A 69-YEAR-OLD woman has been arrested over the brutal killing of Brit mum Karen Carter.
Karen, aged 65, who was known by her friends as “the epitome of compassion”, was discovered murdered in a brutal assault outside her residence in the Dordogne region of France.
She was discovered “collapsed and unconscious” near her car in the sleepy village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, on Tuesday.
French prosecutors now say the suspect, who also lives in Trémolat and was known to the couple, has been detained.
Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the district attorney in Bergerac, reported that Karen had “multiple injuries, including five severe ones inflicted by a pointed instrument, particularly in the chest, groin, arm, and leg”.
“The wounds revealed a singular violence and their placement showed the desire to kill,” she added.
A murder investigation has been launched, led by officers in Bergerac and Agen.
The couple had owned their holiday home in Trémolat for 15 years, splitting time between France and South Africa, where her husband Alan still works.
Alan, speaking from their home in East London, South Africa, said he learned of his wife’s death via a Facebook post read by a cousin in Yorkshire.
Martins-Guedes said Karen had “started a relationship” with a man in the weeks before her death — a claim Alan strongly denied.
“There was no relationship. He was just a friend of hers,” he said.
The man, who found Karen and called emergency services, was questioned and released without charge.
Karen’s four children, including eldest son Nicholas, a chartered accountant in London, will gather in France next week.
Her elderly parents, now based in South Africa, have also been told.
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