Case 88: Stephen Hilder

Jul 7, 2018

Accidents are to be expected in skydiving. It is, after all, an extreme sport. Over 99% of people who jump out of an aeroplane will do it just once, attached to an instructor...  Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host (https://twitter.com/casefilehost) Episode researched and written by Eileen Ormsby, author of ‘The Darkest Web – Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives: The inside story of the internet’s evil twin.’ (https://www.amazon.com.au/Darkest-Web-destroyed-inside-internets-ebook/dp/B077MDQQ32) For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-88-stephen-hilder (http://casefilepodcast.com/case-88-stephen-hilder/)

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accidents are to be expected in skydiving it is after all an extreme sport over 99% of people who jump out of an airplane will do it just once attached to an instructor those people are unlikely to come to any harm they're strapped to a professional who has performed thousands of jumps and who makes all the decisions for the majority of participants skydiving is a once-in-a-lifetime thrill just a tick on a bucket list

they never do it again

for the tiny fraction who go on to jump solo skydiving becomes more than just the thrill it's an obsession our lifestyle something they are rather than merely something they do as those starting out get used to the elements of the sport freefall canopy flied into landing they are bound to experience scrapes and bruises perhaps even a broken bone or two skydivers do what they can to minimize risks

they look out for each other check their own gear into that of the people that are jumping with looking out for anything amiss frayed Loops that may not hold a closing pin in properly flaps that have become untucked webbing that he's wearing out

this close-knit community is built on equal parts adrenaline and Trust

accidents are to be expected in skydiving but deaths are rare most skydivers are prepared to encounter a fatal accident at some time if they stick with the sport for long enough

when a jumper loses his or her life a universal traditional toast this given

blue skies Black Death

20 year old Steven Hilda was embarking on what he hoped would be a solid week of skydiving his girlfriend root Woodhouse often joked Steven would get withdrawal symptoms if he hadn't jumped for a few days by 2003 he had become obsessed with the sport he missed an exam in favor of going jumping and maxed out credit cards to buy expensive equipment

he jumped as often as possible even traveling to other parts of the world when the weather in Britain became too cold

in mid-2003 Ruth had taken her first jump with the enthusiastic support 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 spent the day at a Bon Jovi concert at Hyde Park he took his father along there's an early birthday present though it was hard to say whether their gift was more for his dad before him

the following day Steven managed to get in a couple of jumps at his home parachuting Drop Zone The Village of nether Aven in England's South

on Monday June 30 Steven visited a theme park with his girlfriend Ruth

that evening he made the 160 kilometers drive to the drop zone at Hibbert's though Airfield in Lincolnshire

kibbutz though Airfield was hosting the upcoming Collegiate Nationals a competition between College skydiving clubs Stephen was participating as a member of a three-man team at around 300 jumps Steven was considered an intermediate level skydiver as were his teammates Adrian Blair and David Mason

but 19 years old Adrian and David were Cadets with Stephen at the Royal Military College of science at shriven mm both were on a military course and would be arriving to he boards though Airfield for the comp later in the week Stephen hopes to get a few practice jumps in before then

there were bunk rooms where jumpers could hire a bed at the drop zone if they wanted to but few did that they prefer to pitch tents throw down a mattress in the corner of a hanger or sleep in their cars as Stephen did the money they saved on accommodation was better spent on jumps

it was a quiet night when Stephen arrived to the Airfield he had a couple of drinks at the drop sound bar into then went to his car and retired for the night

the weather was threatening to be unkind to skydivers that week the plane couldn't take off at all on Tuesday July 1 and 2 Chief instructor Paul Hollow soon announced that jumping was off for the day so Steven drove 11 miles to a gas station where he bought some snacks

on Wednesday July to there were just two or three jumps before the sky divers were again grounded Stephen was on one of these with him was his coach wearing a camera on his helmet so that when Stevens teammates arrived later that evening they could watch the footage and critique his style

nobody knows whether Stephen packed up his parachute himself after landing or if he hired one of the professional Packers to do it for him but it was likely to be the former most God I was packed their main parachutes themselves but there was always someone else ready to do it for five quit

after his parachute was packed Stephen left it in the kit room the kit room walls were lined with racks of parachute kids Hanging On by their shoulder straps the racks kept them off the ground and made it easy for skydivers to identify and grab their kit when it was time for a jump

page skydivers parachute harness was distinctive Stevens was black white and gray unusual in its lack of brighter colors

