Български
EnglishHere is the full and detailed transcript of the conversation between Lora Krumova (Лора Крумова) and Ralitsa Asenova (Ралица Асенова), the mother of one of the victims in the Petrohan (Петрохан) case. The text has been edited for readability, while preserving all key dialogues, stories, and emotional moments.
Lora Krumova (Лора Крумова): The “Petrohan” (Петрохан) case is raising more and more questions that are not receiving the necessary answers. There has been a leak of testimony from those questioned. Accusations are being thrown in opposite directions about what happened. What is certain is that the relatives are suffering—once having lost their children, and a second time being placed under the spotlight of public judgment. What else does the mother of 22-year-old Nikolay Zlatkov (Николай Златков) have to say? Ralitsa Asenova (Ралица Асенова) is in focus. Hello.
Ralitsa Asenova: Hello.
Lora Krumova: It will be a difficult conversation in any case. Tell me, why did you decide to speak again?
Ralitsa Asenova: Well, because I believe that what has been happening over the last two weeks is an absolute precedent—an absolutely inhumane attitude toward victims and toward the relatives of the victims. And I do not think in any way that this should continue. And that is why I decided, even though I had said that I would not speak anymore… Especially in the last few days, the things that have been happening—that is the reason I am here and speaking.
The Key Witness Deyan (Деян) and the Phone Call
Lora Krumova: One of the key witnesses, one of the key figures, is the man who discovered at Petrohan the first three victims. His name is Deyan. Do you know him? Are you friends?
Ralitsa Asenova: Yes. That is also one of the reasons I want to speak again. Yes, I know Deyan.
Lora Krumova: Why are the two things connected?
Ralitsa Asenova: Well, because public information has already come out that he is the person who found what happened at Petrohan. He is the first person who discovered the bodies. We are all looking for him, but there is no contact with him. That is why I am here—to shed some light on the topic.
Lora Krumova: Tell us what you know.
Ralitsa Asenova: Deyan was the one who informed me and called me shortly before 12 o’clock on the horrifying day—Monday—to tell me that the hut was burning. He made me sit down and told me that Ivey (Ивей) was dead, that something had happened. I told him… He asked me: “Do you have contact with Niki (Ники)?” And I told him: “Aren’t they at the seaside?” And he said: “Yes, that’s what I know too.” I told him that I had sent Ivey a message that morning and it wasn’t being delivered.
Then he told me: “Sit down.” And then he told me that Ivey was dead. And he added: “There are two more dead. Something horrific has happened here. The hut has burned down.”
I went into hysteria, hung up on him, and started calling everyone frantically. Everyone’s phones were switched off—my son’s, Kalushev’s (Калушев), and the other child’s. Absolutely everyone’s, because I could not process what he was telling me.
After that I called Deyan back and asked him to tell me how he knew that those were the ones who had died. Because in my perception, with him telling me the hut was burning and something horrific had happened, I thought there had been some kind of fire. How did he know those were the three killed? Then he told me: “They were in front of the hut, lined up next to each other.” Which later came out as information.
Lora Krumova: So he spared you a bit of…
Ralitsa Asenova: He spared me. From him I did not understand that they had been killed with gunshot wounds. I told him: “I’m heading up.” He told me: “Please, don’t! You have no business here. We have to find the others.” And I told him: “I’m heading toward Bulgari (българи).” He told me: “Okay, please, don’t drive alone. Find someone to take you. Go so we can look for them. We have to find them.”
I had several conversations with him. I called him and asked: “When did you last see the three of them up there?” He told me: “Yesterday.” And I asked him: “Was there any problem?” “No, everything was fine.” Those were his words. He had seen them the day before—Decho (Дечо), Ivey, and Plamen (Пламен). And everything had been fine. Because we all know the other three are with the camper at the seaside.
The Disappearance of Deyan
Lora Krumova: Tell me—his testimony leaked… When did you start losing contact with him? You are worried about him, as I understand.
