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Swiss businessman Marc Rieben on trial for killing, dissolving and ‘pureeing’ remains of his beauty queen wife, pleads self-defense because ‘she attacked him with a knife and he feared for their two children’ 

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-38da0c0142477da34a2c20c5c35d02ab wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260707&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Swiss businessman Marc Rieben&comma; 43&comma; is currently on trial for the February 2024 murder of his beauty pageant wife&comma; Kristina Joksimovic <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b661a7897d3cb518f682d827647221fe wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260707&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Rieben is said to have used a jigsaw blade&comma; a knife and garden shears on Kristina&&num;8217&semi;s body before dissolving her body in bleach and &&num;8216&semi;pureeing&&num;8217&semi; her remains in a blender <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4df7af3790e0d7c7609ca68c13f2ab5d wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260707&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>The couple had two young daughters who were two and four at the time of their mother died <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-eec2d96a82605cf785576110982848ed wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260707&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Their eldest daughter screamed in court on Tuesday that her father was lying when he told police he didn&&num;8217&semi;t mean to kill his wife <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f61ada8ea06e7534ae69830425d0255e wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260707&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong>Her parents&comma; the couple&&num;8217&semi;s two children&comma; and a women&&num;8217&semi;s rights group have been named as civil plaintiffs in the case<&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-33936e7c265ad5b3024f3508db058d21 wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260707&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>The murder was &&num;8216&semi;intentional&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Rieben had studied how to dismember his wife&&num;8217&semi;s body -&&num;8216&semi;his behaviour demonstrated the full extent of his hatred for his wife&comma;&&num;8217&semi; prosecutors said <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4cdcfa715500cb2ad602ef331a6daa90 wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260707&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Rieben through his lawyers&comma; has confessed&comma; claiming he acted in self-defense because Kristina had attacked him and he was worried for their two children  <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Marc-Rieben-with-his-wife-Kristina-Joksimovic-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-497469" style&equals;"aspect-ratio&colon;1&period;0227272491805668&semi;width&colon;813px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Father-of-two Marc Rieben&comma; &lbrack;right&rsqb;&comma; is on trial accused of the gruesome murder of his wife&comma; Kristina Joksimovic &lbrack;left&rsqb; inside their home in Binnigen&comma; Switzerland&comma; in February 2024&period; Her body showed signs of blunt force trauma&comma; bruises on her legs and cuts on her face &&num;8211&semi; autopsy&period; Her womb had also been removed and &&num;8220&semi;pureed&&num;8221&semi; in an industrial blender <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The four-year-old daughter of a Miss Switzerland finalist who was brutally murdered said her father was lying when he told police he didn&&num;8217&semi;t mean to kill his wife&period; According to the autopsy report&comma; her body showed signs of blunt force trauma&comma; bruises on her legs and cuts on her face&period; Some internal organs had also been removed and &&num;8220&semi;pureed&&num;8221&semi; in an industrial blender&period;<br>Prior to the domestic murder Marc Rieben&comma; a successful businessman and Kristina Joksimovic&comma; 38&comma; a model and former Miss Switzerland finalist had been married for seven years&period; The couple shared two toddlers aged two and four at the time of their mother&&num;8217&semi;s death at the hands of her spouse&period;<br>Rieben&comma; now 43&comma; is currently on trial in Basel&comma; Switzerland for the depraved February 2024 murder of Joksimovic with her parents&comma; the couple&&num;8217&semi;s two children&comma; and a women&&num;8217&semi;s rights group named as civil plaintiffs in the case&period;<br>Rieben has been accused of using a jigsaw blade&comma; a knife and garden shears on to dismember the body before dissolving Kristina&&num;8217&semi;s body in bleach and &&num;8216&semi;pureeing&&num;8217&semi; her remains in a blender&period; <br>According to the charging documents&comma; Rieben grabbed his wife by the neck&comma; pushed her against a wall and choked her using a &&num;8216&semi;ribbon-like&&num;8217&semi; device around her neck&period;<br>The motive for the twisted killing was Rieben&&num;8217&semi;s refusal to grant Joksimovic a divorce&comma; the suit alleges&period;<br>In court on Tuesday morning&comma; a lawyer representing the couple&&num;8217&semi;s two young daughters told the court about how the two children&comma; who were aged two and four at the time