English skydiver's death is still a mystery, says coroner

The death of English skydiver Stephen Hilder remained an enduring mystery yesterday as the coroner at his inquest refused to accept he had killed himself.

North Lincolnshire coroner Stewart Atkinson recorded an open verdict, saying there was no proof the Army officer cadet was murdered, and he remained unpersuaded about the police suicide theory.

Mr Atkinson's conclusions that 20-year-old Mr Hilder's fatal 13,000ft jump in July 2003 was simply "unique and mysterious" came after a forensic scientist, Peter Grant, told the inquest murder could not be ruled out.

Humberside Police closed their murder investigation after they found the only DNA on a pair of 6ins kitchen scissors used to cut the straps and cords of the main and reserve parachutes belonged to Mr Hilder.

But Mr Grant said someone wearing gloves that left no DNA traces could have used the scissors, which were found in the boot of Mr Hilder's unlocked Vauxhall Belmont car.

"I cannot exclude the possibility that someone else cut the straps," Mr Grant said.

Fibres from the sabotaged straps were found on the scissors and Stephen's clothing, but these could have been transferred to his clothes from the parachute pack before the skydiver put his overalls on, Mr Grant added.

Mr Atkinson said he was not satisfied Mr Hilder knew his parachute had been sabotaged, as he was filmed appearing jubilant and exhilarated as he looked one of his formation team in the eye making his final leap at the Hibaldstow airfield in Lincolnshire.

The coroner was also unmoved by evidence of Mr Hilder's personal problems, which had convinced detectives he killed himself.

These included debts of £17,000, mostly for skydiving equipment, his unfounded conviction that he had failed his first-year college exams and the end of a relationship with a woman he met at the Royal Military College of Science, at Shrivenham, Wiltshire.

"There were a number of issues in his life but that does not persuade me he killed himself," said Mr Atkinson who held the inquest at the North Lincolnshire council offices in Scunthorpe.

Mr Hilder's relatives listened quietly as Mr Atkinson read out the open verdict.

He told them: "I hope [this verdict] will be some relief to the family [and] ... begins some closure. How you cope, I do not know. I admire your dignity in such adversity."

Humberside Police's belief that Mr Hilder must have been murdered led the force to overlook its most important piece of evidence, the orange-handled scissors, which were "bagged" by detectives but not initially examined.

Mr Hilder's Vauxhall car was not DNA-tested, but donated to a youth charity which had valeted it before the police took it back for forensic tests.

But investigations offered tantalising hints that Mr Hilder might not have been murdered, and harboured a fascination with death.

It was unclear whether he had read a skydiving magazine, found after his death, which featured an attempted murder in 1976 involving parachute sabotage.

There were also suggestions he may have watched the 1994 film Drop Zone, starring Wesley Snipes, which had another near-fatal parachute drop.

Mr Hilder's girlfriend Ruth Woodhouse, said the couple had also discussed committing the "perfect murder" after watching the Sandra Bullock film Murder By Numbers.

And Mr Hilder had told a friend three years ago that "if he took his own life he would want to do something amazing".

Last night, Detective Superintendent Colin Andrews, who led the 10-month investigation said he still did not believe Mr Hilder was murdered, though he admitted there was a "very small chance" he could have got it wrong.

Mr Hilder's father Paul, with his wife Mary, said an open verdict did not remove the uncertainty of what had happened.

"Stephen's life has been dissected and examined in great detail and we still do not know why he died," he said. "We do not know why anyone would want to kill him, nor is there evidence that he took his own life."

- INDEPENDENT