France - Karen Carter, 65, stabbed to death, Dordogne, 29 April 2025

[ZaZara]

I understand. Karen’s parents moved from Britain to SA in the 50-es, didn’t they? So she probably had it through parents.

Kids live in different parts of the world, right. “Residence” and “citizenship” are different things. What about AC?

(One problem that confuses me: he used to live and work in London at one point but there is East London in SA so I get befuddled, tbh. Did he work in Britain for a while or was it SA?)

AFAIK he was born in the UK, and made part of his career in the UK, including in London (UK) before moving to SA.

 

[Charlot123]

AFAIK he was born in the UK, and made part of his career in the UK, including in London (UK) before moving to SA.

So basically, citizenship is a non-issue.

And, Dr. Carter is an environmental cleaning the ocean and its life from plastic.

Personality-wise, doesn’t fit. JMO.

 

[Officer Dibble]

Let us try not oppose MLA and KC but compare their situations because I see a certain dimilarity

Two women in the same age group

Both pleasant

You can imagine that in their time both were very attractive

Still attractive

Not super well-paid jobs, but one, a teacher, another, a nurse

Both had kids

Both had husbands; I am not sure about Alan’s money but at one point he bought Karen that gite

We don’t know MLA’s former husband but probably what they had was enough to live comfortably in the village

Comes JFG. First, he is financially well better-off MLA. Her brother says something about her life being much better off had she married G. So, some financial interest.

However: was MLA delusional when she divorced her husband and ruined the family? Hard to tell. However, it is a fact that at least at one point in time JFG was taking her out, isn’t it so? So, not an imagination, there was some connection between them. Then he "backpedaled" I guess. But, MLA still had her job, her hobby, was living a life. Not crushed, although, predictably unhappy.

Did MLA overrate the widower’s general willingness to marry? Perhaps, but hard to tell what she’d been told. It is possible that he just was “telling tales”, and lost interest when she became too serious about it.

So maybe MLA was naive in assessing the seriousness of JFG’s intentions, but nothing more "delusional" than that.

But then, enters Karen. Karen, who’s hard-working, a cancer survivor, slowly building up business with the gite. Very pleasant, very gracious, but she comes across as a serious person and a planner. She is a reasonable woman, married for the second time, who lived in several countries and is the mother of four kids. Very worldly. Stable.

Suddenly this epitome of practicality, KC, is engaged in a quiet but passionate relationship with JFG, and she, too, files for a divorce. After years of marriage, you don’t just abandon the family. You have to have an alternative plan.

So we have two women who, having dated JFG for a while, headed exactly the same way, towards the divorce! And rather rapidly.

How many more could there be under his belt? What was JFG’s life before? From the villagers account, women came to visit him. What happened to them?

In my life, I knew a man who was a “serial relationship-wrecker”. I can’t say “home wrecker” because I was 20 and he, 30, but he had a train of stories about broken engagements, or being engaged and suddenly marrying someone else. I thought these were his fantasies, but I later i did meet several sobbing young women, befriended some. At this, he was viewed as "solid" by adult people. An unusual type, but...if you know that the pattern exists, you start wondering.

So...Was JFG the man who kept someone with his promises on the hook for too long? Broke one marriage too many? Was there someone else who, too, divorced and rearranged her life? Who then watched him dating other women and finally, snapped?

So, I am not in "Alan Carter did it" camp. If I heard that the Carters were splitting a diamond mine in the divorce, I might reconsider. But what we know about is some property in South Africa and some in France and a man who seems to be a good father. Not the type.

My feeling is, either someone who had a crush on Karen and was angry that his rival was older and richer. (Seriously, I do have the "class jealousy" vibe).

Or look at someone from JFG's past.

The phrase "a hotbed of affairs" could simply mean that JFG lived vicariously through "romances" because he knew what follows 75. But to break two marriages tells me that he might have been persuasive in his promises. Could have been a pattern, and someone could have been angry.

To add: if MLA has an alibi, her only known connection with the murder is, sadly, tought luck at having had some relationship with JFG in the past. We don't know of any threats of KC, nor any pen-poison letters, nor any toxicity. Yet her name is smeared, she is probably ashamed, moved away.

If you look at it not as "love triangle" and I don't see any triangle just a persuasive man, then "one woman is dead, another one has her good name smeared", looks too unfair.

"Suddenly this epitome of practicality, KC, is engaged in a quiet but passionate relationship with JFG, and she, too, files for a divorce. After years of marriage, you don’t just abandon the family. You have to have an alternative plan.

So we have two women who, having dated JFG for a while, headed exactly the same way, towards the divorce! And rather rapidly.

How many more could there be under his belt? What was JFG’s life before? From the villagers account, women came to visit him. What happened to them?"

You make some very good points here. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[Mayb]

"Suddenly this epitome of practicality, KC, is engaged in a quiet but passionate relationship with JFG, and she, too, files for a divorce. After years of marriage, you don’t just abandon the family. You have to have an alternative plan.

So we have two women who, having dated JFG for a while, headed exactly the same way, towards the divorce! And rather rapidly.

How many more could there be under his belt? What was JFG’s life before? From the villagers account, women came to visit him. What happened to them?"

