An evil husband who murdered his Miss Switzerland finalist wife and dismembered her body using a blender has been jailed for life.
Father of two Marc Rieben, 43, showed no emotion as the guilty verdict was passed but briefly appeared to stumble forward as the decision was read out to him.
The remains of Kristina Joksimovic, 38, were found by her horrified father and he was in court with his wife for the verdict with both sobbing loudly.
The killing in February 2024 made headlines around the world and the case was so graphic public were barred from the hearing and media could only follow from an adjoining court.
Around 50 demonstrators had gathered outside the court building in Muttenz near Basel for the decision and extra police were also drafted in.
Judge Daniel Schmid also ordered Rieben to pay 100,000 Swiss Francs compensation to the couple’s two daughters aged five and six, while Kristina’s father was awarded 120,000 Swiss Francs, her mother 100,000 and her sister 60,000 Francs.
The amounts were to be increased by 5 per cent interest from the date of the killing.
Passing sentence Judge Schmid said:’ There are cases that make fiction become reality. This case has changed our reality.
No court ruling can fill the void left by the loss of a loved one. We as a court will also never forget you and will carry you in our hearts.’
Marc Rieben, 43, has been jailed for life for the 2024 murder of his wife, Kristina Joksimovic
In February 2024, Rieben killed his wife in a violent rage before dismembering her body and putting body parts in a blender – ‘pureeing’ them, as the autopsy described it.
To neighbours and acquaintances, Rieben appeared the model husband. He was a devoted father and volunteered with a scout group in his free time.
On February 13, the pair are said to have discussed the terms of an impending split over lunch.
Rieben allegedly refused to accept the divorce, wanted full-time custody of the children, and denied financial support to his wife, the paper reported.
What followed was the fatal escalation, far removed from the arguments they were known to have had during their marriage.
During the altercation, Rieben grabbed his wife by the throat and pressed her against the wall.
He then wrapped a ‘ribbon-like object’ around her neck and strangled her, before mutilating and pureeing her body.
An autopsy found that Kristina’s body showed signs of blunt force trauma, including cuts to her face and bruising to her leg, foot, shoulder blades and the back of her head. Some of her hair had been torn out.
After her death, Rieben dismembered her body using a jigsaw, a knife and garden shears.
Investigators say he ‘carefully removed’ her womb, the only organ taken from her torso, in what experts described as a ‘deliberate mutilation or ritualised degradation of the body’ that may indicate a mental disorder.
Some body parts were placed into an industrial blender, while others were dissolved in a chemical solution.
Investigators also found that he played YouTube videos on his phone while carrying out the dismemberment.
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.
Addressing the court last week, Anina Hofer, the lawyer for Kristina’s parents, read out an emotional statement from her mother.
She said: ‘I stand here today in court as a mother who has lost her daughter. Whose children miss their mummy every day.
‘She was loving, protective of her children, and gave them everything. Just one month after she tried to forge a new path for herself and her children, she was brutally torn from life.
‘No verdict can bring our daughter back. But it can show that her life matters.’
Kristina, 38, was a model and a former Miss Switzerland finalist
The house Kristina shared with Mark lies abandoned in Binningen, Switzerland, near Basel
The 43-year-old had claimed his wife threatened him with a knife during the divorce dispute, claiming he acted in self defence, but prosecutors said this was false.
The indictment from the prosecution read 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’.
During the trial, 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 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.’
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.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
