Latest / True Crime and Wine Time / S6 E21 The Parachute Mystery_ What Happened to Stephen Hilder_ Part 1

Transcript

S6 E21 The Parachute Mystery_ What Happened to Stephen Hilder_ Part 1 · True Crime and Wine Time

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to True Crime and One Time. I'm Terry and
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I'm Loma. Tonight we are uncorking the truth why one
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: of the darkest crimes and breaking it down together with you,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: one case, one conversation, and one or maybe two.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Glasses of wine. It's taking a job. It's time to
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: get comfortable and double check those locks before we discarned.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: So let's take a sip and dive in.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Hello.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Hello, it's been a while.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: It has been a while. It is your first showback,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: it is.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've been back from Midday and some other things,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: but this is my first TCWT.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's March. I just realized that. It's like wait what, oh,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: that's running Because that was such a good job.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: I was like, I better get back or I won't
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: be welcome back.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know about that, but welcome back. So happy
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: to have you back with this.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: I missed you, guys, and it was fun just lurking
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: in the background and watching and not even chatting and
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: letting y'all know I was there. I felt like a
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: peeping tom and I loved it.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: So do you want to tell them what we're doing
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: different to not?
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Or do you all, welln't you. You're You're back. You're back.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: So, guys, we're going to do this a little bit
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: different for our audio engineer to make things easier for him.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: We're going to record this as a podcast. You guys watching,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: you don't have to do anything different. We just have
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to do things different. It means that we will not
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: be responding to your comments until the end. Okay, we we'll.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Hold them and we will still do that.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: We're doing that at the end to make it easier
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: for him during the editing process. So we can still
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: wave and say hi, we just won't hear anything come
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: out of our mouth.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: And if you've ever edited anything as I have, we
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: like him and we want you to keep doing it. Ah, Okay,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: we do because.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: He makes found all good.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: So that's just the little bit different thing. I also
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: have to ask why did our labels turn blue?
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I just work here.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: There's a different thing.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I don't know why they're blue. I'd be quite honest
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: with you, I don't know.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: Okay, well we need to fix that because blues not gos.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: I'm braden. There we go.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: So, guys, before we do begin, if you are watching
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: this on YouTube.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: Please and subscribe.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Hit that notification bell because you don't want to miss
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: when we just decide to go live or drop a
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: video or any of our.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Shenanigans, any of our Shanna. We have so many shenanigans.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: And if you're listening to this as a pod, please
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: download and leave a rating and review as it helps
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: our little podcet notice and let everybody else know how
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: fun it is. It's nice people like that.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and guys, you can also become a member, which
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: comes with all sorts of exclusive perks. I mean, we
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: got perks on perks on perks, so all you've got
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: to do is just click the join button and pick
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: whichever tier works for you.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: And guys, our lowest tier starts.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: At ninety nine cents. There's not a lot in today's
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: economy you can get for ninety nine Since that you
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: get so much for.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: That is true, Well, Terry, well, why don't you tell
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: us what we'll be covering tonight?
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: So guys, tonight will be covering the case of Stephen
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Hilder who died during a skydiving competition, and guys left
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: behind a very big mystery that we're going to dive
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: it into.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm really interested in this one. I don't know
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: how I feel about it, but we'll see. Yeah, I.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Just go on record right now and say I still
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: one hundred percent do not understand why you jump out
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: of a perfectly damn good plane, even though I have
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: volunteered to do it with a double H. I a
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: certificate to do it, and he was like, well, maybe
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: you can go with me, and there for a long
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: time my doctor said no. And now I'm assuming the
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: doctor would say no, so I was going to get
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: for him.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I'll never be doing that, so no, thank you. Well
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: what are you drinking tonight, miss Terry?
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: So tonight?
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: I am actually having a Cayman Jack strawberry or no,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: it's a wat melon margarita. I didn't want to open
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: a bottle of wine just to have one glass, and
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: I haven't really been drinking as much, so I've just
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: got it poured in one of my cute little glasses.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Nice. I've had some of those cane in Jack mrcury's.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: They're pretty good.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: I mean, I'll be honest.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: I add a splash of vodka because they're made of
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: that agave stuff. They're a little sweet and syrupy.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: So I'm thrown a little bit of vodka.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Nice well tonight, I am drinking Yosemite Road. But it's
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: pink moscato for you, Terry Yay, and it specifically says pink,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: So I got it for you there. It tastes just
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: the regular miscando. But I picked it up last night
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: after a Little Lama's Orchestra concert and I was like,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: you know what, I get that pink?
