A 69-YEAR-OLD woman has been arrested over the brutal killing of Brit mum Karen Carter.
Karen, 65, described by friends as “the embodiment of kindness”, was found stabbed to death in a frenzied attack outside her French home in the Dordogne.
She was discovered “collapsed and unconscious” near her car in the sleepy village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, on Tuesday.
Her body was found by a male pal with whom she’d been drinking at a local bar earlier on Tuesday evening.
The man – said by prosecutors to have been in a relationship with Mrs Carter for several weeks – was arrested but released after several hours.
French prosecutors now say the suspect, a woman who also lives in Trémolat and was known to the couple, has been detained.
She is described as being “from Mrs Carter’s entourage”, with local media saying it is unclear if the woman is being treated as a potential suspect.
Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the prosecutor for Bergerac, said Karen had “several wounds, of which five were deep and caused by a sharp object, notably to the chest, the groin, the arm and the 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.
Previously, prosecutors said possible motives being probed included robbery.
Karen and her husband Alan had owned their holiday home in Trémolat for 15 years, splitting time between France and South Africa, where her Alan still works.
Speaking from their home in East London, South Africa, Alan 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.
The Brit mum-of-four
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