Miss Switzerland Finalist Strangled, ‘Pureed’ in Blender by Husband: Police

The man accused of killing his wife, dismembering her, decapitating her, and. pureeing her remains using a blender, has just been charged with murder. Let's. talk about it. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Look, let me say something as we cover a. story like this. Staying on top of the. news is so important, but with all the. media bias these days, who knows what to. believe? That's why I want to introduce. you to our sponsor, Straight Hour News. Straight our news is a personalized news. platform that gives readers fact-based.

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insane story since the beginning. You. can check it out. Sierra Gillespie. covered it as well. The details are so. shocking they are almost impossible to. forget, as much as you might try. We. have an international model, a former. Miss Switzerland finalist who was. apparently strangled, dismembered with a. jigsaw, and then police say her remains. were pureed in a blender. All by the one. person who should have protected her the. most, her own husband. She was a mentor,

a mother of two, and her life ended in. an act of such brutal violence. Now, her. husband was arrested. first said he. found her dead, then changed his story, claiming self-defense that she attacked. him with a knife. The evidence told a. very different, horrifying tale, though, and now there is a major update. Prosecutors have just officially charged. him with murder. We're going to dig into. the new charging documents, the chilling. details they contain about what. allegedly happened in that house. This. is one of the most disturbing cases that.

we have ever covered and it all centers. on two people. Christina Jamovic and her. husband, a man identified in Swiss court. documents and media as Thomas. There are. Swiss privacy laws in place, so he's. only being identified as Thomas. Christina was a 38-year-old from. Binigan, Switzerland. She wasn't just. any woman, was a former model, a Miss. Switzerland finalist. She had won the. Miss Northwest Switzerland pageant back. in 2003. But by 2024, her career had. evolved. She was helping people. She had. founded her own catwalking coaching.

business where she mentored aspiring. models. We can actually hear her inner. element coaching a young woman. >> My name is Christina, [music] the. catwalk coach, and I'm preparing Natalie. for her big show. Let's start with the. first pose. If you want to look. confident and sexy, take a step aside, turn, and lean back slightly. If you're. wearing a dress, take one step ahead. Lean back to highlights your legs. In. >> 2017, Christina got married. She and her.

husband Thomas, they shared two young. daughters together. From the outside, they appeared to be a picture perfect. family living in an affluent area. And. you know what? Just four weeks before. she died, Christina posted photos online. of a romantic couple's getaway at a. luxurious hotel. But then you go to. February 13th, 2024, everything changed. Christina's parents got a call from. their granddaughter's kindergarten that. Christina hadn't shown up to pick them. up. So worried, her father went to the. family home. Her husband was there. The.

suspect told Christina's father that he. didn't know where she was. Allegedly. told Christina's father that he didn't. know where she was. Now, apparently, while Thomas was distracted, Christina's. father searched the house, goes down to. the basement laundry room, described as. this isolated bunker-like space, and. there he sees this large black trash bag. with what looked like blonde hair. sticking out of it. So, he opened it. And apologies for how gruesome this is, but inside this father, you know what he. discovered? He found his daughter's.

severed head. Police were called. They. arrived. They took over the scene. Christina's husband was arrested in. connection with her death. But now, all. these months later, we have a major new. development. On December 10th, nearly. what, 10 months after Christina was. found, the public prosecutor's office. announced that it had concluded its. investigation and filed formal charges. Christina's husband has been officially. charged with murder and disturbing the. peace of the dead. All right, want to. break all this down. Want to get a legal. expert on who has seen both sides of the.

courtroom. criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor Safa Robinson Ferrer. Uh Safa, thanks so much for taking the. time. I know this is a really, really. difficult case to cover. Um, but it hits. on something that we've seen a lot in. domestic homicide investigations, the. changing story from I found her to I. killed her in self-defense. I don't care. if it's a case here or abroad. From your. perspective as both a former prosecutor. and defense attorney, how do.

