French mayor gives DNA to police over murder of British mother

Telegraph

28-07-2025

A French mayor is among 15 people who have supplied DNA samples to police investigating the murder of a British-South African woman in the Dordogne.
Karen Carter, 65, was stabbed to death on the front porch of the gîte she rented to holidaymakers in the tiny village of Trémolat on April 29.
Hours before her death, Ms Carter had attended a wine tasting hosted by her 75-year-old lover and retired Fujitsu executive, Jean-François Guerrier, at his home.
Fifteen other guests, including Eric Chassagne, the mayor of Trémolat, also attended the event.
Approximately 10 minutes after driving home and arriving at her front door, the mother-of-four was found by Mr Guerrier sprawled on the ground next to her car with eight serious stab wounds on her 'chest, groin, arm and leg.'
Investigators initially detained Mr Guerrier and a 65-year-old neighbour, Marie-Laure Autefort, who was said to have been passionately in love with Mr Guerrier, but both were quickly released without charge.
Two months on, police are looking to narrow down the field of potential suspects. Ms Carter was was in the process of separating from her husband, Alan Carter, but he was in South Africa at the time of the murder.
Gendarmes have taken DNA samples from all those who attended the event, according to Mr Chassagne, in the hope of making a match with DNA traces found inside Ms Carter's car.
In an interview with France 3, a French news channel, Mr Chassagne said: 'I believe that everyone who may have met Karen during the day and evening of April 29th has been sampled.
'They [the police] want to close off certain lines of enquiry. The idea is to eliminate possibilities and move forward.
Mr Chassagne said a squad of gendarmes has been stationed in the village throughout the course of the investigation.
'That was three weeks ago, a month ago. They were assigned to the case as a supplement to gain a fresh perspective.'
'Life has returned to normal. But as soon as there is the slightest micro-event, everything comes back to the surface.'
'People want the results of the investigation.'
A clear motive for the murder has not been established, but investigators believe that the attacker may have harboured a grudge over Carter's burgeoning relationship with Mr Guerrier.
Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the public prosecutor in Bergerac who is handling the investigation alongside her counterpart in Périgueux, Jacques-Edouard Andrault, said all hypotheses remain open.
The night before her death, Carter told Beverley Needham, her neighbour and fellow expatriate, over dinner that she had filed for divorce.
She was also in the process of buying a one-bedroom £135,000 cottage where she planned to settle and live alone with her dog.
Mr Carter, who was in South Africa at the time of his wife's murder, had voiced concerns over his wife's relationship with Mr Guerrier but did not know it was romantic until it was announced publicly by French authorities.
Mr Carter visited the scene of the attack the week after his wife's death and described her as an outgoing, friendly person who 'wouldn't hurt a fly', and said her death has been 'traumatic' for his family.
'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.'