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American confesses to stabbing, dismembering wife while on vacation in France, reports say

PEYRIAC-DE-MER, France — Hours after he and his wife were spotted dining at a romantic restaurant in the French village of Peyriac-de-Mer, an American was arrested in connection with her killing as he prepared to board a flight out of the country.

Billy Kruger, who lived with his wife in Indonesia, was charged Friday with aggravated murder, La Dépêche du Midi in Toulouse reported. The dismembered body of Laure Bardina-Kruger, 52, was found in a storm sewer near the couple’s vacation home.

Peyriac-de-Mer is a small village on the Mediterranean, south of Narbonne in the south of France. The couple, whose social media profiles indicate they both worked at Jakarta Intercultural School, spent a few weeks vacationing in the village each year, according to media reports.

Bardina-Kruger’s father called police after his daughter, a middle school French teacher in Jakarta, failed to show up for a visit at his home about 45 miles away.

Afternoon hike in Padar

Posted by Billy Kruger on Saturday, December 23, 2017

“The victim’s father sounded the alert after his daughter did not turn up for a family reunion in Carcassonne,” a source close to the investigation told The Mirror. “She was due to say goodbye to everybody before the couple returned to Jakarta.

“Instead, police were instructed to search for the victim and they found her body in a gutter in a road near the house.”

The storm drain in which Bardina-Kruger’s body was found was about 325 feet from their vacation home. After the grisly discovery, investigators began searching for Kruger, who was arrested in the departure area of Toulouse-Blagnac Airport.

The couple was due to leave for Jakarta together on Friday, La Dépêche du Midi reported.

Kruger reportedly admitted to killing his wife. Marie-Agnès Joly, the prosecutor in Narbonne, told Agence France-Press that Kruger claimed he stabbed Bardina-Kruger twice in self-defense.

Bardina-Kruger’s brother, Pierre Bardina, wrote on Facebook Sunday that the family had received word about Kruger’s alleged involvement in his sister’s stabbing death.

“I have no words to describe what we are all feeling at this time,” Bardina wrote. “Our whole family thanks you again for your words of support which remind us how much Laure was appreciated. For her kindness, her energy, her solar charisma, her will and the love she had for her son, Maximus, and her husband who murdered her.”

Ma famille et moi même avons l'immense douleur de vous faire part du décès particulièrement brutal de ma soeur Laure...

Posted by Bardina Pierre on Saturday, July 25, 2020

Bardina wrote that his sister never indicated there was trouble in her marriage or that her husband was violent.

“We always think that it can only happen to others, but violence against women can happen suddenly,” he wrote.

Kruger, Bardina wrote, has left the family’s hearts with “the burning mark of eternal sorrow.”

Nous avons eu la confirmation hier, par les services de Police que ma soeur Laure Bardina-Kruger a bien été assassinée à...

Posted by Bardina Pierre on Sunday, July 26, 2020

“Maximus, Laure’s son is an orphan and has neither mother nor father. We owe it to ourselves to be strong and resilient for him,” he wrote.

Friends and colleagues of Bardina-Kruger’s also mourned her death on social media. They, like her brother, said there was no indication in the couple’s marriage of the trouble to come.

Amy Brill wrote that the tragedy was unspeakable.

“Last month, she was posting in the ‘I love my husband’ challenge,” Brill wrote on a mutual friend’s page. “How did they get from Point A to Point B?”

Ben Dunbar wrote that Bardina-Kruger “quite literally personified joie de vivre,” or the joy of living.

I am absolutely devastated and heart broken to hear the news of the tragic death of my wonderful friend and former...

Posted by Helen He on Sunday, July 26, 2020

“I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken to hear the news of the tragic death of my wonderful friend and former colleague, Laure Bardina-Kruger,” wrote Helen He, who worked with Kruger at Shanghai Community International School.

According to Bardina-Kruger’s LinkedIn page, she taught French and physical education while in China. Prior to that, she taught in Hawaii for four years, as well as in Nevada, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in 2000.

Chantal Frantz-Wagener wrote on Facebook that her entire family is “shattered and speechless” over the killing of Bardina-Kruger, who was taught by Frantz-Wagener’s husband at the University of Nevada-Reno. Bardina-Kruger later taught the couple’s daughter high school French.

The women became friends more than 15 years ago.

“She was the sweetest and most positive-spirited woman, and (a) teacher with the biggest heart,” Frantz-Wagener said.

He’s post about the slain woman echoed the sentiment.

“She was such a bright, kind and beautiful person inside and out,” He wrote. “When she left SCIS, we both promised that we would visit each other regularly after we retire.

“I am saddened that this promise will never come true now that she has been taken away from us so suddenly.”