Leonid Volkov, age 37, of Medford, pleaded not guilty to the murders of Pavel Vekshin, age 28, and Kiryl Schukin in Somerville District Court on Tuesday, April 18, 7News reports.
Volkov was arrested and charged with the murders of the missing men from Medford on Friday April 14 after the bodies of both men were found inside a storage unit on Beacon Street in Brighton, the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office reports.
The bodies were found with multiple stab wounds inside rubber storage bins and one body, tentatively identified as Schukin, was dismembered, the DA's Office added.
Police also found bleach, rubber gloves and items belonging to the men. Their deaths have been ruled as homicides, the office adds.
Investigators later learned that Schukin was a guarantor on the lease for Volkov's Medford apartment. However, Volkov was recently evicted after Schukin declined to be the guarantor on the lease extension.
Investigators believe that Volkov and Schukin met in a rented U-Haul truck, driven by Volkov on Wednesday, March 29, which was the last day anyone had heard from Vekshin or Schukin.
Investigators also learned that a person, believed to be Volkov, was seen on video entering and leaving the victims’ building in the following days, the DA's Office reports.
Police subsequently located that U-Haul at the storage facility where the bodies were found. Investigators believe Volkov was using the van to move items from the duo's Locust Street apartment to the storage facility, according to the DA's Office. The investigation is ongoing.
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