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Kristina Joksimovic was found murdered at her home in Binningen, near Basel, Switzerland, in February. (Image via Instagram/catwalkcoach)
During the investigation, Kristina’s husband reportedly claimed he killed her in self-defence after she allegedly attacked him with a knife
Kristina Joksimovic, a finalist in the Miss Switzerland contest, was strangled to death by her husband. He then dismembered her body and “pureed” her remains in a blender.
The 38-year-old former model was found murdered at her home in Binningen, near Basel, Switzerland, on February 13.
Her 41-year-old husband was taken into custody and had sought release, but his appeal was denied on Wednesday by the country’s federal court after he admitted to the crime.
The horrific details of the murder case emerged in a ruling that indicated the ongoing investigation had uncovered “concrete indications of a mental illness” related to the case, as per New York Post report.
Joksimovic’s husband, who was only identified by the pseudonym Thomas in local media, had reportedly claimed he killed her in “self-defence” after she allegedly attacked him with a knife. He then stated that he dismembered the former model—mother of their two children—in a “state of panic”.
However, during the investigation, medical experts found no evidence supporting his “self-defence” claims, and determined that her cause of death was due to strangulation.
According to an autopsy report, Joksimovic’s body was dissected with a jigsaw, knife and garden shears. Her body remains were then chopped up with a hand blender, ‘pureed’ and dissolved in a chemical solution.
Joksimovic was crowned Miss Northwest Switzerland and was a finalist in the Miss Switzerland contest in 2007. She later established herself as a catwalk coach, mentoring model Dominique Rinderknecht for the Miss Universe pageant in 2013. Her Instagram account, under the handle @catwalkcoach, had over 3,500 followers.
The couple, who married in 2017, resided in a spacious semi-detached house with scenic views in an affluent area of Basel. Her husband, an entrepreneur, shares two daughters with her, Daily Mail reported.
A friend revealed that their relationship had been “in crisis for months,” and police had been called previously in response to reports of physical violence.
Investigators had noted that her husband displayed a “conspicuously high level of criminal energy.” They cited his “lack of empathy and cold-bloodedness” after killing his wife, as well as his attempts to cover up the crime. The assessment also mentioned that the defendant exhibited “sadistic-sociopathic traits” and had previously strangled his wife before killing her.