PANAJI: A Russian tourist Aleksei Leonov who was arrested by the Goa police for the murder of his live-in partner Elena Kasthanova, 37, has turned out to be an alleged serial killer, with the accused admitting to killing at least 2 or 3 more women.
Aleksei Leonov, 37, was traced by the cops and arrested at 4 am, hours after the body of Elena Kasthanova, 37, was found last Thursday evening.
Police who were probing the first murder, were stunned as the case took an unexpected turn when the Russian admitted to more murders during his interrogation and even described the way in which he killed his victims.
The deceased Kasthanova’s landlord found her body with her arms tied behind her back and her throat slit in his room which he owned in Arambol in North Goa. Apparently, Kasthanova and Leonov were in a relationship for the last one year. She was in Goa since 2024, police said.
After admitting to the murder of Elena Vaneeva, Leonov took the cops to Korgao village, where he said he had killed another woman by drugging her. Police are trying to find out if Leonov’s confession corresponds to a suspected overdose case reported on January 14 at the Pernem Community Health Centre in Goa, reported the Hindustan Times.
During his interrogation, Leonov led the police to the body of his second victim, Elena Vaneeva (37), in neighbouring Morjim village, according to a Hindustan Times report. He also told police he had killed a 40-year-old woman from Assam, though the reason for the crime remains unconfirmed.
Police are still trying to ascertain the motive behind the murder, but police sources claimed the accused could be mentally derainged or under the influence of psychotropic substances.
“It is possible he was using the women as couriers to traffic drugs to other foreigners or Russian tourists,” said a police source, while another local Morjim source claimed he was also into the flesh trade, providing Russian women to rich businessmen from North India. “Leonov used to target Russian women on tourist visas who were looking for part-time jobs to earn an extra buck and blackmail them into the flesh or drugs trade,” said a local who claimed to know Leonov.
“The accused assaulted his live-in partner, forcibly locked her in the room, caused her multiple injuries and then slit her neck with a sharp weapon,” a police officer informed the media.
The bodies of two victims have so far been recovered, according to the police and more recoveries are on the way.
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