French cops fear Brit mother-of-four found stabbed to death outside her Dordogne home may have been robbery victim as they hunt killer

French police fear the British woman who was stabbed to death in a ‘frenzied attack’ outside her home may have been the victim of a robbery. 

Karen Carter, a 65-year-old mother of four, was found outside her property in the village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, after returning from a night out on Tuesday.

She was discovered by a friend, who had been out with her earlier that evening, who arrived on the scene ten minutes later and found her collapsed and unconscious.

Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the Bergerac prosecutor, said Ms Carter had been in a relationship with the friend who found her for several weeks.

An investigating source said she was found ‘covered in stab wounds’, suffering multiple wounds to her chest, groin, arm, and leg.

‘A man called the emergency services after finding her covered in stab wounds. Five deep injuries pointed to ferocious violence and a desire to kill,’ said the source. 

Police are still trying to understand the motive, and have launched a manhunt for the unidentified killer. A murder weapon has also not been found.

The prosecutor said that, pending investigation, ‘no hypothesis is being favoured’.

Karen Carter, a 65-year-old married mother of four, was found outside a property she ran in the village of Trémolat

Ms Carter is believed to have arrived at her home ten minutes before a friend found her

Neighbours left in ‘total shock’ from the tragedy paid tribute to ‘a delightful, energetic person who got on with everybody’.

‘Nobody can understand how this could have happened in a peaceful place like this,’ one resident said.

‘We are all keeping our doors locked. It is deeply worrying.’

‘We saw emergency vehicles in the village, and then lots of police cars, and then the area around her house was cordoned off,’ one resident said, who asked to remain anonymous ‘for security reasons’.

Ms Carter was identified today as the mother-of-four tragically killed in Tuesday’s attack.

She had been married to Alan Carter, also 65, who at one point worked for the London Stock Exchange.

The couple were both educated at Rhodes University, South Africa, and, according to the France 3 news outlet, Ms Carter was British.

Living in the rural commune of Trémolat, she owned and managed two guest houses, frequently used by guests from the UK. 

She also ran a lifestyle blog for women over 50 called La Vie est Belle (Life is Beautiful).

The body of Karen Carter, a 65-year-old married mother of four, was found outside a property she ran in the village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, on Tuesday evening

On the evening of her death, Ms Carter had been out at a local café-bar with a male friend, whom prosecutors said she had been seeing.

‘They had spent the evening together in Tremolat with friends and then returned to the victim’s home, whom, he said, had arrived only about ten minutes before him,’ Ms Martins-Guedes said. 

She suffered the ‘frenzied attack’ after returning home, and was found by her friend, who tried to administer first aid at the scene, French media reported.

Medics responded to a call at 10.17pm and arrived to find Ms Carter ‘in cardio-respiratory arrest’.

Despite attempts to revive her, she died at the scene.

Ms Martins-Guedes, the prosecutor, confirmed that a criminal enquiry had been opened, and that local gendarmes were investigating.

She said that ‘a search has been launched to identify and arrest the perpetrator,’ and that possible motives included robbery.

She shared on Thursday that Ms Carter ‘had been discovered by a friend’.

‘They had spent the evening together in Tremolat with friends and then returned to the victim’s home, whom she said had arrived only about ten minutes before her.

‘He discovered her collapsed and unconscious near her vehicle with bleeding wounds, and he immediately called emergency services, administering first aid himself.’

She confirmed that Ms Carter was the British national killed, and said that pending investigation, ‘no hypothesis is being favoured’. 

The ‘friend’ was not named by the prosecutor.

The victim was the owner and manager of two guest houses in Trémolat, and both were frequently used by guests from the UK

A friend found the 65-year-old woman lying near her vehicle with five deep wounds caused by a blunt object at her home in the village of Tremolat in the Dordogne on Tuesday evening

As news emerged of her tragic death, her Reines du Foot football team paid tribute in a post on Facebook.

‘We are immensely saddened by the sudden passing of Karen, our friend and Queen of Football, who leaves a great void in our hearts. 

‘All our thoughts go out to her loved ones.’

Ms Carter was a leading player in the Queens of Football (Reines du Foot) team, which in early April completed a tour of South Africa.

The victim was one of 18 football players who left for South Africa to participate in the Grandma’s World Cup, after training between Calès and Trémolat.

‘Everyone is in shock, it’s horrible,’ her distraught teammates told Francebleu.

Known to play in a number 12 jersey, the British national was a substitute left midfielder during the competition in South Africa.

In Trémolat, she owned and let out two guest houses.

A message written by Ms Carter read: ‘We would love to welcome you to visit our beautiful cottage in the Dordogne Valley, France.

‘Take time out of your crazy schedule and relax into the wonderful slow lifestyle of the French community.’

The property is called Les Chouettes [The Owls] and it is described as ‘a lovely old renovated farmhouse and barn’, sleeping 14 in total.

‘We are immensely saddened by the sudden passing of Karen, our friend and Queen of Football, who leaves a great void in our hearts. All our thoughts go out to her loved ones,’ reads a tribute from Les Reines du Foot, her football club

A sign was placed on the front of the local café to inform residents that the Wednesday concert evening and Thursday quiz were cancelled ‘due to death’.

The Dordogne is an area of France that is hugely popular with British tourists, second home owners and expat pensioners.

In February, British couple Andrew and Dawn Searle, who previously lived in East Lothian in Scotland, were found dead at their home in the south west village of Les Peques, north of Toulouse.

Ms Searle’s body was found in the garden with severe wounds to her head, while her husband’s body was found hanging inside.

The prosecutor in charge of the case has since said there was no evidence that another person was involved in their deaths, and that murder-suicide was the likely cause.

MailOnline has contacted the Foreign Office for comment. 

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