I thought the same thing,but I think Paulie and Chris figured that they could save themselves the trouble of digging a grave in frozen ground in crappy weather. If they were half smart and not so lazy,they would have dug the hole,shot the Russian in the trunk,(or marched him to the hole and done it quickly),and been gone. As we found out,they severely underestimated their victim. Had it been any other guy,I doubt he would have gotten the drop on both of them.