of their mother&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; found out that she had died&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;They learned a few days after the incident that their mother was in heaven and their father was in prison and wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t be returning anytime soon&comma;&&num;8217&semi; the family&&num;8217&semi;s attorney informed the court adding&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;The children learned that their mother had died during an argument with their father&period; That the police assume their father is responsible for the death&period; And that he says he didn&&num;8217&semi;t do it on purpose&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>at which point&comma; the older child responded&colon; &&num;8216&semi;He&&num;8217&semi;s lying&comma; he&&num;8217&semi;s lying&comma; he&&num;8217&semi;s lying&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>Questioned further&comma; the now-six-year-old explained&colon; &&num;8216&semi;He lied to me when he picked us up&period; He said he didn&&num;8217&semi;t know where Mummy was&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>After the murder the defendant calmly took his daughters to a restaurant as if nothing had happened&comma; adding to their trauma&comma; the court heard from the plaintiff&&num;8217&semi;s attorney&period;<br>The lawyer for the children who is demanding 100&comma;000 Swiss Francs&comma; &lpar;&dollar;127&comma;727&rpar;&comma; as compensation for each girl&comma; told the court&comma; &&num;8216&semi;Both parents placed the children at the center of their lives&comma; but they had different ideas of how to raise their daughters&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Kristina-Joksimovic-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-497473" style&equals;"width&colon;789px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Kristina <strong>Joksimovic<&sol;strong>&comma; a 38-year-old mother of two&comma; was a model and a former Miss Switzerland finalist allegedly was killed by her husband two years ago&period; Rieben is said to have used a jigsaw blade&comma; a knife and garden to shears to dismember his wife&&num;8217&semi;s body before dissolving it in bleach and &&num;8216&semi;pureeing&&num;8217&semi; her remains in a blender<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">&&num;8216&semi;The defendant wanted absolute control&comma; the victim wanted to explain they were separating as simply as possible in a way that wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t break their hearts but now their hearts are breaking every day&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;They learned a few days after the incident that their mummy was in heaven and wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t be coming back&period; Today the children know their father killed their mother and in the future they will learn more&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;They miss their mother and are angry with their father&comma; they are being looked after by their mother&&num;8217&semi;s parents and will need therapy for years to come&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>Anina Hofer&comma; attorney for Kristina&&num;8217&semi;s parents&comma; reading an emotional statement from her mother told the court&colon; &&num;8216&semi;I stand here today in court as a mother who has lost her daughter&period; Whose children miss their mummy every day&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;She was loving&comma; protective of her children&comma; and gave them everything&period; Just one month after she tried to forge a new path for herself and her children&comma; she was brutally torn from life&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;No verdict can bring our daughter back&period; But it can show that her life matters&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>She added&colon; &&num;8216&semi;It wasn&&num;8217&semi;t a tragedy that occurred&period; He acted and brought about his wife&&num;8217&semi;s violent death and he hasn&&num;8217&semi;t apologized for it&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>&&num;8216&semi;This case is almost unparalleled in its cruelty&period; The father found the body parts while the mother was speaking to the accused just a few meters away&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s almost unimaginable&comma; the consequences for the family are devastating&period; The mother is on long term sick leave and the sister has put her career plans on hold&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Marc-Rieben-with-his-wife-Kristina-Joksimovic-with-their-children-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-497479" style&equals;"width&colon;840px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Having killed Kristina&comma; Marc Rieben allegedly spent hours dismembering her body in the bathroom and dissolving body parts in around 10 liters of bleach&period; Despite a 7-yerar union in which they<strong> shared two young daughters&comma; <&sol;strong>prosecutors note that his &&num;8216&semi;behaviour after the crime was almost beyond belief in its cruelty and absurdity&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Earlier today&comma; the prosecutor said that after Kristina&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; her husband spent hours dismembering her body in the bathroom and dissolving body parts