Latest news with #JeanFrancoisGuerrier
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The France expat dream that became a nightmare: British mother, 65, is seen dancing and smiling with her French lover in video captured just months before she was stabbed to death
This is the moment a British expat stabbed to death in France was seen smiling and dancing with her secret lover in a clip filmed just five months ago. Karen Carter throws an arm in the air to Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive' as she playfully bumps hips with businessman Jean-Francois Guerrier on a packed dance-floor. The care-free moment was recorded in December outside Café Village, a bar where Mrs Carter and Mr Guerrier worked closely together in the tranquil Dordogne hamlet of Trémolat. The footage was taken during a live music event hosted by the café every Wednesday, in which a British couple set up a fish and chip van right outside the bar. Mrs Carter, 65, a mother-of-four, was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack outside her converted farmhouse last Tuesday evening after returning from a wine tasting event. Locals believe the grisly murder to be a crime of passion and police have stated they believe the suspect may have held a 'grudge' about her new relationship with Mr Guerrier, a former managing director of Fujitsu Services who found her body. Her husband, Alan Carter, was expected to fly to France this afternoon from his home in East London, South Africa, having spoken of a 'betrayal' at his wife's dalliance with the 74-year-old. His wife had travelled to Trémolat, some 65 miles east of Bordeaux, by herself last month and had been spending more time alone in the French countryside, where she and her husband had three rental properties. On the night she died, Mrs Carter had enjoyed a wine-tasting event Mr Guerrier had hosted at his large, gated compound in the hills overlooking the village. She left some time around 10pm, driving home in her Dacia Duster. Mr Guerrier checked on her shortly afterwards and found her sprawled on her driveway by her car in a pool of blood. She had been stabbed eight times her chest, groin, arm and leg. Despite the best efforts of medics, she died at the scene from severe blood loss. A post-mortem examination revealed she most likely 'tried to defend herself from a frenzied attack'. Mr Guerrier was initially questioned but subsequently released by French authorities. Mr Carter, 65, said he had been unaware of his wife's love affair with Mr Guerrier and said it had been a betrayal. He told The Times that the police investigation had confirmed 'a relationship I did not want to believe, and that had been denied to me repeatedly by my wife'. He said confirmation of the affair had left him with 'a feeling of complete betrayal'. Mr Carter revealed he had challenged his wife about the amount of time she was spending with retired businessman, Mr Guerrier. He said there were tensions between the pair over where they should spend their later lives since purchasing their Trémolat home in 2009. Mrs Carter had become engrossed in village life and the pair grew more distant - spending most of their time on different continents. She worked closely with Mr Guerrier behind the bar at Café Village pouring drinks for villagers. Speaking to the newspaper, her husband Mr Carter added: 'It was so obvious that Jean-François had an affection for Karen, and I feel he took advantage of the time we were spending apart. 'I felt the Café Village attracted a lonely bunch of people who had nothing else to throw their lives into. I felt they were having a strong influence on Karen, and she really did not know that much about them.' Mr Carter was last with his wife three weeks ago, when she visited South Africa with Trémolat's over-50s women's football team. He last spoke to her on the morning of her death and only learnt about it the next afternoon from a cousin who had read a post on Café Village's Facebook page. Mr Carter will reunite with his four children for the small funeral he is now arranging in Trémolat. Mr Guerrier has been lying low since finding his lover's body and has been unavailable for comment. He was, up until a month ago, the chairman of the village committee which would meet regularly at the premises. He tendered his resignation to allow someone else to takeover the role. Speaking at his home, a female relative, who spoke with an English accent, said briefly: 'He doesn't want to say anything but he's fine.' The holiday gîte the Carters ran, a converted farmhouse and barn called Les Chouettes - or The Owls - sleeps 16 people and is on a road popular with British expats. It remains cordoned off by police tape with officers having searched surrounding woodland for a possible murder weapon. A 69-year-old woman, known to Ms Carter was arrested and her property in the village searched but she too was released without charge last Friday.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Cafe that may hold key to French murder of British woman who worked there 'with secret lover' reopens exactly one month after the killing