Kitt rooms are not usually monitored and are accessible to anybody on the Drop Zone to come and go as they please to keep room at Hibbert's though Airfield also doubled as a loungeroom skydivers could hang out or watch TV there when not jumping

that Wednesday evening Steven healed his teammates Adrian and David arrived

a welcome party was hold of the drops I'm bar the trio drank and joining games like pass the parcel most of the seventy eight competitors for the Collegiate Nationals had arrived they all hoped the competition would be starting the next day but the weather on Thursday July 3 had other plans thunderstorms lashed much of the United Kingdom signaling the beginning of a heat wave skydivers were advised early that there would be no

being that day and quite likely none the next

with skydiving not an option the competitors Drop Zone staff and other skydivers known as fun jumpers had to find something else to do Steven Hilda went shopping for something to wear for the fancy dress party that was to be held that evening whilst these teammates went to the cinema

in the great College tradition a scavenger hunt was organized in the afternoon with porn and female underwear on the list of items competitors had to come up with bonus points were awarded for completing random gross tasks Stephen valiantly scarf down some dog food in an effort to win the prize which was so inconsequential nobody could remember what it was

after a barbecue dinner Stephen Adrian and David's been a couple of hours getting ready for the party they arrived at the Drop Zone bar around 9 p.m. the party was already in full swing with many people having started drinking in the early afternoon

the oppressive heat inside the shed where the bar was housed in short everyone was thirsty

the party had a fancy dress thing to come as any character starting with the letters b c p or a the acronym of the British Collegiate parachute Association the organizers of the competition

the truly lazy turned up in their jumpsuits as parachutists among the cops cheerleaders Punk's pilots and Angels several men dressed in drag claiming they had come as bitches Steven Hilda was one of the bitches wearing a leather dress he had found it a thrift store earlier that day

skydivers party hard at the best of times with a bunch of college-aged competitors who had pent-up frustration of not having jumped many of them took partying to the extreme the bar did a roaring trade that night

Stephen grab to the karaoke microphone to build out some of his favorite Bon Jovi Tunes it was a natural performer whose other hobby was amateur Dramatics he sang deliberately terribly to the Delight of the crowd throughout the night he was joined by Adrienne and David the group howling progressively cheesier tunes into the microphone together

the party broke up at 2:30 a.m. if the weather cleared there was still the chance of competition jumps the next day

there is a strict rule skydivers and Pilots must adhere to 8 hours between bottle and throttle when weather permits jumping start soon after Sunrise if a safety officer saw a skydiver drinking at 2 a.m. they wouldn't be allowed to board the plane until at least 10 a.m. in a competition that could mean for fitting around and scoring a zero

partygoers memories were hazy the following morning of Friday July for Steven Hilda slept late as did a good number of people at the drop zone knowing that once they started moving the hangovers would kick in there was no hurry to get up the day was overcast and parachuting through cloud is dangerous and in most cases prohibited

after emerging from his car Stephen joined a game of cards in the drop zone Cafe competitors waited on word from the chief instructor to give the all-clear jump it was touch-and-go but finally the competitors were told that if the break in the weather hold on they could jump after lunch

Stephen Adrian and David were more than ready to be on the First Flight of the day that were particularly excited for this competition as their team called Black Rain was doing well earlier that year they came third in a regional competition and first in another

I grabbed with a gear from the kit room

the first step prior to boarding the plane was the turn on a tiny electronic device known as a Cypress the Cyprus was a Fail-Safe that automatically released the reserve parachute if its owner was still in free fall at 1,200 feet that is far lower than they should be if a skydiver had not released their Parachute by then they were only around six seconds from Impact

most skydivers had a Cypress including Steven Hilda they are a backup if a skydiver gets distracted and forgets to deploy their Chute or if they get knocked or somehow incapacitated in free fall in that case the Cypress fires it cuts through the loop that holds in the spring loaded Reserve pilot Chute and releases it giving the skydiver the best chance of Landing safely even if unconscious

once the little screen confirmed that the Cyprus was activated Stephen gave his gear a quick check over to ensure nothing look to miss no flaps untucked no fraid closing loops and ensuring the pilot Chute was snugly tucked in its sleeve

the pilot Chute is a miniature parachute it sits in an elastic sleeve at the bottom of the parachute container with just the padded cushion sticking out when it's time to deploy the skydiver grabs hold of the pad and pulls the pilot Chute then comes out once it hits the air it inflates it then pulls the pin that allows the main parachute out of the container

Stevens team gone to their jumpsuits and parachutes and performed a dirt dive a ritualistic dance mimicking the formations they planned to do in the sky each new formation would count as a point in the competition they laughed and ribbed each other and he ended up for the cameraman someone drawn from the competition's camera pool and whom they didn't know particularly well

the cameraman's job was thus or a little above their team and make sure every formation was captured on film so that it could be judged

some people considered Stephen a little cocky but that was par for the course for young men involved in extreme sports especially when they were doing well at them

oldest God others are well aware of the problems of being too cocky and make sure young jumpers don't forget their safety checks the highest risk group for serious injury is young male skydivers with around 200 to 500 jumps using a fast high performance parachute