Ralitsa Asenova: I am extremely worried about him, and not only me. I am terrified for him and for his girlfriend, because we have no contact with them. Their phones are switched off.
By the afternoon, while I was traveling toward evening, he answered less and less. That is the day he was helping the police (полицията), giving testimony perhaps. He was up there until the last time I spoke with him—at Petrohan, with all the teams, police and whatever else.
Lora Krumova: Did you have an arrangement to talk again afterward?
Ralitsa Asenova: He told me: “Please, pull yourself together somehow. We have to manage and find them. I’ll call you when I’m done here.” That was my last conversation with him that day. He kept receiving messages, but he wasn’t seeing them.
After I turned back… I began to reason that maybe they would take him for questioning as the first witness, the one who discovered them, and that’s why he would call me. The next day he stopped receiving his messages too. I decided that most likely he had gotten worried—maybe because of the media and so on. But this is Deyan. I know him well. I cannot imagine that he wouldn’t reach out to me. No matter what, obviously all of us are worried. We went, we searched for him at his house, we can’t find him.
Lora Krumova: Could it simply be that right now, because of all this noise, he has gone into hiding?
Ralitsa Asenova: I sincerely hope so.
Lora Krumova: You’re truly worried about him, yes?
Ralitsa Asenova: I am extremely worried. That is the reason—plus, at that moment, the disappearance of my son and the other two—on Wednesday I went voluntarily to give testimony and to ask them to give me information about Deyan. Where is Deyan?
Discrepancies in the Testimony and the Murder Scenario
Lora Krumova: But tell me—there, as you know, some of his statements leaked into the public space through various media. It is said there that he received a message from Ivaylo Kalushev (Ивайло Калушев).
Ralitsa Asenova: He told me nothing of the sort. He is the person who, together with the mayor (кмета), gives testimony that many shell casings were found. That was spared from me. From him I did not understand that they had gunshot wounds. He was very worried about me—how I would take it, how I would cope with all of this. He spared me that. I learned it from the media—that they had gunshot wounds.
Lora Krumova: So you know nothing about that?
Ralitsa Asenova: What he told me while leaving was: “Please, be careful. If you see something even slightly wrong, call 112 (112).” Then I asked him: “Do you think this was intentional?” And he said: “Yes, categorically.” But despite that, he spared me the gunshot wounds.
Lora Krumova: From his statements, quite a lot of things come out that are indeed extremely important for finding the truth. One is the shell casings, which were many in the hut and were not from the pistol. The second is that he saw ATVs (ATV-та), that he received a call… All of these things were spared from me. Tell me—right now you don’t trust anyone, you don’t trust the investigation. Why?
Ralitsa Asenova: Isn’t it obvious? This whole thing is monstrous. Absolutely monstrous, what is happening. We have six victims—six murdered people.
In my very first interrogation it became clear to me that perhaps only one single line is being pursued—they are guilty, regardless of what.
Lora Krumova: Guilty of what?
Ralitsa Asenova: Because that’s how they questioned me. I shared it last time—that they are criminals, that I don’t know them, that things are extremely wrong. When I asked about Deyan, I learned that he had been questioned for 12 hours, and at some point he refused to speak. Because for me it is completely understandable—when you find this…
Lora Krumova: Who told you that?
Ralitsa Asenova: From the investigating officer (разследващия полицай) in our unofficial conversation. Because I asked, and asked, and asked.
Lora Krumova: Were your statements recorded verbatim and precisely?
Ralitsa Asenova: They were not. I mean, the statements from the interrogation they conducted were recorded, but the interrogation was only and solely about Niki—how he started living with them… I thought that by saying everything connected to the Petrohan tragedy—the connection, the contact, the calls with Deyan, what he told me—I thought all of that was recorded.
Lora Krumova: When did you realize that it wasn’t there?
Ralitsa Asenova: When I hired a lawyer (адвокат) and she told me that, in fact, those statements had not been officially recorded at all.
Lora Krumova: So you explained what happened on that specific day?