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: No, I need to.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, because guys, it's just not like me to
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: not want to open a bottle of wine just because
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna have a glass, because I'm like, I know
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: I'll have some.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: Tomorrow, but I don't know. I'm being weird lately.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to be good. I got an early show tomorrow.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: I'm waking up earlier.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: For so I am a candidate who scheduled an eight
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: am interview on a Friday with me.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Somebody's not getting a job.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: This is a really good candidate, so, I mean, but
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: she's over in London, so for.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Her, Okay, it's like that's right, that's true. All right,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Well you know what with that, Let's get into the
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: story of tonight's case, shall we.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: We shall So guys, we all know accidents are an
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: unfortunate reality in any sport, but especially in skydiving, because
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: it is, after all, an extreme sport, and anyone who
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: steps onto a drop zone understands that the risk isn't theoretical.
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: Gravity is always waiting. Now. For the vast majority, skydiving
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: is a.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Singular adrenaline fueled check mark on their bucket list. Over
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: over ninety nine percent of people jump just once, strap
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: securely to an instructor, and then never do it again,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: probably because I have a heart attack.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: I was gonna say, I don't even like watching videos.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: If people do it, no, thank you. You're much braver
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: than I. But no thank you. On my end.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Well, he hears this, so I can't tell my real
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: philosophy why I offered to go.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: I was gonna say, he is our audio or.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: He's already caught me on a couple of things since
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: he started editing again.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: For us, He's like so, and I'm like, crap, no anyway. So,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: but for a dedicated few, the thrill involves. The thrill
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: involves into an obsession. It becomes a lifestyle woven into
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: the very fabric of their identity. I am not an
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: adrenaline junkie. But some are in this world though. Scrapes, bruises,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: and broken bones are the expected taxes of the trade.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: And to mitigate the ultimate price and i death, these
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: jumpers form tight knit communities built on a foundation of
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: absolute trust. I mean you'd need to right, Yeah, They
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: watch each other's gear and they also watch out for
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: each other.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Now, despite the inherent danger, death remains a statistical rarity, guys.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: In twenty twenty four, the.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: US Parachute Association recorded three point eighty eight million jumps.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: That's crazy with only nine fatalities. I mean that's really good.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Odds, those are really good.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: I mean that's really good. Odds. That is safer than
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: driving a car.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, for sure.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Now, and the unthinkable happened, the community marks the loss.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: What they toast that is that is as respectable as
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: it is haunting Blue Sky's black death.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Now. In the summer of two thousand and three, that
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: phrase began to shadow a young man named Stephen Hilder.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: While every skydiver prepares for the possibility of an accident,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: no one was prepared for what happened Stephen. His descent
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: wouldn't just be another tragic statistic. It would become a
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: forensic enigma that challenged the trust of the entire skydiving community.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: In a sport where your life depends on the integrity
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: of your equipment, Stephen Hilder went into the air with
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: a parachute that had been compromised.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Oh, I already have goosebumps.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: I know. I literally got goosebumps as I said that.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: I was like, oh, and I know the story. Oh so.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Stephen Hilder was born on December twelfth, nineteen eighty two.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: That is also my brother's birthday. In case he happens
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: to hear this, I do remember your birthday.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: He was born in Hertfordshire, UK.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: At just twenty years old, he was already an officer
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: cadet at the Defense Academy, but his true identity was
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: found thousands of feet above the ground.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: By the summer of two thousand and three, Stephen had
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: carefully logged over two hundred jumps. For him, skydiving wasn't
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: just a week in hobby. It was an all consuming obsession.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: He was known to max out credit cards to afford
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: the latest highest in gear, and had even famously skipped
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: an academic exam just to get more time in the air.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Can I just say to me, sounds like an addiction.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: I'm sure I know it's a adrenaline thing, but I think
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: a point break. When I was researching this now, his
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: girlfriend Ruth Woodhouse, often joked that he suffered from withdrawal
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: symptoms if he spent more than a few days on
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: solid ground. And when the British winner made jumping impossible,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Stephen simply chased the sun to other countries to keep
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: his streak alive. That's dedication inexpensive.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: The days leading up to his death were mand the
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: surface remarkably ordinary, a blend of family romance and the
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: quiet preparation of a man who felt completely at home
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: in his world. On Saturday, June twenty eighth, two thousand
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: and three, Stephen took a break from the skies. In
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: a gesture of quiet affection. He took his father to
