Lenko Latkov
Lenko Latkov | |
---|---|
Born | 1975 |
Died | (aged 28) |
Cause of death | Strangulation |
Conviction(s) | N/A |
Criminal penalty | N/A |
Details | |
Victims | 3–6 |
Span of crimes | 1999–2000 |
Country | Bulgaria |
State(s) | Haskovo (confirmed) Plovdiv (suspected) |
Date apprehended | March 13, 2003 |
Lenko Latkov (
Biography
Latkov's early life was marked by stays at various orphanages, soon to be followed by indictments for rapes in Veliko Tarnovo as an adolescent. The mentally-ill man was released despite the charges, only to be rearrested years later on March 13, 2003 for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old boy from a Haskovo bus stop.[3] Following a 5-hour long interrogation, he confessed to raping a 16-year-old girl in Veliko Tarnovo and the murder of three elderly women in the Haskovo Province:[3][2]
- Lilyana Ivanova (84), murdered in Haskovo, 1999
- Kaluda Golemanova, murdered in Lyubimets, 2000
- Elena Atanasova (71), passed away after brutal torture in Biser, 2000
Latkov was also a prime suspect in another three murders committed in the Plovdiv Province, but no information is available about these murders. Following his arrest, he was moved into a psychiatric hospital in Lovech.[1] There, ten days before his death, he wrote a letter to the investigating authorities in Haskovo in which he talked about his loneliness, his appreciation of their humane treatment towards him and a request for some cigarettes.[3]
Death
After reevaluations from psychologists and investigators alike, Latkov was moved to a prison in Stara Zagora, where he shared a cell with Sami Bayram Aptullah, another mentally-ill prisoner serving an 8-year sentence for attempted murder. On September 13, the two began arguing about something, with the physically stronger Aptullah beating up and strangling Latkov in a matter of seconds. Shortly after, he began banging at his cell door, attracting the attention of guards and medical personnel who tried to save Latkov's life, but to no avail.[1] Following this event, Aptullah was moved into a solitary cell.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "ПРИОБЩАВАНЕТО НА ОСЪДЕНИТЕ КЪМ НОРМАЛНИЯ СВЯТ Е СКЪПО" [Integrating convicts with the normal world is expensive]. paragraph22 (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on April 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c Hristo Dimitrov (16 September 2003). "Осъден на 8 г. затвор пребил до смърт сериен убиец на жени" [Man sentenced to 8 years in jail beats to death serial killer of women]. sega.bg (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on December 22, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Убиват сериен убиец в старозагорския затвор" [A serial killer was murdered in Stara Zagora jail]. news.bg (in Bulgarian). 14 September 2003. Archived from the original on January 20, 2024.