A village café that may hold the key to finding the killer of a British woman in south west France has reopened – exactly a month after the savage murder. Karen Carter, 65 and a married mother of four, was found dead outside her home in Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, following a night out with friends on April 29th. The Café Village, where she worked part time behind the bar along with an alleged secret lover, was immediately 'shut indefinitely'. Investigators leading the investigation feared that someone who held a grudge against Ms Carter – or 'the new couple' she was forming with Jean-François Guerrier, 74 – may have come to know her at the hugely popular social centre. Yet – despite the killer not being caught and locals fearing he or she may have 'strong connections' with the café – it was back in business last week. 'Regular opening' resumed on May 28th, according to management, with events including pop music concerts and quiz nights. Mr Guerrier, who was president of the community association which ran the Café Village, was arrested and questioned at length following the murder, before being released without charge. It was Mr Guerrier who found Ms Carter outside her home, covered with stab wounds, before failing to revive her. He confirmed Ms Carter had spent the night at a 'wine tasting evening' at his house, but failed to telephone him when she got home, and so he went to investigate. In December, Ms Carter was filming dancing with Mr Guerrier at the Café Village, to Gloria Gaynor's disco anthem, I Will Survive. In turn, Ms Carter's 65-year-old husband, Alan Carter, who spends most of his time in South Africa, said he was unaware of their relationship. He said he knew nothing about it until it was publicly announced by the French authorities, saying he had 'a feeling of complete betrayal.' Despite the enquiry into Ms Carter's death being upgraded to a full-blown murder enquiry earlier this month, there is a still no sign of the killer – or the murder weapon used. This has led prosecutors to believe that it was a meticulously planned crime, carried out by someone who knew Ms Carter. He or she lay in wait, they believe, and took care to avoid leaving forensic evidence, before using 'unspeakable violence' against the defenceless Ms Carter, according an investigating source. 'It certainly could have been someone who knew the victim from the Café Village, or a contract killer acting on their behalf,' the source added. Despite searches in the area, and two arrests including of Mr Guerrier, no serious suspect has yet emerged. Bergerac prosecutors opened the initial investigation, without focusing on a single motive. They confirmed that Ms Carter suffered eight severe stab wounds, and said she could have died because of 'a grudge' against her and Mr Guerrier, motivated by their secret affair. Frustrated with the lack of progress, prosecutors announced in early May that a 'judicial investigation into murder' was being opened. This meant that an instructing judge in Périgueux had stronger powers to interview people, to request documents, and to liaise with overseas authorities. Ms Carter had British and South African nationality, and her husband was at their home in East London, South Africa, at the time of the killing. He arrived in Trémolat soon afterwards, and visited the scene of the suspected murder, before organising his wife's funeral, which took place in Bergerac earlier this month. Mr Guerrier has meanwhile declined to speak at length, saying: 'Karen was a lovely lady, but I can't answer any more questions at the moment.' He has confirmed hosting a party at his converted farmhouse, close to the village, just before Ms Carter's death. She left the wind-tasting evening at 10pm, and had promised to phone Mr Guerrier when she got home. Concerned when he heard nothing, Mr Guerrier, a former managing director of Fujitsu Services who worked in Britain at one point, drove to check on her, and found her body sprawled on the driveway of the property she ran as a rental business. Despite attempts to save her, Ms Carter died from severe blood loss, after being stabbed in the chest, groin, arm and leg, according to an autopsy. Police also initially arrested a neighbour of Mrs Carter, 69-year-old Marie Laure Autefort, but released her when she was able to provide an alibi. Her brother, Philippe Monribot, said she was infatuated with Mr Guerrier – but he insisted she was not capable of killing Mrs Carter. 'My sister is innocent. She is devastated by what has happened,' said Mr Monribot. Ms Carter had lived in the Dordogne for more than a decade, and was a member of a women's over-50s football team called the Queens of Football (Reines du Foot) Joëlle Mayer, who worked part time with Ms Carter at the Café Village, said: 'She was a charming, relaxed person, happy to be alive, smiling, and loved by everyone here. 'The town has a very active community life, and she was part of it. She participated in all the activities of the community café.'
