Prosecutors in Sliven have charged Ivan Radev, known as Monkata, with intentional murder as a dangerous repeat offender, prosecution spokeswoman Vanya Beleva said. Radev has been convicted more than 25 times. A prosecutor's order keeps him in custody for up to 72 hours.
Prosecutors say Radev stabbed a 33-year-old man to death in the early afternoon of 4 November in the eastern part of Sliven's holiday-home area.
More on this story: Ivan Radev, known as Monkata, detained on suspicion of fatal stabbing in Sliven
He left the area after the killing, and police began searching for him. At about 10pm that evening, officers from the Sliven regional police directorate (ODMVR) found him during a special operation at a private home in the village of Chokoba and detained him. Unofficial reports of an arrested suspect had appeared earlier in the day. Neither police nor prosecutors confirmed them.
Chief commissioner Boris Borisov, head of the District Police Department, also spoke about the arrest at the briefing.
The two men had been close friends. Investigators say a dispute over money arose between them, and the evidence gathered points to a financial motive.
The charge falls under Article 116, paragraph 1, point 12 of the Criminal Code. The "dangerous repeat offender" label comes from Radev's earlier convictions. The penalties range from 15 to 20 years in prison, to life in prison, to life in prison without the option of commutation, the harshest sentence in the code.
The regional prosecutor's office will ask the court to order "detention in custody", the toughest pre-trial restriction.
Radev is also known in Burgas. In 2017, while serving a sentence for kidnapping, he publicly claimed that a scheme to distribute methamphetamine was operating in Burgas prison. He named prison staff as part of it.