The husband of a British woman stabbed to death in a French village has described his shock after police said an affair with a local man could have been a motive.
Alan Carter, 65, said the police investigation into the death of his wife of 30 years, Karen Carter, alleged a “relationship I did not want to believe”.
Ms Carter was found dying in her driveway with stab wounds on 29 April after she had been at a wine-tasting event in Trémolat, the Dordogne, earlier that evening.
A statement by French investigators said: “The investigation is focusing on the people who were likely after the victim or the couple she formed with her friend, both of whom were very active in the local social and community fabric.”
Mr Carter, who lives in South Africa and spent some of his time in France, told The Times that the police statement had compounded his grief and that of their children.
“I could not have imagined that Karen got caught up in what is being talked about as some sort of love triangle that resulted in her being murdered in France,” he said.
Ms Carter reportedly ran a cafe in the village with Jean-François Guerrier, a 74-year-old retired businessman, who worked as a volunteer. She lived in France and managed two holiday homes since visiting the country in 2009.
At one stage, she ran a lifestyle blog for women over 50 called La Vie est Belle (Life is Beautiful). She was also a leading player in the Queens of Football (Reines du Foot) team, which in early April completed a tour of South Africa.
Last week, a Trémolat resident said: “Everyone is in total shock. Ms Carter was a delightful, energetic person who got on with everybody.
“We saw emergency vehicles in the village, and then lots of police cars, and then the area around her house was cordoned off,” said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons.
“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.”
The Dordogne is an area of France hugely popular with British tourists, second home owners and expat pensioners.
In February, British couple Andrew and Dawn Searle, who previously lived in East Lothian in Scotland, were found dead at their home in the southwest village of Les Peques, north of Toulouse.
