World5 min(s) read
Published 09:54 04 May 2026 GMT
Warning: Some readers might find this article distressing.
The trial of a man accused of murdering and dismembering his wife, a former Miss Switzerland finalist, is set to begin in a Swiss court on Monday, more than two years after her body was discovered at their family home.
Marc Rieben is alleged to have killed his wife, Kristina Joksimovic, 38, in February 2024 at their home in Binningen, a town overlooking the hills near Basel.
Prosecutors say her dismembered remains were found in the property, with parts of her body having been processed in a kitchen blender.
He has reportedly claimed that he acted in self-defence. Prosecutors disagree, and have laid out a markedly different account.
Rieben, who is set to stand trial in Muttenz from Monday for around five and a half days, is accused of beating and strangling Joksimovic during what prosecutors have described as a 'violent rage' triggered by their separation talks.
According to the Mirror, Rieben had reportedly been demanding full-time custody of the couple's two young daughters and refusing to provide any financial support to Joksimovic during the proceedings.
Prosecutors allege Rieben grabbed Joksimovic by the throat, pressed her against a wall, and then strangled her with what investigators have described as a 'ribbon-like object.'
After her death, the prosecution says, he used garden shears, a knife and a jigsaw to dismember her body in the laundry room, with parts of her remains placed in a blender.
Investigators have described the act as a 'deliberate mutilation or ritualised degradation of the body.'
According to local reports, YouTube videos were playing while the dismemberment was carried out.
The autopsy reportedly contradicted Rieben's claim that he had acted in self-defence after Joksimovic attacked him with a knife.
The forensic report highlighted what investigators described as the 'methodical and prolonged nature' of the dismemberment, including the careful removal of Joksimovic's womb.
Investigators have said this detail in particular pointed towards what they described as a potential mental disorder in Rieben.
Joksimovic's body was discovered by her own father.
Concerns were first raised when Joksimovic failed to pick her daughter up from kindergarten.
Her parents went to the family home, where Rieben reportedly told them he had no idea where his wife was, but invited her father in, made him a drink and cooked him dinner.
While Rieben was on the phone to Joksimovic's mother later in the evening, her father took the opportunity to search the basement.
There, he reportedly found a black bin bag with strands of blonde hair attached to its contents.
A close family friend later told the Daily Mail: "When he opened the black bin bag, he saw her cut-off head with the hair still attached."
The father ran from the house screaming until a neighbour called police.
Rieben was arrested at the scene.
According to the same family friend, who has not been independently verified, Rieben later complained that he had been caught only because Joksimovic's parents had stayed too long that evening.
"If they had only come by briefly, they wouldn't have stumbled across the remains," he is alleged to have said.
Although Joksimovic's social media painted a very different picture, including images from a 'couple's getaway' at a luxury hotel above Lake Lucerne just four weeks before her death, friends have since spoken openly about what they describe as a controlling and abusive relationship.
"She was really in love at the beginning, but I was a bit surprised when she got into a relationship with him as he didn't suit her at all," one friend told the Mirror.
"He came across as really introverted, very critical and sometimes quite arrogant.
"He was really derogatory with her, with gestures, words and even his tone. He wanted Kristina to disappear."
According to friends, Joksimovic had attempted to convince Rieben to attend couples therapy.
He reportedly either left sessions early or refused to attend at all.
On at least one occasion, Joksimovic is said to have called the police on Rieben for being "violent and threatening."
One friend also said Rieben 'hates femininity,' allegedly refusing to let the couple's two daughters wear what he described as 'feminine clothing.'
Kristina Joksimovic was a finalist in the 2007 Miss Switzerland pageant and went on to build a career as a runway coach, running her own business in the years before her death.
She was the mother of two young daughters.
Following news of her killing in 2024, former Miss Switzerland Christa Rigozzi, a close friend of Joksimovic, told Swiss outlet 20 Minuten: "I'm really shocked. I'm thinking of her two daughters.
"She was such a beautiful and kind-hearted woman."
The couple's two children are now in the care of Joksimovic's parents and sister, although a custody battle is reportedly ongoing.
Joksimovic's parents are not expected to comment publicly. According to friends, they have been receiving intensive psychiatric support since finding their daughter's body.
The trial
Rieben's trial is being held in Muttenz, near Basel, and is expected to last around five and a half days.
Investigators have previously described him as displaying 'sadistic tendencies,' as well as 'a noticeably high level of criminal energy,' and 'a lack of empathy.'
A previous appeal by Rieben for release from custody was denied by Switzerland's Federal Court.
If convicted of murder, he faces a lengthy prison sentence under Swiss law.
For Joksimovic's family and friends, Monday will mark the beginning of a long-awaited reckoning.
For the wider Swiss public, it is expected to be one of the highest-profile criminal trials the country has seen in years.
