Karen Carter: Police formally investigate woman after Brit stabbed to death in French village

A woman has been placed under official investigation following the death of a British-South African mother of four in France last year.

Karen Carter, 65, was found lying with stab wounds next to her car by a friend in the Dordogne village of Trémolat, where she had lived for more than a decade and operated two holiday rentals.

Prosecutors say the 70-year-old woman was detained in 2025 as part of preliminary investigations before being released.

“Investigations carried out within the scope of the criminal investigation launched on May 7, 2025 led to the investigating judge formally indicting himself,” Jacques-Edouard Andrault, the investigating judge in the case, said in a statement on Wednesday.

In French law, being placed under official investigation means that the investigating judge must decide whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to be taken to court.

At the time of the murder in April last year, Karen Carter’s husband Alan said he first heard of her death through his cousin, who read about the incident on a local Facebook page.

He said he received confirmation of the death after his assistant called the local police.

Describing his wife as an outgoing, friendly person who “wouldn’t hurt a fly”, he said her death has been “traumatic” for his family.

“I’m an introvert and he’s the opposite. He’s an extrovert, he loves people, he likes to have fun. People love him, he has a good heart,” she said.

“She was the person who would bring home the lost dog or cat or whatever. She’s that kind of person. Everybody loved her. That’s why I married her. She’s really nice.”