Suspect in Sofia Grisly Park Murder Released on Recognizance

Suspect Plamen Trifonov (C) is seen escorted by the police to the Courtroom. Photo by BGNES

The Sofia Appellate Court released Thursday on own recognizance Plamen Trifonov, the only suspect in a grisly murder that took place in the summer in the capital's downtown Central Park.

The magistrates ruled that there is nearly any lack of evidence Trifonov had committed the murder.

Plamen Trifonov, 34, was detained in July for the murder of 28-year-old Yana Krasteva whose body was discovered in the Borisova Gradina park in central Sofia on July 10, almost two days after she was bludgeoned and strangled to death.

Another man, Nikolay Rusinov, was also initially detained as a potential suspect, but charges against him were never pressed. He said at the time that he had met Yana one day before, the two had danced, enjoyed themselves, drank plenty of alcohol, and had sex near the place where she was found dead. Rusinov had allegedly left Yana sleeping in the bushes around 05:30 am and had gone home.

The coroner's report, however, lists the time of death between midnight and 4 am.

Trifonov's mother insists she was with her son at 6 am that same morning.

The only evidence, connecting Trifonov with the murder are hairs found at the crime scene, for which the biological test had shown they have some similarity with Trifonov's DNA profile, but experts added they could not be 100% certain this is an exact match. The only certain DNA evidence at the scene is from Rusinov.

The Appellate Court's rule is final.

After the murder, several media falsely reported that the woman was a "hobo" and an "alcoholic," stirring outrage among her friends and acquaintances on Facebook. In a controversial statement, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that the murder should "sober up" all young people in the country.

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