Stephen Adrian and David had all pumped out jumps at a much faster rate than average Adrian and David had gone through training together the previous December since then virtually all the best God I've said been together and the two had become close many of their jumps occurred in the United States where planes were bigger Drop Zones busier and to Jumping was a year-round sport

previously the team had candidly talked about different ways of dying Stephen told the others that if he was going to end his own life he would want to jump out of a plane the other two agreed

for all he's larrikin Behavior Stephen took safety seriously Adrian and David often found his rigid adherence to safety manuals annoying as a result they play pranks on the older kid that block booking him in for a student jump that he was overqualified for or hiding pieces of his skydiving gear these pranks were designed to annoy Stephen rather than endanger him prior to boarding the plane the men performed a flight line check on each other

once again they made sure everything was as it should be safety conscious Stephen performed to the check on both his teammates David performed the check on Steven

David had a patent he followed when conducting checks of his teammates gear he did so in a methodical order that he stopped to every time he believed if you changed your system it was too easy to miss something once finished each man firmly padded the backpack of the other code for your good to go

Black Rain shed the light single-engine aircraft with one other team a total of eight skydivers were on board Drop Zone planes have no seats so the skydiver sat on the floor facing the rear each person was between the legs of the skydiver behind them the two cameramen nailed at the back of the group so they could see everyone on board the propeller fired up for the first load of the day and black rains first

for the competition

as the plane took off black rains videographer turned on his camera the footage cord Steven the hood are laughing and joking as the plane got near the competition heart of 13,000 feet he and his teammates did one last year check

they performed a ritual handshake before climbing into position in the door of the airplane the three then launched up the edge into the Open Sky

directs it didn't go completely to plan at funneled in skydiver speak meaning they didn't come off cleanly but they recovered after a few seconds and started their pre-planned formations after 10 seconds they reached the terminal velocity the speed at which the body stops accelerating at this stage they were falling at around 200 kilometers per hour toward the Earth

for the next 45 seconds the team continually changed their hand and leg groups to maneuver in the scorer with each new formation they earned points for the competition

for an intermediate team 10 points was good 15 points was excellent that day Black Rain received a competition winning 19 points it was the best jump the team had ever done together

they knew that I stood before their Free Fall was even finished barring a miracle from another team there would be crowned national champions the three exhilarated men made eye contact and screamed through their huge greens at each other even though it was impossible to hear anything through the rushing wind

at 4,000 feet around a minute after they had exited the plane the three teammates turned away from each other to gain horizontal separation before they deployed their parachutes the camera no longer needed to stay on them but in any case the camera lost sight of them due to Cloud

after deploying their parachute the first thing a skydiver is trained to do is to look around to see where everyone else is two people Collide in midair spells disaster

as he descended a big wad of white fabric swept past Adrian division

it registered as out of place but he didn't make anything of it at the time he was still buzzing from the amazing jump and was focused on preparing his Landing usually the most dangerous part of the skydive

Chief instructor Paul Halo was on the ground eyes on the sky with the Cloudy weather he knew it was possible for a skydiver to overshoot the hangar and the land in the nearby corn fields anyone making such a transgression would be made to buy a case of beer that night and ring a bell above the bar alerting everyone that there was free beer to be had

that look like they would be free be that night hallo notice the skydiver had landed in the cornfield he dispatched one of his instructors to go and retrieve them

the instructor returned with a bundle in his arms

that was a white parachute

a main parachute may be many colors but only Reserve parachutes a white years of experience meant Hollow only had the glance at the Stray white parachute to know something had gone seriously wrong

accidents are accepted as being an integral part of skydiving deaths are rare death by double malfunction we're both parachutes fail is almost unheard of

usually some sort of error on behalf of the skydiver causes a fatality they may turn their parachute too close to the ground hoping to build up speed for a really cool ending but misjudge and hit too hard they made a deal badly with the malfunction of their main parachute and deploy their Reserve parachute into it causing the two to tangle

two skydivers might Collide midair either in free fall or under their parachutes rendering one or both unconscious and unable to land safely

but never had Paul Halo seen nor heard of an incident where a reserve parachute broke away from the rest of the skydiving kit and the person wearing it

the main parachute has special release rings so a skydiver can detach it if it's malfunctioning however a reserve parachute is permanently attached there's no getting rid of it unless you cut it with a knife or climb out of the harness in midair

pull Hollow climbed under the roof of a car and scanned the surrounding Fields he spotted a large unnatural indentation in the tall stalks of corn

he climbed down and headed into the field towards the indentation

he found Steven Hilda

having hit the ground at almost 200 km/h the corn had done nothing to break Stevens full he was still wearing his skydiving harness but neither of his parachutes were billowing around him as he would normally expect

a single glance at Stephen shoulder area told hello Wally needed to know

Stevens gear had been tampered with his parachute sabotage

Chief instructor Paul Halo called the police

detective superintendent Colin Andrews of homicide police arrived at the Airfield Paul Hollow took him aside and told him immediately that this was no ordinary skydiving accident the Dead Man's equipment had been in a feud with

skydiving experts were able to piece together what happened a long piece of webbing called The Bridal connected the pilot Chute to the pin that opens the container where the main parachute is stored