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: see Bond Jovi in Hyde Park as an early birthday present.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: They shared a mutual love for the band because who
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: doesn't and right, who doesn't, And by all accounts, the
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: day was a success, a beautiful moment in time of
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: a father and son enjoying a summer concert in London,
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: creating what should have been a lasting happy memory.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: The following morning, Sunday, the pool of the drop zone return,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Stephen headed to his local air filed in southern England,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: shaking off the previous day's music for the familiar rush
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: of the wind, successfully logging a couple of practice jumps.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Because Monday was reserved for Ruth, the couple spent the
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: day at a theme park, leaning into the simple thrills
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: of roller coasters and shared time. It was a classic
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: summer day, seemingly devoid of any dark premonitions.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Now the evening fell on June thirtieth, two thousand and three,
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: the leisure ended and the logistics of the competition took over.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Stephen packed his gear and traveled one hundred miles to
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: a week long competition hosted by the British Collegiate Parachute
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Association now British Skydiving. Stephen had decided to go early,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: hoping to squeeze in a few practice jumps before his
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: teammates arrived. Kept.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: I just say, the thought of saying, hey, I'm going
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: to just go try to squeeze in a few jumps from.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: The plane just doesn't. It just doesn't compete with my brain.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not an adrenaline John Key chaser. That's some
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: people are, clearly Stephen is. I'm not that brave.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: He was part of the three man team called Black Rain,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: alongside fellow officer cadets Adrian Blair and David Mason. All
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: three were in their early twenties or late teens, and
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: individually had surpassed the two hundred jump milestones. They were talented,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: they were confident, and they were deeply embedded in the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: nick tight culture of the drop Zone Now.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: When he arrived at the airfield that night, he was
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: joining hundreds of other collegiate skydivers. The atmosphere was electric,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: full of the blue Sky's energy, competitive spirit, and the
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: deep communal trust that defines the sport. Now. That evening,
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: after a couple of drinks at the drop Zone bar
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: to catch up with friends and competitors, Stephen then retired
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: to his vehicle for the night.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: While the drop Zone offered bunk rooms, Stephen opted for
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: a more common tradition among skydivers, sleeping in his car.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: In a community where every pound saved on a b
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: is another jump in the air, his choice to sleep
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: in there was more practical than unusual.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you're trying to save money, it makes
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: sense keep in a car.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: No, I'm pretty like you're not getting a good night's sleep.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: No, not at all. Now. As Steven settled in for
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: the week long event, he had his equipment, his teammates,
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: and his reputation as a skilled jumper. He had no
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: reason to suspect that within the confines of his own
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: gear bag, a countdown had already begun.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: The competition was at the mercy of the British summer,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: with the weather turning sour almost immediately. On Tuesday, July first,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: the clouds hung too low and the winds were too high.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Chief Instructor Paul Hollow made the announcement the competition. The
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: competitors dreaded. All jumps were grounded for the day.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Now disappointed but accustomed to the hurry up and wait
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: nature of the sport, the jumpers dispersed. Stephen killed time
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: by driving eleven miles to a nearby gas station to
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: stock up on snacks, likely expecting a long week of
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: waiting for a break in the clouds now.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: On Wednesday, July second, a brief window of clear air
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: finally opened. It was a narrow opportunity, and Stephen was
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: one of the few lucky enough to get a lift
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: to altitude During that jump. His coach filmediln with a
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: helmet mounted camera, which is a pretty standard training tool
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: meant for post jump analysis. At the time, the footage
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: was just a way to critique his form, but later
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: it would become a haunting piece of evidence.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: It's always written, nobody ever thinks of the cameraman.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: I thought, like, nobody thinks of the cameraman.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Right that there's just like this person that jumps out
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: holding the camera all the time, Like, oh.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: Can you imagine that beginning your job?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: No, I mean, I'm sure it's you know, somebody else
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: does a passion for this, but I could imagine somebody
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: calling off and like, oh shit, we're gonna need to
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: find a new videographer. And it's just this guy, you know, Dan,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: who's never done anything, and he's just like okay, oh
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: my goodness. Now after landing, Steven's parachute needed to be reset.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: In the world of skydiving, you either pack your own
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: main hut or you pay a professional packer about ten
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: dollars to do it for you. Now it remains a
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: mystery whether Stephen handed handled his gear that afternoon or
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: if he handed it off to a pro. But regardless,
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: once the parachute was folded back into its container, Steven's
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: doored his rig in the kit room. Now, most rigs
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: were a kaleidoscope of neon colors, right, everybody wants a
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: colorful parachute. But Stevens was distinct as it was a sleek,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: muted combination of black, white, and gray. So it's very
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: apparent who's six sact? Who had that one?
