A man who murdered his Miss Switzerland finalist wife and disposed of her body parts in a blender has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Marc Rieben, 42, was convicted of the killing of Kristina Joksimovic, 38, after he lost control during an argument about divorce on February 13, 2024, a court was told.
He was accused of taking a knife, a jigsaw tool, and garden shears to his partner and hacking at her body. The prosecution also gave horrifying details of how he “pureed” her remains in a blender. The victim’s father discovered parts of her body at her home after she failed to pick up her kids.
Kristina was killed in the quiet village of Binnigen, near Basel, and this trial, over two years on from her death, has now ended with a guilty verdict and Rieben jailed for life.
Judge Daniel Schmid, passing sentence reportedly 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.”
The indictment claimed the motive for the shocking killing was Kristina asking for a divorce and her husband refusing. It also reportedly stated how Rieben grabbed Kristina by the neck and shoved her against a wall while using a “ribbon-like” device around her neck.
Prosecutors claimed the man punched his wife while strangling her, adding she died an “agonising death”. The indictment also claimed the man had 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”.
Rieben held back tears as he claimed Kristina’s death was “an accident” at the start of the trial. He gave a statement, in which he said he “loved” his wife but admitted to her “dying at my hands”, as he held back tears.
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.”
The husband said leading up to his wife’s horror death “the arguments were the main focus” but he reportedly added that people shouldn’t forget “we had a passion”. Rieben said he “admired” Kristina and her “entrepreneurial success and her ambitions” but revealed the pair, who had married in 2017, had been going to counselling since 2018.