Stevens Bridal had been cut

the cut Bridal on the pilot Chute had been stuff back into the elastic sleeve

there would be no way of telling it was tampered with without pulling the pilot Chute out of the sleeve and there would be no reason to do that unless you suspected something was wrong

this meant the Polish shoot was no longer attached to the pin when Steve and pulled it out at the ployment heart and let it go there was nothing to pull the pin and drag the main parachute out of the container so it stayed lodged in there impossible for Stephen to do anything to get it out

when he realized his main parachute was malfunctioning Steven pulled the handle that deployed is white Reserve Chute at launched but all four pieces of webbing that attached the reserve canopy to his harness called the Rises had also been cut

the reserve parachute simply flew away

Steven had no more parachutes left

all this would have happened between 4,000 and 2,000 feet above the ground plummeting at terminal velocity Stephen had to endure at least 10 to 20 seconds of knowing he was going to die and to there was nothing you could have done about it

the Cypress he had so carefully set prior to takeoff did its job at fired but there was no Reserve parachute for it to release

from the moment Steve and exited the aircraft he was a dead man

nothing could have saved him

whoever sabotaged these kit knew exactly what they were doing both in terms of guaranteeing the sabotage would kill him and ensuring that was done in a manner that it would not be picked up by a regular pre-flight gear check

the damage to the reserve risers would only have been made evident by firmly pulling on them this action is not part of a regular check and is not recommended from a safety perspective as it could disturb the pack job

whoever tampered with Stephen Hilda's parachute knew exactly how to hide the evidence from even experienced skydivers therefore it could only have been done by somebody with intimate knowledge of skydiving equipment a skydiver

the Drop Zone was officially declared a crime scene detective superintendent Andrews was certain whoever killed Steven Hilda was present and watched him die

police it to work interviewing everybody on the Airfield the 78 competitors and 20 or so others every person willingly agreed to submit to a DNA swab

as soon as they were allowed to all of the skydivers checked their own parachute the police insisted everyone pop out their Reserve parachutes this was a big deal as a reserve parachutes are rarely deployed and they have to be repacked by certified Reserve Packer most skydivers are not qualified to pack their own

police wanted to determine whether Stephen had been targeted specifically or if the perpetrator had targeted other skydivers all other parachutes were checked but there was no evidence any other reek had been tampered with police asked an expert from the British parachute Association John Hitchin to cut some of Stevens Riser webbing so that it could be sent for DNA testing

they provided heejun with a pair of kitchen scissors but he was unable to cut through the webbing so hee Jin asked for a hook knife which was easily able to cut through

hook knives are standard part of a squad of his kit they have a protected blade a compact easily stowed and removed and attached to the harness

they are a last resort used to cut through any malfunctioning or hazardous equipment such as a parachute cord wrapped around a limb or Hillman every skydiver carried one this meant police had around a hundred potential murder weapons on the drop zone that day

police wanted to shed some light on the events leading up the Stephens death specifically the party the night before partygoers were asked to hand over video and photographs from that night to police who spent hours poring over them but all they found was a raucous party there was no sign of any tension arguments or fights

when asked for a possible motive for the murder everyone came up blank it was not Stevens usual drop zone so we wasn't as well known as if he were a local everyone who did know him or who had interacted with him repeated the same thing Stephen was popular fun-loving and enthusiastic one friend has stated he was a good lad fun in the air and on the ground

the timeframe of his parachute being sabotage was believed to have occurred sometime between Stevens last jump on Wednesday and the early hours of Friday morning

there were a finite number of suspects and had The BasedGod driver who was at the drop zone over those days which came to less than 100 people

police left the crime scene with over 200 pieces of potential evidence and they had DNA samples from everyone present to compare against Stevens equipment they were confident it wouldn't be long before a suspect was identified

less than 48 hours later on Sunday July 6 skydivers including Stevens teammates Adrian and David were back in the air in tribute

they all had added an extra step in that PreFlight checks the sabotage of Stephens gear had been expertly carried out to avoid detection from a standard check so now a firm tug on the reserve Rises prior to Jumping became part of the routine over the next week police formally interviewed Stevens family friends his girlfriend Ruth as well as Sky divers who were at the drop zone

