Man Arrested in Connection With Stabbing Deaths of Missing Couple Found Dismembered in Boston Storage Unit: DA

A Massachusetts man has been charged with murder in connection with the grisly discovery of a missing couple found stabbed to death and stuffed inside rubber bins at a Boston storage unit, authorities said. 

One of the victims had been dismembered, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said.

Leonid Volkov, 37, knew the victims, and faces one count of murder, said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan at a Sunday press conference. Additional charges are expected to be filed, Ryan said.

Volkov, who is being held without bail, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Somerville District Court in his first court appearance, Ryan said.

Kiryl Schukin, 37 and Pavel Vekshin, 28, were reported missing on April 9 by friends who had not seen the married couple in days, authorities said.

Investigators determined Schukin had been a guarantor on an apartment lease for Volkov, police said. But Schukin had recently declined to remain a guarantor when the lease came up for renewal, which caused Volkov to be evicted from his Medford flat, police said.

Volkov and Schukin are believed to have met in a rented U-Haul truck on March 29, Ryan said. Volkov was driving, she said. In the following days, surveillance video of the couple's building showed Volkov arriving and leaving their apartment, authorities said.

The U-Haul truck was discovered by police at the storage facility where the victims' bodies were located, Ryan said. 

Bleach and rubber gloves linked to Volkov were also in the unit, Ryan said, as well as property belonging to the victims.

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