THE Brit mum brutally stabbed to death outside her French home revealed to a friend she was filing for divorce the night before her murder.
The who-dunnit case of Karen Carter, 65, continues after ten days to baffle cops – who have arrested and released at least two figures from the village of Trémolat, Dordogne, western France.
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Karen was married to Alan Carter, also 65, but the couple were estranged, and she is believed to have had a “discreet” relationship with villager Jean-Francois Guerrier, 74.
Another villager, Marie Laure Autefort, was reportedly “madly in love” with Guerrier – and was temporarily arrested by police as part of the investigation.
Guerrier and Karen had been at a wine tasting on the night she died – and it was him who discovered the body in a pool of blood after leaving his alleged lover for just “ten minutes”.
Now, it has emerged that Karen told fellow ex-pat pal Beverley Needham she was sealing her separation from Alan – who lives in South Africa.
Beverley told The Telegraph that, over dinner the night before the murder, she asked Karen: “Have you served the papers?”, to which she replied: “Yes, I gave him the papers.”
The friend continued: “[Karen] told me the relationship was over and said: ‘I’m done’ […] That was her words. She said: ‘I’m done.’”
Beverley, who was brokering the sale of a cottage to Karen, said the estranged couple saw each other only occasionally, but that the toll of the divorce seemed to weigh heavily on her friend.
Alan is said to have denied that he and Karen were divorcing, but admitted the news of his wife’s secret romance with Guerrier left him with “a sense of betrayal”.
Beverley said she had no idea why anyone would want to hurt Karen, who she described as “just fabulous […] so dynamic and just a lovely, lovely person”.
The case continues to stump French cops, who say the are investigating people who may have held a grudge against Karen and her alleged lover.
Karen and Guerrier had spent the evening at a popular café-bar in Trémolat, with a population of just 600, around 10 minutes drive from her home.
Guerrier left Karen alone for a short period before returning to find her dying in the driveway from eight injuries to her “chest, groin, arm and leg”.
An autopsy revealed the mum was killed “as she tried to defend herself from a frenzied attack”.
Guerrier was briefly detained by detectives for questioning, but was released within a few hours.
Police then brought in a 69-year-old woman, named locally as Marie-Laure Autefort, but released her 48 hours later after being satisfied with her alibi.
Another theory amongst the village is that an escaped inmate from a prison 7.5 miles away, which houses mentally ill patients, could have randomly ambushed Karen.
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Philippe LaBroue, a friend of Beverley’s and a former media lawyer, said that was a “possible” series of events.
But his wife had a different take, explaining that the village is frequented by boar hunters armed with butchering knives – one of whom could have been persuaded to carry out the killing.
The cold-blooded murder has rocked the tight-knit village community – who all appear dumbfounded.
Emma Rathbone, 45, said: “She was absolutely lovely. She was at the centre of the village. Everybody knew her.
“If you were new to the village she would be the first who would make you feel welcome.
“You can see how beautiful the village is. It’s like heaven. You don’t expect something like that to happen to somebody so lovely.”
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Charity worker Adrian Carter, who has had a house in the village for a decade, said: “She was really, really lovely. She was bubbly and a friendly to everyone – both French and English and any other nationalities who were here.
“I was shocked, really really shocked. Genuinely, you would say it’s safe.
“Knowing that someone has now been arrested make me feel a little bit safer.
“It’s such a sleepy place. It’s not like a Midsomer Murders sort of place.”
Husband pays tribute
Alan Carter, who remains at the couple’s home in East London, South Africa, has expressed shock and surprise at revelations that his wife had “started a relationship” with another man.
Karen and Alan had owned their holiday home in Trémolat for 15 years, splitting time between France and South Africa, where Alan still works.
Speaking from their home in East London, South Africa, Mr Carter 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.”
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The former London Stock Exchange worker, 65, described her as “such a decent, lovely person”, and told of the family’s shock.
He said his wife of 30 years was an outgoing, friendly person who “wouldn’t hurt a fly”, and said her death has been “traumatic” for his family.
Mr Carter told the BBC: “I’m an introvert, and she’s the exact opposite. She’s an extrovert, she loves people, she loves to have fun. People love her, she has a good heart.
“She’s the one who would bring home the lost dog, or cat, or whatever. She’s that sort of person. Everyone liked her. That’s why I married her. She’s just lovely.”
Martins-Guedes said Karen had “started a relationship” with a man in the weeks before her death — a claim Mr Carter strongly denied.
“There was no relationship. He was just a friend of hers,” he said.
He told The Times: “What I understand is that Karen went to a wine-tasting event on Tuesday night and was supposed to phone him to let him know that she had got back safely.
“It was a ten-minute drive. I don’t know if Karen phoned, but when he couldn’t get through to her he drove to see if anything was wrong and found her unconscious next to her car.
“I don’t know the details but I understand the attack was vicious and deliberate and not like it was by an interrupted intruder.
“It is likely to have been someone Karen knew and had an issue with her. But she was a kind and friendly person and got on with people.
“I am just speculating but the person who did it could have been someone she knew and perhaps I knew too.”
Alan last spoke to his wife on Tuesday and had to break the news to their four children, the oldest of whom is Nicholas, a chartered accountant in London.
Mr Carter said: “We are planning to go to France and have a funeral; the children will come, have a cremation and bring her ashes to South Africa and scatter some in Trémolat.
“They are struggling, as they would. They are shocked.”
Karen had lived in Trémolat for more than a decade, where she ran two holiday rental homes.