they were hoping to find a motive someone he had a beef with jealousy or a perceived slight

but the worst thing anyone could come up with was that Steven could be perceived as arrogant

his mother described him as quote an extraordinary son an ordinary infuriating lad who above all else loved skydiving

the forensics lab discovered nothing noteworthy on the vast majority of Stephens items the / tries has had many people's DNA on them so it was impossible to pick out individuals from the mix

this was not unexpected as well as Stevens day and a there would have been a day and I have anyone who would pack these Reserve as Stephen was not qualified to pack his own as well as day and a of the First Responders and perhaps those who had been in the plane with him given the close proximity in which the sky divers were packed together

one week after Stevens death police had no firm suspects and were no closer to making an arrest

they sent a message to all four thousand active skydivers in the UK it red

the investigation into the death of Stephen is ongoing I am appealing for your help many of you will have known him and enjoyed his company socially and through his love of skydiving someone knows who committed this vile act and I ask that you contact me in total confidence

you may have opinions or information as to how Steven met his death was he killed if so why already ever contemplate taking his own life I need to speak to as many of his friends and Associates as possible please contact the incident room if you have any information that could assist us I would also like to thank the many who already have sincerely humberside police

the mention of suicide seemed to be just covering all possibilities certainly suicides were more common on the Drop Zone than murder however nothing in Stevens demeanor suggested he was in any way suicidal

witness statements and video evidence showed Steve and was in a good mood to the night before and day of his death he displayed actions to save his own life not ended this included setting up his Cypress pre-flight and going through life-saving emergency procedures whilst falling

these were not the desperate actions of a suicidal man changing his mind at the last second and frantically trying any method to save himself they were the responsible practiced actions have a seasoned skydiver

media scrutiny in the weeks following Stephens death was intense his parents made impassioned pleas for anyone who might know anything to come forward they visited the Airfield to try and make some sense out of what happened

police hoped the presence of grieving family members would stir the conscience of someone who was Keeping a Secret

Stevens Black Rain teammates Adrian Blair and David Mason were interviewed by the Press they relived the day where their best jump ever became a nightmare

they were marked Stephen was bright excited and in his normal buoyant mood before the Skydive David felt guilty he had been the one to do Stevens gear check prior to the jump he said he didn't notice anything amiss and the experts agreed there was no way a standard pre-flight check would have discovered the sabotage

on July 12 2003 the times reported quote the police have failed to identify any suspects and skydivers are gripped by the fear that there is a murderer in their midst a few facts are clear say the police the death of Stephen 20 was neither an accident nor suicide this was not a prank gone wrong and the Killer is almost certainly a skydiver

he or she may strike again

Stevens case was a major topic of discussion because of the competition there had been scored of his from all over the country it was though that week this meant the culprit could be a jumper at any one of the two dozen or so Drop Zones in the United Kingdom

many skydivers change their habits in fear of being targeted by the unknown offended next parachutes were kept a locking cars when not in use he builds though installed lockers to take the place of the pegs in the common room for year some Drop Zones toyed with installing CCTV cameras in the hangers and sales of tamper-proof gear back sword

three weeks later the death of Stephen Hilda featured on the TV show crime watch police believe someone other than the person responsible knew something they encourage that person to come forward they also released the video footage of the fancy dress party the night before Stephens death they hope that would jog attendees memories or that viewers would notice something that the police had not

the televised appeal resulted in several calls to police a number of people gave information about an argument that had occurred at the party before Stephens death but whether this was determined to be relevant to the events of the following day remained unknown

Steven Hilda was laid to rest on July 31 4 weeks after his death hundreds of mourners attended including skydivers College mates military personnel and the detectives investigating his death

Stevens coffin was draped in the Union Jack and the carried into the church by pallbearers one of which was his teammate and friend Adrian Blair

Stevens girlfriend Ruth Woodhouse spoke at the service she recounted Stevens love of theater and his many humorous Antics her words Drew laughter from the crowd

but there was a collective sense of unease within the 300 strong congregation

was there a murderer among them

the month later detectives were still sure the answer to what happened to Steven lay among the sky diving Community they suspected the overwhelming sense of loyalty within the close-knit group stop Witnesses from coming forward with the investigation reaching a dead end it was decided fresh eyes when needed on the case on August 27 senior officers from across the force were called in to review the case in its entirety in the hope they would spot something

that was missed

detective inspector staved clay now in charge said police would write once again to all four thousand registered UK skydivers in the hope of the murderer had shared their secret he was absolutely positive the killer was at the week-long parachute competition when Steven fell to his death he said quote

