A former Miss Switzerland finalist was allegedly strangled and dismembered with a jigsaw and garden shears before being pureed in a blender by her husband.
The body of 38-year-old model Kristina Joksimovic was found in February in Binningen, near Basel in Switzerland.
Her husband, who was only named by pseudonym Thomas in local media, 41, had an appeal for release from custody rejected today by the Federal Court in Lausanne after admitting to having killed his wife.
An ongoing investigation concluded today there were ‘concrete indications of mental illness’ underlying the case.
Kristina’s husband is reported to have claimed he killed her in self-defence after she came at him with a knife. He then reportedly said he dismembered the ex-model – with whom he has two children – ‘in a panic’.
The model’s husband admitted to having killed his wife, claiming self defence, per local media
Kristina, the mother of their two children, was allegedly killed because she had previously come at him with a knife, dismembering her body ‘in a panic’
Kristina’s body was found on the evening of February 13. Investigators determined that Kristina had been strangled before she died.
The verdict states the suspect confessed to strangling his wife.
An autopsy concluded that the body was then dismembered in the laundry room with a jigsaw, knife and garden shears.
Body parts were then chopped up with a hand blender, ‘pureed’ and dissolved in a chemical solution, local outlet Blick reported.
A medical-forensic report also ‘contradicts his description of self-defence’, according to Swiss outlet FM1 Today.
Thomas, who is a Swiss national, was reportedly arrested a day after her remains were found by a ‘third party’.
Friends expressed their shock at the news. One told Blick as the news broke: ‘To me, they seemed like the perfect family.’
The couple, who got married in 2017, lived overlooking scenic views from a ‘spacious semi-detached house’ in an affluent area of Basel, 20 Minuten reported.
Another said the relationship had been ‘in crisis for months’, with police allegedly called out beforehand over reports of physical violence.
Just four weeks before she was killed, Kristina had posted pictures of a ‘couple’s getaway’ on her Instagram account, showing the snowy landscape from the window of a luxurious hotel above Lake Lucerne.
Investigators have said Thomas, a businessman, showed a ‘conspicuously high level of criminal energy’ in their assessment.
They cited a ‘lack of empathy and cold-bloodedness after killing his wife’, and his efforts to cover up her death, adding that the defendant had ‘sadistic-sociopathic traits’.
Kristina and her husband had two daughters together
Kristina coached the next generation of models for pageants, as well as businesswomen
Kristina trained Miss Switzerland candidates to follow in her footsteps
Prosecutors say that the defendant had previously strangled his wife before killing her, local outlet BZ Basel reports.
Kristina, a Binningen native with Serbian roots, had reportedly switched from modelling to become a catwalk coach, inspiring the next generation.
Among other things, she trained Miss Switzerland candidates to follow in her footsteps. She also trained businesswomen for walking confidently in their professional or private lives.
She had won the Miss Northwest Switzerland pageant in 2003 and went on to be a finalist in the 2008 Miss Switzerland competition.
The same year, she founded a coaching and consulting agency for aspiring models while still working full-time in IT recruitment.
Many Swiss celebrities and fellow former Miss Switzerland contestants shared their shock over Kristina’s death back in February.
Lorena Santen, who was crowned Miss Switzerland in 2023, was one of Kristina’s catwalk students, said: ‘We will miss you so much.’
Former Miss Switzerland Christa Rigozzi told 20 Minuten in February: ‘It’s terrible. I’m really shocked. I’m thinking of her two daughters. She was such a beautiful and kind-hearted woman.’
Swiss actress and TV presenter Miriam Rickli, who was in the Miss Switzerland final alongside Kristina, said after her friend was found dead: ‘I’m just speechless.’
Nadine Vinzens, Miss Switzerland 2002, was friends with Kristina and told Nau.ch: ‘I knew her well and I met him briefly. I am totally shocked and heartbroken. Never in my life would I have thought that something like this would happen.’
She added in a comment under Kristina’s last social media post: ‘I’m so heartbroken. You were such a good and nice person. I will not ever forget the time in LA with you. RIP my beauty.’
Kristina and her husband had two daughters (pictured above during a beach holiday in August 2023)
Kristina, a Binningen native with Serbian roots, took part in a number of pageants in the 2000s
Kristina had once won the Miss Northwest Switzerland pageant and went on to be a finalist in the 2008 national competition
‘It is very, very sad and shocking what has happened. I am also so incredibly sorry for the children,’ Swiss model and former Miss Switzerland Dominique Rinderknecht told Nau.
In the lead up to her 2013 Miss Universe competition, Rinderknecht received catwalk training by Kristina and shared their progress on Youtube, garnering half a million clicks.
Model Andrea Brotschi, who also participated in a Swiss pageant, also paid tribute to her friend: ‘I am so sad and shocked. We just saw each other.
‘You were such a good-hearted, kind, intelligent and great human. Why? Kris thank you for everything.’
Frida Hodel, who was the Swiss Bachelorette in 2015, also paid tribute to Kristina, writing: ‘We miss you. I will never forget you. Rest in peace.’
Another Bachelorette, Eli Simic, who participated in the show in 2017 to find a partner, commented on Kristina’s last Instagram post in Serbian: ‘Rest in peace Kiki. No words…’
‘Kristina. I can’t believe it!,’ international make-up artist Selina Beutler wrote.