District Attorney: Two missing Massachusetts men found dead; suspect charged in their murder

Two missing Massachusetts men have been found dead and authorities say that a man has been charged this weekend in their murder.

According to the Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Medford Chief of Police Jack Buckley, the bodies of 37-year-old Kiryl Schukin and 28-year-old Pavel Vekshin were located early yesterday morning inside a storage unit on North Beacon Street in Brighton. The investigation indicates that both men succumbed to stab wounds. Leonid Volkov, 37, of Medford, who was known to the victims has been arrested and charged with murder.

Just before midnight on April 14, investigators executed a search warrant on a Brighton storage unit that had been rented by the defendant using one of the victims’ names. Upon entry into the unit, they were able to locate the bodies of both men inside rubber storage bins. The body of a man, tentatively identified as Kiryl Schukin, had been dismembered. Bleach, rubber gloves and items belonging to the deceased were also located.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner accepted jurisdiction of the case and has ruled the cause of death of the man identified as Kiryl Schukin as homicide. The second man has been positively identified as Pavel Vekshin and his death has also been ruled a homicide.

Investigators learned that Schukin had been a guarantor on the lease for the apartment of Leonid Volkov in Medford. However, Schukin had recently declined to be the guarantor on the lease extension resulting in Volkov’s eviction. Through investigation, it is believed that Volkov and Schukin met in a rented U-Haul truck, which Volkov was driving, on March 29, 2023. Investigators also learned that a person believed to be Leonid Volkov was seen on video entering and leaving the victims’ building in the days following the last time Pavel Vekshin and Kiryl Schukin were seen. Police subsequently located that U-Haul at the storage facility where the bodies were found. Investigators believe the defendant was using it to transport items from the victims’ Locust Street apartment to the storage facility.

Leonid Volkov was arrested without incident in North Attleboro last night. He will be arraigned on Tuesday in Somerville District Court.

This case was investigated by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Medford Police Department and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the District Attorney’s Office. The prosecutors assigned to this case are Ceara Mahoney and Pavan Nagavelli.