Catwalk magnificence who had ‘fairytale’ household life earlier than being discovered lifeless

Outwardly at least, Swiss model and mother-of-two Kristina Joksimovic appeared to have it all.

A successful business as a catwalk coach; her own glossy modelling portfolio; a lifestyle that took her from the surf of Hawaii to the ski slopes of her Swiss homeland. As she herself acknowledged, she had many things in her life to be proud of.

But, undoubtedly, the twin sources of Kristina’s greatest pride were the soft-cheeked faces of her two daughters, born just 17 months apart in 2020 and 2021.

Kristina, a former Miss Switzerland finalist, made no secret of the fact that her girls – striking tots with flame-red hair – were her everything.

Taking to Instagram, back in September 2021, just a few short weeks from giving birth to her second child, Kristina posted a black and white photograph of herself with her eldest, showing the back of the pair as they sat beside a lake in the Swiss city of Basel.

‘I am proud of many things in life but nothing beats being a mother,’ she wrote.

Two years later, with two beautiful daughters and a handsome husband at her side, she posted another artfully-posed photograph, again shot from behind, this time capturing the larger family group, silhouetted on a sandy shore. It was simply captioned ‘my world’; except she used an emoji of a tiny globe, instead of the actual word.

Now, of course, those images and words are cloaked in a terrible poignancy, forever standing testament to the fact that while the camera lens can capture a moment, it does not necessarily convey the whole story.

For earlier this year – just six months after that second Instagram post – Kristina Joksimovic, 38, was found dead in the basement of the home she shared with her husband, who cannot be named under Swiss privacy laws, in the upmarket enclave of Binningen, a district of Basel.

The truly horrifying circumstances of her death – which, due to the tight veil of privacy surrounding criminal investigations in Switzerland, only emerged this week – have sent shockwaves through Switzerland and beyond.

For it would seem – according to autopsy reports – that the slender, blonde-haired model was strangled and dismembered, before parts of her body were placed in a blender and then dissolved in a chemical solution.

The Mail has seen details of the autopsy report and it makes horrific reading.

Mercifully, Kristina appears to have been strangled first, before other gruesome injuries were inflicted to her body. Among the many despicable indignities suffered, the young mother’s womb was removed.

Were the particulars of Kristina’s death not shocking enough, the person accused of being responsible for her grisly demise is also the person who was once closest to her – her handsome businessman husband.  

After initially claiming he ‘found his wife dead’ by the stairs, her husband is said to have confessed to killing Kristina but claims he acted in self-defence after she attacked him with a knife. He also claims he dismembered her (with a jigsaw, knife and garden shears) in the laundry room ‘in a panic’.

All this from the same man who, according to the Swiss public prosecutor’s office, played YouTube videos on his mobile phone while dismembering his wife’s body.

Details of the shocking crime emerged earlier this week because her husband had made a request (the latest of several, according to reports) to be released from prison; a request which two Swiss courts, most recently the federal court (the country’s highest) have now rejected.

What actually happened behind closed doors on a winter’s day in February this year, what set that terrible ball rolling, is yet to become clear. The accused is yet to face trial – charges have still not been filed.

According to Swiss reports, it was Kristina’s Serbian father who discovered the tragedy, having received a call from the kindergarten caring for his grandchildren to pick them up.

When he called his son-in-law and asked where his daughter was, he calmly said that she was in the laundry room, in the basement of the house.

Once can only imagine the horror of what followed, Kristina’s father is said to have been ‘rendered speechless by pain’.

What is, however, disturbingly clear is how very stark the gap can be between the image someone presents to the world and the reality.

‘To me they seemed like the perfect family,’ remarked a friend of Kristina. And how many more will have echoed those words, looking at photographs of the stunning model as she presented herself on Instagram.

Kristina was 16 and a sports-loving teenager when she was spotted by a modelling scout on the streets of Basel and asked if she would like to take part in a competition. She, in her own words, let herself be persuaded and four years later was a finalist in the Miss Switzerland contest.

She did not win the contest, but she called it a ‘life-changing moment’ and used it as launch pad to build her own business as a catwalk coach while also working in IT recruitment.

‘During this time, I was often approached by people who wanted to know how to walk across the stage beautifully,’ she said in an interview. It was only natural that overtime, she expanded into giving women from all walks of life, not just fellow models, the confidence to stride out in high heels.

‘When women without any modelling ambitions came to me, I realised that there was a great need to perform confidently,’ she said.

