DNA samples taken in Dordogne murder case of Briton Karen Carter

Police investigating the murder of British woman Karen Carter in Dordogne have reportedly taken fresh DNA samples in an effort to narrow down the list of potential suspects. 

This comes more than two months after the 65-year-old was found stabbed outside her home in the south-west France village of Trémolat.

Around 15 individuals gave samples last week, according to sources close to the investigation. All had reportedly attended a wine-tasting event in the village of 600 residents on April 29, shortly before Mrs Carter was killed.

The samples were taken by gendarmes in Lalinde. 

“They want to close off certain lines of inquiry,” Trémolat mayor Eric Chassagne told France 3. “The idea is to eliminate possibilities and move forward.”

"From what I understand, they want to compare the DNA with that found in the victim's vehicle," he said, adding that he had undergone a test himself having been present at the evening.

However, when contacted by The Connexion, the police and mayor’s office said they did not want to comment further on the case at this stage.

The public prosecutor’s office was unavailable for comment.

Media reports in the UK suggest some locals – along with Mrs Carter’s brother – believe the murder was carried out by a professional hitman, although this has not been confirmed by French authorities.

Still no suspect for brutal murder

Mrs Carter, a retired teacher and mother of four who ran two gites in the village, was attacked shortly after returning home from the wine-tasting event. 

She was stabbed eight times - in the chest, arm, groin and abdomen - in what prosecutors have described as an “exceptionally violent” and “premeditated” assault.

Emergency services were called after 74-year-old Jean-François Guerrier - with whom she had reportedly begun a relationship - discovered her in the driveway at around 22:15. 

She died at the scene despite attempts to revive her.

Mr Guerrier, a retired businessman, had also attended the wine tasting, but left about ten minutes after Mrs Carter. 

He was questioned by police and released without charge. Another woman in her sixties was also taken into custody briefly before being released. 

No one has been charged with the murder.

Bergerac prosecutor Sylvie Martins-Guedes told The Connexion that police are considering the affair between Mrs Carter and Mr Guerrier as a possible source of tension that could have led to a “personal grudge” against the couple.

Mrs Carter’s estranged husband, Alan Carter, who lives in South Africa, has acknowledged her relationship with Mr Guerrier - but said he only found out about it through the investigation.

“What has come out of this investigation has confirmed a relationship I did not want to believe,” he told The Times.

Her daughter Liz, an engineering student in the US, also spoke publicly for the first time. 

“They saw my mother’s beautiful life and chose to extinguish her light,” she said. “The colour in my life has washed away.”

In Trémolat, a photograph of Mrs Carter now hangs in the Café Village, an association where she had volunteered.

The mayor said that while daily life had resumed, the case remained present in residents’ minds. “Whenever something new happens, everything comes back to the surface,” mayor Mr Chassagne said. “People want results.”