06-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE Divorced 'love rival', 69, of Brit expat found brutally murdered in French village is 'innocent' and 'devastated' by the crime, her brother insists after she was arrested then released without charge
This is the first picture of a 69-year-old woman arrested over the murder of a British expat at her holiday home in France.
Marie-Laure Autefort was quizzed by detectives over the killing of mother-of-four Karen Carter, who was found brutally stabbed to death last week in the pretty Dordogne village of Trémolat.
Ms Autefort's home was searched by police but she was able to provide them with an alibi and was released without charge.
She has yet to return to the house, which is less than a mile from the crime scene, but a relative says she is entirely innocent.
The body of Mrs Carter was found on Tuesday evening sprawled on the driveway close to her car, thought to be a Dacia Duster.
She had just left a wine-tasting event at the home of a local businessman Jean-Francois Guerriere, who she had recently started a relationship with.
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 taken in for questioning but later released as police turned their attentions to Ms Autefort.
She too was freed when she was able to prove to them that she was elsewhere during the murder.
Today, Ms Autefort's brother claimed his sister 'was in love' with Mr Guerrier and that was the reason she was arrested.
But he said she was not capable of murder.
Speaking at a cafe in Trémolat, some 65-miles east of Bordeaux, Philippe Monribot said: 'My sister is innocent. She is devastated by what has happened.
'She was in love with Mr Guerrier - everyone knows it - but she didn't kill Karen Carter. She would never do anything like that, she isn't capable of it.
'My sister has not been home since her arrest and is currently in Paris. She doesn't want to return because there is an awful mood in the village at the moment.'
French prosecutor, Sylvie Martins-Guedes, said the investigation was concentrating on the fact the killer almost certainly knew Mrs Carter and may have held a 'grudge' against her.
Ms Autefort was vice president of Trémolat's General Assembly of which Mr Guerrier was the president.
She was born in the village, where she has lived her whole life and brought up her children. She is understood to have written books about the history of the local area.
Jean Clements, 73, from Kent has a holiday home in Trémolat and had coffee with Ms Autefort last summer.
She said: 'I spoke with Marie for the best part of four hours when I came out on holiday last June. She seemed a nice lady.
'She told me that she'd recently got divorced and though her ex-husband had left her the house in the village, he didn't leave her much money and she was finding things tough financially.
'I haven't seen Marie recently. I flew out from England on Tuesday, the day of the murder.
'There were four police cars and a forensic unit at her property on the Friday evening just gone.
'The gendarmes were looking in vegetation around the house and on the track leading to her property. They were there for a few hours.'
The local committee of which Ms Autefort was vice president is based at a bar and community hub in Trémolat called Café Village.
Mrs Carter - a dual British and South African national - volunteered regularly to work behind the bar, often closely with 74-year-old Mr Guerrier.
In a video that emerged yesterday , the pair were seen dancing closely together at a social event held at Cafe Village last December.
Mrs Carter was seen throwing an arm in the air to Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive as she playfully bumped hips with Mr Guerrier on a packed dance-floor.
Her husband was expected to arrive in Trémolat from his home in East London, South Africa this afternoon having spoken of a 'betrayal' at his wife's dalliance with Mr Guerrier, a former managing director at Fujitsu Services.
The couple owned a converted barn and farmhouse called Les Chouettes which sleeps 16 people and is on a road popular with British expats.
Mrs Carter had travelled to Trémolat by herself last month and had been spending more time alone in the French countryside while her husband remained in South Africa.
Mr Carter, 65, had been initially unaware of his wife's romantic relationship with Mr Guerrier, claiming she had just been 'good friends'.
But he told The Times: '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.'
Despite being partners of 30 years, Mr Carter said he had suspected his wife of being unfaithful and raised concerns over the amount of time she had been spending with Mr Guerrier.
The tensions came as the pair had been locking horns 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.
Speaking to the newspaper, 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-fifties 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 Guerrier has not spoken since his lover's body was found.
Speaking at his large gated compound in the hills above the village, a female relative, who spoke with an English accent, said briefly: 'He doesn't want to say anything but he's fine.'
