Video Suggests German Politician Killed Himself in Parachute Jump

The unexplained death of one of Germany's most flamboyant politicians was judged to be a suicide yesterday after the emergence of an amateur video showing his final fatal parachute jump.

The 15-minute footage was said to have brought to an end speculation over the death in June 2003 of Jürgen Möllemann, the former German vice-chancellor and a leading figure in the Free Democrats.

The 57-year-old populist politician plunged 4,000 meters (13,000ft) to his death after appearing to take off his main parachute as he hurtled earthwards.

An hour before his death, which shocked Germany, he had been stripped of his parliamentary immunity and police were searching his home for evidence of tax evasion and fraud when his death was announced.

Möllemann, a former army parachutist who was famous for parachuting into his party's rallies, had resigned from the party two months before.

He had been dogged by allegations of antisemitism over his criticism of Israel and was said by party leader Guido Westerwelle to have inflicted "massive damage" on the party.

In the video, which appeared on the internet yesterday, Möllemann is shown dressed in a blue jumpsuit and waiting to jump from a single-motor plane. He is shown looking somewhat nervously out of the window before winking at the cameraman, puffing out his cheeks, and jumping.

Towards the end of the jump - during which Möllemann appears to take off his main parachute - the camera focuses on his reserve parachute, which should be automatically activated at a certain height, and shows that it had been deactivated. Screams are heard in the background and a voice is heard saying: "OK, he didn't turn it on."

Prosecutors said that the death was not being treated as suspicious but that they could not conclude that he had taken his own life because he had not left a suicide note.