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Daily Mail
'They knew how to kill': British expat's arteries severed in a frenzied attack, rumors of a love triangle - now French police call it an 'assassination'
The night before she was murdered outside her Dordogne home, Karen Carter appeared to have much on her mind. The mother of four was in the process of walking away from her 30-year marriage and starting a new life in this idyllic corner of south-west France. Plans were already in motion. There was the sweet puppy she'd collected five days earlier, a new French bank account she'd set up and a one-bedroom cottage she was negotiating to buy and where she planned to live alone. That future, as we now know, is one the former teacher will tragically never get to live. For just 24 hours after confiding in a close friend about the dramatic new direction her life was taking, she was stabbed eight times in a frenzied late-night attack outside the 250-year-old holiday home she owned with her South African husband, Alan. Fatally injured by the savage blows, including one which penetrated her aorta, Karen was dead by the time emergency services reached her. She had just arrived home from a small wine-tasting evening at the hilltop property of Jean-François Guerrier – a local French man she had grown close to – a day after telling her friend she had asked her husband for a divorce. More, in a moment, of what prosecutors and neighbours say was a new relationship and how, after locking up his converted farmhouse and driving to join her at her home 10 minutes away, Guerrier, 74, found Karen dying in a pool of blood. Her killer, who had been lying in wait, hidden by the greenery which surrounds the property, had struck so fast and so furiously that Karen's handbag – and her traumatised cross-breed puppy, Haku – were still in her Dacia Duster car. Karen's brutal murder on the evening of Tuesday, April 29 – just two days after her 65th birthday – has sent shockwaves through Trémolat, a charming village with a population of just 600 in an area so popular with British expats that a 'Dordogne Chippy' fish-and-chip van visits every Wednesday. Given that the killer is still at large, a deep-seated unease has settled across this usually tranquil community, one which will not lift until he – or she – is caught. Who, then, might have wanted to hurt Karen, a woman described by locals this week as 'classy and charismatic', 'friendly' and 'great fun to be with'. Was she killed by a jealous love rival? Or, as some are speculating, was her death 'un meurtre commandité' – a contract killing? This week the Mail spoke to those closest to the case including Karen's best friend as well as the brother of a local woman, Marie-Laure Autefort, who was said to hold feelings for Guerrier and was briefly interviewed by police before being released. Police have spoken of the 'exceptional violence' used to kill Karen and a British woman who lives nearby told me: 'What is very obvious from her injuries is that whoever did this knew how to kill.' According to results of a preliminary autopsy, one of the eight blows Karen suffered pierced her aorta, their location demonstrating 'the desire to kill'. Inflicted by a sharp object – the weapon has not been recovered – one penetrated her liver; another her kidney and spine. Yet another almost severed her right arm. 'We are absolutely shocked at the brutality of Karen's death,' said the British woman. 'This is a gorgeous part of the world where people come to live in peace. It's terrifying to think that whoever did this is still out there.' Until the horrific events of last week, crime in Trémolat was almost unheard of. What need for door-bell cameras in a close-knit community where people don't bother to lock their cars or, often, even their front doors? At night, the streets are left in darkness, the only noises the cries of the tawny owls and foxes which hunt in the orchards and walnut groves. At the time Karen was murdered outside her home, her closest neighbour, who was watching the UEFA Champions League match between Arsenal and Paris St Germain on TV, heard nothing. 'There was no scream or cry for help. Nothing at all,' Christophe Pultier told me when we met at the entrance to Karen's driveway. Flowers have been left just a couple of metres from the vast bloodstain which still marks the spot on the gravel where she fell. 'The first I realised something was wrong was when I saw blue flashing lights outside my window not long after 10pm,' he said. 