The husband of a former Miss Switzerland finalist has been charged with her murder after a gruesome killing that has shocked the country.
Mother-of-two Kristina Joksimovic’s dismembered body was discovered at her home near Basel, Switzerland, in February 2024.
An autopsy report later found a power tool, garden shears, a blender and chemicals had been used on the 38 year-old’s remains.
Ms Joksimovic’s parents had become concerned for her whereabouts when her children’s nursery called to say she had failed to collect her two daughters. Her father reportedly found parts of her body while carrying out a search of the family home.
Ms Joksimovic’s husband confessed to killing his wife in March 2024, according to the Federal Court, but argued he had been acting in self-defence after she came for him with a knife. A court ruling that September concluded she had been strangled to death.
Investigators allege the suspect has demonstrated a “remarkably high level of criminal energy, lack of empathy, and cold-bloodedness”.
Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they have now filed charges of murder and disturbing the peace of the dead, following a lengthy investigation into Ms Joksimovic’s death.
The 43-year-old suspect is in custody, with a trial date to be set. He has only been identified as ‘Thomas’ in Swiss media due to privacy laws, that can use first names or pseudonyms.
“The Basel-Landschaft Public Prosecutor's Office has concluded its criminal investigation into the suspected homicide in Binningen on February 13, 2024,” the prosecutor’s statement read.
“It has filed charges of murder and disturbing the peace of the dead against a 43-year-old man at the Basel-Landschaft Criminal Court. The accused is in custody and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“Based on the results of the criminal investigation, the Basel-Landschaft public prosecutor's office assumes that the accused murdered his wife in their shared residence in Binningen. The public prosecutor's office is not releasing any further details regarding the circumstances of the crime.”
The couple married in 2017, and lived in a spacious house in an affluent area of Basel, 20 Minuten previously reported.
Ms Joksimovic, a Binningen native with Serbian roots, had won the Miss Northwest Switzerland competition and went on to be a Miss Switzerland finalist before launching a coaching career.
Former Miss Switzerland Christa Rigozzi paid tribute to Ms Joksimovic after her death was first reported.
“I'm thinking of her two daughters,” she posted on Instagram in February, 2024. “She was such a beautiful and warm-hearted woman.”