Ralitsa Asenova: I explained everything I knew. Because the first time I spoke with you, you know I said nothing about Deyan. Because I was trying to protect him somehow. Because everything that is happening is monstrous, absolutely unreal, and I don’t know whom to protect and from what to protect them. He is gone. His phone is switched off, like all the other six people’s.
The Absurdity of the Two Pre-Trial Proceedings
Lora Krumova: With your lawyer, you are now going to be questioned again?
Ralitsa Asenova: I was summoned for questioning and I went with my lawyer.
Lora Krumova: Then were you able to say everything that happened on that specific day, including?
Ralitsa Asenova: Yes. My questioning was this Friday (петък). It began with: “When was Niki born?” Up to his last day we talked about Niki. And when my lawyer finished all of that, she said: “Now she wants to give testimony and to have things recorded that are connected with the very day of the murder.”
The answer was that it could not be done, because these are separate pre-trial proceedings (досъдебни производства).
Lora Krumova: What does that mean?
Ralitsa Asenova: It means that one is the pre-trial proceeding for Petrohan, and the one under which you are questioning me now is the pre-trial proceeding for Okolchitsa (Околчица).
Lora Krumova: What does that tell you?
Ralitsa Asenova: And my lawyer, of course, with the awareness she has, told them that this has absolutely no relevance. That is how we understood that there are two pre-trial proceedings, which to me is a complete and total absurdity. It was explained to me by her that this is one crime with two crime scenes and that this wastes time. Everyone is questioned, we are questioned two times, three times, and people are summoned pointlessly.
They were telling me that my statements could not be recorded because this was the pre-trial proceeding for the other case. But if I had not been with a lawyer, this would not have happened. Everything connected with Deyan and the other things I know, and which I will also share here, were recorded as testimony with enormous effort on her part.
Requests to the Investigation
Lora Krumova: You have requests regarding the investigation. What are those requests?
Ralitsa Asenova: Exactly. Together with my lawyer, besides these statements about Petrohan and the things I know and my communication with Deyan up to the moment he was reachable, she insisted that requests also be entered. And now I will read these requests briefly; they were submitted on Friday:
- Review of the recording of the interview with the mayor of the village of Gintsi (село Гинци) and a new questioning of him.
- To request the traffic data from the cell towers of the mobile operators for the period 31.01 – 02.02 serving Gintsi and the surrounding villages.
- To question the woman who saw the four jeeps on Sunday evening.
- To question again, if they have not been questioned so far, the neighbors, as well as to question them about the shots they heard and how many there were.
- To send an inquiry to the electric company (Ел. компания) for a record of the time intervals in which the electricity was cut off on the 1st and 2nd.
It became clear there that at one point there had been no electricity. I have checked. I had no choice—I have been conducting my own investigation literally since day three, after I was at the first interrogation. There was no electricity and what the reasons were for it being cut. These are the requests that my lawyer and I submitted on Friday.
Ivaylo Kalushev’s Will
Lora Krumova: What is it that you want to say and believe is very important regarding Ivaylo Kalushev, before I ask you a few clarifying questions about him?
Ralitsa Asenova: What I can say, and what I also included as testimony on Friday, is that Ivaylo Kalushev has a will.
Lora Krumova: Why is that important?
Ralitsa Asenova: Because I know what his will contains and I am extremely relieved that I am not the only person who knows about this will. His mother also knows about it. And from the first unofficial questioning I was at, I believe the police also know, because I was asked whether I know him to have a will and to have bequeathed something to someone.
Lora Krumova: What is the connection to the case, to what happened, with that will?
Ralitsa Asenova: The connection to the case is absolutely obvious. Ivaylo Kalushev’s will—everything he owns—goes to the two children. The way we all called them “the kids,” even though my son is already grown, an adult, 20, almost 23. That is—to the son of Yani Makulev (Яни Макулев) and to your son, Niki.
Lora Krumova: Why is that key?
