The attorney who was arrested this week in New Jersey by police and the FBI is set to return to Boston to face charges in a series of sexual assaults and kidnappings from 2007 and 2008.
Matthew Nilo appeared in Hudson County Superior Court Thursday morning for an extradition hearing after his arrest on Tuesday at his Weehawken apartment building across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The 35-year-old attorney had been charged in Boston with aggravated rape, kidnapping, assault with intent to rape and indecent assault and battery.
After the hearing, Nilo's lawyer, Jeff Garrigan, told reporters that Nilo is "looking forward to be taken back up to Massachusetts" where he will plead not guilty.
"He's looking forward to fighting these charges and showing that he's innocent," Garrigan added.
The four alleged attacks that resulted in Nilo's arrest took place in an industrial part of Boston's Charlestown neighborhood between Aug. 18, 2007, and Dec. 23, 2008, police have said.
Nilo was identified as a suspect through forensic genetic genealogy, officials said.
He lived in Boston's North End, as well as in Wisconsin, California and New York, officials have said. Investigators have urged anyone who thinks they could have been a victim or who has information on any case involving Nilo, to contact Boston Police or the FBI.
Nilo was taken into custody by FBI agents and police who had the front desk of his building call Nilo and say he had a package delivered that was too large to hold in the lobby, according to a warrant filed in court. He was "suspended pending further investigation" by his employer, the cyber-insurance company Cowbell, it said in a statement,
Neighbors in the luxury apartment complex said they found it scary that the man who walked his dog alongside them in a neighboring park is an accused serial rapist.
"He’s nice. We would talk, he was normal, smiling, quiet," Inna Lazur said. “ I’m shocked. Yesterday when the neighbors started sending messages about what happened, I’m like what?"
The FBI's Boston office said in a statement after helping with Nilo's arrest that they "believe we have removed a dangerous threat from our community" and that investigators won't stop looking into cases as the years go by.
More details about the allegations against Nilo are likely to be revealed at subsequent court hearings.
NBC10 Boston's Thea DiGiammerino and Michael Rosenfield contributed to this report.
