Inside the final hours of the British expat whose idyllic life in the Dordogne came to a brutal end after a village wine tasting

Bathed in sunshine and nestled in the green countryside of the Dordogne, the beautifully renovated 250-year-old farmhouse and neighbouring 18th-century stone barn promise a haven of tranquillity.

With their exposed beams, swimming pool, verandas and views over a walnut orchard, the properties – collectively called Les Chouettes (The Owls) – can accommodate up to 16 people.

Sitting on the outskirts of the pretty, riverside village of Tremolat – home to around 600 people along with a strip of fine restaurants, a wine bar, a cafe and a boulangerie – they are an appealing holiday option in this quaint corner of south-west France.

Little surprise, then, that these gites run by British couple Karen and Alan Carter have won rave reviews from satisfied holidaymakers – hundreds of whom descend upon the area every year to sample renowned local delicacies such as foie gras and truffles and visit its castles, chateaux and prehistoric caves.

As in the rest of the Dordogne – an administrative area of rural France often called ‘Dordogneshire’ due to its similarities to the UK countryside – Tremolat and its slow pace of life has proven particularly popular among Britons, including expats who live there all year round.

Yet that rural idyll was shattered this week, after this peaceful French village became the scene of a grisly murder mystery. For, on Tuesday, the blood-soaked body of 65-year-old Mrs Carter was discovered outside Les Chouettes after she returned home from a wine-tasting event with friends.

A murder inquiry has been opened and will be run by police from nearby Bergerac and Agen. Initially, it was thought that she might have been killed in a robbery which went wrong.

Karen Carter, a 65-year-old married mother of four, was found outside her property in Trémolat

This week the quaint 250-year-old farmhouse became the scene of a grisly murder mystery

The sunlit village of Tremolat, a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south west France

An autopsy revealed that the British-South African died from severe blood loss after being stabbed multiple times, collapsing and dying next to her car. Her death was caused ‘by haemorrhage following a wound to the aorta’, the largest artery in the human body.

It paints a horrifying picture of the mother-of-four’s final moments. Eight serious wounds were noted in total, including to the ‘chest, abdomen and forearm’, as well as ‘superficial ones on the thigh, shoulder and thumbs’, according to an investigating source. The source added: ‘All the wounds suggest the victim was attempting to defend herself from a frenzied attack.’

On Thursday the case took a surprising turn when a 69-year-old woman – who is also thought to have been at the wine tasting and been part of Mrs Carter’s ‘close circle’ – was arrested. However, the woman from Tremolat was last night released without charge.

As the village continues to reel from this grisly mystery, then, what do we actually know about that fateful Tuesday night?

Mrs Carter, who bought the gites with her 65-year-old husband 15 years ago, divided her time between the Dordogne and the home the couple shared in the city of East London, South Africa.

She was well known in Tremolat and described by neighbours as a ‘well-liked member of the local community’.

On Tuesday night, she was at the Cafe Village Tremolat, one of her favourite venues, which describes itself on its Facebook page as ‘an association that wants to offer the people of Tremolat and the surrounding area a meeting place’.

The barn-like building has its own stage, where performers would entertain revellers eating and drinking on a packed terrace.

Mr and Ms Carter spent their time between their homes in France and South Africa

Ms Carter is believed to have arrived at her home 10 minutes before a friend found her

It is situated by a large field on the outskirts of Tremolat – around 15 miles east of the town of Bergerac.

A former regular said: ‘Everyone was encouraged to mingle and find new friends. The wine flowed freely, and people arrived from all over the surrounding countryside. The cafe represented the Dordogne at its very best.’

Mrs Carter was also a helper at the cafe, which is around a ten-minute drive from her home.

Mr Carter was in South Africa at the time of the killing. However, rumours suggest his wife had not been alone, with reports claiming she had started a relationship with another man who lived in the area.

After a wine-tasting event with friends at the venue, Mrs Carter drove home at about 10pm. Around ten minutes after she should have got home, however, her male friend – worried as to why she hadn’t phoned to say she was back – went to see if anything was wrong.

The man was identified as Jean-Francois Guerrier, president of the community association that runs the village bar.

Finding her blood-spattered body collapsed on the driveway, he performed first aid and called the emergency services. However, her heart had already stopped by the time paramedics arrived and they were unable to revive her.

While the man was briefly detained by detectives for questioning, he was released within a few hours.

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

Two days later, Mrs Carter’s 69-year-old neighbour was arrested after being suspected of holding a ‘grudge’ against her.

Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the prosecutor from Bergerac who is leading the murder inquiry, said the unidentified woman was ‘part of the couple’s circle’.

However, last night she was released without charge after investigators said she had provided a comprehensive alibi based on her work schedule. As the investigation rolls on, prosecutors have not ruled out the theory of a robbery gone wrong, saying that ‘no hypothesis is being favoured’.

For his part, Mr Carter has expressed his shock – including at the revelations that his wife had ‘started a relationship’ with another man.

He said M. Guerrier was ‘just a friend of hers’ and ‘there was no relationship’. He added that he heard about his wife’s murder the following day after his cousin, who also has a holiday home in the village, called him to explain what had happened.

He told The Times: ‘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 [who] had an issue with her. But she was a kind and friendly person and got on with people.’

Mr Carter, a former London Stock Exchange worker, was expected to travel to France within the next few days with his four adult children. The eldest, Nicholas Carter, is a chartered accountant based in London.

Since then, tributes have poured in for Mrs Carter, who at one stage ran a lifestyle blog for women over 50 called La Vie est Belle (Life is Beautiful).

‘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

She was also a leading player in the women’s over-50s team Reines du Foot (Queens of Football), which completed a tour of South Africa last month. A team member said: ‘Everyone is in shock. Karen was super helpful; she was kindness personified.’

Cafe Village Tremolat also said in a statement this week that it will be closed indefinitely.

Mr Carter, who last spoke to his wife on Tuesday morning, described how she had loved the French culture and lifestyle – and, crucially, the security of the village. He said he ‘didn’t worry about her safety in France’ and added that they did not need to lock doors as ‘nothing happened there’.

Speaking of how she had frequently stayed in the Dordogne in recent years, he told the BBC: ‘Particularly since Covid, my wife has spent more time there running the gites. It has been very busy, it has been very successful.’

Back in Tremolat, where the Carters’ property has been cordoned off, neighbours remember her as a ‘delightful, energetic person who got on with everybody’, and the sense of shock and loss remains palpable.

As one neighbour put it: ‘Nobody can understand how this could have happened in a peaceful place like this. We are all keeping our doors locked – it is deeply worrying.’

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