The regional prosecutor's office in Sliven will ask a court to keep Ivan Radev, 37, known as "Monkata", in custody. Radev is charged with murdering a 33-year-old man as a dangerous repeat offender, police and prosecutors said.

There were only unofficial reports of his arrest on Wednesday. Prosecutors have now confirmed it.

Earlier on this story: Suspect in Sliven stabbing detained, unconfirmed reports say

Radev has been convicted more than 25 times, with final verdicts. His last sentence ended on 13 October 2026, 22 days before the killing.

The victim was stabbed on Wednesday, 4 November, on private property in a villa area east of Sliven. At about 2pm, the emergency department of the city hospital called police about a man with a stab wound. He died before officers reached him.

The two men had been close friends for years. Early information suggests they quarrelled over money.

A witness pointed police investigators to the suspect. After checks on the roads out of Sliven, officers detained Radev at about 10pm the same evening in the village of Chokoba, in Sliven municipality. He did not resist, and investigators found the weapon used in the killing.

He can be held for up to 72 hours. Prosecutors will ask the court to order detention in custody, the strictest measure. Investigators say there is a real risk that Radev could go into hiding or commit another crime. The main reason is his many past convictions.

Vanya Beleva, spokeswoman for the regional prosecutor's office, told a briefing that his convictions include 6 years in prison for kidnapping and 2 years and 6 months for robbery. He also has sentences for embezzlement, theft and distributing counterfeit banknotes.

For murder by a dangerous repeat offender, the law sets a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison, life imprisonment or life imprisonment without parole.

Four years ago, a man was wounded with a knife in an attack blamed on Radev. The victim needed 43 stitches, 33 of them on his neck. He says prosecutors treated the case as light bodily harm, not attempted murder, and that a heavier charge and sentence would have prevented the new crime.

Beleva said the regional prosecutor's office reviewed the file on that case. She said the forensic medical report and other evidence gave no grounds for a charge of attempted premeditated murder. The case was sent back to the district prosecutor's office and then to court, and this is the prosecution's official position.