A father of two has gone on trial in Switzerland, accused of murdering his former beauty queen wife and disposing of her body using a blender.
Marc Rieben, 43, is said to have used a jigsaw tool, a knife and garden shears on Kristina Joksimovic’s body before ‘pureeing’ the remains in the kitchen appliance.
The case has made headlines around the world and is so graphic that the public has been excluded from the courthouse in Muttenz, which has been ringed by police and security.
Rieben is charged with murdering his then 38-year-old wife and desecration of the dead. He faces life in prison if found guilty.
The trial is expected to last all week, and a verdict is expected on May 13. The defendant was led into court wearing handcuffs.
Rieben – dressed in a dark suit and wearing a white shirt – was followed into the courtroom by two of his three-person legal team, Christina Von Wartburg and Sina Selman.
Appearing confident and self-assured, he placed a yellow pencil case in front of him and, from inside, pulled out another one, but this time coloured blue.
The grim crime is said to have taken place in February 2024 in Binnigen, a well-to-do village close to Basel. Kristina’s parents, the couple’s two children, and a women’s rights group have been named as civil plaintiffs in the case.
Marc Rieben, 43, is said to have used a jigsaw tool, a knife and garden shears on Kristina Joksimovic’s body before ‘pureeing’ the remains in the blender
Kristina, 38, was a model and a former Miss Switzerland finalist. Her parents, the couple’s two children, and a women’s rights group have been named as civil plaintiffs in the case
It was Kristina’s father who made the horrific discovery after he became concerned when his daughter failed to collect the children, and he found parts of her body while looking for her at her home.
Because of strict Swiss privacy laws, Rieben is being referred to in local media coverage as Thomas L, while Kristina – a former Miss Switzerland finalist – is Ivana L.
Due to the gruesome details, the indictment was not made available as usual to the general public, and only accredited media have been allowed to consult it, with no copies allowed to be photographed.
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The Daily Mail has seen a copy, and it claims that the motive for the twisted killing was Rieben’s refusal to divorce Kristina – and it goes on to detail his ‘blatant, cold-hearted and ruthless contempt for life’.
It also alleges how successful businessman Rieben grabbed his wife by the neck, pushed her against a wall and choked her using a ‘ribbon-like’ device around her neck.
Prosecutors claim he also punched and kicked Kristina as he strangled her ‘perfidiously, cruelly and in cold blood’ with his victim suffering an ‘agonising’ death.
He is then said to have set about disposing of her body in the underground laundry room of the couple’s home using the jigsaw, garden shears, knife and then ultimately the blender.
According to the indictment, while disposing of her body, he is also said to have removed her uterus, and because of the chilling way he disposed of the corpse, the unusual charge of desecration of the dead has been added.
The grim crime is said to have happened in February 2024 in Binnigen, a well-to-do village close to Basel
Kristina and Rieben on their wedding day in 2017
Kristina coached the next generation of models for pageants, as well as businesswomen
The indictment from the prosecution adds that Rieben acted ‘knowingly and intentionally, in full awareness and from a selfish attitude and mindset characterised by a need for control, resentment, revenge and massive anger’.
Witnesses will include friends of Kristina who will reveal how she had disclosed to them her seven-year marriage was floundering in the weeks leading up to the murder.
While another witness will be a former partner of Rieben, who says she was also attacked by him during their relationship, and he had a ‘violent temper’.
Rieben has been in custody since his arrest, and through his lawyers, has confessed but said he acted in self-defence because Kristina had attacked him and he was worried for their two children.
In a previous ruling, a court said Rieben had a ‘massive propensity for violence’.
He also ‘exhibits sadistic-sociopathic traits, a low frustration tolerance and poor impulse control’.
Media outlets are following the trial via a video link, with only judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, defendants and family members allowed in the courtroom itself.
In an early move, Mr Rieben tried to have live coverage of the trial banned, but his request was ruled out by the judge, who said that ‘as the public were excluded, the media had an important job’.
He denies the charges against him.
