Ludwig Tolumov and Ivan Serafimov

Ludwig Slavov Tolumov (; born 1950) and Ivan Serafimov Ivanov (; 1956 – July 15, 2000), known jointly as The Sour and The Sweet , were a pair of Bulgarian robbers, rapists and serial killers who, in the span of two months in 2000, murdered 3 people and robbed several others. Serafimov, who was solely responsible for a murder in 1996, was shot by his partner Tolumov, who himself was subsequently apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Biographies

Early lives Both Tolumov and Serafimov were born in the little village of Duvanli, where they were childhood friends, but eventually separated after the former moved to Hisar so he could live with new wife, Penka, who later gave birth to three children. Not long after, Tolumov went on to temporarily live in Germany, before moving to Namibia. In the meantime, Serafimov became a habitual criminal, spending a total of 15 years behind bars after 8 consecutive sentences for aggravated robbery. While imprisoned, he earned the nickname "The Sweet" because of his ability to sweet talk and his love for sweets. His mother, Penka, had also lost her other son 2 years before. She currently lives isolated in a monastery.

In 2014, Tolumov and another murderer, Dimitar Harakchiev, were awarded compensation of 3000 and 4000 leva following a trial in the Court of Justice of the European Union, due to the bad hygiene, ventilation and other problems which went on in the prison's cells.

While imprisoned, Tolumov began writing an autobiography, detailing all the events of his life leading up to his arrest. He said the book would be called "Chronicles of a Life Sentence". His prison cell is considered lavish, as he has a flat screen TV, coffee machine, radio, a metal fan, renewed window panels and an old typing machine, on which he is currently writing the book.