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

[Sarahlou]

I really don't think ML was involved either. I'd be surprised if it was a woman who killed Karen.
I really hope they have some good leads.

Edit- I was just looking back at an old article and don't remember reading that detail about her right arm injury. I must have missed it before. That's extremely brutal.

According to results of a preliminary autopsy, one of the eight blows Karen suffered pierced her aorta, their location demonstrating 'the desire to kill'. Inflicted by a sharp object – the weapon has not been recovered – one penetrated her liver; another her kidney and spine. Yet another almost severed her right arm.

What did Karen's killer know? She confided in pal hours before death

Karen Carter, 65, was in the process of walking away from her 30-year marriage and starting a new life in the south-west France the night before she was murdered.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Skigh]

I really don't think ML was involved either. I'd be surprised if it was a woman who killed Karen.
I really hope they have some good leads.

Edit- I was just looking back at an old article and don't remember reading that detail about her right arm injury. I must have missed it before.

According to results of a preliminary autopsy, one of the eight blows Karen suffered pierced her aorta, their location demonstrating 'the desire to kill'. Inflicted by a sharp object – the weapon has not been recovered – one penetrated her liver; another her kidney and spine. Yet another almost severed her right arm.

What did Karen's killer know? She confided in pal hours before death

Karen Carter, 65, was in the process of walking away from her 30-year marriage and starting a new life in the south-west France the night before she was murdered.

www.dailymail.co.uk

It seems as though the perpetrator knew where to stab her ,rather than someone randomly repeatedly stabbing in an emotional attack .
I agree with you that I too would be surprised if a woman was responsible.

 

[FromGermany1]

It seems as though the perpetrator knew where to stab her ,rather than someone randomly repeatedly stabbing in an emotional attack .
I agree with you that I too would be surprised if a woman was responsible.

There is a story about MLA and a surgeon, who was her colleague years ago. So, what profession did she have at that time? Medical sector?

 

[Sarahlou]

There is a story about MLA and a surgeon, who was her colleague years ago. So, what profession did she have at that time? Medical sector?

Marie Laure Autefort, a 69-year-old retired carer and amateur genealogist.

 

[FromGermany1]

Marie Laure Autefort, a 69-year-old retired carer and amateur genealogist.

Carer means something like a nurse or not?

 

[Skigh]

Carer means something like a nurse or not?

I think if she had been a qualified nurse they would have stated that. A carer to me sounds more like someone looking after the elderly or other people who need help with daily living tasks.

 

[Dotta]

"Carer"
means empathy, compassion, reliability, trustworthiness.

Not exactly characteristics of a cold blooded murderer

JMO

 

[Sarahlou]

Carer means something like a nurse or not?

Not a nurse. As Skigh said a carer means someone who looks after the elderly or ill/disabled.

 

[Dotta]

I suspect financial angle to this crime.
Somebody's grudge big enough to commit the unthinkable.
The attack was committed when some business-wise activities were happening on victim's side.

By the way
I still don't discount "random" by an unhinged individual.
Something like accidental/unlucky "bad time/bad place" coincidence

JMO

 

[ZaZara]

I suspect financial angle to this crime.
Somebody's grudge big enough to commit the unthinkable.
The attack was committed when some business-wise activities were happening on victim's side.

By the way
I still don't discount "random" by an unhinged individual.

JMO

When you have an online presence, as KC had, people may be interested in you that you are not even aware of.
And it does not even have to be online. It could be in the area, someone who wasn't part of her circle at all.

 

[Dotta]

When you have an online presence, as KC had, people may be interested in you that you are not even aware of.
And it does not even have to be online. It could be in the area, someone who wasn't part of her circle at all.

Exactly!!!

The victim was on X, on FB advertising her business
followed, who knows,
by whom & how many

JMO

 

[Mayb]

I suspect financial angle to this crime.
Somebody's grudge big enough to commit the unthinkable.
The attack was committed when some business-wise activities were happening on victim's side.

