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Kristina Joksimovic was found dead at the age of 38 in her home in Binningen, near the city of Basel in Switzerland, in February 2024.
A year-and-a-half later, her husband has been formally charged with her brutal murder, one he allegedly committed while watching YouTube.
Highlights
- Kristina Joksimovic, a 38-year-old Swiss model, was murdered by her husband Thomas in their Binningen home in February 2024.
- Thomas dismembered Kristina's body using a jigsaw and garden shears, then pureed her remains in an industrial blender with chemicals.
- Autopsy revealed strangulation as the cause of death, with blunt force trauma and multiple cuts and bruises on Kristina’s body.
- Thomas was watching YouTube videos on his phone while dismembering his wife, showing extreme cold-bloodedness and lack of empathy.
The husband, only identified in news reports as Thomas, dismembered the model’s body before cutting out her womb and pureeing her remains.
The husband of a Swiss model has been charged with her brutal 2024 murder
On Wednesday, after the Basel-Landschaft Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had concluded its investigation, Thomas was charged with murder and disturbing the peace.
Autopsy reports ruled Joksimovic’s cause of death as strangulation, noting that her neck showed a “reddish throttle mark.” Her body showed signs of blunt force trauma suffered before her death.
Joksimovic had cuts on her cheek, under her eyebrow, and nose, along with several bruises on her right lower leg, foot, shoulder blades, and on the back of her head.
Image credits: catwalkcoach/Instagram
A closer examination of her head showed wounds that indicated some of her hair was ripped out.
Autopsy reports showed that Joksimovic’s body was allegedly dismembered using a jigsaw and garden shears, before her remains were sliced up and dissolved in an industrial blender, radio FM1 Today reported.
The report also stated that the remains were “pureed” and dissolved in a chemical.
Police found the blender contained “a large number” of flaps of skin with muscles still attached, and chunks of bone.
Image credits: catwalkcoach/Instagram
According to autopsy reports, before dismembering her, Thomas broke Joksimovic’s hip joints out of their sockets. He then disarticulated her left upper arm, forearm, and right lower leg, removing the bone from its joint, like an amputation.
Reports also state he “roughly severed” Joksimovic’s upper spine to decapitate her before splitting her torso in half above her pelvis. Thomas had also allegedly removed Joksimovic’s womb, which was cut out of her torso.
Investigators later learned that Thomas was watching YouTube videos on his phone while dismembering his wife.
Joksimovic’s body was discovered by her father, who spotted blond hair sticking out of a black bag in the laundry room, according to a friend who spoke to the Daily Mail.
The husband dismembered the model’s body before cutting out her womb and ‘pureeing’ her remains
Image credits: catwalkcoach/Instagram
Thomas had initially admitted to the crime, but called it self-defense when his wife “suddenly attacked him with a knife” after the couple had a “positive” conversation.
Initially, he had claimed that he “found his wife dead” by the stairs in their family home. He later said that he strangled her in self-defense.
However, the court previously noted that Thomas had refused to grant access to his phone, which investigators say is encrypted and could hide additional evidence.
Police noted that Thomas showed a “remarkably high level of criminal energy, lack of empathy, and cold-bloodedness after killing his wife.”
The couple shared two children.
Joksimovic, Miss Northwest Switzerland, was a finalist for Miss Switzerland in 2007. She later ran her own business as a catwalk coach.