A man who murdered his Miss Switzerland finalist wife after dismembering her with a blender has been jailed for life.
Marc Rieben, 43, father of two, showed little expression as the guilty verdict was pronounced but seemed to fall forward for a brief moment when the result was read out to him.
Her horrified father, who was in court with his wife for the verdict, sobbing loudly, uncovered the remains of Kristina Joksimovic, 38.
The killing in February 2024 made headlines around the world and the case was so graphic the public was prohibited from the hearing and the media could only follow in an adjoining court.
Extra police were sent in and some 50 people had gathered outside the court building in Muttenz in Basel for the decision.
Judge Daniel Schmid also ordered Rieben to pay 100,000 Swiss Francs compensation to the couple’s two kids, aged five and six, while Kristina’s father was granted 120,000 Swiss Francs, her mother 100,000 and her sister 60,000.
The payments were to be enhanced by 5 per cent interest from the date of the killing.
Sentencing, Judge Schmid said: ‘There are circumstances that make fiction reality. This case has revolutionised our world.
No judicial decision can replace a loved one who has died. We as a court shall never forget you and carry you in our hearts.
Marc Rieben, 43, has been convicted for life for the 2024 murder of his wife Kristina Joksimovic
When the verdict was announced there was cheering from the audience outside the court – many of them brandishing ballons and banners.
The court heard how successful businessman Rieben seized his wife by the neck, threw her against a wall and strangled her with a ‘ribbonlike’ device around her neck.
Prosecutors said he strangled Kristina ‘perfidiously, ruthlessly and in cold blood’ punching and kicking her as his victim suffered a ‘agonising’ death.
He then used a jigsaw, garden shears, knife and ten litres of bleach to dispose of her body in the couple’s home, in the underground laundry area and eventually the blender.
He also removed her uterus whilst dismembering her body. The unique charge of desecration of the dead was added because of the blood curdling method he disposed of the corpse.
Rieben behaved ‘knowingly and intentionally, in full awareness and from a selfish attitude and mindset defined by a thirst for control, hatred, retribution and immense rage,’ the prosecution said in its indictment.
Kristina had asked Rieben to get a divorce and he refused, and that’s why he killed her, prosecutors said. After the murder, prosecutors claimed Rieben calmly took his children to a neighbourhood restaurant to eat.
Her horrified father had gone to the couple’s house in beautiful Binningen near Basel after calls to her mobile went unanswered and found his wife’s body.
Prosecutors requested for a life sentence while his legal team argued he should get no more than three years for ‘excessive self defence’.
When addressing the court last week, Anina Hofer, the lawyer for Kristina’s parents, read out an emotional statement from her mother.
“I am a mother who has lost her daughter and I stand here in court today,” she said. Whose kids don’t see their mummy every day.She loved, protected her children, gave them everything. Just one month after she attempted to carve a new future for herself and her children, she was violently ripped from existence.No verdict will bring our daughter back.” But it can prove that her life counts.’
Kristina, 38, was a model and a former Miss Switzerland contestant
Kristina and Mark’s house stands empty in Binningen, Switzerland, close to Basel
The 43-year-old had claimed his wife threatened him with a knife during the divorce fight saying he acted in self-defence. But authorities argued this was a lie.
According to the evidence of the forensic medical report, the prosecution throughout the trial declared, ‘there was never a knife attack.’
The small injury on the right side of Rieben’s jaw was not caused by the purported kitchen knife, she stated.
The prosecution also said there were no defensive wounds and that it is inconceivable Kristina was still holding the knife in her fist when she was slain.The prosecution said: ‘After the crime, the man’s attitude was almost incredible in its cruelty and ridiculousness.The man acted systematically and with a strategy; his actions showed the entire amount of his loathing for his wife.’
The prosecutor also told the court the murder was ‘deliberate’ and that Rieben had researched how to dismember his wife’s body.
She said: “The accused’s previous life and post-crime behaviour can be taken into consideration for the classification of murder.
Next, the prosecutor described the defendant’s conduct following the crime, including the dismemberment of the body, and how he must have investigated how to dispose of the remains.
He had trained himself, the court heard, by use of a study programme called the Atlas of Human Anatomy, which explained why Reiben knew where to cut off the arms and legs at the elbows and kneecaps.
The trial commenced last 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’ but he confessed grabbing her by the throat.
“I have caused my family terrible harm,” he claimed. Why? How did I fail? Why could I not stop it? Why did I not save her from dying by my hand? I loved my wife with all of my heart and believed in our future together.I have it with me day and night. What I did was inexcusable and I take full responsibility. I am sorry and I regret it very much.”
After his arrest, he said he remained in solitary confinement but was able to write to his children and see his parents. He added: ‘One day I would like to play with my children again.’
The last photo of the family together, posted on Instagram in August 2023
Court-appointed expert Professor Frank Urbaniok told the court he had diagnosed Rieben with narcissistic features and obsessive compulsive disorder.
Rieben had gone out for supper with the couple’s two young children after the murder, acting as if nothing had happened, Professor Urbaniok told Judge Schmid. He said Rieben had acted with “almost meticulous precision”.
He added: “I have been working as an expert witness for 33 years and supervised 5,000 cases.I have encountered several individuals who have committed homicides against intimate relationships. But I have never seen anything like it.’
Professor Urbaniok stated that he believed there was also significant potential for ‘recidivism’ from Rieben – in other words the propensity to re-offend.
The accused is intellectual, a very strategic thinker. He likes to be in control of everything and make sure regulations are followed. “The victim, on the other hand, was more emotional.
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