investigators typically dismantle a a. case like that? I mean, how much is of. is it a problem to say, well, you found. her and now it's self-defense? You. could, I guess, argue, oh, it was panic. He maybe didn't think immediately that. someone would believe the self-defense. argument. On the other hand, it doesn't. appear that there is anything at this. point to support that. I think. oftentimes in cases like this, the. self-defense argument doesn't come into. play until the defendant realizes that. they've essentially been caught and that. there are things that they can't explain.

away. For example, they can't explain. away how their DNA was at the the crime. scene. And of course, maybe they lived. together in this particular instance, but there's nothing that would indicate. that anybody else could have committed. the crime. The timeline of events with. respect to this case are fully. established where the husband in this. particular case. There couldn't have. been anybody else but him as the. perpetrator. There's no alibi or. anything like that. Oftentimes in. domestic violence cases, and we hear. this a lot, investigators preliminarily.

look at the spouse, the husband or the. wife as a possible suspect because. unfortunately oftent times those are the. individuals that are responsible for. domestically related homicides more. often than not. So that's where. investigators will typically begin their. investigation, have a conversation with. this individual, and then that person. for whatever reason says, "Oh, it wasn't. me. I just found her there." Because. they haven't yet concluded in their mind. what their best defense is going to be. And until they are caught red-handed,

for lack of a better way to put it, by. investigators forcing them to say, "Well, yeah, I wasn't actually at the. store. I was actually home because the. ring camera footage shows them there at. the time." then they have to start. concocting something that is more so of. a self-defense related theory for. themselves and that's where things begin. to change and it really goes to their. credibility over time. If the cases make. it to trial then the jury is going to be. able to see well initially they told. this one story then they change their. story once they realize that they.

couldn't explain away certain pieces of. evidence. >> To be clear though and like we're. talking about this in the middle of the. Brian Walsh case as well. If there's. evidence that a significant other. dismembered a body, mutilated a body, it's hard to even grasp somebody doing. that and maybe a jury would say if they. have the will to do that to somebody. that they loved, potentially loved, it's. not a far stretch to think that they. murdered them as well. The other way of. looking at it is if you have evidence of. dismemberment, doesn't necessarily mean.

that that person murdered the victim in. this case, right? particularly if the. body is in such a state where you can't. easily determine what happened to them. or there might be a situation where the. body's not found. So as bad as this uh. evidence of mutilation is and and I have. to explore it a little bit more and. there is evidence by the way about what. might have happened to her. But as bad. as the mutilation here is and it's one. of the worst I've ever heard in my. entire life, it doesn't necessarily. always mean that they're guilty of.

murder. >> That that's definitely true. We have. scenarios where just throwing out a. hypothetical, you might have someone. coming home and their partner is. deceased. Maybe there was some drug. abuse or something of that nature. And. because of that and because they don't. want to get found out about it or they. don't know what to do, maybe if they. participated in those things as well, then they try to conceal what ultimately. happened. And there's a certain charge. in certain jurisdictions called. concealment of a corpse or dismemberment. of a corpse and things of that nature. So sometimes, and I've seen on a very.

few rare occasions where they cannot. prove that the defendant actually. murdered the individual, but they can. prove that the person tampered with. evidence, dismembered the body, and. other things of that nature. Because in. order to convict somebody of a murder, there has to be an establishment of. facts that this person intentionally. killed this person and how they did. that. If you've got dismemberment, if. you've got other things at play, it may. be difficult for a medical examiner to. truly determine how that occurred.

