Bulgarian Classmate Killer Receives 20 Years behind Bars

Defendant in the classmate murder case, Nikolay Arabadzhiev, is led to the courtroom. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Cassations sentenced Tuesday 21-year-old Nikolay Arabadzhiev to 20 years of jail time for the murder of classmate Atanas Atanasov.

The rule is final and cannot be appealed.

In addition, Arabadzhiev must pay a BGN 200 000 in compensation to the family of the victim of the brutal murder.

In December 2009, the Sofia City Court sentenced Arabadzhiev to life in prison, which came as a surprise since the prosecutor asked for 20 years.

The supreme magistrates say the defendant was not temporarily insane and did not act in self-defense. He dealt a heavy blow with a dump-bell to the back of his friend's head and then stabbed him 15 times, causing Atanas to die slowly and in great pain. He had agonized for 20 minutes.

According to the latest rule, the decision to kill was not premeditated – the motive prompting the Court of Appeals to reduce in April 2010 the life sentence to 20 years.

The crime was committed in the apartment of the killer's grandmother, located in Sofia's Zapaden Park district in May 2008. The prosecutor says the killer invited Atanas there and the two got into a heated argument over a prom suit.

The police found the victim's dismembered body in a trash container while the arms and the head were discovered buried in the Vitosha mountain near Sofia. The two are said to have been friends but had a long-running history of arguments and anger. Arabadzhiev told the investigators he got enraged by the victim constantly making fun of him.

It was found in the course of the investigation that Arabadzhiev had the skills of a surgeon, wanted to become one and owned a full range of surgical instruments, a hobby strongly encouraged by his parents.

Arabadzhiev's defense lawyer, prominent Bulgarian attorney, Marin Markovski, previously pleaded for a 10-year sentence with the argument Arabadzhiev was the subject of vicious sexual abuse on the part of Atanasov.

The version of a gay relationship has been rejected and Arabadzhiev, himself, admitted he made it up.

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