The man accused of murdering his Miss Switzerland finalist wife and ‘pureeing’ her remains in a blender used 10 litres of bleach to dissolve her body, prosecutors have said.
Marc Rieben, 43, is currently on trial for the 2024 murder of his wife, Kristina Joksimovic.
Rieben is said to have used a jigsaw tool, a knife and garden shears on Kristina’s body before blending up her remains in the kitchen appliance.
During the trial on Tuesday morning, the prosecutor said that after Kristina’s death, her husband spent hours dismembering her body in the bathroom and dissolving body parts in around 10 litres of bleach.
‘The man’s behaviour after the crime was almost beyond belief in its cruelty and absurdity,’ said the prosecutor.
‘The man acted systematically and with a plan; his behaviour demonstrated the full extent of his hatred for his wife.’
The prosecutor also told the court the murder was ‘intentional’ and that Rieben had studied how to dismember his wife’s body.
She said: ‘For the classification of murder, the accused’s prior life and post-crime behaviour can be taken into account.’
Marc Rieben, 43, is currently on trial for the 2024 murder of his wife, Kristina Joksimovic
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
The prosecutor then addressed the defendant’s actions after the crime, such as the dismemberment of the body, explaining how he must have researched how to dispose of the remains.
The court heard he had taught himself using a learning programme called the Atlas of Human Anatomy, which explained why Reiben knew how to remove the arms and legs at the elbows and kneecaps.
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.
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.
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.
The Daily Mail has seen a copy, and it claims that the motive for the twisted killing was Rieben’s refusal to divorce Kristina.
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.
Rieben and Kristina pictured with their two children before he murdered her
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 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’.
The 43-year-old has claimed his wife threatened him with a knife during the divorce dispute, but prosecutors say this is false.
On Tuesday, the prosecutor said that based on evidence from the forensic medical report, ‘there was never a knife attack.’
She said a minor injury on the right side of Rieben’s jaw was not caused by the alleged kitchen knife, 20minuten reports.
No defensive wounds were found, the prosecutor added, and said the claim that Kristina was still holding the knife in her fist when she was killed is impossible.
‘The report clearly refutes the man’s statement,’ the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor further noted Rieben’s history of domestic violence, stating that he had been repeatedly physically abusive throughout his marriage to Kristina.
‘He has also attacked his partner by the neck in the past,’ she said, adding that an ex-girlfriend also claimed Rieben had run over her foot with a car.
The trial opened on Monday with Rieben addressing the court and making a statement, blinking back tears as he claimed he ‘loved’ Kristina and her death was ‘an accident’, although he admitted grabbing her by the throat.
He said: ‘I have caused my family immeasurable suffering. Why? Why did I fail? Why couldn’t I prevent it? Why couldn’t I stop her from dying at my hands? I loved my wife with all my heart and believed in a future together.
‘It haunts me day and night. What I did is absolutely unforgivable, and I take full responsibility. I deeply regret it, and I apologise.’
Court-appointed expert Professor Frank Urbaniok told the court he had diagnosed Rieben with narcissistic traits and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Professor Urbaniok told Judge Schmid that Rieben acted with ‘almost meticulous precision’, highlighting how, after the murder, he had gone out for dinner with the couple’s two young children, acting as if nothing had happened.
He added:’ I have been working as an expert witness for 33 years and overseen 5,000 cases.
‘I have seen many people who have committed homicides against intimate partners. But I have never seen anything like this before.’
Professor Urbaniok added he thought there was also a significant potential for ‘recidivism’ from Rieben- in other words, he had the potential to reoffend.
He explained: ‘The accused is an intellectual, a very strategic thinker. He wants to control everything and insists on rules being followed. The victim, on the other hand, was more emotional.’
Rieben also revealed that, as a sign of his remorse, he had paid his two children and Kristina’s parents £94,218. ‘It would be wonderful if you could use it to do something that brings some lightness into your lives,’ he said in front of the court.
The court asked Rieben why the monetary offer was only being made today, following two years of proceedings.
The husband responded: ‘Because this is the first opportunity I’ll have to see the bereaved. This offer is made regardless of what the court decides. I simply want to show my support. It’s a gesture.
‘Human lives cannot be replaced; I can only offer my sympathy,’ he continued.
‘I would like to express my deepest sympathy to all those affected for their suffering. [Kristina] is gone. Her cool zest for life, her radiant smile – simply gone. The world has collapsed’.
Speaking of the time leading up to Kristina’s gruesome death, he explained that although ‘the arguments were the main focus’, people should not forget ‘we had a passion’.
He said he ‘admired’ his wife and celebrated her ‘entrepreneurial success and her ambitions’.
Continuing, Rieben revealed that the pair had been attending couples counselling since 2018, after only being married since 2017, and ‘were ready to work on ourselves’.
In his account, he recalled: ‘In this bar in 2016, we agreed that we would go through everything together. I told her it wouldn’t be easy. But we agreed: ‘We’re going all in.’
Under cross-examination from his legal team, Rieben was asked if he ‘regretted’ what happened and replied: ‘It was an accident. I didn’t want it to happen; I didn’t choose for it to happen.
‘I didn’t go into the kitchen and get a knife. In the end, she died in my arms. It’s tragic and unforgivable.
‘Maybe with hindsight I should have just tried to dodge the knife.’
When asked again why he didn’t call paramedics, he replied: ‘Because there was just no time. It all happened so fast, there was no opportunity, there was no stopping.’
Rieben was also asked by his lawyer why the court should believe him and his claim of self-defence, and he replied: ‘Because that’s how it happened.’
He went on to explain that following his arrest, he was in solitary confinement and that he was allowed to write to his children and see his parents, but he added, ‘One day I would like to play with my children again.’
The trial is expected to last all week, and a verdict is expected on May 13. The defendant was led into court wearing handcuffs.
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.
The grim crime is said to have happened in February 2024 in Binnigen, a well-to-do village close to Basel
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, Von Wartburg 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’.
Rieben denies all the charges against him.
