Warning: This article contains allegations of domestic violence which some readers may find distressing.
The father of Miss Switzerland finalist Kristina Joksimovic discovered his daughter’s horrific fate when he came across her decapitated head.
Joksimovic’s husband, identified in local media as Thomas, is now facing trial in Switzerland for the alleged murder of 38-year-old Joksimovic.
The former Miss Switzerland finalist, who competed in 2007, was reportedly strangled, dismembered, and her body parts allegedly “pureed” in a blender earlier this year.
Concerns about Joksimovic’s welfare first arose when her children’s nursery contacted her parents, noting they had not heard from her.
Worried, her parents went to Joksimovic’s home near Basel, Switzerland, which she shared with Thomas, only to find him there.
Thomas allegedly claimed he did not know Joksimovic’s whereabouts.
Recounting the events to MailOnline, one of Joksimovic’s friends said: “For hours, he pretended as if nothing was wrong, chatting to her father and making dinner for everyone before tucking the children into their beds.”
Despite being told she wasn’t there, Joksimovic’s father decided to search the house.
On February 13, during his search, he reportedly discovered a bin bag containing his daughter’s distinctive gold hair.
“When he opened the black bin bag, he saw her cut off head with the hair still attached,” the friend recounted.
In shock, her father reportedly ran ‘screaming’ from the home and asked a passerby to contact the authorities.
An autopsy report referenced by Swiss outlet FM1 Today revealed that Joksimovic’s remains were found ‘dismembered in the laundry room with a jigsaw power tool, knife, and secateurs’. Parts of her body were also allegedly ‘pureed’ using a hand blender and dissolved with a chemical solution.
Thomas, 41, was arrested the day after the discovery and is said to have confessed to the killing. According to BZ Basel, he claimed self-defense, alleging his wife attacked him with a knife.
On Wednesday (September 11), Thomas’s request for release from custody was denied by the Federal Court in Lausanne.
The cause of Joksimovic’s death has been determined as strangulation.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that help is available. You can speak confidentially 24/7 with the national domestic violence helpline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233). A list of local resources can be found here.