Kevin J. Lino Arraigned in Connection with Lowell, Cambridge Cold Case Homicides

WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has confirmed that Kevin J. Lino, 38, a former resident of Lowell, was arraigned this morning in Middlesex Superior Court on two counts of first-degree murder for the 2010 killing of Gary A. Melanson, 54, in Lowell and for the 2012 killing of Douglas Leon Clarke, 30, in Cambridge.

On the afternoon of November 29, 2010, police responded to the area of the Rogers Street Bridge in Lowell.  They located the body of Gary Melanson, 54, who had suffered multiple visible wounds. The Medical Examiner ruled Melanson’s manner of death to be “undetermined.”

In 2018, while Massachusetts State Police were working on an unrelated investigation involving Lino, police learned about Lino’s possible involvement in Gary Melanson’s death. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit, in collaboration with state and local police, was subsequently able to establish probable cause that Kevin J. Lino, then 23-years-old, and Gary Melanson were both unhoused and staying in the same area near the Rogers Street Bridge. The defendant allegedly attacked Gary Melanson because he continued to light fires to warm himself after Lino had warned him not to do so. The defendant believed that the fires attracted attention from police and fire department personnel, and he did not want to draw such attention to the area. 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.

Gary A. Melanson

On August 2, 2012, police responded to a report of an apparently unconscious man in the area of 975 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, on the bank of the Charles River. Upon arrival, police located the body of 30-year-old Douglas Leon Clarke. Mr. Clarke was known to police as someone who was unhoused and stayed in the Harvard Square area. Toxicological examination of the victim’s blood revealed the presence of a substantial concentration of morphine, as well as codeine, ethanol and gabapentin (an anticonvulsant medication). At that time, his manner of death was recorded as an “accident,” a fatal overdose that was the result of acute and chronic substance abuse. There was no evidence that the death had been intentional.

Six years later, evidence was developed that Kevin J. Lino, then 25-years-old, poisoned Douglas Leon Clarke by allegedly intentionally giving him a quantity of heroin of sufficient strength to cause a fatal overdose, what is referred to as a “hot shot.” At the time of the murder the defendant and the victim were both part of a group of unhoused individuals who gathered by the Harvard Square MBTA station. The defendant allegedly decided to take it upon himself to drive out heroin-using members of the group, including by assaulting many of them throughout the day. After a confrontation with Douglas Leon Clarke, Kevin J. Lino allegedly resolved to punish him for his insolence by poisoning him and offered the victim a quantity of heroin that he knew would cause an overdose.

Douglas Leon Clarke

“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,” said District Attorney Ryan. “We recognize the pain and uncertainty endured by the families and friends of Mr. Melanson and Mr. Clarke, who have long awaited answers about what happened to their loved ones. It is our hope that today’s arraignments will bring them a measure of peace.”

At arraignment, Clerk Magistrate Daniel Flaherty ordered Lino be held without bail. The next date in this case is October 3, 2025 for scheduling. 

This case was investigated by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Unit, Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, and detectives from the Lowell and Cambridge Police Departments. The prosecutor assigned to this case is Assistant District Attorney David Solet, the Chief of the Cold Case Unit. The assigned Victim Witness Advocates are Dar'ya Matkovska and Arianne Dubina.