Ralitsa Asenova: Because I do not see the logic of the “psychopath murderer, suicide, pedophile,” and so on, who has a will, leaving everything to those two children. And I very much want to emphasize here—I have absolutely no claims to anything connected to any will whatsoever. I insist on emphasizing that so that words are not taken out of my words and twisted.
For me, this is absolute proof that everything being poured onto that man… that man is not capable of murder, nor of suicide, let alone anything connected to Niki.
Lora Krumova: Why would a man who has no family relation to the two leave everything he owns to those two children?
Ralitsa Asenova: That question can only be asked by someone who does not know Ivaylo Kalushev.
Lora Krumova: Yes, I am such a person, and that is why I am asking.
Ralitsa Asenova: Ivaylo Kalushev is the most generous person, the best possible human being. Someone who, once he starts helping someone with something, regardless of whether he can or cannot, will see it through to the end. It is absolutely natural for him to do such a thing.
Lora Krumova: Do you allow for the possibility that, in some way… forgive me for asking such questions… that he might have manipulated you?
Ralitsa Asenova: Absolutely not. Categorically no. Manipulation for anything whatsoever.
Lora Krumova: Did you help financially?
Ralitsa Asenova: Thank you very much for that question! I have never helped financially. Nothing has ever been asked of me. Nothing has ever been asked of the parents. Never. Every time I tried to give something, I was stopped with the explanation that there was no need.
The Witness and the Allegations
Lora Krumova: Tell me what you think about the witness who is the son of Sofia Andreeva (София Андреева), who spoke before Genka Shikerova (Генка Шикерова) and Mirolyuba Benatova (Миролюба Бенатова).
Ralitsa Asenova: I believe that from everything we heard and saw, specialists should speak. Psychiatrists should give an evaluation. I completely distance myself from everything those two people said and I call on Valeri Andreev (Валери Андреев) to undergo a polygraph test, as well as everyone else repeating his slanders and lies. And if possible—since you said it—I trust no one. I have not a drop of trust in any institution right now.
Lora Krumova: Do you share the same beliefs as Sofia Andreeva?
Ralitsa Asenova: I categorically distance myself in every way from everything those two people said. Categorically.
Lora Krumova: Did you have any concern that there in the hut they were mostly men?
Ralitsa Asenova: Yes, there were periods when it was not only men, but now, for maybe four or five years, they were only men.
Lora Krumova: Did you have concerns because your son was in such an environment?
Ralitsa Asenova: Absolutely zero concerns, in any aspect whatsoever. This is the most harmonious brotherly environment I have ever seen.
Lora Krumova: Did your son share things with you?
Ralitsa Asenova: Yes. I had and have a relationship with my son that I wish everyone could have. We have always been close and have always communicated.
Lora Krumova: Did he tell you about problems?
Ralitsa Asenova: Never. Except… within the group—no, never.
Lora Krumova: Threats?
Ralitsa Asenova: There were threats over the years since they were at Petrohan, mainly connected with ranger activities. As Niki told me—local tough guys from Montana (Монтана), people connected with poaching and all these things. It became clear from the prosecution (прокуратурата) that they had helped solve some murder case. I do not know this personally, but I assume it was spared from me so that I would not worry.
Lora Krumova: Do you know whether they worked with DANS (ДАНС) and Border Police (Гранична полиция)?
Ralitsa Asenova: With DANS, I categorically believe there was nothing like that. With Border Police—yes. More than once they were asked by Border Police, because of the equipment they had, to participate in their operations.
Appeal and Words About the Victims
Lora Krumova: In this case one thing screams out. And what screams out is that somehow human dignity and rights have been violated—both yours as relatives and of the people who are dead. How do you cope with this?
Ralitsa Asenova: That is why I am here. There is no one who can cope with such a thing. At times I feel as if I am in the intensive ward of a psychiatric clinic. I cannot believe how it is possible that this is happening at all.
Lora Krumova: You wanted to say something about each of them…
Ralitsa Asenova: First I want to make a statement. I demand, on behalf of the murdered and all of us—their relatives—a public apology from all official state representatives who allowed themselves over these two weeks to pour this filth over six murdered people. These are victims, and I want a public apology. I call on them to come out and apologize publicly to us—their relatives—and to the victims themselves. I will not name names. We all know who they are.