'I opened my door and went out to see what was going on. Then I heard someone saying: 'Her name is Karen.'' The case, not surprisingly, is the talk of the village, particularly among shocked British ex-pats – many of whom knew Karen from Cafe Village, a community hub in Trémolat where she volunteered behind the bar with Guerrier. In a bizarre twist, a poster for cult horror film Le Boucher – The Butcher – hangs on the wall. The 1969 Claude Chabrol film, which tells the story of a serial killer stabbing women in the area, was shot in Trémolat. With no suspect in custody for Karen's murder – there is frustration at the apparent lack of progress in the case. Investigators have interviewed and released only two people: Guerrier, a retired Fujitsu executive who battled in vain to resuscitate her while waiting for emergency services and Marie-Laure Autefort, 69, a divorced mother-of-two who lived nearby and made no secret of her own love for Guerrier. Investigators say they have no reason to suspect Guerrier, who lived for several years in Camberley in Surrey while working in London. Madame Autefort, who was held in custody for 48 hours, has provided an alibi. But amid talk of a 'triangle d'amour', Sylvie Martins-Guedes the prosecutor leading the case has said investigators were focusing 'on people likely to have had something against the victim, or against the couple she had formed'. Investigators also confirmed the killing was pre-meditated. That announcement is highly unusual given that in France, investigations are usually closely guarded until any trial. Marie-Laure Autefort fled to Paris after being released by police and has not been seen at her home in Trémolat since. Adamant that his sister, a carer, could not have killed Karen even if she'd wanted to, Philippe Monribot told me: 'She's physically weak. She's even scared of the dark. Could someone like that slit a woman's throat? It's impossible. It had to be a man and I don't think it's random.' Monsieur Monribot said it was no secret his sister was in love with Guerrier and claimed that she was dazzled by the wealthy retired businessman. 'He took her to visit chateaux in the Loire and to fancy Paris restaurants. She didn't have much money and she fell for him. She definitely loved him. She'd have done anything for him. But his interest seemed to move on to Karen.' Marie-Laure was born in the village and raised her children there. Recently divorced, she was, said her brother, devastated by Karen's death. 'She liked her very much. She is in shock about what has happened. She can barely speak. She's staying away from the village because the atmosphere is so bad. She doesn't want people pointing the finger at her. They arrested her because she was an easy target having made her feelings clear for him.' The real killer said Monsieur Monribot, himself a former emergency worker, would have been drenched in blood. 'My own belief is that the killer isn't far away,' he said. Speaking to the Mail this week, however, Karen's friend and neighbour Beverley Needham, another British ex-pat, said she didn't believe there was anything romantic between Guerrier and Marie-Laure. 'As far as I'm aware, he had no interest in her, but he was gentle with her because she seemed vulnerable.' Beverley, who cooked dinner for Karen just 24 hours before her death, was also unaware of the depth of her relationship with Guerrier. She attempted to play down talk of a 'love triangle', describing widowed Guerrier rather more delicately as Karen's 'confidant'. He had helped her, she said, with the paperwork for her bank account and the purchase of the new cottage. 'If there was love, they were very discreet. She never ever told me they were lovers.' She added: 'He's a charming man who likes the company of women but not necessarily in a relationship way. He's had a lot of women friends visiting him over the years that I've seen, mainly from Belgium because he worked there at some point as well as in the US and the UK.' As for Karen, Beverley said: 'They appreciated each other's company. She never told me: 'We're shacking up together' or 'He's sleeping at my house.' ' But she admitted Karen was sensitive to gossip in the village. 'She said: 'Don't say to everybody that I'm seeing Jean-Francois all the time.'' Did Karen lie about their relationship because she was worried about a love rival? Or was she concerned about news reaching her husband, 65-year-old marine biologist Dr Alan Carter, who still lives at the couple's home in East London in South Africa? He said this week that 'what has come out of this investigation has confirmed a relationship I did not want to believe and that had been denied to me repeatedly by my wife'. He said he'd been left with 'a feeling of complete betrayal'. Dr Carter said he had challenged his wife, whose parents came from Lancashire and emigrated to South Africa in the 1950s, about the time she was spending with Guerrier, a man he knew well. 