A 70-year-old woman has been charged over the murder of a British expat who was repeatedly stabbed outside her home in rural France.

Karen Carter, 65, was discovered by her friend in April last year outside her guest house in Trémolat, the Dordogne village where she had lived for over a decade.

The British-South African mother-of-four had suffered eight serious stab wounds to her “chest, groin, arm and leg” and was laying on the ground near her front door.

French prosecutors said the suspect was originally taken into custody in 2025 as part of the initial investigation, but was released without charge.

Jacques-Edouard Andrault, the investigating judge in the case, said in a statement on Wednesday that “the investigations conducted as part of the judicial inquiry opened on 7 May, 2025, have led the investigating judge to formally charge her”.

Carter had been residing in the picturesque French village for many years and intended to make the move permanent, and also ran two holiday guest houses. In the hours before her death, she had attended a wine-tasting event held by a friend, and was said to be well-known among the close-knit community.

Her husband, Alan Carter, previously told the media that his wife was an outgoing, friendly person who “wouldn’t hurt a fly” and that her death had been “traumatic” for his family.

Speaking to The Times from his home in South Africa, Mr Carter said: “Obviously we are relieved that there’s been some progress in the case after more than a year, even though it is not a trial or conviction.

“We are grateful to the police who have put in a huge effort to get to this point. I am aware that there were some people who suspected I was involved in Karen’s death, which exacerbated the sense of shock and bereavement, and I hope this goes some way to showing how wrong they were.”

The Dordogne is an area of France hugely popular with British tourists, second home owners and expat pensioners.

In February 2025, 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.