PANAJI
Goa Police are working through disturbing forensic findings and a string of unsettling coincidences after the arrest of 37-year-old Russian national Alexei Leonov, accused of murdering two women – Elena Kasthanova and Elena Vaneeva – in Arambol and Morjim last week.
Senior officers, speaking to The Goan, concede the details are “chilling”, with some within the force already drawing comparisons to notorious international serial killers.
Leonov was arrested hours after Kasthanova, believed to be his live-in partner, was found with her throat slit in her rented Arambol apartment on January 16. During questioning, he led police to the body of Vaneeva in Morjim. Police initially believed Vaneeva was killed on the night of January 14 and Kasthanova on January 15.
Forensic analysis is now reshaping that sequence as sources said Kasthanova may have been killed first based on the extent of decomposition. “Her body was found outside the bathroom in a decomposed state, completely naked, her throat slit from behind. Her private parts were shaved,” the source said.
Officers said the condition and positioning of both bodies have raised immediate red flags. “Vaneeva, too, was found near the bathroom area -- inside the bathroom, wearing only underwear. Her throat was also slit from behind. The pattern is almost identical. It is the kind of repetition that suggests a highly specific behavioural signature,” police said, reiterating that the accused has shown psychopathic tendencies.
In one case, a knife was recovered from the naked chest of a victim -- the same knife police later identified as the murder weapon. “Its placement did not appear accidental,” the source said.
Police are also analysing a pen-like object found inside the mouth of one of the women.
As officers map the victims’ backgrounds and interactions with Leonov, an unusual coincidence has emerged: the accused and victims were 37 years old. Another detail surfaced during interrogation. “He told us he disliked women named Elena because his mother, also named Elena, neglected him as a child. He described resentment that grew over time,” the source said.
Leonov, known as a fire display artist, was earlier linked to disputes over borrowed money and a “fire crown”. Vaneeva, a bubble performer and artist, arrived in Goa only a week before she was killed. She met Leonov shortly after her arrival.
Kasthanova, a go-go dancer who worked as an usher at weddings, arrived in Goa on December 24, 2025. According to the FIR, Leonov allegedly assaulted her, tied her hands behind her back with a rope and slit her throat with a sharp-edged weapon.
Senior officers said they are not ruling out additional victims even though five women he claimed to have killed have been traced alive, with one already in her home country. His alleged involvement in the death of an Assamese woman is under probe.