'I told her that the gossip was tarnishing her reputation but she batted it away and said there was nothing in it. She told our friends the same.' Dr Carter arrived in Trémolat on Tuesday. Hours after visiting the spot where his wife was killed, he told the Mail: 'It's been very difficult coming back to the village. We are still struggling with everything. I just want to focus on the investigation.' The last time he saw Karen was last month when she toured South Africa with Trémolat's over-50s women's football team. He only found out about her death when a cousin in Yorkshire saw a post on Facebook and called him in South Africa. The couple owned three French holiday homes, let and managed by Karen, and in recent years had largely lived separately although they regularly spoke on the phone. Their four adult children live in Australia, Britain and the US. Dr Carter preferred to be at their home in South Africa where he runs an environmental agency and would visit Trémolat for holidays. Karen adored the Gallic lifestyle and after buying their first house there 15 years ago after successful breast cancer treatment, spent increasing amounts of time in the Dordogne. Her husband said she 'loved the village' which nestles on the banks of the Dordogne river and has a 12th century church. Friend Beverley insists that the night before she died, Karen told her she had served her husband with divorce papers and he didn't want to sign them. Karen's neighbour Christophe Pultier said that a week or so before her murder he saw her walking into her home with Guerrier late at night. But he added: 'Whatever was going on, she didn't deserve to die like that.' Speaking at his farmhouse, Monsieur Guerrier declined to answer my questions about their relationship, saying only that 'Karen was a lovely woman'. Said by friends to be still in shock, he is caring for Haku, the puppy they collected together from a breeder recommended by one of his daughters. The simpler existence Karen hoped to embark on with that puppy – and perhaps her lover – has now been cruelly and brutally cut short by someone who is possibly still lurking behind the shuttered windows of Trémolat's Perigordian stone houses.
The Sun
09-05-2025
- The Sun
Mystery deepens over Brit mum murdered in French village as it's revealed she told pal divorce plan night before she died
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. 11 11 11 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. Tragedy in Trémolat: The Shocking Death of Karen Carter 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. 11 11 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.' 11 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." 11 11 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."
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Brit expat knifed to death outside her French home was buying a cottage to live by herself after serving divorce papers on her husband, friend claims
A British woman murdered outside her holiday home in France was buying a small property to live by herself after serving divorce papers on her husband, MailOnline can reveal. Karen Carter, 65, had viewed and agreed a sale on a charming one-bedroom cottage she planned on retiring to in the tranquil village of Trémolat. And she had just bought a cross-breed puppy with a wealthy businessman she had recently begun an affair with, her best friend has revealed. Beverley Needham, 69, told how her 'beautiful' friend was looking to move into the £135,000 property in September and start afresh in the French countryside with her new dog she had named Haku. Mother-of-four Mrs Carter was stabbed to death last Tuesday outside a guesthouse she ran in the village with husband Alan, who had been at home in South Africa. She had just returned from a wine-tasting party held at the home of 74-year-old Jean-Francois Guerrier, who she had begun a romantic relationship with in recent months. Speaking for the first time today, Ms Needham, originally from Manchester but who has lived in Trémolat for 33-years, told how she had dinner with Mrs Carter the night before she was murdered. Sitting outside her large converted farmhouse, less than half a mile from the crime scene, she told MailOnline: 'I can still picture her walking down the path to the house, huge smile on her face holding a bottle of wine. 'She also brought me some soy sauce as I was cooking her chicken in ginger and garlic. 'Karen was great fun, she said 'darling, I have wine' and plonked the bottle down on a sideboard. It's still there, I can't bear to move it. 'I saw her the night before she died. She seemed very tired. I think the relationship with her husband Alan was weighing heavily on her mind. 'She told me that she had served him divorce papers and that he was refusing to sign. She told me the relationship with Alan was over and said 'I'm done'. 'They both owned the guesthouse where she was staying and where she died. Karen wanted to keep it solely as a rental property and was in the process of buying a one-bedroom home in Trémolat where she wanted to live by herself. 'Alan saw France as a holiday. He was here for just two weeks a year but Karen was here a lot of the time alone. This is where she wanted to be. 'I was helping her buy the house. It had a large field at the back that was also for sale separately. She wanted the land for her new dog. 'The owner of the house had the property bequeathed to them and had no intention of living there. I'd seen them moving furniture out. 'I asked them if they would be prepared to sell even though the house wasn't on the market and they said they would. 'Karen came with me to view the property and fell in love with it instantly. She said 'this is perfect.' Mrs Carter divided her time between France and South Africa, where she had grown up. Her husband flew from the marital home in East London, on South Africa's Eastern Cape, and visited the scene of his wife's murder on Tuesday night. Beverley said: I've spoken to Alan, he's devastated but he denied that Karen had served him divorce papers but that's what she told me 24 hours before she was killed. 'Alan was also aware that Karen was buying this new home for herself. 'It's tough, they were married 30 years and had four children.' Former Paris restaurateur Beverley said she has spoken to police investigating her friend's murder twice. She is mystified as to who would want to harm her but said the officer she spoke to told her that another woman in the village was 'jealous' of Mrs Carter. The woman had a long-held obsession with Mr Guerrier, a former managing director for Fujitsu Services, but the relationship between them was 'one-way' Ms Needham said father-of-three Mr Guerrier, who used to live in Surrey before returning to his family home in Trémolat, had become close to Mrs Carter and was helping her set up a French bank account as well as guiding her through local bureaucracy. He had accompanied her the Wednesday before she died to pick up the dog from a breeder who was friends with his daughter. Ms Needham said: 'Jean-Francois is a charming man who likes company of women, he always has. he has a lot of female friends. 'He's lived in Surrey in England, where his youngest daughter grew up, he's also lived in Belgium and the United States but the house he's in now has been in his family for years. 'He's someone who does a lot for the community, he helps the local homeless. 'Jean-Francois and Karen had grown close over recent weeks, he was her confidante and was helping her out with paperwork for things like setting up a bank account. 'But she never told me that they were together as a couple. She was very discreet and private it about her relationship. 'She knew the village was gossiping and would say to me 'oh please don't ask me about Jean-Francois' and I would joke and say 'I'm not bothered. It's not as interesting as you think Karen!' 'I don't know anyone who would want to harm her or who held any kind of grudge. She was dynamic and a lovely, lovely person. 'Everyone loved her because if you needed anything, she was always there. 'She was streetwise because she grew up in South Africa and she was fit and strong but in Trémolat she wouldn't have been on guard. There is never any danger here.' A prison housing dangerous sex offenders is located just 17 miles away in the town of Mauzac-et-Grand-Castang. But Ms Needham added: 'The killer has to have some connection with the village…there are many hunters here who have long, sharp knives for cutting meat. Was someone paid to do it? 'The police did tell me that they were aware of a woman who was jealous of Karen and me because we were friendly with Jean-Francois who she was absolutely obsessed with. 'Although he was gentle and perfectly civil with this woman, he kept his distance and was far more affectionate with us.' Detectives investigating the murder believe the killer almost certainly knew Mrs Carter and held a 'grudge' against her, either personally or due to the fact she had entered into a new relationship with Mr Guerrier. The businessman had hosted a wine tasting event at his converted farmhouse, high in the hills above Trémolat last Tuesday evening, which had been attended by Mrs Carter. She left around 10pm and had promised to phone him when she was home safe but no such call was made. Mr Guerrier called round to her home to check on her and found her body sprawled on the driveway. Despite the best efforts of medics, she died at the scene from severe blood loss having been stabbed eight times in her chest, groin, arm and leg. Mr Guerrier was initially questioned but later released. A 69-year-old neighbour of Mrs Carter - Marie Laure Autefort - was arrested and quizzed for 48 hours until she too was freed having been able to prove she was elsewhere during the killing. Mr Guerrier is now looking after Mrs Carter's puppy at his home. He has laid low since finding her body but broke his silence yesterday to say 'She was a lovely lady.' Mr Carter has previously stated that while aware of his wife's close relationship with the tech company executive he still felt 'a sense of betrayal'. He is currently staying with a friend near Trémolat as he sorts funeral arrangements. He said: 'This is deeply upsetting for us. We are just trying to come to terms with what happened. 'We have all of the grief. We've spent the last few hours in Trémolat. It's been very difficult coming back to the village.
