Overview
- Alexei Leonov is in police custody after confessing to killing Russians Elena Kasthanova and Elena Vaneeva in Goa, with both victims’ throats slit on January 14 and 15.
- Verification checks found people he named as additional victims alive, and police call his broader admissions sketchy and inconsistent.
- A postmortem concluded the death of a 40-year-old woman from Assam was due to a drug overdose, contradicting Leonov’s claim of smothering.
- Police say the likely trigger for the two confirmed murders was monetary disputes, including borrowed cash and a performer’s fire crown, while his claims of relationships are being treated cautiously.
- Investigators note he held a long-term India visa, worked as a performer, and kept photos of over 100 women on his phone, and they recorded his remark about disliking the name Elena because it was his mother’s, which they do not consider the motive.