Jury returns emphatic not guilty verdict in murder trial

A jury has returned an emphatic verdict of not guilty in the trial of Bulgarian Emil Atanasov.



Atanasov was on trial for the murder of his flatmate's friend, Dragoljub Krstic, from Serbia, in 2015.

A very emotional Atanasov wept tears of joy as the 7-2 not guilty verdict on the charge of willful homicide was announced.

The decision was read out at around 6:30 pm, mere hours after the jurors had retired to deliberate.

The jury also unanimously cleared Atanasov of the second count – that of grievous bodily harm against Zoran Jocic and found him not guilty of the third count, that of possessing a deadly weapon during the commission of a crime 7-2.

The prosecution and defence had concluded their final submissions earlier this week, defence lawyer Malcolm Mifsud telling the jury that Atanasov “had been honest throughout.”

“The accused did not flee the scene. He did not deny knowledge of the crowbar. This and the fact that he told police where the knife was. These all strengthen my client's position.”


Atanasov had blood gushing from a head wound inflicted by the deceased, his t-shirt stained with blood when he was arrested in the stairwell of the Bugibba flats where the fatal stabbing took place.

The accused insisted that Dragoljub had impaled himself on the knife and that there was no stabbing.

“If you think or become morally convinced that there was, legitimate defence comes into play,” Mifsud had told jurors.

Even if he had stabbed the taller, stronger Serb, it would be justified, the lawyer had argued, it would have been a “classic case of legitimate self-defence.”

Assistant Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia and lawyer Elaine Mercieca prosecuted.