A man from New England has been identified as a suspect in a series of murders throughout Massachusetts.
Boston 25 News reports that Kevin Lino, aged 38, faces accusations in the 2012 murder of Normand Varieur in Boston and the 2014 killing of Jack Gilbert Berry in Missoula, Montana, as detailed by the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
“Kevin Lino is considered a serial killer,” stated Marian Ryan, the Middlesex County District Attorney.
Ryan elaborated, “The Department of Justice categorizes a serial killer as someone who has killed two individuals in separate incidents. In Lino’s case, there are already convictions for two murders, and charges have been filed for two additional cases.”
Authorities now allege that Lino, who was experiencing homelessness at the time, was responsible for the death of 30-year-old Douglas Leon Clarke in Cambridge back in 2012.
Initially, Clarke’s death was believed to be due to an accidental overdose. However, in 2018, People Magazine reported that investigators discovered Clarke had been residing in a homeless encampment near the Harvard Square MTBA station, where Lino was also living.
Investigators now believe that Lino, who had reportedly been angry that heroin users lived at the encampment, gave Clarke a fatal dose of heroin.
He’s also accused of beating 54-year-old Gary Melanson to death with a bat in 2010, at a Lowell, Massachusetts, homeless encampment.
Authorities said there could be more victims.
In March, the remains of over 10 people were found across New England states, including Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine. The discoveries sparked concerns of a serial killer.
The victims, however, died in “vastly” different ways, resulting in investigators ruling out a serial killer, who often kills each victim similarly, The New York Post reports.
Lino, who is currently serving two life sentences for the murders of Varieur and Berry, is currently awaiting trial for the Clarke and Melanson cases.
[Feature Photo via Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office]