in around 10 liters of bleach&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;The man&&num;8217&semi;s behaviour after the crime was almost beyond belief in its cruelty and absurdity&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said the prosecutor&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;The man acted systematically and with a plan&semi; his behaviour demonstrated the full extent of his hatred for his wife&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>The prosecutor also told the court the murder was &&num;8216&semi;intentional&&num;8217&semi; and that Rieben had studied how to dismember his wife&&num;8217&semi;s body&period; <br>She said&colon; &&num;8216&semi;For the classification of murder&comma; the accused&&num;8217&semi;s prior life and post-crime behaviour can be taken into account&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>The prosecutor then addressed the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s actions after the crime&comma; such as the dismemberment of the body&comma; explaining how he must have researched how to dispose of the remains&period;<br>The court heard he had taught himself using a learning program called the Atlas of Human Anatomy&comma; which explained why Rieben knew how to remove the arms and legs at the elbows and kneecaps&period;<br>The couple were living in Binnigen&comma; a well-to-do village close to Basel&comma; when the murder happened in February 2024<br>The victim&&num;8217&semi;s father concerned when his daughter failed to collect the children&comma; and he found parts of her body while looking for her at her home&period;<br>Due to the gruesome details&comma; the indictment was not made available as usual to the general public&comma; and only accredited media have been allowed to consult it&comma; with no copies allowed to be photographed&period;<br>Rieben allegedly also punched and kicked Joksimovic as he strangled her &&num;8216&semi;perfidiously&comma; cruelly and in cold blood&&num;8217&semi; with his victim suffering an &&num;8216&semi;agonizing&&num;8217&semi; death&comma; the court heard&period;<br>He would go on to dispose of her body in the basement laundry room of the couple&&num;8217&semi;s home&period; He dismembered the body using a jigsaw blade&comma; garden shears&comma; knife&comma; then ultimately the blender&period;<br>According to the indictment&comma; while disposing of her body&comma; he is also said to have removed her uterus&period;<br>Based on cold-blooded manner of disposal&comma; the charge of desecration of a body is included&period;<br>The indictment sates that Rieben acted &&num;8216&semi;knowingly and intentionally&comma; in full awareness and from a selfish attitude and mindset characterized by a need for control&comma; resentment&comma; revenge and massive anger&&num;8217&semi;&period;<br>Rieben has claimed his wife threatened him with a knife during the divorce dispute&period; <br>Countering the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s claim&comma; prosecutors on Tuesday argued that based on evidence from the forensic medical report&comma; &&num;8216&semi;there was never a knife attack&comma;&&num;8217&semi; while maintaining that a minor injury on the right side of the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s jaw was not caused by the alleged kitchen knife&comma; according to the forensic report&period;<br>No defensive wounds were found&comma; the prosecutor added&comma; and said the claim that Kristina was still holding the knife in her fist when she was killed is impossible&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;The report clearly refutes the man&&num;8217&semi;s statement&comma;&&num;8217&semi; the prosecutor said&period;<br>The prosecutor further noted Rieben&&num;8217&semi;s history of domestic violence&comma; stating that he had been repeatedly physically abusive throughout his marriage to Kristina&period;<br>Witnesses listed for the trial 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&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;He has also attacked his partner by the neck in the past&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she said&comma; adding that an ex-girlfriend also claimed Rieben had run over her foot with a car&period;<br>Court-appointed expert Professor Frank Urbaniok told the court he had diagnosed Rieben with narcissistic traits and obsessive-compulsive disorder&comma; adding that Rieben acted with &&num;8216&semi;almost meticulous precision&&num;8217&semi;&comma; highlighting how&comma; after the murder&comma; he had gone out for dinner with the couple&&num;8217&semi;s two young children&comma; acting as if nothing had happened&period;<br>Urbaniok added the caveat that there was also a significant potential for &&num;8216&semi;recidivism&&num;8217&semi; from Rieben- that the defendant had the potential to re-offend&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;The accused is an intellectual&comma; a very strategic thinker&period; He wants to control everything and insists on rules being followed&period; The victim&comma; on the other hand&comma; was more emotional&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Urbaniok explained&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Kristina-Joksimovic-4&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-497501" style&equals;"width&colon;840px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Mother-of-two Kristina Joksimovic&comma; was a former beauty pageant queen and catwalk