You make some very good points here. Thanks for sharing them.

If KC and JFG conducted their affair discreetly as earlier posters here have said, then I wonder how many people knew of it ?

 

[Charlot123]

If KC and JFG conducted their affair discreetly as earlier posters here have said, then I wonder how many people knew of it ?

The population of Tremolat is 624 people.

My personal guess is: everyone, except for maybe the Airbnb guests.

 

[Sor Juana]

Here’s one of the earlier links. Divorced 'love rival', 69, of Brit expat found brutally murdered in French village is 'innocent' and 'devastated' by the crime

The body of Mrs Carter was found on Tuesday evening sprawled on the driveway close to her car, thought to be a Dacia Duster.
She had just left a wine-tasting event at the home of a local businessman Jean-Francois Guerrier, who she had recently started a relationship with.

I’m not sure it’s been shared in this thread yet. It includes a few interesting details that haven’t really come up in the discussion so far. I haven’t seen any information about MLA’s children, how many she had, who they are, or whether any of them lived nearby. She does have children, more than one. The real question, I suppose, is whether any of them might have felt resentful or overly protective of their mother. MLA appeared cool about her breakup with JFG in public, but was she equally composed in private? It’s simply a line of inquiry, nothing more. MLA did have an alibi. I haven’t seen any media coverage about that wine‑tasting event. It raises the question of whether Karen might have given someone a lift, or stopped at her place with someone in her car for some reason. The event itself seems worth considering: someone attending it could have had too much to drink, which might have triggered something. So it’s an angle that shouldn’t be dismissed.

 

[ZaZara]

Here’s one of the earlier links. Divorced 'love rival', 69, of Brit expat found brutally murdered in French village is 'innocent' and 'devastated' by the crime

I’m not sure it’s been shared in this thread yet. It includes a few interesting details that haven’t really come up in the discussion so far. I haven’t seen any information about MLA’s children, how many she had, who they are, or whether any of them lived nearby. She does have children, more than one. The real question, I suppose, is whether any of them might have felt resentful or overly protective of their mother. MLA appeared cool about her breakup with JFG in public, but was she equally composed in private? It’s simply a line of inquiry, nothing more. MLA did have an alibi. I haven’t seen any media coverage about that wine‑tasting event. It raises the question of whether Karen might have given someone a lift, or stopped at her place with someone in her car for some reason. The event itself seems worth considering: someone attending it could have had too much to drink, which might have triggered something. So it’s an angle that shouldn’t be dismissed.

No need to go down the rabbit hole and involve anyone's children. They would have been identified by DNA via kinship in a jiffy. Apparently, that did not happen, so end of that line of inquiry.

 

[Officer Dibble]

The population of Tremolat is 624 people.

My personal guess is: everyone, except for maybe the Airbnb guests.

agree

 

[slowpoke]

This article from 11/28/2025 is behind a paywall, and in French, but for the part I can see says Tremolat will be installing several surveillance cameras. I can’t help but think Karen’s murder prompted the desire to add them.

Trémolat : vidéosurveillance, tri des déchets et marché de Noël au menu du Conseil municipal

Le Conseil municipal de Trémolat a abordé plusieurs sujets, dont l’installation de caméras de surveillance et l’organisation du premier Village de Noël du minigolf

www.sudouest.fr

 

[indicolite22]

The population of Tremolat is 624 people.

My personal guess is: everyone, except for maybe the Airbnb guests.

But KC's husband in SA said that he didn't know about the affair. That may or may not be true. He also said he asked her about it directly (and she denied it), so at least he must have heard rumors.

 

[indicolite22]

This article from 11/28/2025 is behind a paywall, and in French, but for the part I can see says Tremolat will be installing several surveillance cameras. I can’t help but think Karen’s murder prompted the desire to add them.

Trémolat : vidéosurveillance, tri des déchets et marché de Noël au menu du Conseil municipal

Le Conseil municipal de Trémolat a abordé plusieurs sujets, dont l’installation de caméras de surveillance et l’organisation du premier Village de Noël du minigolf

www.sudouest.fr

IIRC, the reason given was to curb improper disposal of waste.

 

[indicolite22]

MLA appeared cool about her breakup with JFG in public, but was she equally composed in private?

SBM. I don't know if she was cool with it. She used to be part of the crowd that gathered around the village cafe, but distanced herself in the months preceding the murder. That said, we don't know for sure if her marriage broke down solely or mainly because of J-FG. According to her brother, he might have been leading her on, which he denies. Reportedly she was infatuated with him, but it's unclear if that started before her divorce. It must have hurt when J-FG chose KC over her, though I don't see M-LA hiring an outsider to kill. We also don't know if KC and AC would stay married if it weren't for J-FG. She liked living in France and AC didn't. Even if he hadn't known about the affair, he might still have resisted divorce.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

This story has dredged on for almost 9 months....
And is looking more and more likely to be unsolved.

Speculation goes back and forth as to whether this was someone they knew, or an outsider. I think I am thinking the later, BUT perhaps someone Karen had interacted with somewhere along the way.

