Matthew Nilo, a New Jersey attorney charged in several Boston rapes from 16 years ago, represents “a new type of criminal” suspect emerging, thanks to advances in DNA technology, according to renowned genetic genealogist CeCe Moore.
Boston Police and the FBI used investigative genetic genealogy to arrest Nilo in several rapes in the Terminal Street area of Charlestown between 2007 and 2008.
“We have seen investigative genetic genealogy identify what is called a ‘new type of criminal,’ someone who does something really horrible and violent once and then goes and lives a relatively normal life. Have a family, is an active community member, has a career,” Moore, chief genetic genealogist for Parabon NanoLabs, told Fox News Digital.
“This is a little different because this is a repeated offender.”
Moore described genetic genealogy as “an unbiased tool … because it’s simply all about science and genealogy,” rather than a person’s criminal background or demographics.
According to Nilo’s Facebook profile, he recently proposed to his fiancée, possibly just weeks before his arrest in the series of alleged rapes.
He apparently got his bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and worked for two years as a paralegal before moving on to the University of San Francisco School of Law.
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From there, Nilo worked at the Clyde & Co. law firm in San Francisco, Atheria Law in New York City and Cowbell Cyber in New York, according to his LinkedIn.
He would have been 19 or 20 years old and in college at the time of the alleged assaults, his LinkedIn shows.
Relatively new DNA technology is linking more people to past crimes, she said.
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“This is really a fantastic illustration of the power of investigative genetic genealogy. This is somebody who had been able to stay under the radar, who appeared to be an upstanding member of society and who likely would never have gotten caught using the traditional approach to investigation because he isn’t the type of person that would typically be suspected of a crime like this,” Moore explained.
Moore said investigators would have collected DNA from the 2007 and 2008 assaults using rape kits directly after the crimes occurred.
Then they would have run that DNA through CODIS, a genetic database of DNA from convicted offenders, but they did not come up with a match at the time of the crimes.
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FBI Boston Special Agent In Charge Joe Bonavolonta said during a press conference Tuesday that because the “crimes were committed in 2007 and 2008, many investigative and scientific techniques have either improved or been created through new advances in technology.”
More recently, investigators retested DNA samples from the crime scenes in all four cases and ran them through newer genetic genealogy databases, generated a match list and built family trees to try and narrow down common ancestors that would lead them to relatives of the suspect, Moore explained.
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“When you see a serial offender like this, typically they’re going to live in close proximity to these crime scenes,” she said.
“Sometimes the genetic genealogy will take you just to one person, and sometimes it’ll take you to a set of siblings or a set of cousins. And that’s when law enforcement then is going to look at who fits the parameters to be the suspect.”
Bonavolonta confirmed Tuesday that “any crime” the FBI attempts to solve through genetic genealogy “must be based upon a final comparison between the crime scene DNA and DNA from the suspect” in addition to “what any other customer using a publicly accessible genealogical service would receive.”
Once investigators narrow in on a suspect, they try to discreetly get a DNA sample directly from that person, maybe from a trash can, a cigarette butt or a door handle. From there, they can match the suspect’s DNA with DNA from the crime scene.
All four sexual assault cases are “DNA-connected,” Boston Police Commissioner and Chief Michael Cox said Tuesday.
In this case, the process led investigators to Nilo, who reportedly plans to plead not guilty.
“Mr. Nilo is looking forward to being taken back up to Massachusetts. He’ll be entering a plea of not guilty, and he’s looking forward to fighting these charges and showing that he’s innocent,” his attorney, Jeff Garrigan, told reporters after his initial hearing Thursday, according to CBS.
The suspect is charged with three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault with intent to rape and one count of indecent assault and battery.
Nilo has been indicted in Superior Court in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, but has not been arraigned yet. He is facing extradition to Boston.