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: Very obvious. I wonder what color mine would be?
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know what color could it be?
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: You're like, do they allow glitter? Because I would like
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: to add that to please?
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Oh please, And when my parachute opens, could glitter bomb
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: and glitter go all over?
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: That would be amazing.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: So the kit.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Room at Hilbotstow was the heart of the air filled
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: social life. Like most Drops on Drop zones, the room
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: was rarely, if ever locked, because it doubled as a
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: lounge where people relax, watch TV and swapped stories. Dozens
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: of people moved through that room throughout the day.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's just a little cramped room with
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: a couch. You know. It's not like it's like a
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: vault in a bank.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: Or they make it sound all fancy, but it's not.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: It's just a room where everybody is now. It was
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: an environment built for an unspoken code of honor, right,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: a place where you could leave your most expensive life
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: sustaining equipment unattended, because no one in this tight knit
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: community would ever dream of touching another person's rig. But
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: as Steven's black and white harness hung among the others,
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: that trust was about to be shattered in the most
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: calculated way imaginable.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say, lock your doors and lock up
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: your parachutes, okay. By Wednesday evening, the trio was complete.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: Adrian and David arrived at the airfield and the three
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: friends headed to the drop Zone bar for the official
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: welcome party. With nearly eighty competitors now on site, the
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: energy was high, and it was fueled by the hope
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: that the clouds would finally break. But Thursday, July third
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: offered no such luck. Heavy thunderstorms rolled across the UK,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: and by early morning Chief Inspector Paul Hollow delivered the
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: familiar bad news that the competition was grounded for the
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: day and likely the next.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: And left with hours of idle time. The skydivers leaned
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: into the work hard, play harder culture of the sport.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: While Adrian and David headed in the town to catch
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: a movie, Stephen went on a different mission to hunt
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: through thrift stores for the perfect costume for that night's
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: legendary anty dress party, which I want to host one
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: of these.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: I'm like, I'm down for it, and I think that's amazing.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: I'll go to the party, but I'm not going in
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: the plane. I'll be down there waving like I've been
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: holding my beverage. It's fine.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: The organizer set up a scavenger hunt that leaned heavily
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: into the irreverent, sometimes crude humor of the skydiving community.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: The challenges were gross, the items were questionable, and the competitive.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: Spirit was fierce.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Now, Stephen never was never one to back down from
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: being the center of attention, and he went as far
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: as eating dog food to secure points for his team.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to do that for my team, just
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: to let anybody know it's not happening, even as competitive,
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: eating dog food a little dog you that's what you're fortere,
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: you can do it. And then he was also aiming
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: for a prize that was so insignificant that in the
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: wake of what followed, no one could even remember what
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: the prize was.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: So need to do better at prizes, just saying.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: By nine pm, the BCPA, which is the Bitches Men
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: in Drag, Cops and Cheerleaders, Pilots and Punks and Angels
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: themed party was in full swing.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: What a name now, would you be bitches? Well, that's
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: men and drag Cops, cheerleaders, pilots, punks and Angels, which.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I would probably do cheerleader just because it would be
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: so easy.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: So I think I probably go like, oh, that's tough.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Don't want to do pilot or punks. Probably pilot because
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: then I get to wear aviators.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: True so true, But considering I did the punk thing
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: back in the eighties, Yeah, probably probably do that too,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: would be easier.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Stephen leaned fully into the B category, sporting a black
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: leather dress he had found earlier that day. I mean, guys,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: what does that say about him? He was the life
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: of the party, eventually commandeering the karaoke machine to belt
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: out bonjovie hits. He's sang with a deliberate comedic lack
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: of talent, relishing the laughs in the spotlight. To any observer,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: he was a young man without a care in the world,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: celebrating the sport and the community he loved. While he
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: was singing and joking in the bar, the kit room
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: sat in the shadows, and his unique black and gray
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: rig was no longer the life saving equipment it was
