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A New Jersey attorney has pleaded not guilty to raping four women as a college student in 2007 and 2008.
Matthew Nilo, 35, denied attacking four different women during his appearance in Suffolk Superior Court this morning.
He is charged with three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault with the intent to rape and one count of indecent assault and battery.
Nilo, who was linked to the crimes by DNA, was supported in court by family members and his fiancé Lauren Griffin who was present when FBI officers swooped at their home in Weehawken last week.
Griffin, 37, stayed silent and emotionless during the entire hearing on Monday, clutching rosary beads with a cross attached.
Matthew Nilo, 35, denied attacking four different women during his appearance in Suffolk Superior Court this morning
Griffin stayed silent and emotionless during the entire hearing, clutching rosary beads with a cross attached
His bail was posted at $500,000, and if Nilo is able to post that amount, he must submit to GPS monitoring and stay away from his alleged victims and the scene of the crime.
Nilo was handcuffed and appeared in court wearing a blue shirt and jeans and looked emotional as he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the time of the alleged rapes, Boston Police Department issued a warning that a man was attacking women after offering them rides home.
Nilo was identified to law enforcement through family members who voluntarily sent DNA samples to a genealogy database, like ’23 and Me.’
According to a police affidavit, a dozen FBI agents and Boston Police officers arrested Nilo at his luxury apartment complex.
They lured him down to the lobby under the pretense that ‘a large package had been delivered to him that did not fit in the … lockers where the residents pick up packages.’
He was with his fiance at the time of his arrest, and immediately invoked his Miranda rights.
Griffin also attended Nilo’s court hearing in New Jersey last week, where he waived extradition.
Nilo was handcuffed and appeared in court wearing a blue shirt and jeans and looked emotional as he pleaded not guilty to the charges
On Thursday, he waived his extradition after making an initial appearance in a New Jersey courtroom. Pictures on his social media show the accused rapist partying with friends
Nilo, who was linked to the crimes by DNA, was supported in court by family members and his fiancé Lauren Griffin who was present when FBI officers swooped at their home
His fiance gripped the religious jewelery throughout the hearing, but did not say anything as she exited the court
Nilo is accused of assaulting the four women in or around Terminal Street in Charleston on 18 August 2007, 22 November 2007, 5 August 2008 and 23 December 2008.
Nilo has been suspended by his employer Cowbell in light of the investigation
A 23-year-old woman claims that she was approached by a man in his 20’s after leaving a friend’s home in the State Street area in the early hours.
She said she thought she knew the man, who offered her a ride to help her look for her vehicle before driving her to Terminal Street.
Nilo then allegedly told her to ‘shut up’ or he would kill her, claiming to have a weapon before raping her on a grassy area near railroad tracks, according to court filings.
The second attack took place in November 2007, when a woman, 23, was leaving a bar on State Street after attending a high school reunion.
Documents say that she got into Nilo’s car, thinking it was a taxi, before giving him the address of an ATM near her apartment.
She claims that the man flashed a knife at her after she told him he missed the address, driving her to Terminal Street where he ordered her out of the car before raping her.
The third assault took place in August 2008, after Nilo allegedly approached a 36-year-old woman on Boston Common, promising her money if she went to Charlestown with him.
Prosecutors said that all three women underwent a sexual assault examination, which yielded a DNA profile, which matched the male in each attack
Police revisited the investigation last year, using ‘forensic investigative genetic genealogy’ which resulted in Nilo being placed under surveillance in New York
Nilo is accused of assaulting the four women in or around Terminal Street in Charleston on 18 August 2007, 22 November 2007, 5 August 2008 and 23 December 2008
When they exited the car at Terminal Street, he allegedly ‘tackled her to the ground, held a gun to her back’ and raped her repeatedly.
Prosecutors said that all three women underwent a sexual assault examination, which yielded a DNA profile, which matched the male in each attack.
The final assault took place in December 2008, where a 44-year-old woman was attacked as she was jogging in the area of Terminal Street.
Court documents claim that he approached her from behind, tackled her to the ground and sexually assaulted her.
The man, who was later allegedly identified as Nilo, repeatedly told her ‘I have a gun’ before she managed to escape by poking at his eyes while wearing a glove.
Police revisited the investigation last year, using ‘forensic investigative genetic genealogy’ which resulted in Nilo being placed under surveillance in New York.
The filing, obtained by the Boston Globe, said: ‘FBI agents were able to obtain various utensils and drinking glasses they watched the defendant use at a corporate event.
Nilo, 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
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
‘From one of the glasses the Boston Police Crime Lab obtained a male DNA profile, which was found to match the suspect profile from the three Terminal Street rapes.’
The glove that the fourth woman used to poke her attacker with was also tested, with investigators ‘determining that this profile was 314 times more likely to belong to Matthew Nilo than to any other male in the population.’
