Unresolved Financial Disputes Lead Line of Inquiry in Slavi Binev Murder

Three people were detained as suspects in the murder of Slavi Binev, who was shot at his home in Sofia’s Gurdova Glava district shortly before he was due to open an international taekwondo tournament an hour later. The suspects were arrested near the Trayanovi Vrata tunnel (on Trakia motorway). Binev and the detainees had known each other for a long time and were in frequent contact, the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior said on October 24.

Slavi Binev was killed with a single point-blank shot to the head, and the cartridge case was found in the room where the murder took place. The shooting occurred shortly after 10 am today. BNT is the only broadcaster with footage showing the suspects’ vehicle arriving at Binev’s home at 9.50 am, while the report of the murder was made 28 minutes later. At this stage, investigators believe that a sudden argument between Binev and the suspects led to the killing. Unresolved financial matters are a possible cause of the dispute. Two of the detainees are Turkish citizens and, according to our information, one of them physically carried out the murder. The third detainee is a Bulgarian citizen who, according to sources close to the investigation, has given a detailed account of exactly what happened.

• Three people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Slavi Binev, the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior announced

The report of Slavi Binev’s murder was made by someone close to him at 10.18 am, after hearing a gunshot. BNT News has obtained CCTV footage showing the suspects arriving at Binev’s home in a large SUV around 30 minutes earlier. They were greeted and allowed into the house.

Lyubomir Nikolov, Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: “A little later, we established that three people known to the victim had been at the address. We have preliminary information that these people were frequent visitors to his home, and that they had visited him specifically yesterday. Following a brief meeting at the address, a witness whom we identified at the scene stated that they had heard a gunshot and then seen three people — most likely the same individuals who had arrived earlier to visit the victim — leave in an unknown direction in a Lexus passenger car.”

CCTV footage enabled investigators to identify the vehicle used by the three suspects. They also tracked its movements as it left the capital along the Trakia Motorway.

Lyubomir Nikolov, Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: ““A little later, near the Trayanovi Vrata tunnel, at around kilometre 54, the vehicle was spotted and stopped using what is known as a ‘boxing-in’ manoeuvre. The individuals were rendered unable to resist and detained. At the scene, we found three people: two with Turkish names, of Turkish origin, and one of Bulgarian origin carrying a Bulgarian identity card.”

Two legally owned handguns were found on the detainees.

Lyubomir Nikolov, Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: “They apparently attempted to conceal one of the firearms by throwing it away immediately before the vehicle was stopped, while the other was found in a small bag belonging to one of the people travelling in the car.”

- “Is it possible that the concealed weapon they tried to hide was the one used to commit the murder?

- I very much hope that it was. The way the alleged perpetrators are acting at this stage leads me to believe that this was indeed the weapon used in the murder, given that they tried to hide it immediately before their arrest.

The investigators' leading line of inquiry is that unresolved financial matters were the motive for Slavi Binev’s murder. According to BNT sources, there is evidence that Binev had undertaken to act as an intermediary between two of the suspects and their opponents in a property dispute.

Lyubomir Nikolov, Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: “The people who visited the victim were involved in construction and own a construction company. They are currently building two residential complexes in Sofia.”

According to unofficial information, Slavi Binev had known one of the suspects for many years. The man practised taekwondo in Turkey, and his wife was even a business partner of Binev in one of his companies.

Lyubomir Nikolov, Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: “The act cannot be classified as a contract killing. They had known each other for a long time. Most likely, something happened spontaneously, leading to this incident.”

BNT has obtained CCTV footage showing that the three suspects made no attempt to conceal either their faces or their vehicle, either when arriving at Slavi Binev’s home or when leaving after the murder.