Bulgarian Supreme Court issues final ruling in Evgenia Vladimirova murder case

The Supreme Cassation Court of Bulgaria has issued its final ruling regarding the 2021 murder of 33-year-old Evgenia Vladimirova. Orlin Vladimirov, the victim's husband, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the premeditated and particularly cruel killing of his wife.

While a lower court had initially imposed a life sentence, the Supreme Court determined that the crime did not meet the threshold of “exceptional gravity” required for life imprisonment. The court rejected appeals from both the defendants and the victim's relatives, concluding that the 20-year sentence is an objective and necessary measure for justice and rehabilitation.

Regarding Plamen Vladimirov, the father of the convicted killer, the court upheld his acquittal. Although he was previously implicated in assisting with the destruction of evidence, the court found that the investigation had violated EU directives by using self-incriminating information provided by him while he was a suspect. The court ruled that using witness testimony obtained through these procedural violations would legitimize unlawful investigative activities.