Bulgarian Mafia chronicler shot and killed in Sofia

SOFIA (AFP) – Georgy Stoev, known as the chronicler of the underworld for his nine books on the origins of the Bulgarian Mafia, was shot in the head in Sofia yesterday, the Interior Ministry said. Stoev, 35, received a single bullet to the head shortly after noon outside a downtown Sofia hotel and was taken to hospital in critical condition, the ministry said. A former wrestler and bodyguard, Stoev became famous for his nine books about the birth of the Bulgarian underworld, in which he wrote about some of the biggest gangland bosses, whom he claimed to have known closely. This was the second high-profile shooting in the Bulgarian capital in 24 hours.