A husband faces trial for the alleged murder and ‘pureeing’ of his ex-model wife after she requested a divorce, shattering their ‘perfect’ image
A seemingly perfect Swiss family has been exposed as a husband goes on trial for the alleged murder and “pureeing” of his former model wife. To their neighbours in the affluent hills of Binningen, Marc Rieben and Kristina Joksimovic were the ultimate power couple.
She was a stunning Miss Switzerland finalist and respected catwalk coach, while he was the successful son of a lawyer and a supposedly doting dad. Their social media feeds were a gallery of bliss, showing the pair smiling with their two young daughters.
Even a getaway to a luxury hotel overlooking Lake Lucerne just four weeks before the killing masked the reality of their crumbling marriage.
But in February 2024, the facade shattered in the most macabre way imaginable. Prosecutors say that during a lunch to discuss their separation on February 13, Rieben snapped.
The Daily Mail reports that he allegedly refused to grant Kristina a divorce, demanded full custody of their kids and vowed to cut her off financially.
Authorities say Rieben pinned Kristina to a wall by her throat before strangling her with a “ribbon-like object.”
In the family’s basement laundry room, described by investigators as an “isolated bunker with thick concrete walls”, Rieben is then accused of dismembering the mother of his children using a jigsaw, a knife and garden shears.
The autopsy revealed a “ritualised degradation” of her body. Rieben is claimed to have “carefully removed” her womb, the only organ taken from her torso, before using an industrial blender to “puree” parts of her remains.
Other sections were dissolved in chemicals. Investigators say he had played YouTube videos on his phone while he worked to dispose of the body.
The nightmare was uncovered by Kristina’s heartbroken father, who rushed to the house after she failed to pick up her children from kindergarten.
For hours, Rieben is said to have played the part of the confused husband, even cooking dinner and chatting with his father-in-law while the children were put to bed.
A family friend told the Mail: “Rieben kept insisting he didn’t know where Kristina was and claimed she would just leave sometimes.”
While Rieben stalled Kristina’s mother on the phone, her father searched the house. In the basement, he spotted a black bin bag with blonde hair poking out.
The friend added: “When he opened the black bin bag, he saw her cut off head with the hair still attached,” the friend added.
The distraught grandfather ran into the street screaming for help. When police arrived, they noted Rieben’s “complete indifference” and lack of emotion.
Rieben eventually admitted to the killing but claimed self-defence, alleging Kristina had “suddenly attacked him with a knife.”
However, a forensic psychologist has denied that claim, diagnosing Rieben with “narcissistic and obsessive-compulsive traits.”
Experts described him as a “cold-blooded” individual with “sadistic-sociopathic traits” who acted with a “need for control, revenge, and intense rage.”
Former Miss Switzerland Nadine Vinzens is among those to have shared their shock at Kristina’s death. She said: “She always made a happy impression on me. I would never have thought that her husband would do something like that.”
The trial is set to begin on Monday at the Basel-Landschaft Criminal Court. Rieben faces a life sentence if convicted of premeditated murder. The verdict is expected on May 13.
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