Police say they were able to identify a suspect in a series of two-decade old rape cases out of Boston using new advances in DNA technology, eventually arresting New Jersey attorney Matthew Nilo and charging him with a variety of crimes. Here’s everything we know. The crimes Between 2007 and 2008, police investigated a series of four different sex crimes that occured involving women in downtown Boston. The victims described being threatened or tricked by a male assailant. One woman said she encountered a man in 2007 she thought she knew who offered to give her a ride as she looked for her car. The man evetually told her to “shut up,” threatened to kill her, said he had a weapon, and raped her near a Boston railyard. The second of the four attacks occured in late 2007, as a woman was leaving a State Street bar following a high school reunion. She allegedly got into a man’s car, thinking it was a taxi, and gave an address of an ATM near her appartment. The driver flashed a knife at the woman and later raped her near Terminal Street. The third incident under scrutiny by police came in August of 2008, when a man allegedly approached a woman on Boston Common and promised her money if she went to the Charlestown area with him, later allegedly holding a gun to her back and raping her. A final attack occured in December of 2008, when a 44-year-old jogger was sexually assaulted, before repelling her assailant by poking him in the eye. Police conducted rape examanations of the first three women and established a DNA profile of the attacker, but didn’t find any matches in CODIS, a law enforcement DNA database. The investigation Last year, police in Boston got a new break in the case. Using a $2.5m grant from the federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, they began re-examing the 2000s rape cases as part of an effort to review unsolved sexual crimes, and used new DNA techniques to advance the investigation. Using DNA taken from the original sexual assault examinations, they searched for potential suspects using DNA information submitted by family members to commercial ancestry databses GEDMatch and Family Tree DNA, eventually landing on Mr Nilo as a person of interest. Such tecniques are known as forensic investigative genetic genealogy. FBI agents surveilling the attorney saw him handle a glass and silverware at a corporate event and were able to collect a DNA sample, according to police. The DNA on the sample allegedly matched both the evidence found in the rape kits and on a sample taken from the glove one of the women used to fend off the alleged rapist. Boston Police and FBI agents arrested Mr Nilo in the lobby of a luxury building in Weehawken last week, allegedly telling him “a large package had been delivered to him that did not fit in the ... lockers where the residents pick up packages,” according to prosecutors. The suspect Prosecutors argued during an arraignment on Monday the forensic evidence was a match, with the DNA present on the glove 314 times more likely to belong to Mr Nilo than any other male. Mr Nilo, at attorney who lives in Weehawken, New Jersey, previously worked at the cyber firm Cowbell Cyber in Manhattan. The company told The Daily Mail it has suspended the attorney. “Matthew Nilo was an employee of Cowbell and was hired in January, 2023 after passing our background check,” the company said. “Mr. Nilo’s employment at Cowbell has been suspended pending further investigation.” He attended the University of Wisconsin and got a law degree at the University of San Francisco, according to court records. The rapes allegedly occured when he was home from college on breaks. Mr Nilo’s fiancée, Laura Griffin, 37, has appeared at multiple court proceedings following the attorney’s arrest. She reportedly clutched a set of rosary beads during Mr Nilo’s arraignment. The charges On Monday, Mr Nilo was charged with three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and other charges. He could face up to life in prison if gound guilty. His bail has been set at $500,000, and the attorney will be subject to GPS monitoring if he is freed from jail pre-trial. Mr Nilo pleaded not guilty. “I do understand that the procedures used by law enforcement are somewhat suspect,” his attorney Joseph Cataldo told The Associated Press outside court on Monday. “It seems that they obtained DNA evidence without ever obtaining a search warrant. If that turns out to be true, that’s an issue that will be pursued vigorously.” Read More Detectives used DNA from water glass in investigation of attorney accused of rapes in Boston Fiancee of attorney linked to three rapes through genetic genealogy stands by him in court Pensioner on trial accused of murdering young woman in 1974

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Bryan Kohberger has claimed that the DNA evidence tying him to the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students may have been planted at the crime scene – as the deadline for him to give an alibi for the slaying looms. In a recent court filing in Latah County Court, the 28-year-old criminology student suggested that police officers could have somehow placed his DNA on the knife sheath which was left behind by the killer at the college rental home in Moscow, Idaho. “The State’s argument asks this Court and Mr Kohberger to assume – is that the DNA on the sheath was placed there by Mr Kohberger, and not someone else during an investigation that spans hundreds of members of law enforcement and apparently at least one lab the State refuses to name,” Mr Kohberger’s attorneys wrote. Prosecutors fired back at the suggestion that the evidence was “rigged”, writing in a filing that “the State is at a loss as to how that theory supports a claim that the lGG information is material to the preparation of his defense”. Mr Kohberger was tied to the 13 November murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin through a knife sheath left at the scene. The sheath – for a military or Ka-Bar style knife – was found partly under Mogen’s body after she and Goncalves were found stabbed multiple times on Mogen’s bed on the third floor of the home. DNA on the button clasp of the sheath was then found to match that of the 28-year-old accused killer. Mr Kohberger’s attorneys have sought to cast doubts on the strength of this DNA evidence, in particular the use of genetic genealogy. According to the affidavit in the case, the FBI used genetic genealogy databases to try to identify the DNA source. Trash was then collected from the suspect’s parents’ home in the Poconos Mountains and a familial match – from Mr Kohberger’s father – was made to the sheath, according to the criminal affidavit. Following Mr Kohberger’s arrest on 30 December, DNA samples were then taken directly from the suspect and came back as “a statistical match”, say prosecutors. Mr Kohberger’s attempts to cast doubts on the evidence come ahead of a looming deadline for the accused mass killer to offer an alibi for the night of the murders. Under Idaho law, defendants have 10 days to provide a written statement about where they claim to have been at the time of the alleged crime and offering information about any witnesses who can support their claim. On 23 May – one day after he was arraigned on four murder charges – Latah County Prosecutor’s Office put in a demand for Mr Kohberger’s notice of alibi. Back then, Mr Kohberger’s legal team asked Judge John Judge for an extension to this deadline, saying that they needed more time due to the wealth of evidence in the high-profile case. The judge extended the deadline through to 24 July. As of Monday morning, the Idaho cases of interest website – where the latest filings in the case are shared – had gone down. Mr Kohberger is facing the death penalty if convicted of the murders of Goncalves, 21, Mogen, 21, Kernodle, 20, and Chapin, 20. He is scheduled to stand trial on 2 October after being indicted by a grand jury on four counts of first-degree murder and one burglary charge. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus student home on King Road in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death with a large, military-style knife. Two other female roommates lived with the three women at the property and were home at the time of the massacre but survived. One of the survivors – Dylan Mortensen – came face to face with the masked killer, dressed in head-to-toe black and with bushy eyebrows, as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders, according to the criminal affidavit. For more than six weeks, the college town of Moscow was plunged into fear as the accused killer remained at large with no arrests made and no suspects named. Then, on 30 December, law enforcement suddenly swooped on Mr Kohberger’s family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania and arrested him for the quadruple murders. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students – if any – prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohberger was tied to the killings through his DNA on the knife sheath, surveillance footage showing his white Hyundai Elantra close to the crime scene and cellphone activity. The murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”. Read More Bryan Kohberger’s criminology professor weighs in on Rex Heuermann’s arrest in Gilgo Beach murders probe Plan to demolish home where four University of Idaho students were murdered is delayed Bryan Kohberger could face the firing squad for the Idaho murders. What would this mean?

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The UK and Spain are close to agreeing a deal on the post-Brexit status of Gibraltar, the Spanish foreign minister has indicated. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said Lord Cameron had underlined the UK’s desire to get “a UK-EU treaty on Gibraltar as soon as possible” during his discussion with counterpart Jose Manuel Albares. Mr Albares first revealed he had been in crunch talks with Rishi Sunak’s new foreign secretary David Cameron on resolving the long-running row over trade and immigration arrangements. He told Spanish media that he had spoken with Lord Cameron over the phone on Monday, and they had also agreed to meet in person during a Brussels summit on Tuesday. The Spanish minister suggested the outline of a deal was now in place for a “zone of shared prosperity” in the Spanish area next to the British territory to avoid a hard border on the flow of people and goods. “I would sign a deal with Britain over Gibraltar tomorrow,” Mr Albares told the television channel Telecinco – saying both sides “agree that we have to move forward as soon as possible”. A UK-EU deal on arrangements for Gibraltar’s border – primarily on trade and free movement – was not struck in time for the Brexit deal worked out by Boris Johnson’s government. Conservative ministers have been nervous about signing any bilateral deal that could be viewed as reducing British influence over the territory. The Spanish foreign ministry has said the deal would allow Spain to use the Schengen agreement – which allows for the free movement of EU citizens around the bloc – to ease controls on the movement of people. Spain, the UK and the EU have previously agreed to the principle that Gibraltar should remain part of EU agreements on free movement. Mr Albares suggested the UK was also now keen on a frictionless border when it comes to the movement of goods – something akin to the thorny arrangements for Northern Ireland His ministry said a “zone of shared prosperity” deal would see limited checks “without increasing the risks for the EU internal market” – meaning the UK would have to agree to alignment on Brussels regulations. The Spanish foreign minister told reporters in Brussels: “I think this deal … is better for everyone than the application of European legislation after British citizens democratically decided to leave the European Union.” “There’s already been political will on the part of the Spanish government for many months,” Mr Albares said on the “generous and balanced deal on the table”. He added: “What’s needed now is that political will on the part of the United Kingdom to move forward decisively, which is what I’ve seen so far. But we won’t know until the end. Nothing will be agreed until it’s all agreed.” Despite optimism that a deal is now close, there was no word from Lord Cameron’s team on the prospects of an agreement being signed within days. Britain’s decision to leave the EU was very unpopular in the British overseas territory, where thousands of people cross the border with Spain every day for work. Just over 95 per cent of the territory’s population voted to stay in the EU in the 2016 referendum. The territory’s business leaders have been keen for a deal to be struck. Brian Reyes, editor of the Gibraltar Chronicle wrote: “Seven years on [from the Brexit referendum], the Brexit levanter still hangs over our heads.” Meanwhile, Lord Cameron is expected to try to meet EU Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic during his Brussels summit visit – his first trip to the EU capital since his fateful Brexit referendum. The foreign secretary is reportedly ready to raise the issue of post-Brexit tariffs set to be imposed on the automobile industry into force in January if he meets Mr Sefcovic this week. Mr Sunak’s government is pushing the EU Commission to agree to delay the costly new “rules of origin” set to damage the electric vehicle (EV) market due to come in at the start of 2024 as part of Mr Johnson’s trade deal. The Independent has contacted Lord Cameron’s team and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for comment. Read More ‘History and justice’ on side of Greek claim to Elgin Marbles, says minister Brexit red tape risks extending inflation crisis, retailers warn ‘Terrible legacy’ left by death of Bloody Sunday Parachute Regiment commander Hamas to release more hostages as thousands set for Gaza ceasefire march Lord Cameron says UK needs to engage with China Israeli safety depends on long-term Palestinian ‘security’, warns Cameron