>> But the problem is it's coupled with. everything else a defendant does. Like. for example, here, okay, allegedly. giving false information about what. happened here and not telling. Christina's own father what happened. I. mean, it was Christina's own father who. found the remains. When you hear that, how does it impact the case? both in. terms of, you know, the emotional weight. for a jury, but also the credibility it. gives to the investigation. Um, it gives. to what this defendant was really up to. The father finds the remains, finds the.

decapitated head. That I feel is going. to be uh a big factor that has to be. considered. >> Absolutely. And it's completely. gut-wrenching if a jury has to hear that. a father that a parent found their child. dismembered in such a gruesome and. horrific way. There's some sympathy that. will likely enter into a person's mind. for that father and for the victim here. in this case. Now, a judge will always. instruct, at least here in the US, that. sympathy cannot enter your.

deliberations. However, jurors are human. and those emotions will come into play. with that. Not only that, but I think. that jurors are going to consider and. think about, and we do know a little bit. more about this case and the manner of. how it happened, but jurors are also. going to think about, well, if they. lived together, why was the father the. one to find her body in this way and not. the husband? And if the husband found. her in this way, why would he not have. immediately called 911, rendered help, rendered some sort of aid, something to. that effect? But again, going back to my. initial point was in these cases, a lot.

of times you see that the spouse is. often responsible and investigators look. at the spouse because of the nature of. these types of relationships. >> Can you explain something to me? We have. this significant time gap. What was it. 10 months between the arrest and the. formal charges? I don't know that uh. criminal law system very well, but from. the outside that see feels very very. long. Um based on your experience, what. would be the reasons? kind of maybe. complex forensic investigative steps. would be happening behind the scenes.

that would lead to a delay like that. >> That's certainly a long period of time. However, the things that could come into. play and what what probably has come. into play here is the forensics and is. the medical examination and toxicology. reports on the victim. The likelihood is. that because of the toxicology, because. of the medical examinations that would. have needed to occur in this case to. fully establish the manner of death, the. timeline of death, and all of those. other sorts of things are probably the.

reason why this has taken so long. There. are a number of tests and examinations. that the medical examiner do in these. cases, again, including toxicology, including a review of the body to. determine again what that specific. manner of death was. And I think here it. was ultimately ruled to have. strangulation prior to the dismemberment. of the body. So those are all things. that come into play and they take time. They do take time. So I think that's. probably why we've seen that 10-month. gap here. Also, the investigators have.

to do their due diligence with speaking. to witnesses, piecing the timeline. together, and really solidifying their. case against the defendant. And those. things also take time. >> I want to start with the foundation of. the prosecution's case. So, it's the. cause of death and what happened after. Now, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. ruling uh reviewed by local outlet Bezy. Basil details this horrific sequence of. events. It states that after Christina. was strangled, her body was dismembered.

in the laundry room using a jigsaw, a. knife, and garden shears. And the court. documents then describe how several body. parts were subsequently shredded with a. hand blender, that they were pureed, that they were dissolved in a chemical. I think this is the worst episode of. dismemberment I've ever heard of. disposing of a body that I've ever. heard. So, we have the methods of. killing, we have the tools, but the. court's assessment of the accused. behavior. That is what stands out cuz. they wrote that his entire conduct. indicates a significant propensity for. violence that in some cases exhibiting.

what they called sadistic sociopathic. traits. They noted he displayed a. remarkably high level of criminal. energy, a lack of empathy, coldbloodedness after killing his wife. I can't say soft saf I'm surprised by. that conclusion but what is that. language from the court itself due to. this case? What does that signify to. you? >> Not surprising from that conclusion. either and I really noted and what. really stood out to me was the criminal. energy. And so for the courts to make. this type of conclusion tells me that.

they've done their own assessment to the. facts of the case maybe through a. hearing or other information documents. and depositions that they may have. reviewed and taken a totality and given. their opinion on the case. Now again in. the United States judges don't really do. that. They might give some opinions. maybe in a chambers conference or things. like that on what they would do with the. case if it ultimately went to trial. But. the court here has made it very clear. that this particular defendant has that. sadistic propensity, has that criminal. energy and nature. And so I think that.

there is a concern on behalf of the. court with the direction that this case. may go and wants to ensure the integrity. of the case and the integrity of any. conviction that ultimately may come. down. >> And it seems they're making clear this. is not somebody who uh was in a. situation where they panicked and they. just tried to get rid of the body. this. part. I'm going to read you something. else that really is um it's tough to. hear. So, the details from the autopsy. report again as cited uh in the court's. judgment, they became even more specific.