coach&period; According to a friend&comma; her husband who has confessed to her murder&comma; &&num;8220&semi;was really derogatory with her&comma; with gestures&comma; words and even his tone… he wanted Kristina to disappear&comma;&&num;8221&semi; the friend said<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Admitting to his crime with remorse&comma; Rieben said he regretted his actions and can not believe he did that to Kristine whom he loved very much&period;<br>As a sign of his remorse Rieben said&comma; he had just authorized payment of &dollar;127&comma;640 to his daughters and his parents-in-law<br>&&num;8216&semi;It would be wonderful if you could use it to do something that brings some lightness into your lives&comma;&&num;8217&semi; he told them in court&period;<br>The court asked Rieben why the monetary offer was only being made today&comma; following two years of proceedings&comma; he husband responded&colon; &&num;8216&semi;Because this is the first opportunity I&&num;8217&semi;ll have to see the bereaved&period; &&num;8216&semi;This offer is made regardless of what the court decides&period; I simply want to show my support&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s a gesture&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;Human lives cannot be replaced&semi; I can only offer my sympathy&comma;&&num;8217&semi; he continued&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;I would like to express my deepest sympathy to all those affected for their suffering&period; &lbrack;Kristina&rsqb; is gone&period; Her cool zest for life&comma; her radiant smile – simply gone&period; The world has collapsed&&num;8217&semi;&period;<br>Speaking of the time leading up to Kristina&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; he explained that although &&num;8216&semi;the arguments were the main focus&&num;8217&semi;&comma; people should not forget &&num;8216&semi;we had a passion&&num;8217&semi;&period;<br>He said he &&num;8216&semi;admired&&num;8217&semi; his wife and celebrated her &&num;8216&semi;entrepreneurial success and her ambitions&&num;8217&semi;&period; <br>Continuing&comma; Rieben revealed that the pair had been attending couples counseling since 2018&comma; after only being married since 2017&comma; and &&num;8216&semi;were ready to work on ourselves&&num;8217&semi;&period; <br>In his account&comma; he recalled&colon; &&num;8216&semi;In this bar in 2016&comma; we agreed that we would go through everything together&period; I told her it wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t be easy&period; But we agreed&colon; &&num;8216&semi;We&&num;8217&semi;re going all in&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>Under cross-examination from his legal team&comma; Rieben was asked if he &&num;8216&semi;regretted&&num;8217&semi; what happened and replied&colon; &&num;8216&semi;It was an accident&period; I didn&&num;8217&semi;t want it to happen&semi; I didn&&num;8217&semi;t choose for it to happen&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;I didn&&num;8217&semi;t go into the kitchen and get a knife&period; In the end&comma; she died in my arms&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s tragic and unforgivable&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;Maybe with hindsight I should have just tried to dodge the knife&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>When asked again why he didn&&num;8217&semi;t call paramedics&comma; he replied&colon; &&num;8216&semi;Because there was just no time&period; It all happened so fast&comma; there was no opportunity&comma; there was no stopping&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>Rieben was also asked by his lawyer why the court should believe him and his claim of self-defense&comma; and he replied&colon; &&num;8216&semi;Because that&&num;8217&semi;s how it happened&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Home-of-Marc-Rieben-and-Kristina-Joksimovic-in-in-Binnigen-near-Basel-Switzerland-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-497477" style&equals;"width&colon;840px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The murder alegedly happened in February 2024&comma; at the couple&&num;8217&semi;s home in Binnigen&comma; a well-to-do village close to Basel<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">He went on to explain that following his arrest&comma; he was in solitary confinement and that he was allowed to write to his children and see his parents&comma; but he added&comma; &&num;8216&semi;One day I would like to play with my children again&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>Rieben through his lawyers&comma; has confessed but said he acted in self-defense because Kristina had attacked him and he was worried for their two children&period; <br>One of the listed witnesses is a former partner who will testify that Rieben&comma; who she says has a &&num;8216&semi;violent temper&&num;8217&semi; also attacked her during their relationship<br>In a previous ruling&comma; a court said Rieben had a &&num;8216&semi;massive propensity for violence&comma;&&num;8217&semi; adding that he also &&num;8216&semi;exhibits sadistic-sociopathic traits&comma; a low frustration tolerance and poor impulse control&&num;8217&semi;&period;<br>Rieben has been in custody since his arrest and his trial is expected to last all week&comma; with a verdict expected on May 13&period; <br><br><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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