting but still inconclusive he
00:53:44
may have done his agir check before putting on his jumpsuit and in doing so any fibers that were on the outside of
00:53:50
the wreck could have transferred then The Smoking Gun was a pair of scissors found in the locked trunk of Stephens
00:53:58
car they were determined to be the tool used to cut the Rises of his parachute the Rises fibers were found on the
00:54:06
blades and only Stephens DNA was found on the scissors during the initial investigation the scissors were given a
00:54:15
low priority due to a monumental misunderstanding between police and a British parachuting Association expert
00:54:22
John Hitchin when Hitchin was unable to cut through the Rises with the scissors he was supplied by police he requested a
00:54:29
hook knife police understood this as meaning that scissors in general were unable to cut through the tough material
00:54:37
however John Hitchin later clarified only the scissors supplied to him at that moment were unable to cut through
00:54:43
as they were loosened didn't work properly but another pair of working scissors would have been able to cut
00:54:49
through just fine the pair found in the trunk of Stephens car were ordinary kitchen scissors in good working order
00:54:56
they could cut through the material [Music] the scissors were in the locked trunk of
00:55:05
Stephens car but the keys were in the ignition meaning anyone could have easily grabbed the keys and accessed the
00:55:12
trunk all skydivers own gloves and too many wear them even when the weather is warm even on the hottest day
00:55:20
it's very cold at 13,000 feet they also guard against cuts and scrapes from bad landings seeing someone wearing gloves
00:55:28
would not be at all out of place even on a hot day investigators probed further into Stephens personal life they heard
00:55:38
about the time he told friends that if he was ever going to take his own life it would be by skydiving there were also
00:55:44
reports he was not enjoying his time at the Royal Military College of science he
00:55:50
admitted he was in a course he didn't like and he was also under the impression he failed his examinations
00:55:55
although the college said this belief was mistaken Stephen had racked up 17 thousand pounds in debt and maxed out
00:56:05
his credit cards much of it on skydiving he bought himself an expensive state-of-the-art parachute and then
00:56:12
there are the jumps themselves you could spend a hundred pounds on a slow day and
00:56:17
it was easy to spend a lot more especially when training for competition his deaths were bad enough that he had
00:56:24
bounced the check in the mess hall which got him into strife with his military superiors several of Stephens friends
00:56:31
knew of his debts and they stated he was not concerned by them according to them
00:56:36
Stephen thought his debts would sort themselves out and he didn't dwell on them at all
00:56:42
there was also Stephens unexplained 11 mile drive to a gas station on the Tuesday before his death he claimed to
00:56:50
have gone there to purchase snacks yet there were closer gas stations to the drop zone he could have gone to the one
00:56:57
he visited was out of the way you would have to deliberately seek it out he didn't put any gas in his car either as
00:57:04
his tank was nearly empty when investigators looked at or later this led to speculation Stephen had gone to
00:57:11
the gas station to purchase trucks though there's no proof of this furthermore the truth of Stephens
00:57:20
relationship with Ruth Woodhouse was that it was strained they were at the point of splitting up
00:57:26
Ruth explained that their relationship was a casual uni student affair that grew from a mutual love of drama theater
00:57:34
rehearsals meant they saw each other twice a week but they didn't have the time for the relationship to develop
00:57:39
more deeply Ruth said that neither of them were clingy people and there had been no distress from either side both
00:57:47
were happy with what they heard and the decision to split was mutual one friend posted on skydiving forum
00:57:56
drop zone comm quote Steve was the kind of person who worried about something only when it was absolutely staring him
00:58:04
in the face his attitude was always it'll be okay no matter how unrealistic that was
00:58:10
splitting up with his girlfriend being in debt and having possibly failed exams wouldn't worry him until the point where
00:58:17
he'd been declared bankrupt been chucked out of uni and seen his girlfriend with
00:58:22
a new bloke Stevens closest friend non skydiver Jason Saunders spoke to the independent newspaper
00:58:31
Jason claimed Steven was full of plans for the future in the last conversation they'd had just before Steven left for
00:58:38
the competition as for Stevens previous remark about wanting to die by skydiving
00:58:45
those who knew him perceived this comment as a reflection of how passionate he was about the sport
00:58:55
nearly ten months after that fateful day at Hill boots though airfield detective
00:59:00
Superintendent Colin Andrews announced that they were no longer treating Stephen Hilda's death as murder police
00:59:06
marked the case as an unexplained death the police may have been satisfied with their findings but nobody else was none
00:59:16
of Stephens family friends his girlfriend nor fellow skydivers whether they knew him or not bought the story he
00:59:22
committed suicide or staged his own murder one skydiver summed it up on dropzone comm quote come on people we
00:59:32
all know that no skydiver would ever take their own life in this bizarre way this is total crap the cops are stumped
00:59:39
so they're covering their ass in March 2005 an inquest was held into the death of
00:59:48
Stephen coroner Stewart Atkinson ruled out murder as the cause of death as no evidence had been found proving the
00:59:55
skydivers equipment had been sabotaged by another party Atkinson added that he was unable to record a verdict of
01:00:01
suicide because he could not be sure the skydiver intended to take his own life that was thus ruled an open finding
01:00:11
detective Superintendent Colin Andrews told the BBC he was as comfortable as he could be that Stephen wasn't murdered he
01:00:20
said he was not complacent but confident and that the investigating team had left
01:00:24
no stone unturned in the pursuit of the truth many in the skydiving community of the
01:00:31
United Kingdom were left uneasy one jumper said quote the worst bit is if it was murder the person may still be among
01:00:40
us that freaks me out a bit considering the size of the active skydiving community there's only 19 drop zones in
01:00:48
England that means you've got a 1 in 19 chance of jumping at the same drop zone as whoever did this and two no one yet
01:00:55
knows who did this or why nevertheless as the new stories petered out memories faded and skydivers went back to their
01:01:07
old ways visit any drop zone and you will see unattended parachutes all the time chief
01:01:14
instructor Paul hollows whom found Stephens body in the cornfield after his fatal jump stated skydivers trust each
01:01:21
other we have to but as in any community that trust can be broken in November 2006 a 26 year old Belgian woman Bell's
01:01:34
claw durman's was convicted of murdering her fellow skydiver and love rival claw
01:01:39
demands sabotage her rivals parachute in exactly the same manner as Stephan Hilda's had been she was jailed for 30
01:01:46
years in May 2015 and nether Aven Stephan Hilda's home drop zone Army sergeant Emile cilia's was arrested for
01:01:57
attempted murder after sabotaging his wife's parachute she suffered multiple serious injuries including broken bones
01:02:05
but survived the audio cilia's was found guilty in May 2000 eighteen of trying to kill his wife to
01:02:13
pocket life insurance and start a new life with his secret lover however mystery continues to surround
01:02:20
the death of Steven Hilda his parents remain hopeful that somebody somewhere knows what happened and may still come
01:02:28
forward to give them closure in the meantime all skydivers can do when they remember Steven Hilda is recite their
01:02:37
well-worn refrain blue skies black death you [Music]