I also insist on an international independent investigation into this case. I also address the President of the Republic of Bulgaria (президента на Република България), Iliana Yotova (Илияна Йотова)—from mother to mother—the Ombudsman (Омбудсмана), the European Commission for the Protection of Human Rights (Европейската комисия за защита на човешките права), and all non-governmental organizations dealing with human rights. I demand protection for Deyan and for his girlfriend. I demand protection for all of us—the relatives of the victims of Petrohan and Okolchitsa.
Lora Krumova: You wanted to say a few words about each of your loved ones. Will you have the strength?
Ralitsa Asenova: I will not have it, but I must find it, because they deserve someone to say a few words about them.
Lora Krumova: What do you think about this public judgment happening toward the relatives?
Ralitsa Asenova: Public attention was very well manipulated. That is it. The emotional button is pressed, things are thrown out that anyone would react to, and what we see happens.
Lora Krumova: Have you gathered strength? You wanted to say a few words about each of them—I want to give you that opportunity.
Ralitsa Asenova: I will start with my son Niki. Everyone who knew him—even when he was little… There are people who have not seen him for many years, who are writing to me now, sitting in front of their screens and crying.
My son was and is an exceptional human being. He possessed qualities of strength and courage. The most honest person I know, with complete intolerance toward lies and manipulation. With an exceptionally kind heart, always helping everyone—including forest animals. He would collect injured animals and try to save them.
His favorite movie as a child was “Braveheart” (Смело сърце) with Mel Gibson (Мел Гибсън). Please, people, watch this movie! They showed it yesterday, did you know? Please watch it. Maybe you will get an idea of what my son was like. My son is not a pedophile. My son is not a murderer. My son is not a suicide victim.
Lora Krumova: You know that such things have never been said about him personally?
Ralitsa Asenova: It does not matter. They are being called a sect. Absurd things are being said about them.
Lora Krumova: We are moving forward in time. You wanted to say a few more words about each of them.
Ralitsa Asenova: I am gathering myself. Do not interrupt me. I will tell you.
- About the other child: The most beautiful, sweetest being, the happiest teenager anyone could imagine. Always ready to help, running back and forth with the hut—happy, free, joyful. An incredible creature. I am endlessly glad that I managed to make him special gifts the last times I visited. The last time I gave him a pen with an ink pot. He was endlessly happy and very grateful.
- Ivaylo Kalushev: There is no such person, no such heart, no such knowledge. Everything good in my life that I have learned—I learned from Ivaylo Kalushev. Compassion, patience, empathy, how you can and should set yourself aside to help others. Whatever I say about him will be insignificant. He was an exceptional human being.
- Ivey: The photo that leaked of the three murdered—this is absolutely inhuman. Ivey was sunshine, a smile… Very dear to my heart, extremely kind, extremely intelligent.
- Plamen: A very gentle person. We sat for hours talking about all kinds of topics. Kind, warm.
- Decho: I knew him the least. I am endlessly grateful that the last time I managed to finish his painting too. I gave it to him—a Buddha in phosphorescent colors in a cave. He was extremely happy and gave me a gift as well, because besides being an accountant and an extremely good person, he was talented and made ceramic figures.
Lora Krumova: It is very difficult to watch the agony you relatives are going through. Very difficult to listen. Very difficult to try to keep a clear mind. I can only imagine the hell you are all going through. Thank you for finding the strength to speak and to say things that, in a society where we are so divided and our politicians behave absurdly… there must be care and support for the people who remain alive and go through this. And so that those who died are not smeared before we know the official facts. I personally do not know whether that will ever happen. I sincerely hope so, because we all seek answers—to calm each one of us about what happened there. Because what has happened over the last two weeks is too cruel. A brutal, terrible killing. Thank you.
Ralitsa Asenova: Thank you.
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