‘My clients are 60 per cent normal women without any modelling experience who just want to work on their posture, their insecurity in wearing high heels or their self-confidence, and on what looks they use to make a good first impression.’

One of those to benefit from Kristina’s wisdom was the serving Miss Universe Switzerland Lorena Santen, who tells me: ‘Kristina was a shining example of kindness, warmth, and dedication. I first had the honour of meeting her in April 2023 at her catwalk studio, where she guided me with grace and expertise as I prepared for the Miss Universe Switzerland competition.

‘Her passion for helping others reach their full potential was truly inspiring. She believed in me, not just as a contestant, but as a person, and continued to support me even during my journey to the Miss Universe stage with encouraging messages, motivational words, and uplifting posts on Instagram.

‘Kristina’s unwavering love and generosity touched everyone around her, and I will forever cherish the impact she had on my life.’

Kristina’s social media accounts, under her business name Catwalk Coach, which remain open online, are full of glossy images and videos of the model – demonstrating how to strut in towering heels (her preference being for a heel 10-15cm high) and sliding her feet in to the famed red-soles of a pair of Louboutins.

In December 2016, she shared the moment her then boyfriend proposed, posting a rare photograph of his face and declaring, ‘I said YES,’ in a post marked, heartbreakingly, #loveofmylife.

The couple’s wedding, in August 2017 was the stuff of fairytales. The setting was the Grandhotel Giessbach, a luxury hotel built in the style of a castle perched near to the thundering Giessbach falls, overlooking Lake Brienz. The bride was ethereal in a lace-topped gown with her hair worn loose, dressed with a simple band of flowers and the groom was dashing in navy blue.

‘Forever in your arms,’ wrote Kristina, when she shared a wedding gallery online. ‘Pure love,’ she wrote, alongside the accompanying video

There would be more gushing comments. ‘My rock,’ she declared six months later as they honeymooned in Argentina and Antarctica.

‘Happy birthday to the guy who stole my heart,’ she declared in 2019, sharing another photograph from her wedding album, this time in a boat out on Lake Brienz.

Later, she would chart her journey to motherhood, radiantly posing for photographs with her growing bump, even as the pandemic and lockdowns loomed.

When, one wonders, did a life so outwardly perfect take such a dark turn?

After her death in February, it was reported that the couple had been struggling in their relationship for months and that police had previously been called to their home because of physical violence. A police emergency report is said to have been made back in July last year.

‘She wanted to break up, but was afraid of him,’ one unidentified friend told Swiss media.

Court documents published this week shed further light on what was really going on behind the scenes.

Along with the gruesome autopsy findings, the report notes: ‘Based on the current status of the investigation, there are concrete indications that the complainant has a mental illness or a significant psychopathological personality disorder.

‘According to the investigations so far, he has displayed a conspicuously high level of criminal energy, lack of empathy and cold-bloodedness following the killing of his wife, the mother of his two children.’

It goes on to note that medical reports contradict Kristina’s husband’s own claim of self-defence.

‘According to the findings of the experts, it is also not clear from the marks on the bodies of the victim and the complainant whether there was an alleged knife attack on him at all before the strangulation,’ it states.

It was, says the report, a ‘planned and systematic approach, over several hours, in dismembering and attempting to dispose of the corpse using special tools and chemicals’.

It goes on to note that there were concrete indications he was suffering from a mental illness.

It also noted that he had been violent before, to a previous partner (a relationship that appears to have immediately preceded his marriage). That partner gave evidence at a hearing this summer in which she documented his frequent tantrums, including a time he ran over her foot with his car, then later threatening to throw her out of the vehicle. Another time, while driving, he slammed on the brakes, leaving her with whiplash after she hit her head on the dashboard.

All of this week’s revelations about how this bright, talented, much-loved, mother, sister and daughter, friend, met her end have heaped more pain on those who knew her.

What memories, if any, one wonders will Kristina’s daughters have of the mother who loved them so dearly?

Those girls are now, it is understood, living with their maternal aunt.

Among those paying tribute to Kristina this week was a friend who left this message: ‘What an honour to have known you, dear Kristina. Larger than life, beautiful inside and out, lovely mamma, passionate businesswoman…’

Meanwhile her husband remains incarcerated, still hoping, astonishingly, to be reunited with his daughters.

A year ago he posted this personal statement on his LinkedIn: ‘As a scout I aspire to leave places, organisations, people, and everything in my power better than I found them.’

How dearly Kristina Joksimovic’s loved ones must wish this were the case.