our line of inquiry is that the murderer could have told a fellow skydiver about the dastardly deed the person who committed this Dreadful crime probably has no criminal history and is likely to be a well-educated young man with a bright future there's little doubt that he will have shared the burden of what he has done with a loved one we are getting closer all the time the answer lies among the sky diving community

when the UK mail the I didn't have the desired response enquiries were taken worldwide police took out a full-page advertisement in Skydive the magazine the leading magazine for the sport asking for assistance in tracing the murderer

skydivers from the United States responded to the inquiry detailing two similar incidents from their Homeland

the first incident occurred in 1996 the sabotage parachute belonged to Champion skydiver Kirk Governor however burner happened for loney's parachute to his friend Carrie Hopwood

look Steven Hilda hope would had a double malfunction during his jump

video taken by Hogwarts helmet camera showed him trying to deploy his parachute his Pilot Chute floated away due to a cut in the bridal Justice Stevens would have he then deployed his emergency Chute but it to malfunctioned

hope words hands reached up the camera caught his chilling shouts of oh my God I'm going to die before he hit the ground

but remarkably hope word survived only one Riser of the reserve parachute had been cut it should have been enough to kill him but the parachute managed to catch enough air to slow him down before impact the fall left him with permanent brain damage as well as pins and metal down his entire right side

the person who murdered been targeting Kirk Verner was never identified

the following year in 1997 Charlie Mullins the son of a well-known and controversial skydiving identity opened his reserve back to swap it with a new one in doing so he discovered his reserve Rises had been cut if he had used it there was no way he would have survived

there were many people who are envious of Charlie as his father owned a drop zone and an aircraft meaning Charlie had been able to amass an astonishing 6000 jumps by his young age of 25 he moved in many of the same circles as Kirk Verner like in verna's case the person who cut my lands reserved Rises was never identified

u.s. police provided British authorities with the names of all those present at the time of these attempted murders they also handed over the video footage of Kari hop words for giving real shocking insight into what Steven Hilda must have gone through the u.s. police hope to break through in the Steven Hilda case might lead to a similar advance in their investigations which at seven years old had gone cold

but nothing came of it the similarities in the cases seem to be mere coincidence

on October 22 2003 three and a half months after Steven Hilda's death police announced to arrest

they didn't release their names to the Press but they eventually got out

the two people arrested with Stevens Black Rain teammates Adrian Blair and David Mason

music their arrests ripped through the sky diving Community some condemned the pair immediately stating they suspected Adrian and David from the beginning and unsubstantiated rumors spread about a love triangle being the motive

others recalled David's history of playing pranks on Stevens parachuting gear in one instance David pulled out Stevens pilot Chute causing the PIN to dislodge and the main parachute the tumbled out in its back skydivers had a mixed reaction to this prank on one hand somewhere angry anyone would mess around with another person's gear knowing the risks on the other hand Steven could not have put his parachute on without replacing the pin and pilot chute

so it was more of a playful annoyance than an attempt to harm him

David said he's pranks were merely a joke highlighting the hypocrisy of Stephen leaving his kid unsupervised in an unsafe area when he was always going on about safety regulations

after the initial anger about the arrests skydivers adopted a wait-and-see attitude one friend said quote these two are good friends and I've jumped with them many times as someone who knows them on willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment

there was also the fact that the team had pulled off the skydiver bear lives that day it was an incredible feat if either Adrian or David or both were focused on killing Steven could they have also performed an intricate jump to such a sensational level

the two men were held overnight the next day police applied to the court for an extension to hold the pair for an extra 24 hours the request was granted however after 48 Hours both men were released on bail without charge

the law in the UK allowed suspects to be released on conditional police bail in cases such as Stephen Hilda's where the evidence was very marginal and police weren't sure if it would get a conviction they passed the file to lawyers who act for the crown prosecution service the lawyers review the evidence and decide if it's sufficient to bring charges against the accused

despite there being no charges laid Adrienne and David found themselves under a cloud of Suspicion their home Drop Zone nether I even told them not to bother coming back

three weeks later on November 17 police announced another arrest in relation to the murder of Steven Hilda an unidentified 24 year old man from Leeds was taken into custody

the arrest came two weeks after police interviewed members of Leeds University skydiving Club they regularly use Tibbetts though Airfield and were present during the competition when Stephen was killed a University newspaper didn't publish the arrested man's name but did reveal he was studying at late

after hours of questioning This Man 2 was released on bail without charge his identity as well as his connection to Stephen or the reason he was the suspect was never released to the public

on December 5 2003 Stephen Hilda's parents made another impassioned plea determined to keep his case in the media

one police officer told the Press they had found out Stephen Hilda had one or two disagreements with fellow skydivers in the week before his death yet they also revealed they had discovered several witnesses lied to them over the course of their investigation one witness had falsely suggested Stephen had been involved in a love triangle

