Woman charged in France over killing of British expatriate

French prosecutors have charged a 70-year-old woman with the murder of Karen Carter, a British expatriate who was fatally stabbed in southwestern France in 2025.

Carter, who played for the local Reines du Foot, or “Queens of Football,” team, was killed in the Dordogne village of Tremolat. Regional prosecutors said on Wednesday that the woman was indicted in early July.

Carter’s body was found beside her car by a man with whom she had been in a relationship for several weeks. He alerted police. Police first detained the man, but quickly released him, saying there were no suspicious elements against him.

The suspect was part of the couple’s social circle and came from the same village. She was taken into police custody after the killing, but was later released after investigators checked her whereabouts at the time of the crime.

Investigators said Carter suffered eight stab wounds inflicted with “particular violence.”

Carter played for Reines du Foot, a women’s football team for players aged 50 and over. Before her death, she had returned from South Africa, where she and her teammates had competed in the “Grannies World Cup.”

Joelle Mayer, a fellow player, told AFP in 2025 that Carter was a valued member of the community and described her as “a charming, serene woman who loved life.” Carter was also among players who posed naked for a humorous calendar to raise funds for the trip to South Africa.

In 2025, Carter’s husband Alan told France Bleu radio that he learned of her death through a cousin. He said he and his wife were not divorcing but were going through a difficult period. He said they had decided to buy a cottage in Tremolat after spending a holiday there 15 years earlier.