Teenagers questioned over skydiver's death plunge

British detectives were today still questioning two teenagers arrested in connection with the murder of skydiver Stephen Hilder.

Mr Hilder, from Hereford, UK, fell 13,000ft to his death after both his main chute and the reserve were cut deliberately before he jumped above Hibaldstow Airfield in north Lincolnshire, UK.

He was accompanied on the jump by fellow military college students David Mason and Adrian Blair, both aged 19, who later helped carry his coffin at his funeral.

Humberside police today refused to confirm reports that the pair had been arrested, but said that two 19-year-olds were in custody.

They were arrested yesterday at Scunthorpe Police station on suspicion of murder and have been taken to separate police stations in the Humberside Force Area, British police said.

Mr Hilder’s parents, Paul and Mary Hilder, from Hereford, were informed of the developments.

Their son was an army officer cadet based at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham, near Swindon, and had been taking part in the National Championships of the British Collegiate Parachute Association.

He was a veteran of more than 200 jumps. Detectives have interviewed hundreds of people since his death, including family, friends, teachers and fellow students at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, and Bristol University.

Police hunting his killers appealed to all members of the British skydiving community for help in a two-page letter published in the October edition of SkyDive magazine.

They launched a murder inquiry after they found that the cord on Mr Hilder’s main parachute had been severed as well as the strapping on his reserve chute.

The hunt for the killer has been extensive with posters appealing for help released in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Cyprus.

Police have also consulted detectives in the United States who dealt with a similar case.

Video footage of Mr Hilder moments before he plunged to his death was shown on the BBC1 Crimewatch UK in July. The footage showed Mr Hilder giving a thumbs-up shortly before jumping from the plane. He was also shown holding on to his two colleagues in free-fall formation, moments before he plunged to his death.

Mr Hilder’s parents made a public and emotional appeal in July for help in tracking down his killer as did his girlfriend, Ruth Woodhouse, 24, of Stafford.

His parents said they had been “living through every parent’s worst nightmare” following his death.

At the time of their appeal, they said they believed someone in Britain’s close-knit skydiving community knew who had sabotaged their son’s parachute.

Ms Woodhouse, a student at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, who met Mr Hilder in January and started a relationship with him a month later, spoke of her grief at his death.

She said in July: “Somebody has taken this sparkly person from the world in the most awful way, leaving a huge gap in not only the lives of his family and myself, but also the close knit communities of skydiving, the Army and the theatre.”

Iain Firkins, chairman of the British Collegiate Parachute Association, welcomed the arrests but urged caution.

“The latest development in the Stephen Hilder case is definitely a positive move,” he said. “However, it is still too early to tell how significant this development is.

“At this time, it is dangerous to speculate on the events ... and so judgment is reserved until the police have had time to fully question those who were arrested and made a full statement to the public.”