Grieving Kirkland husband, dad recalls "so much love" in family

Family and friends get Leonid Milkin through the day as he copes with the slayings of his wife, two boys and sister-in-law.

But when he's alone, he faces questions no one can answer about Monday's grisly killings and arson at his Kirkland home.

Sometimes he feels like he's in denial, he said Friday, a day after returning from duty in Iraq.

"I don't understand why this could happen," said Milkin, 29, a sergeant in the Army National Guard. "It's beyond my comprehension. Olga was so outgoing. My boys were so sweet. They never did anything to anyone."

And he asks himself the question everyone else is asking, too:

"Why would someone do that?"

Police are looking for an answer. A suspect, Conner Schierman, 24, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of four counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of aggravated arson in the deaths of Olga Milkin, Lyubov Botvina, and the Milkins' two small children, Justin and Andrew.

He is currently in King County Jail.

According to detectives, Schierman, who lives across the street from the Milkins' Kirkland home, said he woke from a drunken blackout covered in blood in the house among the four bodies. The victims had suffered multiple stab wounds, police said.

Police say Schierman then doused the home with gasoline and set it ablaze to cover up the killings. His arraignment is at 1:30 p.m. Monday in King County Superior Court.

Milkin said he saw violence while deployed in Iraq, but never thought it would hit his own family.

"I expected those things to happen in Iraq," Milkin said. "Never in my worst nightmare could I imagine something like this to happen in America, to my family."

Milkin is a three-year veteran of the National Guard and had been serving in Iraq for the past 10 months.

Before he left for Iraq, he and his wife agreed that they would remain strong, he said.

"My wife realized that it needed to happen, that it was only for a year and a half," Milkin said. "That it was a sacrifice worth doing."

While he was away, he spoke with his wife on a daily basis as long as the international connection worked. They last spoke three days before the deaths. They were making plans for his return home in about six weeks.

"We were talking about how I'm going to come back and what I will do," he said. "Maybe go on vacation and just enjoy life. We were so excited. So ready to be together again."

The couple met at a Pentecostal church and married seven years ago. They bought their 1914 Kirkland house three years ago and were fixing it up.

Milkin said he sensed his wife's caring personality the moment he met her — the same moment he fell in love with her.

"The moment I saw her I wanted her to be my wife," Milkin said. "She had so much love, so much caring — for everyone, not just for me. I haven't seen that in anybody else."

Though juggling a job and two kids, Olga and her husband would often take time to be alone, family members said. They would get a sitter and go for a walk or to a café at night.

When they sat next to each other in a group, they often hugged or cuddled.

"Some people say that marriage is a struggle, but they would just enjoy it. They were so romantic," Olga's sister Yelena Shidlovsky said.

Milkin said he can still see his children running up to him during the day just to tell him they loved him.

"It was like 10, 20 times a day," he said. "There was so much love in our family."

His two sons were different from each other, Milkin said.

Justin, 5, was like his mother, creative and playful. He loved picking flowers for his mother, his grandmothers and his teacher.

Andrew, 3, had a tiny voice and was more thoughtful, but he was also strong-willed, his father said. He always looked up to his older brother.

"He's very sweet; I call him my little sheep," Leonid Milkin said, still using the present tense.

They were so proud of his service in the military, he added.

"They always wore my uniform," Milkin recalled. "They would salute me all the time."

Milkin said he wants to rebuild his home as a way to remember his family.

"I want to honor her and the children and remember the beautiful moments I had with them," he said. "I had the most wonderful time with them while they were with me on Earth. They blessed my life."

Lisa Chiu: 206-464-3347 or lchiu@seattletimes.com