Boston serial rape suspect Matthew Nilo pleaded not guilty to new charges of sexually assaulting four other women 15 years ago after his attorney accused the government of blaming unresolved cases on his client.
Nilo, now a New Jersey attorney, was indicted Thursday on seven new charges related to attacks on women in Boston’s historic North End between 2007 and 2008.
The 35-year-old’s new charges include one count of rape and aggravated rape, three counts of assault and two counts of indecent assault, according to court records.
Nilo, who was assisted in court by his fiancée Laura Griffin, was previously charged with a series of incidents involving four different women in the affluent Charlestown area, to which he also pleaded not guilty.
A court clerk Thursday set his bail at $50,000 in cash, which his client said his attorney wanted to post immediately.
Matthew Nilo, 35, leaves court Thursday with fiancé Laura Griffin after pleading not guilty to the 2007 and 2008 rapes of four other women in Boston’s North End
Nilo was previously charged with three other rapes and one attempted rape simultaneously in the Charlestown neighborhood
Nilo’s attorney, Joseph Cataldo, heavily criticized the new charges following Thursday’s indictment.
“They have presented no intelligence from the new allegations, no police reports,” he said, according to Fox News.
“I think they’re trying to solve some unsolved cases and I think the government might be trying to just claim Mr Nilo committed those crimes.”
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the attacks occurred in January 2007, July 2007, January 2008 and July 2008.
Nilo pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the incidents involving the first four women and was released from the Boston jail after his fiancee posted $500,000 of his $5 million bail and he was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor.
He was around 19 to 20 years old at the time of the attacks and was working as a cyber claims attorney for insurance company Cowbell at the time of his arrest earlier this year.
Nilo’s employment has been suspended pending the completion of the ongoing investigation.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden told reporters Thursday that the new allegations against Nilo follow a similar pattern to the Charlestown attacks, the Boston Globe reported.
“One of the victims was actually attacked twice in just 11 days,” Hayden said.
“The attacks came at a time when Matthew Nilo was living in the North End and coincided with the time of attacks on other women in Charlestown for which Mr Nilo was previously charged.”
The prosecutor said he hoped advances in DNA technology would provide the evidence needed to convict Nilo.
“Nothing can take away the terror these survivors are experiencing,” Hayden said.
“But at least they now know that Mr. Nilo must respond to the horrible.” [crimes] he is said to have committed an act. We hope this brings some comfort to the survivors of these attacks.”
When asked why no action had been taken to ensure Nilo would not be released on bail, the prosecutor replied that he was still not seen as a threat to society as the incidents were 15 years old.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 14.
Cataldo said in a statement last month, “You can expect the government’s case to be challenged on both a legal and a factual basis.”
Nilo posted $50,000 bail Thursday to secure his release after his fiancé previously posted $500,000 of his $5 million bail related to his original charges
Nilo showed defiance in court when he pleaded not guilty to the new charges, which include one count of rape and aggravated rape, three counts of negligent assault and two counts of indecent assault
Prosecutors allege that Nilo, a Boston native, assaulted four women in the North End in 2007 and 2008 – including two attacks on the same woman just 11 days apart.
One attack occurred in the middle of a snowstorm on January 14, 2008, and another on July 4, 2008, according to the WCVB.
The series of assaults caused an uproar in the neighborhood at the time, as police warned the women to be vigilant and even carried rape whistles.
Authorities assumed there was a connection between the rapes and released a composite sketch of the suspect.
“The newly charged assaults occurred at the time Nilo was living in the North End and during the same period as the assaults against women in Charlestown for which Nilo is already charged,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement in which she announced this New fees.
“The incidents followed a similar pattern. “The victims were attacked while walking alone in the dark, either at night or early in the morning.”
While attending a Boston private school in 2007, Nilo can be seen partying with friends
Speaking to outside a Boston courtroom, alleged victim Lori Pinkham called Nilo “a very evil person who used guns and violence to violently abduct and rape several women”.
Police arrested Nilo on May 30 as part of an FBI operation in which he was lured out of the luxury waterfront apartment he shared with his fiancée Laura Griffin, claiming a package had been delivered that was too large , to fit in the swanky facility lockers.
Law enforcement authorities claim to have linked Nilo to the four Charlestown assaults based on DNA evidence identified through the 23 and Me genealogy database, to which family members voluntarily submitted samples.
The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative — a federal program designed to help clear a backlog of rape kits — was called into the investigation after Boston police made contact last October.
Authorities assumed the historical rape cases were related and released a composite sketch of the suspect, which led to Nilo’s arrest
According to FBI Special Agent Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Nilo had been identified as a suspect in April.
He then waived his extradition back to Massachusetts and was charged with the Charlestown rapes in which prosecutors say Nilo picked up women downtown and took them to Terminal Street where he intended to assault them.
Nilo’s first alleged victim, Lori Pinkham, spoke exclusively to and publicly shared her suffering.
Pinkham admitted she had lost hope her attacker would ever be caught and said she was “in disbelief and in awe” when police came to her home and told her they had identified him.
“He is a very evil person and used guns and violence to violently kidnap and rape several women,” she said.
Pinkham could not go into the specifics of her own assault, she said, but was willing to testify against Nilo if prosecutors asked to do so.
Meanwhile, Nilo’s attorney says he wants to challenge the constitutionality of the evidence collected by police and federal agencies leading to his arrest.
Cataldo accused the government of blaming his client for unresolved cases
Nilo’s employment has been suspended pending the completion of the ongoing rape investigation
Nilo was released from a Boston jail on June 15 after Griffin paid $500,000 for his bail.
He was fitted with a GPS tracker and released on condition that he surrender his passport, have no contact with the victims or witnesses and remain at least 300 meters from Terminal Street.
Exclusive images and video show Nilo leaving the courthouse with Griffin, who clutched his hand tightly throughout.
More charges may be forthcoming as police in Madison, Wisconsin — where Nilo attended college — are reviewing their old cases to see if there’s a possible link to the suspect.
“Our detectives are aware of Matthew Nilo,” police said in a statement to WCVB. “We are working with the Boston Police Department.” [and] “We’re reviewing old cases to see if there’s a link.”