A 70-year-old woman has been charged in connection with the killing of British expat Karen Carter, who was discovered stabbed to death at her home in France more than a year ago.
Carter, 65, was attacked at the property in Trémolat, a village in the Dordogne, on April 29 last year.
The mother of four had been preparing to divorce her husband, Alan Carter, now 66, who was living in South Africa, while also in a relationship with Jean-François Guerrier, a 75-year-old retired business executive who lived near her French home.
For months, the murder investigation remained shrouded in uncertainty. But local media have now reported that a woman has been formally charged with Carter’s murder.
Jacques-Edouard Andrault, the public prosecutor in Périgueux, 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.’
The prosecutor added: ‘Since then, the investigations conducted as part of the judicial inquiry opened on May 7, 2025 have led the investigating judge to indict her.’
According to local French newspaper Dordogne Libre, the arrested woman was already known to investigators in the case because she had reportedly harboured ‘unrequited feelings’ for Guerrier and regularly visited the same community café as Carter.
It was previously reported that she was held for 48 hours after the incident, before being released after ‘checks regarding her whereabouts.’
Carter died in front of the guesthouse she opened in the tranquil village.
Investigators said at the time she had been stabbed eight times, with one blow ‘penetrating the aorta.’
Karen Carter, 65, was found outside a property she ran in the village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux
Carter, 65, was attacked at the property (pictured) in the village of Trémolat in Dordogne on April 29 last year
The home of Karen Carter, a 65-year-old married mother-of-four who was found outside the property she ran in the village of Trémolat
They added that the cause of her death was a ‘massive haemorrhage.’
The public prosecutor said the ‘judicial inquiry is continuing.’
Her lover, Guerrier, had hosted a wine tasting party on the day Ms Carter died, and later followed her to her home in his car.
When he got there he found her lying in a pool of blood, before she was declared dead at the scene by emergency workers.
Mr Guerrier first said he was concerned that his lover had not telephoned him on reaching her house, which was just 10 minutes away from his.
He then told police he ‘had come to spend the night at Karen’s’, leaked interview notes revealed.
Ms Carter was said to have divided her time between France and South Africa. She and her husband owned their property, called Les Chouettes, for 15 years.
The farmhouse and barn sleeps 16 in total and was a popular holiday rental. The couple owned two other properties near Trémolat.
The couple had four adult children together – two daughters and two sons – who live in the UK, America, Australia and South Africa.
On the day of her death, Carter had trained with her football team, comprising women aged between 50 and 70.
Later that evening, she attended a wine tasting soirée at Cafe Village – a bar which acts as a community hub, where she occasionally volunteered.
Two days before her murder, on her 65th birthday, Karen Carter (pictured) posed for what is believed to be her last ever photograph while out for lunch with friends
The 65-year-old was attacked at the property (pictured) in the village of Trémolat in Dordogne on April 29 last year
Before she left, Guerrier asked her to call him when she got home so he knew she was safe.
But when no such call was made, he drove to Carter’s home and found her body.
Despite the best efforts of medics, she died at the scene from severe blood loss.
