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

[whitelilac]

^ I can't help feeling offended by the local woman who "guffawed with laughter" when asked about any crime problems there.
Not really a very sensitive or appropriate reaction....imo.

 

[slowpoke]

The husband of a woman murdered at their French holiday home has described “a feeling of complete betrayal” after police said his wife’s new relationship with a local man might have been the killer’s motive.

“What has come out of this investigation has confirmed a relationship I did not want to believe, and that had been denied to me repeatedly by [my] wife,” Alan Carter, 65, said about the latest leads into the knife attack on Karen Carter in the Dordogne village of Trémolat.

Wife’s affair a betrayal, says husband of Dordogne murder victim

Alan Carter said that the investigation into the stabbing of his wife Karen ‘confirmed a relationship I did not want to believe’ and which she had denied

www.thetimes.com

“Might have been the killer’s motive” it says.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

So the husband had suspicions.

 

[Sarahlou]

So the husband had suspicions.

Yes.
From the above article:

Carter, who is preparing to travel to Trémolat to arrange a small, private funeral for his wife of 30 years, said he had recently challenged her about the amount of time she was spending with Guerrier, who had hosted Carter and his wife several times at his farmhouse on the edge of the village.“I told her that the gossip was tarnishing her reputation, but she batted it away and said there was nothing in it,” he said. “She told our friends the same.

Also

The prosecutor leading the investigation said it was focused “on people likely to have had something against the victim, or against the couple that she had formed”

 

[Dotta]

The victim is dead.
She cannot defend herself.
Anybody can say anything about her.

It is heartbreaking the children have to endure all this

JMO

 

[Sarahlou]

Seeing as they are focusing on the new relationship, who would be angry enough at her relationship with this man to kill her? I can think of one person but he wasn't in the country...
I really hope they find out who did this. I can imagine it will be a very complex investigation.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

This is very interesting.

I see it as "us versus them" approach/mentality.

Two communities - locals and foreign expats - keeping themselves to themselves.

It seems to me
as if the locals treat this tragedy as specifically expats' matter
because there had never been such crimes there
for over half a century before.

Also,
let's not forget that such rural small communities still tend to be quite patriarchal.

And here comes a successful woman,
with the air of authority about her (as reported)
running a lucrative business.

A female and a foreigner.

Somebody might have been really disgruntled.
And suddenly triggered to commit the murder.

Hmmm...

But, of course,
my imagination might be running overtime....

Again...

JMO

You may of course be right but I myself cannot believe that running a gite business would alone incite someone to commit murder. There are thousands of gites all over France (stayed in some myself actually) and I haven’t heard of any other owners being murdered. Yes it’s a business, but essentially generally gites are a cottage in the owner’s grounds. The owner basically manages bookings, and makes sure they are clean, bedding is changed. It’s hard work unless you buy in help to clean etc. and a lot of owners do it out of financial necessity.

With reference to the husband, it’s not clear if he was visiting South Africa or living there more longer term but either way it suggests to me they may have been living separate lives which would explain some of the anomalies people are mentioning - e.g. him not being notified by authorities, allegedly.

My feeling is this crime is much closer to Karen’s immediate circle of acquaintances. The injuries suggest rage, which is usually personal. I think it’s a lot more personal than someone envying a business owner, or having antipathy towards an expat, or a woman. Know the victim, know the killer. Unfortunately it’s inevitable that laundry is going to be aired by the media.

Re the age of the perpetrator, many people in their 60s and 70s are strong and the element of surprise for the first blow would be potentially catastrophic, so I don’t rule anyone out for that reason.

In such a small community, I believe we will know more very soon.

All JMO.

 

[Sarahlou]

You may of course be right but I myself cannot believe that running a gite business would alone incite someone to commit murder. There are thousands of gites all over France (stayed in some myself actually) and I haven’t heard of any other owners being murdered. Yes it’s a business, but essentially generally gites are a cottage in the owner’s grounds. The owner basically manages bookings, and makes sure they are clean, bedding is changed. It’s hard work unless you buy in help to clean etc. and a lot of owners do it out of financial necessity.

With reference to the husband, it’s not clear if he was visiting South Africa or living there more longer term but either way it suggests to me they may have been living separate lives which would explain some of the anomalies people are mentioning - e.g. him not being notified by authorities, allegedly.

My feeling is this crime is much closer to Karen’s immediate circle of acquaintances. The injuries suggest rage, which is usually personal. I think it’s a lot more personal than someone envying a business owner, or having antipathy towards an expat, or a woman. Know the victim, know the killer. Unfortunately it’s inevitable that laundry is going to be aired by the media.

Re the age of the perpetrator, many people in their 60s and 70s are strong and the element of surprise for the first blow would be potentially catastrophic, so I don’t rule anyone out for that reason.

In such a small community, I believe we will know more very soon.

All JMO.