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: designed to be.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Now the festivity. I've said a lot of words today,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: the festivities, and didn't wind down until two thirty am.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: And in the sky diving world, there is one unbreakable law,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: eight hours from bottle to throttle. Safety officers at the
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: drop zone were vigilant. Anyone seeing what the drink in
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: their hand at two am was effectively grounded until at
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: least ten am the following morning, regardless of how clear
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: the skies became. So as the bar lights dimmed and
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: the competitors stumbled back to their tents and cars, the
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: airfield went quiet, and Stephen returned to his car to
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: sleep off the adrenaline and the alcohol, expecting to wake
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: up to another day of waiting for the sun.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: I think pilots have the same rule. I went either
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: eight or ten hours. I don't remember, but I know
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: when my friend's brother came to town and we were drinking,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: he was like, oh, I gotta stop bottle to throttle.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: I just think that's good advice for any avenue in life, Like,
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: just you're gonna need ten hours. Oh so maybe I
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: should be like, okay and down to the bottle. Because
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: I got a throttle in the morning.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I was like, do you really want to because bottled microphone,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: you might not make it.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: I might not make it. That's true.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: So the morning of Friday, July fourth arrived with a
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: slow energy. The airfield was quiet. Its competitors nursed hangovers
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: and traded hazy stories from the night before. Steven emerged
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: from his car, seemingly unfazed.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: I hate people like that. Enjoined the card.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: Game a young baby.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: I know back in my twenties, I could do it too,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: But he joined a card game in the drop Zone
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: cafe to pass the time while waiting for the chief
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: instructor's call. Finally, the word came down that the weather
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: was shifting. If the condition held, the planes would be
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: in the air right after lunch.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: Now, the members of Black Rain didn't hesitate. They were
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: on a hot streak, having already secured a third place
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: and a first place place finish in recent regional competitions.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: They weren't there just to participate in the competition, no way,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: They were there to win.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah. As the call for the first flight went out,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: the team began their meticulous pre flight ritual. In skydiving,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: safety isn't just a protocol, guys, It's a religion. The
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: first step was activating the Cypress, which is a cybernetic
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: parachute release system. This small sophisticated electron device acts as
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: a failsafe. Okay, if the jumper is still screaming toward
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the Earth at terminal velocity at twelve hundred feet, which
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: scares the shits out of me, the Cypress automatic fires
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: a cutter to deploy the reserve parachute. At that height,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: you are roughly six seconds away from impact.
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: Let that sink in, mama, mm hmm six seconds.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: The Cypress is a little difference between life and depth.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah. Now, Stephen clicked his device on and began
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: his personal inspection, and to the naked eye, Stephen's rig
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: was in pristine condition. The Black Rain team moved to
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: the grass for a dirt dive, which is a synchronized
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: rehearsal where jumpers practice their formation moves on the ground
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: to build like muscle memory before the real thing, which
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: is it's really kind of funny and interesting to watch.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that they did that, but it makes sense.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, we did it in swimming before our big competition.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: We would stand up and go through the race and
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: we would act out every step.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: I never thought about that, and when I read that,
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: I was like, oh, okay, that because you know, to me,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: it's just like, oh, you're jumping on a plane. First
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: of all, how they remember how to do anything? I wouldn't.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: I'd forget everything, everything I've ever known. Gone.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: That's because you're scared and they're not.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: That's true, Yeah, because I'm a scaredy cat.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: No you're saying now. The mood was light as Stephen, Adrian,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: and Daven joked and teased each other, their camaraderie on
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: full display as they lined up with their cameraman. They
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: were young, skilled, and they were ready.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: For the win. Now. Just before boarding the aircraft, they
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: performed the pin check. It's a sacred tradition among jumpers.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: They patted each other's rigs, checking pins and handles that
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: their lives would soon depend on. A final nod a
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: you're good to go, and the three cadets headed towards
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: the plane. Everything felt exactly as it should, but beneath
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: the fabric of Stephen's harness, the gear had been altered
