HOULTON, Maine — A Houlton man charged with kidnapping in March 2016 after allegedly holding a woman captive for several hours was found incompetent to stand trial last June by a judge, but that status could change during a hearing next month.
Jeffrey Pickering, the court appointed attorney for Dushko Venelinov Vulchev, 40, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Bulgaria, said Monday afternoon that his client is currently being treated at the Riverview Psychiatric Facility in Augusta.
The next competency hearing will be held on July 7 in Augusta, according to Pickering.
Vulchev was indicted on eight charges by the Aroostook County grand jury last June — kidnapping, domestic violence assault, obstructing the report of a crime, theft, domestic violence terrorizing, improper contact and two counts of violating conditions of release.
According to the Houlton Police Department, the victim with whom Vulchev had a prior relationship was found by investigators naked, bruised and emotionally shaken after police arrived at the Court Street home where she allegedly was being held captive. The woman’s parents, who live out of state, had called police to check on their daughter’s welfare after they were unable to get in touch with her and she did not show up for work.
After police went to Vulchev’s home a couple of times and he did not respond, the officers obtained a search warrant to force open the door. Once in the home, officers said they heard a voice calling for help and found both Vulchev and the woman in a bedroom.
Pickering said that Vulchev has racked up additional charges of violation of conditions of release since the time of his arrest for allegedly repeatedly calling the victim from jail.
“The hearing on his competency was last summer, and he has been getting treatment ever since,” said Pickering. “I believe that he is doing better and will be able to assist in his defense enough to be found competent for trial.”
Pickering said he couldn’t provide any specific psychiatric diagnosis that led to Vulchev being found incompetent last year by Superior Court Justice Hal Stewart II, but the defense attorney said his client has a “delusional belief system.”
In 2015, Vulchev served about seven months in prison after he was convicted in U.S. District Court of one count of making threats in foreign commerce. That charge stemmed from an email he sent threatening to kill an economist and administrator with the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium.
Houlton police said that just prior to his arrest on the kidnapping related charges last year, Vulchev had approached them about wanting to purchase weapons to send to Bulgaria. Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall also said that Vulchev showed up at the Aroostook County Jail to unsuccessfully seek the home address of a deputy, and then followed another deputy home to try to procure the information. He was issued trespass warnings.
Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins said Monday afternoon that he could not discuss the case or a possible plea deal because it is still ongoing.
“We will examine it more after the hearing,” he said.
