Bulgaria is reeling after six people were found dead in separate but apparently linked incidents in mountainous areas north of Sofia, in a case officials have described as unprecedented. National police chief Zahari Vaskov called it "a case without comparison in our country", while chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov said the details were more shocking than fiction.
The investigation began in early February when three men aged 45, 49 and 51 were discovered in the burned remains of a lodge near the Petrohan pass. All had gunshot wounds to the head that forensic experts said appeared self-inflicted, with DNA on the weapons matching only the deceased. Days later, police found the bodies of three more people (two men aged 51 and 22 and a 15-year-old boy) in a campervan near Okolchitsa Peak, about 100km north of the capital. Prosecutors said autopsies suggested "probably two murders committed successively and one suicide" among the latter three.
Five of the dead were linked to a nature protection NGO that used the Petrohan lodge as a base. While police cited possible psychological instability within the group and noted members' interest in Tibetan Buddhism, relatives rejected suggestions of internal conflict and alleged the victims may have witnessed criminal activity near the Serbian border, an area known for smuggling and illegal logging. With official details limited, speculation has spread rapidly online, deepening public mistrust in a country already facing political instability and heading toward its eighth parliamentary election in five years...
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