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: with a level of precision that no standard safety check
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: could ever hope to catch.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Eight skydivers packed into the small aircraft, a cramped space
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: and devoid of seats. Following the standard routine, they sat
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: on the floor, each jumper wedged between the legs of
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: the person behind them, facing the rear. The cameramen knelt
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: at the back, checking their lenses as the plane roared
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: down the runway and began its steep climb to thirteen
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: thousand feet.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Now, as the cabin pressure shifted and the alts to climb,
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: the cameraman switched on his gear. Now. The resulting footag
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: is haunting. It shows Stephen relaxed and vibrant, laughing with
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: his teammates. And if you're listening to this on the podcast,
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: you can actually see this on as we're recording this
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: on YouTube, we do have the video footage of this.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: There was no signs of nerves, no premonition of disaster,
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: just a young man at the peak of his game
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: and his life.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and us life. When the door finally rolled open,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: the team moved into position. Their exit was slightly funneled,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: a skydiving term, meaning the formation didn't catch the air
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: cleanly as they left the plane. But the cadets of
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Black Rain were professionals. They recovered in an instant. It's
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: just terrifying watching it.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: I'm watching the video of it. It's so impressive. Look
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: at them doing their little moves. That's amazing. So for
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: roughly forty five seconds, falling at roughly one hundred and
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: twenty four miles per hour, they executed move after move
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: with flawless timing. In this competition, ten points is solid,
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: fifteen is excellent. Black Rain scored nineteen points. It was
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: quite literally the best jump of their lives. Even though
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: the distorted rush of the wind, the teammates were grinning
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: at one another because they knew they had just secured
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: a winning performance.
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, if fifteen is excellent and you get nineteen,
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: that's I mean, that's impressive.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: That's impressive.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: At four thousand feet the celebration ended and the safety
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: protocol began. Following standard procedure, the members of Black Rain
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: broke formation and they turned away from one another. This
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: tracking move ensures that when the parachute deploys, the jumpers
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: are far enough apart to avoid a mid air collision.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: Oh, the videos were playing itself. There we go, We'll
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: do that. You know. One of the things is we've
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: covered a lot already in this where we're really stressing
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: the point that there is so much safety thought about
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: from beginning to end, like it's taken so seriously, Like
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: they don't really, you know, mess around, because if they do,
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: it's it's death. And you know, I don't know if
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: it's quite like that everywhere else, but so that's why
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: we're like, guys, it's so safe right now. The cameraman,
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: having captured their record breaking performance, stopped filming and tracked
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: away as well, and within seconds, the teammates lost sight
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: of each other as they flew through the cloud layers.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: So can I tell you my question that I've thought
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: of since I've researched this. Do the clouds feel like
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: cotton balls? Like they look from the ground like all softened.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: Squished that's a good question. Does it feel like moisture? Oh?
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know what we didn't know.
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: I guess I should ask the blate. Since he's done that,
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: I didn't thing to ask him.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, there you go.
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: On any other day, they would have met on the
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: ground minutes later to toast their nineteen points. But as
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Stephen the Holder reached for his deployment handle, that's when
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: everything went wrong.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: Now, as Adrianne drifted towards the landing zone, his mind
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: was still on the nineteen points they had just secured.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Following protocol, he scanned the sky for other jumpers to
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: avoid a mid air collision. In his peripheral vision, a
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: flash of white fabric streaked past limp and uncontrolled. It
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: looked off to him, but in the rush of the moment,
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: he didn't really process the anomaly. He was focused on
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: his own canopy and the technical challenge of the landing.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Now on the ground, Chief Inspector Paul Hollow was also
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: watching the sky. He noticed a jumper drifting towards the
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: towering stalks of the nearby corn fields at Hippaldstowe. Landing
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: in the corn was a classic amateur mistake that carried
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: a lighthearted penalty. The offender had to buy a round
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: of beer for the bar and ring a bell to
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: announce their shame. Okay, I love it eighty eight beers,
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: though if you're sleeping in in the bar, you probably
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: don't have money.
