Final seconds of skydive victim

Stephen Hilder on a skydive last year

Previously unseen video footage of a skydiver moments before he plunged to his death in suspicious circumstances is being shown on a Crimewatch appeal on Thursday.

Army cadet Stephen Hilder, 20, appeared pensive as he travelled by bus to what was to be his final jump at Hibaldstow Airfield, north Lincolnshire, on 4 July.

Detectives launched a murder inquiry after discovering that the cord on his main parachute and the strapping on his reserve chute had been deliberately severed.

Other video footage to be broadcast shows Mr Hilder, who was from Hereford, giving a thumbs-up shortly before jumping from the plane.

Mr Hilder on the bus travelling to the aircraft

He is also seen holding on to his two colleagues in free-fall formation, moments before he plunged 13,000 feet to his death.

It was the trio's last jump in a week-long competition.

On the night before his death, the officer cadet from the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, had been enjoying a fancy dress party where he was pictured wearing a blond wig and a strappy black dress.

A reconstruction of events leading up to Mr Hilder's suspected murder will also be staged on Thursday's programme.

Detective Superintendent Colin Andrews, who is leading the Humberside Police investigation, said: "We were very keen to get this inquiry on to Crimewatch UK because it has very good results and may just provide us with the break we need to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Stephen's death.

Mr Hilder during the fateful dive over Hibaldstow

"I believe that there is somebody out there, more than likely a member of the skydiving community, who knows exactly what happened to Stephen's parachute pack and why, and I am confident we will get that information.

"It is a wicked crime and somebody out there holds the key to this investigation."

Police believe the killer was at the airfield during the competition, as Mr Hilder had jumped successfully two days earlier and repacked his own equipment.

Crimewatch UK will be broadcast on BBC1 at 2100 BST.