because as detailed in a report from the. Daily Mail, which cites the autopsy. directly, it confirms the decapitation, but it notes a unique deliberate. mutilation, the careful removal of the. victim's womb, which was the only organ. cut out. And the court itself refers to. this as evidence of what they call a. deliberate mutilation or ritualized. degradation of the body which they. believe indicates the appellant has a. mental disorder. Let's start right. there. Sappa, why remove the womb? I.

mean that feels to me what escalates. this as if it couldn't even be escalated. more. But what separates this from other. cases? >> It's it's definitely a a significant. question specific to the womb. you know, makes me think about or wonder if, you. know, in some type of, you know, enragement based off of maybe some. infidelity or or what type of crime of. passion or what would have invoked this. individual to essentially cut out one of. the most intimate parts of this woman. And considering that they are or were.

married at a point, have children, that. the level of just gruesomeness and. attention to that particular area of her. body really gives me pause as an. attorney and generally speaking, anybody. pause to say what would make someone do. that? And again, to the court's point, the mutilation, the sadisticness, who. would do that? But ultimately, you know, looking into the mind, the state of mind. of an individual who has the ability to. do something like this is ultimately. really at play at question here. So all.

of those things are going to be taken. together, the facts of the case as. they've established it to be, the mental. health or the competency of the. particular defendant in this case, the. nature of the relationship, which we. know is domestic, any prior domestic. evidence, we've got the fact that the. father was the one that located his. daughter. And so all of those things. taken into totality will come into play. with this case. >> And oh, by the way, I forgot to mention. the investigative findings noted that in. the court documents that were reported.

by the Daily Mail state that while. dismembering the body, the accused. played YouTube videos on his phone. So. while this is going on, it goes back to. this part where they talk about a mental. illness, right? Where they talk about. that this could be evidence of a a. mental disorder. So how does that factor. in all of this? the brutality, the. deliberate action, the meticulousness of. this. I mean, if these allegations are. true, are we talking a mental disorder. of some kind, a defense of some kind? >> It it is very possible there might be. some type some type of psychiatric.

defense here. You know, here in the. United States and particularly in New. York, we have what we call a 7:30. competency. Is this individual competent. enough to testify? Can this individual. formulate required culpable mental state. at the time of the offense to establish. the murder? Again, when you're talking. about intentionally killing somebody, the prosecution or the government has to. prove that that person acted with. intent. If there is some mental health. implications or some type of psychosis. that is going on with the defendant at.

that time, that is going to be a hurdle. that the prosecution or the government. has to get over. is can that required. mental state be formulated if an. individual has been under psychosis at. that time. >> I'll also say this, the charges. Okay, so the prosecutor's office announced on. December 10th that they have filed. charges of murder and disturbing the. peace of the dead. I get the murder. charge, Sappa, disturbing the peace of. the dead. Do we have something similar. uh like that here in the United States? Is it something that's coupled with a.

murder charge? >> I haven't seen that here in New York. Um, it's very possible that other. jurisdictions may have those things and. that more so sounds like maybe a law. that has been on the books for quite. some time and there are some states and. jurisdictions that may have that. Here, particularly in New York, you have. offenses like dismemberment, concealment. of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and those essentially would fit the. requirements for that type of offense in. Switzerland. >> I'll just tell you this is really sick. stuff. This is really, really sick.

stuff. I don't even know what to say. about something like this. I read it and. it struck me and I remember Sierra had. first reported on it. Struck me. And so, you know, we'll see where this case. progresses, but um my heart goes out to. the children. The children uh I don't. know how they navigate life now after. this. Uh Safa Robinson Ferrer, thank you. so much for taking the time. Really. appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me, Jesse. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always,

please subscribe [music] on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. You can follow. me on X [music] or Instagram. I'm Jesse. Weber. I'll speak to you next time.