Man Admits to Murder and Rape of TV Journalist Viktoria Marinova

Bulgaria: 20-year-old Man Admits to Murder and Rape of TV Journalist Viktoria Marinova

Bulgarian Interior Minister Mladen Marinov said Wednesday a Bulgarian man has been detained over the murder of TV Journalist Viktoria Marinova in Germany.

The authorities are still unable to determine if the murder of Viktoria Marinova, 30, TV Journalist was linked to her work as an investigative journalist.

The man has been charged with rape and murder, the evidence was collected from the crime scene and his DNA was also matched and a European arrest warrant is issued for the Bulgarian man. He has been charged in his absence.

The Bulgarian authorities are waiting for the DNA analysis for the confirmation, the suspect is a 20-year old Bulgarian man.

Viktoria Marinova’s friend Todor Gechev had met the TV journalist on Wednesday. She had informed him of her investigation she was working on, but she was not worried about her safety as she had not received any threats.

Recently Marinova had interviewed two journalists in her program “Detector”, who were investigating the European Union Funds corruption. She was also involved in charity works and she has left behind a young daughter

The body of Viktoria Marinova was found on Saturday in a park. The initial investigation had suggested the cause of her death to be due to severe blows to her head and suffocation. Later it was also confirmed that she had also been raped.

Vigils in Marinova’s memory were held Monday evening in Ruse, the capital Sofia and other cities.