Murder of Bulgarian TV presenter Viktoria Marinova: Psychological tests find accused fit to stand trial
The District Prosecutor’s Office in Bulgaria’s city of Rousse on the Danube is to lodge formal charges against the alleged rapist and murderer of television presenter Viktoria Marinova and will demand the most severe penalties, the Prosecutor’s Office said on February 7.
Prosecutors said that psychological and psychiatric tests had established that the accused, Severin Krassimirov, was mildly mentally retarded and emotionally unstable, but could understand the nature and importance of what had happened.
He had no fundamental mental disorders and therefore could be put on trial. He could understand the meaning and importance of the investigative actions and could understand the meaning of the punishment imposed, the prosecutors’ statement said.
The rape and murder of Marinova in October 2018 was the subject of headlines in Bulgarian and foreign media and was the subject of political comment, as various figures rushed to the conclusion that the brutal assault must have been linked to her work as a television presenter.
Krassimirov was identified as the suspect and was extradited from Germany, to which he had fled. Investigators said that the attack on Marinova had been random.
The February 7 statement by the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office said that so far, 30 witnesses had been questioned and 19 expert reports commissioned. There had been initial and follow-up examinations of the site and of physical evidence, as well as search-and-seizure, the statement said. Mobile phone operator and medical records had been received, the statement said.
By the order of the Regional Court in Rousse, Krassimirov is in custody pending the outcome of the trial.
(Photo of the court building in Rousse: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)