New Charges May Be Filed in Gruesome Sofia Park Murder

Plamen Trifonov, the only suspect in the murder trial, has been released on own recognizance over insufficient evidence. Photo by BGNES

New charges may be filed in the murder case of 28-year-old Yana Krasteva Yana Krusteva after the authorities gather additional evidence, Margarita Nemska , Spokesperson for the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office, announced on Monday.

She explained that the evidence gathered so far was insufficient to bring new charges other than that against Plamen Trifonov, who was charged at the early stages of an investigation.

Plamen Trifonov, 34, was detained in July for the murder of 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.

"There have been several versions for the murder ever since the start of the investigation. The crime scene examination yielded material evidence implicating a couple of other people than the defendant," Nemska told journalists.

The crime scene investigation revealed biological material of more than two people other than the victim.

The Spokesperson for the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office made it clear that the discovery of material evidence could never be taken as a conclusive clue to the authorship of the crime and was not enough to justify the immediate filing of new charges.

Stefan Rachev, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, announced that over 30 witnesses had been questioned so far and an expert analysis had been requested of all material evidence found at the crime scene.

Already prepared statements by DNA experts and bilologists confirm the involvement of more than two persons in the murder.

A forensic mental health assessment of Nikolay Rusinov has also been requested.

Two weeks ago,the prosecuting authority established the exact time of death of Yana Krasteva.

On Saturday, the prosecution questioned taxi driver Georgi Petrov, who claimed in a TV show on Nova TV that he had seen Plamen Trifonov in the early hours after Yana's death.

The credibility of his testimony is yet to be assessed.

The prosecuting authority has said it has taken into account the fact that Petrov decided to testify only after the sole defendant in the murder trial was set free.

Last week, the Sofia Appellate Court released on own recognizance Plamen Trifonov, the only suspect in the grisly murder.

The only evidence connecting Trifonov with the murder are hairs found at the crime scene which DNA tests estimated as similar to Trifonov's profile.

However, the experts said they could not be certain that there is a 100% match.

The only solid DNA evidence at the crime scene belongs to Rusinov.

The Appellate Court's ruling is final.

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