THE husband of a Brit mum brutally murdered in France has said a love affair she had was a “betrayal”.
Karen Carter, aged 69, succumbed to extreme blood loss after being stabbed numerous times outside her residence in Trémolat, located in the southwestern part of the country, on Tuesday.
Alan Carter, 65, told The Times that the police investigation had confirmed “a relationship I did not want to believe, and that had been denied to me repeatedly by my wife”.
He said confirmation of the affair had left him with “a feeling of complete betrayal”.
Alan revealed he had challenged his wife about the amount of time she was spending with retired businessman Jean-François Guerrier, 74.
Alan said: “I told her that the gossip was tarnishing her reputation, but she batted it away and said there was nothing in it… She told our friends the same.
“It was so obvious that Jean-François had an affection for Karen, and I feel he took advantage of the time we were spending apart.”
Jean-François was the one who discovered Karen in a pool of blood on her driveway dying from stab wounds.
Eight serious wounds were noted in total, including to the “chest, abdomen and forearm” as well as “superficial ones on the thigh, shoulder and thumbs,” said an investigating source.
A pal told the Daily Mail that Karen had been planning to divorce her husband – something which Alan hadn’t been keen on.
The friend also revealed the relationship with Jean-François was only a few weeks old.
They said: “By all accounts she was very happy in that new relationship but she kept it quiet and was quite modest about it.”
An autopsy revealed Karen was killed “as she tried to defend herself from a frenzied attack”.
A source said: “All the wounds suggest the victim was attempting to defend herself from a frenzied attack.”
Karen, a former teacher, had run a holiday cottage business in Trémolat for over a decade and also volunteered at the Café Village alongside Jean-Francois.
Karen and Alan had owned their holiday home in Trémolat for 15 years, splitting time between France and South Africa.
Alan is now preparing to travel to Trémolat from his home in South Africa to organise a the funeral for his wife of 30 years.
The distraught husband said he learned of his wife’s death via a Facebook post read by a cousin who also lives in Trémolat.
“She phoned me… to say she’s sorry to tell me and that she thinks Karen has died. That was the first I heard about it,” he said.
“No one had got in touch with me at all to let me know what had happened. I found out through my cousin who happened to see it on a Facebook page.”
Investigators confirmed that Alan was in South Africa at the time of the shock killing.
Officials are now investigating whether Karen could have been killed over a grudge – or jealousy over her new relationship.
The French prosecutor said investigators were focused “on people likely to have had something against the victim, or against the couple that she had formed”.
Karen’s body was found after her and Jean-François had spent the evening at a wine tasting at a popular café-bar in the village with pals, around 10 minutes drive from Karen’s home.
Upon returning Karen was reportedly stabbed through the heart as she retrieved her dog – a white Griffon puppy – from her car.
Jean-Francois had only left her for “10 minutes” before she was savagely killed, according to Begerac prosecutor Sylvie Martin-Guedes.
But a number of unanswered questions still surround Karen’s mysterious death, as the cops continue their investigations.
Forensics officers returned to the crime scene on Friday morning for further examinations, arriving in a police van and an unmarked SUV.
And the cottage remains cordoned off – with a police notice taped to the front door of the property.
A team of around ten police officers were also spotted searching the nearby woodland for fresh clues on Friday afternoon.
It is thought they were looking for the murder weapon.
