43yo husband no longer a suspect in horrifying murder of international model – she was strangled and ‘pureed’ in a blender

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

Swiss authorities have formally charged a 43-year-old man with murder in one of the most grisly domestic homicide cases in recent years.

Those charges say he not only killed his wife, Miss Switzerland finalist Kristina Joksimovic, but also dismembered her and “pureed” body parts in a blender and chemical solution in their home.

What happened to Kristina Joksimovic?

Prosecutors allege that in February 2024, the suspect, identified in Swiss media only as “Thomas” under strict privacy laws, strangled Joksimovic, who was 38 when she died, before dismembering her body with tools including a jigsaw, knife, and garden shears and attempting to destroy her remains. Court documents and autopsy reports say that some body parts were processed in a blender and dissolved with chemicals.

Joksimovic’s father made the horrifying discovery, concerned when she failed to pick up his grandchildren from daycare. He went to the couple’s house and found parts of her remains in a bag in the laundry room. Police who responded to the scene recovered various tools and evidence consistent with extensive mutilation.

Initially, the suspect told police he had returned home to find his wife already deceased and dismembered. However, authorities later reported that he admitted to killing her, claiming he acted in self-defense during an alleged knife attack, a claim that forensic experts found no evidence to support. They concluded instead that she died from strangulation before the dismemberment and attempted concealment.

Court filings say investigators found evidence that the suspect was watching online videos on his phone during the dismemberment, and that the only organ removed intact from the victim’s torso was her womb. Authorities have not announced a clear motive.

Reports of relationship strain

Several outlets reported that Joksimovic was planning to leave her husband and that the couple’s relationship had been in crisis for months before her death. One source close to the family told Swiss media that she was afraid to end the marriage and that there had been previous police calls to the residence for domestic disturbances, suggesting conflict in their marriage.

Those reports also described changes in the suspect’s behavior, including a shift in temperament after launching his own business in 2022, which allegedly contributed to relationship strain.

Joksimovic was well known in Swiss fashion circles. After competing as a finalist in the 2007 Miss Switzerland pageant, she built a career as a modeling coach, frequently sharing runway training and mentoring aspiring models. Joksimovic was the mother of two daughters with the suspect, and friends described her as a vibrant figure in the community whose life was cut tragically short.