By the way
I still don't discount "random" by an unhinged individual.
Something like accidental/unlucky "bad time/bad place" coincidence

JMO

The perp's emotions perhaps jealousy ?- or insanity ? - or was the perp following directions from an unknown source ... ? Who knows.
I also suspect there's a financial angle to this crime, I can't shake the thought that money's behind this hateful ferocious attack.
IMO

 

[kiwi50]

I see some posters not ruling out ML despite her alibi.
I'm still not sold on the idea ML being responsible even though she has motive.
Her age and slight build (no mention of her being in anyway sporty) just doesn't fit with the facts of such a ferocious attack with deep stab marks on the victim (KC looked physically strong and did sports).
Also, ML would surely have had to drive to the crime scene and back, so the car would have blood stains, or residue of them after a clean up.
Considering the police reportedly searched ML's property after her arrest I'm sure they would have searched her car.
Indeed the potential use of a vehicle still puzzles me as in such a small village where everyone knows everyone then you also recognise peoples cars/number plates so it's a big risk parking nearby and being seen.

This is why I initially suspected a close by neighbour who would be able to come and go more inconspicuously than someone driving.

I thought ML was a neighbour of Karen?
Was she in the local women’s football team with Karen.?

 

[Charlot123]

I guess
being detained for 48 hrs means
that the pensioner was THOROUGHLY
checked by Police,
including the dog's reaction to her.

Expression "Disappearing rapidly"
(quoting OP)
seems to allege doubts still
despite LE clearing her.

Not everybody is strong enough mentally to stay in hostile environment.
We are talking about a 70 year old woman described by some as "vulnerable".

This crime seems to me committed by a physically strong perp with wits about themselves,
and not this particular elderly person
who
has ALIBI confirmed by Police.

JMO

Or maybe not under the police radar?

 

[Sarahlou]

I thought ML was a neighbour of Karen?
Was she in the local women’s football team with Karen.?

This says she lives less than a mile away

Ms Autefort's home was searched by police but she was able to provide them with an alibi and was released without charge.

She has yet to return to the house, which is less than a mile from the crime scene, but a relative says she is entirely innocent.

 

[indicolite22]

I thought ML was a neighbour of Karen?
Was she in the local women’s football team with Karen.?

No to both questions.

 

[Dotta]

What a pity that CCTV, ring cameras are not allowed by law there
(according to some French posters).

IMO
it is depriving the society of modern technologies helping LE to catch criminals.

I remember cases that only thanks to CCTV the perps were caught
(Sarah Everard, Maria Rawlings in the UK among others).

Sure,
the murderer in this case could have been covered & masked,
but at least Police could discern if it was a man or woman.
Not to mention other characteristics which could prove vital.

I understand the right to privacy but there should be some balance.

JMO

 

[slowpoke]

Since there’s nothing new in the media that I can see, I was looking back at some older articles. In this one, PM (the brother of M-L A) says:

“She's physically weak. She's even scared of the dark. Could someone like that slit a woman's throat? It's impossible. It had to be a man and I don't think it's random.'”

It has not been reported that Karen’s throat was slit. Does he know something that the LE did not reveal to the press, or is he just uninformed about where the stabbings occurred on the body?

 

[Skigh]

Since there’s nothing new in the media that I can see, I was looking back at some older articles. In this one, PM (the brother of M-L A) says:

“She's physically weak. She's even scared of the dark. Could someone like that slit a woman's throat? It's impossible. It had to be a man and I don't think it's random.'”

It has not been reported that Karen’s throat was slit. Does he know something that the LE did not reveal to the press, or is he just uninformed about where the stabbings occurred on the body?

It could just be a figure of speech meaning kill her.

 

[ZaZara]

What a pity that CCTV, ring cameras are not allowed by law there
(according to some French posters).

IMO
it is depriving the society of modern technologies helping LE to catch criminals.

I remember cases that only thanks to CCTV the perps were caught
(Sarah Everard, Maria Rawlings in the UK among others).

Sure,
the murderer in this case could have been covered & masked,
but at least Police could discern if it was a man or woman.
Not to mention other characteristics which could prove vital.

I understand the right to privacy but there should be some balance.

JMO

What?

CCTV and ring cameras are allowed in France, and often put to use.
What is not allowed, and IMO this applies to the entire EU, is pointing your camera at the road or the house of the neighbours.
However, when something happens, LE will be the first to ask the public to check their CCTV and doorbell cameras to see if there is something on it.

Quoting from memory, there was this recent case in France of a British couple who were found dead in their home in a village. If I remember well, LE concluded that this was a murder / suicide because in the time frame, no one had approached the house - as no one seen on CCTV in the area.