On the surface, Swiss model and mother-of-two Kristina Joksimovic appeared to have everything in life. With a thriving career as a catwalk coach, her own polished modeling portfolio, and a lifestyle that ranged from the beaches of Hawaii to the ski slopes of Switzerland, she had much to be proud of.
As she herself acknowledged, her life was filled with accomplishments. Yet, without a doubt, Kristina's greatest pride came from the cherubic faces of her two daughters, who were born just 17 months apart in 2020 and 2021. Kristina, a former Miss Switzerland finalist, was open about how much her daughters—beautiful toddlers with bright red hair—meant to her.
A Different Picture from Outside
In September 2021, just weeks before the birth of her second child, Kristina shared a black-and-white photo on Instagram. The photo, taken in the Swiss city of Basel, showed her and her eldest daughter from behind, sitting by a lake.
"I am proud of many things in life but nothing beats being a mother," she wrote.
Two years later, with her two lovely daughters and a charming husband by her side, Kristina shared another elegantly posed photo, this time of the larger family group, silhouetted on a sandy beach. The photo was simply captioned "my world," with an emoji of a small globe in place of the word.
Now, those images and captions hold a tragic significance, serving as a reminder that while photographs can capture moments, they don't always reveal the full story.
Earlier this year, just six months after that second Instagram post, 38-year-old Kristina was found dead in the basement of the home she shared with her husband, who cannot be named due to Swiss privacy laws, in the upscale district of Binningen, Basel.
The horrifying details surrounding her death, which have only come to light this week due to the strict privacy regulations on criminal investigations in Switzerland, have shocked people both in Switzerland and beyond.
According to autopsy reports, it appears that the blonde model was strangled, then dismembered, with parts of her body put in a blender and dissolved in a chemical solution.
Kristina appears to have been strangled first before other brutal injuries were inflicted. Among the many horrifying acts, her womb was removed.
Killed by the Closest Person
Adding to the shock of Kristina's death, the person accused of this horrific crime is someone who was once very close to her—her attractive businessman husband.
Initially, he claimed to have "found his wife dead" by the stairs but later confessed to killing Kristina, claiming that he acted in self-defense after she attacked him with a knife. He also claimed to have dismembered her in a panic using a jigsaw, knife, and garden shears.
What really happened behind closed doors on that winter day in February remains unclear. The accused has yet to go to trial, and charges have not yet been filed.
Swiss reports indicate that Kristina's Serbian father discovered the tragedy after receiving a call from the kindergarten where his grandchildren were cared for, asking him to pick them up.
When he called his son-in-law to inquire about his daughter's whereabouts, he was told calmly that she was in the laundry room, located in the basement of the house.
The horror of what followed is unimaginable, with Kristina's father reportedly left "speechless with pain."
What is disturbingly evident is the stark contrast between the image someone projects to the outside world and the harsh reality that may lie beneath.
This is the same man, according to the Swiss public prosecutor's office, who allegedly watched YouTube videos on his phone while dismembering his wife's body.
At 16, Kristina was a sports enthusiast when a modeling scout spotted her on the streets of Basel and invited her to enter a competition. She agreed, and four years later, she became a finalist in the Miss Switzerland pageant.
Although she didn't win, she described the experience as a "life-changing moment" and used it as a stepping stone to establish her career as a catwalk coach, while also working in IT recruitment.
"During this time, I was often approached by people who wanted to know how to walk across the stage beautifully," she mentioned in an interview. Over time, it was only natural for her to broaden her services, helping women from all backgrounds—not just fellow models—gain the confidence to walk confidently in high heels.
Court documents released this week provide additional insight into what was truly happening behind the scenes.
The report indicates that the murder was a "planned and systematic approach, over several hours, in dismembering and attempting to dispose of the corpse using special tools and chemicals."
