A newly-engaged attorney who is suspected of raping four women while he was a student in Boston has agreed to be extradited back to Massachusetts after the FBI arrested him outside his luxury New Jersey apartment.
Matthew Nilo, 35, of Weehawken, New Jersey, was seen in a Hudson County courtroom after his arrest on Tuesday over alleged attacks on four victims in the Terminal Street area of the Charlestown neighborhood in Boston in 2007 and 2008.
The cyber attorney has been charged with aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault with intent to rape, and one count of indecent assault and battery.
On Thursday, he waived his extradition after making an initial appearance in a New Jersey courtroom. He will be brought back to Boston, where he used to live in the North End district, to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court.
Police said all four attacks have been connected through DNA, which was identified through the genealogy database 23 and Me after family members voluntarily sent samples, according to ABC 7.
Nilo was nabbed by the FBI and cops outside his swanky apartment on Harbor Boulevard, where he lives with his fiancé, after he was ‘called down to the front desk of his residence and told that a large package had been delivered to him that did not fit in the facility’s lockers where the residents pick up packages,’ an affidavit revealed.
Matthew Nilo, 35, who once lived in the North End, was arrested at his home in Weehawken, New Jersey, on Tuesday, more than 15 years after he allegedly terrorized four victims in the Terminal Street area
On Thursday, he waived his extradition after making an initial appearance in a New Jersey courtroom. He will be brought back to Boston, where he used to live in the North End district, to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court
After he came downstairs, he was taken into custody and waived his Miranda rights before his four alleged victims were notified, according to the Boston Globe.
The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative – a federal program designed to help process a backlog of rape kits – was used in the investigation after the Boston Police Department reached out in October.
By April, Nilo had been identified as a suspect, according to FBI Special Agent Joseph R. Bonavolonta said.
The agent told a press conference the four victims have been ‘waiting years’ to learn the identity of their alleged assailant.
‘We certainly realize that identifying this individual does not ease their pain – nothing can, but hopefully, it answers some questions,’ Bonavolonta said on Tuesday.
Several photos posted to Nilo’s Facebook page at the time showed him living a life full of parties and drinking with his friends
In one of his old photos, he was caught peeing in a hallway
‘Today’s arrest is the direct result of the FBI’s use of investigative genetic genealogy, a unique method used to generate new leads in unsolved sex assaults.’
In addition, since the revelation, his employer Cowbell Cyber – whom he started working for in January – have suspended him.
The insurance company told DailyMail.com: ‘Matthew Nilo was an employee of Cowbell and was hired in January, 2023 after passing our background check.
‘Mr Nilo’s employment at Cowbell has been suspended pending further investigation.’
Prior to Tuesday’s arrest, Nilo only had a brush with the law in 2008, where he was charged with a misdemeanor for drug possession and was given pretrial probation before the charge was ultimately dismissed, the Boston Globe reported.
Nilo has reportedly been suspended by his employer Cowbell in light of the investigation
At the time of his 2008 arrest, he was listed as living on Commercial Street and worked as a cashier in a bagel shop. In addition, his probation docket noted he would be allowed to travel to the University of Wisconsin for school as long as he attended five AA meetings.
He had been arrested after being pulled over for a defective headlight on July 12, 2008 and an officer noticed a bag and the smell of marijuana in the car, the Globe reported.
Several photos posted to Nilo’s Facebook page at the time showed him living a life full of parties and drinking with his friends.
Nilo’s LinkedIn paints a different picture than a man accused of rape.
According to Nilo’s Linkedin profile, before he started at Cowbell he was an associate at Atheria Law in New York for three years, after working for Clyde & Co in San Francisco, California for more than five years.
He studied for a doctorate at the University of San Francisco School of Law from 2012 until 2015, after graduating with a Psychology degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010.
Nilo was studying at the latter college when the alleged crimes took place.
A former coworker of his told WCVS that it was ‘very shocking’ to see Nilo’s arrest as he was a ‘was normal, a good-looking kid that did well at anything he put his mind to.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk