Who is the 41-year-old monster who killed his wife and then pureed her in a blender?

Content warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of murder and intimate partner violence. Please take care while reading.

Former Miss Switzerland finalist Kristina Joksimovic was found dead in Feb. 2024 in her home near Basel, Switzerland. Joksimovic’s husband, Marc Rieben, was arrested for her murder but said at first he killed Jokisimovic, 38, in self-defense. At that time, Rieben admitted he dismembered his wife’s body in a panic. She had attacked him with a knife, Rieben said.

Besides her head and a few other remains, Rieben also said he pureed most of his wife and the mother of his two children’s body in a blender and then dissolved what was left in a chemical solution, according to the New York Post. About a month after Joksimovic’s head and other body parts were found, however, Thomas confessed he murdered his wife and took drastic, gruesome steps to dispose of her body, as authorities told him evidence contradicted key parts of his story.

Swiss authorities also said Rieben has a history of violence and showed signs of mental illness, as well as a “noticeably high level of criminal energy, lack of empathy, and cold-bloodedness,” according to the prosecution. A motive for Joksimovic’s murder is unclear. Joksimovic’s official cause of death was declared strangulation.

Joksimovic’s father found her head

According to LBC, Marc Rieben, his two daughters, and Kristina Joksimovic’s father, all had dinner together the same night her head was found. Earlier that day, the children’s kindergarten had contacted Joksimovic’s father when no one picked the children up. Afterward, Joksimovic’s father dropped his two grandchildren, ages 3 and 4, off at home. Rieben invited him in for a drink and made dinner. While having dinner, Rieben reportedly denied knowing where his wife was.

Concerned about their daughter’s whereabouts, Joksimovic’s mother and father returned to Joksimovic’s home later that night after the two children had gone to bed. According to someone close to the case, Rieben insisted his wife would sometimes disappear. Joksimovic’s mother tried to file a missing person’s report, but her daughter hadn’t been missing long enough, the police said, and Rieben intervened and hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, Joksimovic’s father searched the house and found his daughter’s severed head in a bag in the laundry room. Joksimovic had been dismembered with a jigsaw power tool, garden shears, and a knife, according to her autopsy. Rieben reportedly showed no emotion when he was arrested.

“The perfect family”

Kristina Joksimovic’s murder stands in stark contrast to how she had recently portrayed her private life on social media. After she died, her friend said, “To me, they seemed like the perfect family.” According to others close to the couple, though, Joksimovic had called the police several times before she died to report intimate partner violence. The couple, who lived in an affluent area near Basel, had been “in crisis for months,” one friend said.

Joksimovic earned the Miss Northwest Switzerland title in 2007 and was a Miss Switzerland finalist that same year. Since then, Joksimovic worked as a catwalk coach and Miss Switzerland mentor. “It’s terrible. I’m really shocked,” former Miss Switzerland Christa Rigozzi told the press, referring to her friend’s murder. “I’m thinking of her two daughters. She was such a beautiful and kind-hearted woman,” Rigozzi added.

In Sept. 2024, Rieben’s request for release from custody was denied, but charges had not yet been filed. Swiss authorities said Joksimovic’s murder was still under investigation. The couple’s two children were in the care of relatives, according to Swiss police.

If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.