Authorities have identified a suspect in connection with the deaths of two individuals that occurred more than ten years ago.
Kevin Lino, a 38-year-old resident of Lowell, is facing charges for two murders in Massachusetts, according to the prosecution.
Lino is already serving a life sentence plus an additional 40 years for the murders of Norman Varieur in Charlestown in 2012, and Jack Gilbert Berry in 2014.
However, recent charges suggest that Varieur and Berry were not Lino’s only victims.
Prosecutors allege that in 2010, two years prior to Varieur’s murder, Lino committed another violent crime at a homeless encampment in Lowell, where he was residing at the time.
In this first alleged murder from 2010, Lino, then 23, reportedly attacked 54-year-old Gary Melanson with an aluminum baseball bat.
Reports indicate that Lino became enraged when Melanson refused to extinguish a fire, leading to a violent confrontation as Melanson ignored the demand.
The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office described the alleged incident: “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.”
Two years later, the District Attorney’s Office asserted that Lino attempted to expel heroin users from a camp where he was living by ‘assaulting many of them throughout the day’.
The situation escalated when Douglas Leon Clarke, 30, confronted Lino, prompting him to ‘punish’ Clarke by allegedly poisoning him.
Prosecutors claim Lino administered a lethal dose of heroin, also known as a ‘hot shot’, to Clarke.
District Attorney Marian Ryan stated in a press release: “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 expressed sympathy for the families of Mr. Melanson and Mr. Clarke, acknowledging the long wait for answers: “It is our hope that today’s arraignments will bring them a measure of peace.”
In a conversation with Boston 25 News, Ryan labeled Lino as a ‘serial killer’, explaining: “Mr. Lino is a serial killer. The Department of Justice defines a serial killer as someone who has taken the lives of two individuals in separate situations.”
She further commented on Lino’s alleged targeting of ‘vulnerable’ individuals, specifically mentioning homeless people: “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 also mentioned ongoing investigations into other potential victims: “We never give up on those cases. We don’t forget about them, and we stay open to other information.”
Currently, Lino awaits trial for these two cases.