Global Courant
A New Jersey lawyer who was recently accused of sexually assaulting or raping at least eight women in the Boston area between 2007 and 2008 seemed to lead a double life for years after the alleged attacks.
Boston FBI special agent Joe Bonavolonta said in May that Nilo’s arrest was “the direct result of the FBI’s use of genetic genealogy,” which he described as “a unique method used to generate new clues in unsolved assaults, murders and other violent crimes.”
After more than 16 years, authorities were able to match Nilo’s DNA to DNA found at the various crime scenes in Boston and Charlestown, where Nilo is accused of assaulting eight women between 2007 and 2008.
“The double life comes with the territory,” forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie told Fox News Digital of the possibility that Nilo may have continued his life as normal after allegedly assaulting several women when he was 19 or 20 years old. “This new (DNA) technology has opened the door to identifying suspects who otherwise would not have been identified.”
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Matthew Nilo was seen entering a courtroom for his arraignment. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
In the years following 2008, Nilo received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and worked as a paralegal for two years before transferring to the University of San Francisco School of Law. From there, according to his LinkedIn page, Nilo worked at the law firm of Clyde & Co. in San Francisco, Atheria Law in New York City, and finally at Cowbell Cyber in New York.
According to his social media, the suspect would have become engaged a few weeks before his arrest.
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Bearing in mind that Nilo is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, Mohandie said the idea of a criminal suspect leading a double life is common.
Genetic genealogy led researchers to serial rapist Matthew Nilo. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital/Facebook)
“They could be a police officer, they could be a pastor in a church, they could be a teacher, they could be homeless. They could come from all walks of life,” Mohandie said. “But the gist of it is that they are living a double life because they hide and engage in this transgression.”
“(W)when it comes down to it… these urges, they don’t go away.”
The forensic psychologist added that when the urge to reoffend becomes stronger and the opportunity to reoffend arises, criminals can prepare illegal activities.
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“There’s a suspicion that on the surface of a person who seems to lead a lifestyle of work, of higher education, that’s somehow incompatible with continued transgression. And we don’t know if that’s the case,” he said. he. “If this is indeed a person who is ultimately found criminally responsible… we don’t know if there are no other victims, so they are looking every place he has ever been or visited to see if there are any other cases.” that fit into similar patterns.”
Matthew Nilo will appear in Hudson County Superior Court in Jersey City, New Jersey on June 1, 2023. Nilo, a Manhattan cyber lawyer, is accused of raping three women in Boston, Massachusetts between 2007 and 2008. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Serial offenders, he said, tend to “commit offenses until they get caught,” even if they have “cooling-off periods” between offenses, either because they think authorities are on their trail or because they’re just busy are with “other relationships that keep them busy.”
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“But when it comes down to it… these urges, they don’t go away,” Mohandie said.
Nilo was initially charged with three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault with intent to rape, and one count of assault and battery.
A woman, believed to be Matthew Nilo’s fiancé, Laura Griffin, watches his arraignment at Hudson County Superior Court on Thursday, June 1, 2023 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
On Tuesday, a grand jury of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, indicted Nilo on seven additional charges, including one count of rape, one count of aggravated rape, three counts of assault with intent to rape and two counts of assault and battery.
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“Mr. Nilo denies all allegations, including the latest charges,” his attorney, Joseph Cataldo, told Fox News Digital. “You can expect both legal and factual challenge to the government’s case.”
Nilo was fitted with a GPS monitor and released from Suffolk County Jail on June 15 on $500,000 bail following his arraignment and a bail hearing. The defendant’s next trial in Suffolk County is scheduled for July 13.
Lori Pinkham leaves a courtroom in Boston, Suffolk County’s highest court, on Monday, June 12, 2023. A bail hearing was held for Matthew Nilo, who Pinkham claims raped her in 2007. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
One of his accusers, Lori Pinkham, told reporters on June 15 ahead of his release that she feared Nilo could pose a danger to the community if he is released on bail.
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Pinkham, who said she was working as a bar manager in Cambridge at the time of the 2007 attack, claimed Nilo forced her into a vehicle at gunpoint near Government Center in downtown Boston.
Cataldo questioned what he describes as “the suspicious nature in which the DNA was recovered, but we’ll get to that in due course” in remarks to reporters at the Suffolk County Superior Court on June 15.
Fox News’ Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.