The attack was vicious and "overkill". And was in the driveway, not the home. Was s/he in the house when she arrived back home? Or hovering in wait.

I am just reposting this one article from way back... I had just remembered this article as a real human interest article of a loved woman and her husband and her 4 great children.

And thought it was a good one for folks to re-read.

Woman, 69, held over killing of British mother in Dordogne

Karen Carter, 65, a ‘well-liked member of the local community’, was stabbed to death outside her home in Trémolat, southwest France, on Tuesday

www.thetimes.com

 

[FromGermany1]

But KC's husband in SA said that he didn't know about the affair. That may or may not be true. He also said he asked her about it directly (and she denied it), so at least he must have heard rumors.

Who knows, what the source of "the rumors" told AC in addition. Maybe about wine-tasting events at JFG's residence or other events at the cafe also. If AC did know about JFG, he would have known more about the village-life, I think.

Maybe though, about the wine-tasting events KC spoke herself to AC, because it was one or two of her own products, which she offered, delivered certainly from her husband from SA. Maybe, she sometimes had set a delivery time for a certain date, because the wine-tasting would happen on date (....).
MOO

 

[Charlot123]

But KC's husband in SA said that he didn't know about the affair. That may or may not be true. He also said he asked her about it directly (and she denied it), so at least he must have heard rumors.

JMO: He was too far away to develop intuition about the situation. The only time when he could have thought about the possibility of Karen drifting away was when he visited Tremolat in the summer of 2024 and the locals barely spoke to him.

About JFG. I think it was AC’s relative living in the area who warned him. However, KC and JFG were “discreet”. I can imagine that even if AC was warned, it was something along the lines of “you know, she spends more time in the Village Cafe, and its owner’s reputation is not great”.

But then if AC asked KC about it, she could simply laugh it off, and for AC, 10 years younger, and athletic, “a surfer”, it could be enough.

All in all, I think that he was in denial.

 

[Charlot123]

This story has dredged on for almost 9 months....
And is looking more and more likely to be unsolved.

Speculation goes back and forth as to whether this was someone they knew, or an outsider. I think I am thinking the later, BUT perhaps someone Karen had interacted with somewhere along the way.

The attack was vicious and "overkill". And was in the driveway, not the home. Was s/he in the house when she arrived back home? Or hovering in wait.

I am just reposting this one article from way back... I had just remembered this article as a real human interest article of a loved woman and her husband and her 4 great children.

And thought it was a good one for folks to re-read.

Woman, 69, held over killing of British mother in Dordogne

Karen Carter, 65, a ‘well-liked member of the local community’, was stabbed to death outside her home in Trémolat, southwest France, on Tuesday

www.thetimes.com

Cases are solved when someone is pushing for them to be solved.

I can understand that her husband may be feeling betrayed. I would understand if he, upset with the situation known to the whole world, would decide to move on.

The only way for AC to show the world that he is not involved is to fully cooperate with the French police. JMO.

JFG, though, whose relationship with KC could have been the trigger for her murder, is local.

He might hide behind a lawyer, or he can get the case moving. Stop by the police, maybe make a website like Liz Barraza’s parents did. Just do something.

Overall the Tremolat community is not active enough.

 

[Charlot123]

By the way, I still wonder if there was more to divide between the Cs than the gite and the house in South Africa.

The diamond boom started in Marylin Monroe time. KC’s parents lived in Zimbabwe and then South Africa, AC is from South Africa.

What if there was more to divide between them? Some stocks, what do we know?

The Business Of Diamonds In Africa - Africa Business Pages

Diamond is undoubtedly the rarest and most precious mineral resource. It is very expensive and can only be afforded by the extremely rich, especially in its refined state. Diamonds are used to...

news.africa-business.com

Mineral industry of Africa - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kemug]

I don't like the possibility of any of MLA's adult children having killed KC. I just don't see it. But for some reason I am more open to the idea of an admirer, past or present, of MLA's doing it. Maybe someone who has loved her all his life, but never had a chance, or even said anything. Perhaps he thought he had at last found something he could do for her.

 

[indicolite22]

Cases are solved when someone is pushing for them to be solved.

I can understand that her husband may be feeling betrayed. I would understand if he, upset with the situation known to the whole world, would decide to move on.

The only way for AC to show the world that he is not involved is to fully cooperate with the French police. JMO.

JFG, though, whose relationship with KC could have been the trigger for her murder, is local.

He might hide behind a lawyer, or he can get the case moving. Stop by the police, maybe make a website like Liz Barraza’s parents did. Just do something.

Overall the Tremolat community is not active enough.

So far we have not heard of anyone being uncooperative with the investigation. IMO, it's not JFG's responsibility to push for things to move forward. KC's family is probably doing that already. I hope this case gets solved, although there's no guarantee. Is the DNA left behind even the killer's? Is there any other evidence?

 

[slowpoke]

This is interesting. The article is dated Oct 26, 2025. The author lives in another village in southwestern France, and talks about the recent increase in crime there. Karen’s murder is mentioned.

Why fear of violent crime has gripped my expat idyll in France

When I moved here it felt ultra-safe. Now my neighbours are plotting ways to protect themselves. By Julia Molony

www.thetimes.com