New England serial killer accused of new murders as authorities uncover decade-long crime spree: DA
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Authorities have revealed the identity of a suspected serial killer in New England, believed to be connected to multiple unsolved murders from over a decade ago. This announcement comes amid ongoing concerns about numerous bodies discovered across the region earlier this year.

Kevin Lino, aged 38, faced charges in August for the alleged killings of two men from Massachusetts in 2010 and 2012, as reported by the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.

Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan stated, “Mr. Lino is a serial killer,” according to Boston 25 News. “The Department of Justice defines a serial killer as an individual responsible for the deaths of at least two people in separate incidents. We have convictions for two murders and have now filed charges for two additional murders.”

The New England community has been on edge for months due to fears of a serial killer following the discovery of more than a dozen bodies in Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. However, no connection has been established between Lino and these deaths.

A mugshot of Kevin Lino

Kevin Lino is accused of the murders of two homeless men in 2010 and 2012, while he is already serving sentences for two other murders in Massachusetts and Montana, as cited by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

The additional charges come as Lino is serving a life sentence plus 40 years in prison for the murders of two other homeless men, including the 2012 killing of Norman Varieur in Charlestown and the 2014 killing of Jack Gilbert Berry, the outlet reported. 

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.  

Prosecutors now allege Lino, who was 23 at the time, committed his first murder by beating 54-year-old Gary Melanson to death with an aluminum baseball bat at a Lowell, Massachusetts, homeless encampment in 2010. 

Lino is accused of attacking Melanson after he refused to put out a campfire being used to warm himself while the pair were living in the same encampment, according to prosecutors.

An undated photo of Gary Melanson, one of Kevin Lino's alleged victims

Gary Melanson, 54, was allegedly beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat by Kevin Lino while the pair were living in a homeless encampment in Lowell, Massachusetts, in November 2010, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. (The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office)

“After the victim allegedly ignored the defendant’s order, the defendant rushed the victim, who was much smaller and older than the defendant, and struck him repeatedly with a metal baseball bat, killing him,” prosecutors said in a statement. 

Two years later, in 2012, Lino was living among other homeless individuals near the Harvard Square subway stop when he allegedly implemented a campaign to drive the heroin users of the group out of the area. 

His attempts included “assaulting many of them throughout the day,” but when Douglas Leon Clarke, 30, confronted Lino, the now-convicted killer “resolved to punish him for his insolence by poisoning him,” according to prosecutors.

An undated photo of Douglas Leon Clarke, one of Kevin Lino's alleged victims

Douglas Leon Clarke, 30, was allegedly killed by Kevin Lino after receiving a fatal dose of heroin at a homeless encampment in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in August 2012, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. (The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office)

Lino allegedly killed Clarke by offering him enough heroin to cause a fatal overdose, often referred to as a “hot shot,” prosecutors said.

“This defendant is alleged to repeatedly and deliberately victimize some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, unhoused individuals. The actions alleged in these cases were not only violent and cruel, but inhumane,” Ryan said. 

Lino is charged with two counts of alleged first-degree murder and is currently in custody in a Massachusetts jail as he awaits trial in the Clarke and Melanson cases. Fox News Digital was unable to immediately locate an attorney representing Lino. 

However, authorities believe the convicted killer may have even more victims. 

“You know, we continue to investigate that,” Ryan told Boston 25 News. “We never give up on those cases. We don’t forget about them, and we stay open to other information.”

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