Stevens teammates Adrian and David were officially released from bail but humberside police refused to eliminate them as suspects the third arrested man remained a mystery but police stated Asia on each man was prepared and forwarded to the crown prosecution service

by the end of January 2004 humberside police had interviewed 2,500 people and still had no concrete motive for Steven Hilda's murder

detective set up in a room at the British parachute association's annual general meeting on January 24 and 25 hoping somebody would come forward with fresh information

the AGM was a two-day Affair that included demonstrations of new equipment and talks from experts on different aspects of skydiving being in the middle of winter it was attended by a large percentage of the UK skydiving population providing them with their skydiving fix while there were no Drop Zones operating

yet no further information was gained from the event

with all avenues for murderer explored detectives returned to a theory that had been briefly raised than discarded at the beginning of the investigation

that Steven Hilda had taken his own life

police re-interviewed Stevens family and friends except this time questions were focused on Stephen specifically not on others who may have had issue with him they asked if Stephen gave any indication it was suicidal did he have problems in his life how was he in the weeks days and hours leading up to the jump

Stevens mother had spoken to him at length the Friday before the competition she recalled he was his same talking himself he'd had a good time with his father at the Bon Jovi concert the Saturday before his father said Stephen was an energetic enthusiastic fun-loving and The Confident young man planning for his future

nobody noticed anything different in his demeanor before the jump they were adamant Steven would never take his own life

however it was known Steven skydiving Obsession had caused him to neglect some other parts of his life including study and his relationship

there were no reports of what happened on the case over the next six weeks but it was clear police had not yet finished with Stephen Hilda's teammates on March 10 2004 detective search the rooms are both Adrian Blair and David Mason without warning

and David's personal computer they found a draft obituary for Stephen written in a humorous style David said it was for a skydiving magazine

although police did not publicly reveal the contents of the obituary they found it disturbing and inappropriate

David said it was being misconstrued by police and it was merely the type of dark humor typical of Stephen and skydivers in general

the lawyer representing Adrian and David stated quote they were taken aback when the police turned up out of the blue I don't know what the police were looking for the boys had no involvement in Stephens death

whatever the place we're looking for it seems they didn't find it two weeks later to their great relief Adrienne and David were notified that they were no longer suspects there were cleared of any involvement in Stephen Hilda's death

however the suspicion uncertainty and Relentless targeting took its toll Adrian quit his degree at the Royal Military College and moved to Canada

with all suspects officially cleared and now others on the horizon police doubled down on the suicide Theory

speculation why Stephen would stage such an elaborate suicide was varied the question being why if Steven had decided he was going to die that day did he simply not deploy his parachute at all and just fall

some suspected his conversion to Roman Catholicism a few years earlier played a part the church regard suicide is a sin so perhaps he hid the ACT behind the illusion of murder others speculated that it was to ensure his parents could cash in life insurance

others wondered if he sabotaged his own gear to ensure he couldn't back out of his plan

tests found Steven sweat around to The Frayed edges of material that was slashed on one of these parachutes assuming this referred to the main Bridle that had been cut this discovery was meaningless it would have been far more surprising to discover the Stevens DNA was not on their the sweat would be expected to transfer onto the main Bridle every time the parachute was parked further tests found that minut fibers from the cut webbing were found on Stevens clothing beneath his jumpsuit

this was more interesting but still inconclusive he may have done he's a gear check before putting on his jumpsuit and in doing so any fibers that were on the outside of the rig could have transferred then

the Smoking Gun was a pair of scissors found in the locked trunk of Stephens car they were determined to be the tool used to cut the risers of his parachute the Rises fibers were found on the blades and only Stevens DNA was found on the scissors

during the initial investigation the scissors were given a low priority due to a Monumental misunderstanding between police and two British parachuting Association expert John Hitchin when Hitchin was unable to cut through the risers with the scissors he was supplied by police he requested a hook knife police understood this as meaning that scissors in general were unable to cut through the tough material however John Hitchin later clarified only the sea

has supplied to him at that moment were unable to cut through because they were loose and didn't work properly but another pair of working scissors would have been able to cut through just fine

the pair found in the trunk of Stephens car were ordinary kitchen scissors in good working order they could cut through the material

the scissors were in the locked trunk of Stephens car but the keys were in the ignition meaning anyone could have easily grabbed the keys and access the trunk

all skydivers own gloves and many wear them may even when the weather is warm even on the hottest day it's very cold at 13,000 feet they also guard against cuts and scrapes from Bad Landings seeing someone wearing gloves would not be at all out of place even on a hot day

investigators probe further into Stevens personal life they heard about the time he told friends that if he was ever going to take his own life who would be by skydiving there were also reports he was not enjoying his time at the Royal Military College of science he admitted he was in a course he didn't like and he was also under the impression he failed his examinations although the college said this belief was mistaken