Regarding South Africa:

“Karen just loved France from the get-go,” Carter said. But he was only willing to spend part of the year in the landlocked village, spending the rest at their detached coastal home in South Africa where he runs an environmental consultancy and enjoys surfing and being close to their friends and relatives, including his elderly parents-in-law.

Via The Times article.

https://archive.ph/Ij0iw

 

[Dotta]

Living separately on 2 continents isn't exactly conductive to maintain lasting marriage relationship.
That's for sure.

JMO

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Husband of Brit 'murdered' in France says her affair is a 'betrayal'

Karen Carter, 65, was found dead on her property in the village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, after returning from a night out on Tuesday, April 29.

www.dailymail.co.uk

More info here about their separate lives.

 

[Skigh]

From the

Husband of Brit 'murdered' in France says her affair is a 'betrayal'

Karen Carter, 65, was found dead on her property in the village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, after returning from a night out on Tuesday, April 29.

www.dailymail.co.uk

More info here about their separate lives.

He sounds jealous that she has found a group of friends amongst the locals. I wonder if he thought the local villagers were beneath him . I imagine he could have been quite controlling .


I felt the Café Village attracted a lonely bunch of people who had nothing else to throw their lives into. I felt they were having a strong influence on Karen, and she really did not know that much about them.'

 

[Sarahlou]

From the

He sounds jealous that she has found a group of friends amongst the locals. I wonder if he thought the local villagers were beneath him . I imagine he could have been quite controlling .


I felt the Café Village attracted a lonely bunch of people who had nothing else to throw their lives into. I felt they were having a strong influence on Karen, and she really did not know that much about them.'

Yes I thought that was quite a spiteful comment from him.

 

[Skigh]

Yes I thought that was quite a spiteful comment from him.

Extremely spiteful . I do not imagine she had an easy life with him .

 

[TootsieFootsie]

He sounds jealous that she has found a group of friends amongst the locals. I wonder if he thought the local villagers were beneath him . I imagine he could have been quite controlling .

It sounds like she had found her tribe.
And good on her.

So sad her life was snatched away.

 

[Sarahlou]

Extremely spiteful . I do not imagine she had an easy life with him .

Agreed.

I keep wondering if she was threatened by someone? I know people do sometimes let others know if they got home OK after a night out, but her new partner seemed extremely concerned to rush straight around to her house. Especially when you think of how safe the village was said to be. Just something I was thinking about anyway.

 

[indicolite22]

I felt the Café Village attracted a lonely bunch of people who had nothing else to throw their lives into. I felt they were having a strong influence on Karen, and she really did not know that much about them.'

SBM. It seems that quite a few other expats who knew the victim live in the village. We don't know to which degree others are included in the local social life.

 

[Skigh]

Agreed.

I keep wondering if she was threatened by someone? I know people do sometimes let others know if they got home OK after a night out, but her new partner seemed extremely concerned to rush straight around to her house. Especially when you think of how safe the village was said to be. Just something I was thinking about anyway.

If they were having an affair ,perhaps she was going to phone him to let him know that the coast was clear for him to come around or that there was no planned phone call and he found her when he arrived to visit her .

 

[Dotta]

"Family finds out mum was stabbed to death in France​

from a Facebook group.​

It was reported that news of her death
was posted the next day on the Facebook group of Café Village,
where she worked as a volunteer.

Her family knew nothing of her killing
until told about messages of condolences on the page.

'No one had got in touch with me at all to let me know what had happened.'

Alan Carter said
his assistant confirmed it with local police."

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Family learnt of mother’s ‘murder’ in Dordogne via Facebook

Relatives discovered Karen Carter had died after seeing condolence messages on social media

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Dotta]

SBM. It seems that quite a few other expats who knew the victim live in the village. We don't know to which degree others are included in the local social life.

This Cafe seems to be a place liked by expats.

"Café Village -
a popular spot with expats
for its weekly fish and chip night."

"They worked together closely at the Cafe Village.
Jean-Francois was up until a month ago the chairman of the village committee
that was based at the cafe.”

Brit mum, 69, stabbed to death in France was 'planning to divorce husband'

A BRIT mum who was brutally murdered in a French village had begun a new relationship and was planning to divorce her husband, a friend claimed. Karen Carter, 69, died from severe blood loss after …

www.thesun.co.uk

 

[indicolite22]

This Cafe seems to be a place liked by expats.

"Café Village -
a popular spot with expats
for its weekly fish and chip night."

"They worked together closely at the Cafe Village.
Jean-Francois was up until a month ago the chairman of the village committee
that was based at the cafe.”

Brit mum, 69, stabbed to death in France was 'planning to divorce husband'

A BRIT mum who was brutally murdered in a French village had begun a new relationship and was planning to divorce her husband, a friend claimed. Karen Carter, 69, died from severe blood loss after …

www.thesun.co.uk

She didn't necessarily mingle with locals as much as with other expats. It was reported that her new love interest owns/manages the cafe.