Bulgaria prosecutors have charged a man in the brutal murder of television journalist Viktoria Marinova and ordered him held in custody.
Severin Krasimirov, 21, told reporters outside the courthouse in the northern city of Ruse that he attacked Marinova. However, he said he remembers little of the incident, which shocked Bulgaria and drew strong international condemnation.
"I do not know what happened. I cannot remember everything,” Krasimirov was quoted by the media as saying October 19.
"Yes, I am guilty, I am very sorry. I cannot believe that I have done that," he said.
Marinova, 30, was found dead near a jogging path next to the Danube River in Ruse on October 6. Authorities said she died from blows to the head and suffocation, and that she had also been raped.
Before being extradited on October 17 from Germany, where he had fled after the attack, Krasimirov had said he had not known that Marinova had died and denied raping her.
If convicted, Krasimirov faces a possible life sentence for murder and 10-20 years in prison for rape.
Although many commentators have suggested a connection between the crime and Marinova's journalistic work, investigators said they have seen no evidence to support that theory.
