2 Russian Nationals Plead Innocent in 2 Slayings

Two Russian nationals pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges they murdered and partially dismembered two other Russian men who had shared their rented West Hollywood home.

Serguei Ivanov, 28, and Alexander Nikolaev, 31, were ordered to appear in court Feb. 20 so a preliminary hearing date could be set, Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia R. Clark said. The two could receive the death penalty if convicted.

Ivanov and Nikolaev are charged with fatally shooting Andrey Kuznetsov and Vladimir Litvinenko, both 28, on Jan. 26. Authorities said Ivanov and Nikolaev had been members of the Soviet military. Kuznetsov apparently rented the house in the 8500 block of West Knoll Drive where all four men lived.

Authorities said Ivanov and Nikolaev shot the two victims in the head and then cut their fingertips off so police would have a hard time identifying them. After arresting Ivanov and Nikolaev in the house and finding the bodies, authorities confiscated business equipment and records that they say may have been the result of an illegal business enterprise.