A 70-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of Karen Carter, the British expat found dead in south-western France last year, according to reports. The charge was brought on 2 July in connection with Carter’s death in Trémolat, in the Dordogne, and the suspect is under judicial supervision.
Jacques-Édouard Andrault, the public prosecutor for the region, confirmed the charge and said the suspect had been arrested shortly after the murder on 29 April last year, but was released without charge at the time.
What did the prosecutor say about the charge?
Andrault told reporters that the investigating judge in Périgueux formally charged a woman with murder on 2 July.
“On July 2nd, the investigating judge in Périgueux formally charged a woman with murder.”
He said the suspect, “this 70-year-old woman, originally from Trémolat, was taken into custody on April 30, 2025, during a preliminary investigation, before being released”.
“this 70-year-old woman, originally from Trémolat, was taken into custody on April 30, 2025, during a preliminary investigation, before being released”
Andrault added that the investigation had continued after a judicial inquiry was opened on 7 May 2025.
“Since then, the investigations conducted as part of the judicial inquiry opened on May 7, 2025, have led the investigating judge to indict her,”
He also said the woman had been placed under judicial supervision.
“this woman has been placed under judicial supervision”
Who was Karen Carter?
Carter, a 65-year-old British-South African national, ran two gites in the village of Trémolat: a beautifully renovated 250-year-old farmhouse and a neighbouring 18th-century stone barn collectively called Les Chouettes. She was said to divide her time between the Dordogne and the home she shared with her husband, Alan Carter, in KuGompo City, South Africa.
How did she die?
An autopsy reportedly found that Carter died from severe blood loss after being stabbed multiple times, collapsing and dying next to her car. Eight serious wounds were reportedly noted in total, including to the chest, abdomen and forearm, as well as superficial ones on the thigh, shoulder and thumbs.
What was Carter doing that evening?
Carter had reportedly been at a wine-tasting party at Cafe Village Trémolat, which is described on Facebook as “an association that wants to offer the people of Trémolat and the surrounding area a meeting place”, with about 15 other guests, including Eric Chassagne, the village’s mayor.
What happened after the attack?
A few days after the attack, a then 69-year-old local woman was arrested. She was released without charge shortly after.
It later emerged that Carter was discovered by a 75-year-old businessman, Jean-François Guerrier, with whom she was reportedly in a relationship. The nature of their relationship was seized upon and speculated over by tabloids.
Carter’s husband, a former London Stock Exchange worker who was in South Africa at the time of the murder, expressed shock at the revelations that his wife had “started a relationship” with another man, saying he understood Guerrier was “just a friend of hers”.
Public prosecutor for the region said suspect had been initially arrested shortly after the murder on 29 April last year.
