A woman who was ‘a close neighbour’ of a British mother-of-four stabbed to death at her home in France has been charged with her murder.
The 70-year-old suspect, who has not yet been formally named, is said to have carried out the killing of Karen Carter, 65, in the village of Trémolat, in the Dordogne, in April 2025.
Jacques-Édouard Andrault, the state prosecutor in nearby Périgueux, said the suspect was on Wednesday in custody and being held under suspicion of ‘premeditated murder,’ which can be punished with a life prison sentence.
It follows claims that Ms Carter, who lived alone, was the victim of a feud related to her love life.
She was on the verge of divorcing her South Africa-based husband, Alan Carter, now 66, while seeing Jean-François Guerrier, a 75-year-old retired executive who lived close to her French property.
In turn, those upset by the relationship included Marie-Laure Autefort, now 70, and another near-neighbour.
Mr Guerrier and Ms Autefort were arrested after the killing, before being released without charge.
Philippe Monribot, Ms Autefort’s brother, has confirmed she was in love with Mr Guerrier, and deeply upset by his affair with Ms Carter, but said the thought of her murdering someone was preposterous.
‘It’s a catastrophe,’ he said. ‘The police messed up at the start of the investigation and when you get it wrong at the beginning, it’s difficult to get it right afterwards.’
Mr 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.
Then, Mr Guerrier told police that he ‘had come to spend the night at Karen’s,’ leaked interview notes reveal.
It was Mr Guerrier who told detectives to investigate Ms Autefort. The police record states: ‘During his brief custody period, Jean-François Guerrier directed them to Marie-Laure Autefort, a resident of Trémolat who lives only about a ten-minute walk from the victim’s home, cutting across the fields.
‘He described her as a woman who had fallen madly in love with him the previous year, to the point of divorcing the father of her children after several decades of marriage.
‘She was then terribly frustrated when she realised that this budding passion was not reciprocated.’
The words guaranteed Ms Autefort’s arrest, but she was said to have provided an alibi, and vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
Both Ms Autefort and Mr Guerrier are among those who have given DNA samples to police, along with some 15 guests at Mr Guerrier’s wine tasting party.
None provided a match to forensic evidence found at the crime scene, where the only apparent witness was Ms Carter’s puppy, Haku, who remained in her car.
The prosecutor confirmed that the woman charged with murder had first been taken into custody on April 30 – the day Marie-Laure Autefort was arrested.
The suspect was ‘a near-neighbour’ who knew Karen Carter well, he said.
Mr Andrault said the 70-year-old was formally charged with premeditated murder on July 2, and was currently under ‘judicial supervision’ because of her age.
This means she is under constant surveillance by judicial police, while not having to stay in a cell.
Mr Andrault confirmed she was a resident of Trémolat, but was not currently permitted to stay in the village.
While detectives investigated the crime, Karen Carter’s widower and four adult children had a strong feeling about who was to blame.
Their lawyer, Reda Hammouche, said on April 29 this year – the one year anniversary of the crime – that they had ‘a hunch, an opinion on the matter.’
He said it followed a detailed examination of ‘the case file that we discuss – me and them – in the privacy of our meetings.’
Mr Hammouche continued: ‘So they have a hunch, but I won’t elaborate further on the subject.
‘I obviously can’t go into detail since the confidentiality of the investigation prevents me from divulging such information, but numerous leads are being explored, many actions are being taken, and so,indeed, daily, as I speak to you, actions are being carried out.
‘And they hope that all of this will be resolved by identifying the perpetrator of this murder and by justice being served for Karen.’
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