French police have formally placed a woman under investigation in connection with the 2025 killing of Karen Carter, a British-South African mother of four found with stab wounds in Trémolat, a village in the Dordogne region of France.
Carter, 65, who had managed two holiday rental homes and lived in the village for over a decade, was discovered near her car by a friend. Prosecutors had initially taken a 70-year-old woman into custody in 2025 as part of preliminary inquiries, but she was later released.
Jacques-Edouard Andrault, the investigating judge, stated on Wednesday that the judicial inquiry, opened on May 7, 2025, led to the formal charging of the suspect. "The investigations conducted as part of the judicial inquiry opened on 7 May, 2025, have led the investigating judge to formally charge her," Andrault said.
Karen Carter's husband, Alan, learned of her death in April 2025 when a cousin contacted him after seeing a post on a local community Facebook page. He later received confirmation from local police after his assistant called them. He described his wife as an outgoing and friendly person who was well-liked in the community. He noted that her death has been traumatic for their family.