Plovdiv Appeal Court has ruled that Slavcho Megerov, charged with the murder of businessman Iliyan Filipov, must stay in custody. The judges upheld the lower court's decision.
This report follows our earlier story on the killing of Iliyan Filipov, in which Gen. Vasil Vasilev, former head of the National Police Service, said the detained man was not a professional killer.
The gun used to shoot Filipov has not been found.
The court heard the case behind closed doors at the request of the defence, because details of the defendant's health and private life are read out in the courtroom.
Megerov still refuses to give investigators any account. His lawyer, Dilyana Agova, said he will speak when he decides the time has come. She said Megerov is convinced he has been made a target and that evidence is being gathered to fit an "imaginary theory" that he killed Filipov. The defence says there is no evidence against him so far.
Prosecutors presented new evidence and expert findings today, without saying what they are. They say cameras recorded Megerov's route from Sofia to Plovdiv, where he took his sister's car. On some of the footage the car's number plate can be read. On other footage, filmed after the killing, he throws away his clothes and trainers.
Prosecutors did not say whether there are gunpowder traces on Megerov's hands. There are no direct witnesses to the killing. "Can a murder happen at 1am and we expect to find an eyewitness?" prosecutor Ivan Daskalov told BNT.
Investigators are checking several versions of the motive. Daskalov said the prosecutors at the first-instance court still have a lot of work to do before they establish one or more convincing motives. He added that it is already clear the two men had unsettled money matters, linked not only to betting but also to construction.
Weapons were found and seized in the building where Megerov's sister lives. They are being checked for links to other crimes.
Yordan Rogachev, a former Plovdiv police chief, believes the evidence against Megerov is so far more circumstantial than direct, and that the involvement of another person should not be ruled out. He said one camera clearly shows Megerov's face, but on the footage of a man leaving the crime scene the face cannot be made out. That raises doubt over whether it is him or rather someone who was with him.
"He was undoubtedly there, but most likely there was also someone with him who helped him," Rogachev told BNT.
Rogachev does not believe Filipov took part in an illegal lottery or unregulated betting, because the businessman had the means and could afford to fund the Botev Plovdiv team.