‘Female friend’, 70, charged over killing of Brit Karen Carter, 65, stabbed to death in idyllic French village

A 70-YEAR-OLD woman has been charged over the killing of Karen Carter, who died in her French home more than a year ago. Brit expat Karen, 65, was murdered in the idyllic French village of Trémolat in April last year. A 70-year-old woman has been charged over the murder of Karen Carter (pictured) Ms Carter was a well-liked character in the village Karen was found slashed to death in what French cops described as a “frenzied attack” in the driveway of her own home last year. Prosecutors have now revealed that the 70-year-old woman was originally taken into custody in 2025 as part of preliminary inquiries before being released. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The public prosecutor of Périgueux, Jacques-Edouard Andrault, told Sud Ouest: “On July 2nd, the investigating judge in Périgueux formally charged a woman with murder. “This 70-year-old woman, originally from Trémolat, was taken into custody on April 30, 2025, during a preliminary investigation before being released. Ms Carter with her estranged husband Alan The rental property near the rural village of Trémolat, France , where Karen, 65, was stabbed Credit: Doug Seeburg “Since then, the investigations conducted as part of the judicial inquiry opened on May 7, 2025 have led the investigating judge to indict her.” Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the Bergerac prosecutor who is leading the murder enquiry, previously said that the woman was “part of the couple’s circle” when she was detained. Dordogne Libre, a local French paper, reported that the 70-year-old woman was understood to be a “love rival” of Karen as the investigation continues. Karen lived alone in a renovated farmhouse in the French village, east of Bordeaux, and was a popular figure in the village before her death in April 2025. Most read in The Sun Her body sustained eight major wounds – to the chest, groin, in the arm and one of her legs. Emergency services rushed to the scene, but despite their best efforts , she was pronounced dead. The cause of her death was described as a “massive haemorrhage”. The Brit was reportedly on the verge of divorcing her husband Alan Carter before her death. Karen and Alan had owned their holiday home in Trémolat for 15 years, splitting time between France and South Africa, where Alan still works. Karen was seeing Jean-François Guerrier, a 75-year-old retired business executive who lived nearby, at the time of her death. They both have strongly denied any wrongdoing, continuing to cooperate with investigators. Authorities had also taped off the doors to the property at the time On the day of her murder, Jean-François had hosted a wine-tasting and later followed her home in his car. When he arrived, he found Karen lying in a pool of blood. Jean-François told investigators he first suspected something was wrong when Karen did not call him after getting home, which was just a 10-minute drive away. At the time of the killing, Alan said that he first heard of her death when a cousin contacted him after reading about the death on a local community Facebook page. He said he received confirmation of the death after his assistant phoned local police. Describing his wife as an outgoing, friendly person who “wouldn’t hurt a fly”, he said her death has been “traumatic” for his family. He said: “I’m an introvert, and she’s the exact opposite. She’s an extrovert, she loves people, she loves to have fun. People love her, she has a good heart. “She’s the one who would bring home the lost dog, or cat, or whatever. She’s that sort of person. Everyone liked her. That’s why I married her. She’s just lovely.”