Stephen had racked up 17 thousand pounds in debt and to maxed out his credit cards much of it on skydiving he bought himself an expensive state-of-the-art parachute and then there are the jumps themselves you could spend a hundred pounds on a slow day and it was easy to spend a lot more especially when training for competition

his debts were bad enough that he had bounced the check in the mess hall which got him into Strife with his military superiors

several of Steven's friends knew of his debts and they stated he was not concerned by them according to them Stephen thought his debts would sort themselves out and he didn't dwell on them at all

there was also Stevens unexplained 11 mile drive toward gas station on the Tuesday before his death he claimed to have gone there to purchase snacks yet there were closer gas stations to the Drop Zone he could have gone to the one he visited was out of the way he would have to deliberately seek it out he didn't put any gas in his car either as his tank was nearly empty when investigators looked at it later

this led to speculation Stephen had gone to the gas station to purchase trucks though there's no proof of this

furthermore the truth of Stevens relationship with Ruth Woodhouse was that it was strained

they were at the point of splitting up

Ruth explained their relationship was a casual uni student Affair That Grew From a mutual love of drama theater rehearsals meant they saw each other twice a week but they didn't have the time for the relationship to develop more deeply

Ruth said that neither of them were clingy people and there had been no distress for me the sword both were happy with what they had and the decision to split was Mutual

one friend posted on skydiving Forum Drop Zone.com quote Steve was the kind of person who worried about something only when it was absolutely staring him in the face his attitude was always it'll be okay no matter how unrealistic that was splitting up with his girlfriend being in debt and having possibly failed exams wouldn't worry him until the point where he'd been declared bankrupt they chucked out of uni and seen his girlfriend with a new bloke

Stevens closest friend non skydiver Jason Saunders spoke to The Independent Newspaper Jason claims Stephen was full of plans for the future in the last conversation they'd had just before Stephen left for the competition

as for Stevens previous remark about wanting to die by skydiving those who knew him perceived this comment as a reflection of how passionate he was about the sport

nearly 10 months after that fateful day inhibits though Airfield detective superintendent Colin Andrews announced that they were no longer treating Steven Hilda's death as murder police marked the case as an unexplained death

the police may have been satisfied with their findings but nobody else was none of Stephens family friends his girlfriend nor fellow skydivers whether they knew him or not bought the story he committed suicide or staged his own Murder One skydiver summed it up on Drop Zone.com quote come on people we all know that no skydiver would ever take their own life in this bizarre way this is total crap the cops are stumped so they're covering

Ross

in March 2005 in inquest was held into the death of Stephen

karna Stewart Atkinson ruled out murder as the cause of death has no evidence had been found proving the skydivers equipment had been sabotaged by another party Atkinson added that he was unable to record a verdict of suicide because he could not be sure the skydiver intended to take his own life it was thus ruled and opened finding

detective superintendent Colin Andrews told the BBC he was as comfortable as he could be that Steven wasn't murdered he said he was not complacent but confident and that the investigating team had left no stone unturned in the pursuit of the truth

many in the sky diving community of the United Kingdom were left on an easy one jump has said quote the worst bit is if it was murder the person may still be among us that freaks me out a bit considering the size of the active skydiving Community there's only 19 Drop Zones in England that means you've got a 1 in 19 chance of jumping at the same drop zone as whoever did this and to no one yet knows who did this or

ey

nevertheless as the new stories paid it out memories faded and skydivers went back to their old ways visit any drop zone and you will say unattended parachutes all the time Chief instructor Paul Hollows who found Stevens body in the cornfield after his fatal jump stated skydivers trust each other we have to but as in any community that trust can be broken

in November 2006 the 26 year old Belgian woman Bells claw demons was convicted of murdering her fellow skydiver and love rival claman sabotage her Rivals parachute in exactly the same manner as Stephen Hilda's had been she was jailed for 30 years

in May 2015 and another Raven Stephen Hilda's home Drop Zone army Sergeant a mule cilia's was arrested for attempted murder after sabotaging his wife's parachute she suffered multiple serious injuries including broken bones but survived the audio

Celia's was found guilty in May 2018 of trying to kill his wife to pocket life insurance and start a new life with his secret lover however mystery continues to surround the death of Stephen Hilda his parents remain hopeful that somebody somewhere knows what happened it may still come forward to give them closure

in the meantime all skydivers can do when they remember Steven Hilda is recited that well-worn refrain

blue skies Black Death