A Sofia court will decide on Tuesday, 27 October, what pre-trial measure to impose on the Turkish citizen charged with the murder of Slavi Binev. Prosecutors will ask for the toughest one, detention in custody. The 72 hours for which he was held also run out that day.
Eyup Temiz was charged on Sunday with premeditated murder under Article 115 of the Criminal Code. Binev, a businessman and former MEP, was shot dead the day before, on 24 October, at about 10am at his home in the Gardova Glava district of Sofia.
The background: Turkish national charged with murder of Slavi Binev, permanent detention sought
Three men were detained, but only one has been charged. Sofia City Prosecutor's Office says the fatal shot was his. Spokesman Nikolay Nikolaev said the evidence points to a lone gunman.
Prosecutors say there is not yet enough evidence to charge the other two.
Two of the detained men are Turkish citizens. The third is a Bulgarian with a Bulgarian ID card. BNT reports that one of the Turkish citizens fired the shot. Sources close to the investigation say the Bulgarian has given a detailed account of what happened in the house.
All three had known Binev for years. The interior ministry says they were frequent guests at his home, including the day before. They are builders with their own company and are building two complexes in Sofia.
Investigators say the suspect and Binev knew each other well and had business ties.
Security cameras show the suspects' car arriving at 9.50am. The men were met and let into the house. They did not hide their faces or the car, either when they arrived or when they left.
Binev died from a single shot to the head, fired at point-blank range. The spent cartridge case was found in the room. An hour later he was due to open an international taekwondo tournament.
Police received the call at 10.18am, 28 minutes after the car arrived. It came from a person close to Binev who heard the shot. A witness at the scene also heard the shot and saw three people drive off in a Lexus in an unknown direction.
Police followed the car on security cameras as it left Sofia on the Trakia motorway. They stopped it by ramming it near the Trayanovi Vrata tunnel, around the 54km mark. The three men were overpowered and detained.
Police found two legally owned pistols in the car. One had been thrown out just before the stop, probably to hide it. The other was in a passenger's small bag.
Lyubomir Nikolov, chief secretary of the interior ministry, believes the discarded pistol is probably the murder weapon, citing the attempt to hide it. "I very much hope it is," he told BNT.
Nikolov says it was not a contract killing. "This act cannot be counted among those carried out on order. They had known each other for a long time. And most likely something spontaneous happened," he said.
The main line of inquiry is that the motive was unsettled financial dealings and a sudden quarrel.
BNT sources say Binev had taken on the role of go-between for two of the suspects and their opponents in a property dispute.