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: To be buying barriers. I love hallo even joke to
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: those nearby that look like there would be free beer.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: That night, he dispatched an instructor to the field to
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: retrieve the wayward jumper and their gear. But when the
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: instructor returned, he was alone and in his arms he
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: carried a bundle of white fabric.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: The atmosphere at the drop zone shifted instantly from lightheartedness
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: to one of horror. In skydiving, main parachutes are a
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: rainbow of self expression blues, reds, golds, pink, and glitter.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: For terry, reserved parachute parachutes are almost always white. For
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: a man with Hollow's experience, that single detail told a
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: horrific story. A jumper only sees their white reserve if
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: their main parachute has all already failed. But the fact
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: that the instructor was holding the fabric without a jumper
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: attached was a nightmare.
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: No one was prepared for.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: And the rare event of a fatal accident, there is
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: usually a clear cause, like a turn made too close
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: to the ground, or a collision with another jumper, or
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: some kind of pilot air while handling a malfunction, but
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: a double malfunction where both the main and the reserve
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: failed to save the jumper is nearly unheard of in
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: modern skydiving.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: Even more impossible was the site of a reserve parachute
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: completely separated from the harness and main. Parachute is designed
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: to be cut away if it tangles, but a reserve
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: is the final lifeline. It is built to stay attached
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: to the jumper at all costs.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: Now Sensing the gravity of the situation, Hollow climbed onto
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: the roof of a parked car to get a better
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: vantage point. Scanning the swaying green waves of the corn
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: he spotted it, a large, unnatural depression in the cornfield.
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: He ran towards the site, and there, deep in the field,
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: he found the body of Stephen Hilder. Look at that
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: like that. We're not looking at a picture of Stephen,
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: by the way, now, listeners, this is just a picture
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: of the cornfield showing you know, the big whilst all
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: the cornstalks being smashed, you know, like it's wow. Yeah.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Stephen had impacted the earth at thermal velocity nearly one
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty five miles per hour. The horn had
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: offered no resistance. He was still strapped into his black
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: and gray harness, but he was alone. Both of his parachutes,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: the gear that he had meticulously checked just an hour
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: prior or gone.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: As hollownelt beside the young cadet, he looked at the
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: shoulder straps where the parachutes should have been joined to
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: the harness. What he saw wasn't the tag tear of
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: a high speed mechanical failure. It was a clean, unmistakable
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: work of a blade.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: That's when the chilling reality set in. This wasn't an accident,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: This was a sabotage. Hollow reached for his radio.
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: And called nine nine nine.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: The blue skies of the afternoon had just turned into
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: the darkest black death the sport had ever seen.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: Hi, what brings us to the end of part one?
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: It does? I have to say? It makes me think.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody listening goes scuba diving. Wh
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: To and night both are certified divers.
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: We dive.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: This would be like somebody messaging messing with your oxygen tank.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's frightening because now that I'm thinking about it,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: do you know how many times we rent our equipment
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: when we go like we went to Jamaica, we weren't
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: an equipment.
• 39:36
  Speaker 3: What do I know?
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: They?
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: Oh my now, my head is spin it.
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: Okay, don't think about it too much.
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: We're not going to think about that.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: But it's true. That's why the trust is so important
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: in the community, you know. But you guys. This brings
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: us to the end of part one for tonight, But
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: the investigation into the death of Stephen Hilder is only
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: just beginning, and the path ahead is far darker than
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: anyone at Hebbelstowe Airport could have imagined. Was this a
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: calculated murder by a phantom killer who is still jumping
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: today or was Stephen Hilder the architect of his own
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: final dissent.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: The search for the truth begins next week, so join
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: us as we finish Part two of the Parachute Mystery.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: What happened to Stephen Hilder? Was it murder, accident? Suicide?
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: Check in and we'll let you know well again.
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: Thank you everyone for being with us tonight. We will
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: be back with part two Thursday ABM Eastern. Until next time,
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: go forth and be amazing and Terry, you can sign
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: us off with you.
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: I'm allowed to this time. I Cheryl. My Besty just
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: popped in.
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: Cheryl.
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: We're ending now, but thanks for stopping by late.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: Guys, stay safe, watch out for each other, and the
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: world is crazy, but most importantly, do not spill your
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: wine when you're enjoying your wine time.
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: That's right, my friendsh