A 70-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of a British expat who was found stabbed to death at her home in France last year.
Karen Carter, 65, was stabbed repeatedly after she returned home from a wine tasting in the Dordogne village of Trémolat last April. The mum-of-four had been living alone in a renovated farmhouse and was close to divorcing her South Africa-based husband, 66-year-old Alan Carter, according to reports.
Formal charges
Jacques-Édouard Andrault, the public prosecutor in Périgueux, confirmed to local media that a woman was formally charged on July 2. “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 said. They 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.”
Ms Carter was left with catastrophic wounds after the attack, including to her aorta, the autopsy found.
Initial arrest
Ms Carter’s French partner, retired business executive Jean-François Guerrier, 75, was initially arrested in connection with her death after police discovered her body. However, he was later released without charge. Karen had promised to call Jean-François once she arrived home safely, but when the call never came, he became concerned and drove to her house, where he found her lying in a pool of blood.
Alan and Ms Carter have four children together. They live in the UK, America, South Africa and Australia. A friend of Ms Carter described her as a “strong business woman”, while a local resident of Trémolat described her as “delightful”.
