A journalist has been found stabbed to death in St. Petesrburg, Fontanka.ru reported.

Dmitry Tsilikin, 54, was found with multiple stab wounds in his apartment at No. 55 Nauka Avenue. He was said to have died two days earlier. Tsilikin had returned from a trip to Riga last week, and relatives grew worried when they could not reach him.

The St. Petersburg branch of the Investigative Committee has opened up a murder case and has said in a statement on its web site that Tsilikin “could have become the victim of a mundane conflict,” although they said they were looking at various motives for the murder, Kommersant reported.

A laptop and a mobile phone were missing from the apartment.

Tsilikin, who was trained as an actor had in recent years worked as a critic and journalist, and was among those who worked at the first perestroika newspaper in St. Petersburg, Chas Pik.

He also worked in television at RTR and Channel 5; on the radio at Ekho Peterburga, and published articles in Vedomosti, Kommersant, RosBalt, Vogue, Elle, Ekspert, Profile and DP. He often wrote on culture — music, art, and ballet.

Colleagues expressed shock and condolences on his page on VKontakte but did not speculate as to whether his murder was related to his work.

— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick