


One of the women accusing lawyer Matthew Nilo of raping her during a horrific Boston spree more than 15 years ago spoke out for the first time this week about her horrifying ordeal — saying she “lived in fear” every day until he was caught.
Lori Pinkham told Good Morning America that she was attacked on her way home one night in 2007 after doing promotions for a club.
“He pulled up in his car next to me and kind of cut me off…and started yelling ‘Hey, I saw you, do you need a ride?’” she recalled to ABC’s Erielle Reshef in the emotional clip that aired Wednesday.
When Pinkham turned down the man’s offer, she said, she realized he had a gun.
“He just said ‘Get in the car,’” she explained.
The attacker drove her to the Charlestown area, where she attempted to run away before he caught up and raped her, Pinkham said.
Over the next 15 years, Pinkham struggled to move forward as her rapist remained unidentified.
“[That night] took away my freedom,” she lamented.
“It’s been horrible. A big part of my life stopped that day. I couldn’t work, I didn’t want to spend time with everybody. Every day, I lived in fear.”
Finally, this year, police matched DNA from Pinkham’s assault and that of three other women to a submission on a public genealogy website. Authorities narrowed down the results to identify the suspect, 35-year-old lawyer Matthew Nilo.
Nilo, a Massachusetts native, was arrested on May 30 at his apartment in Weehawken, New Jersey.
“I was shocked…I couldn’t believe it,” Pinkham said of his arrest.
“[I noticed] his eyes, mostly,” she continued.
“I just remember them because they were, like, black.”
Nilo pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping, assault with attempt to rape and indecent assault and battery stemmed from four attacks between August 2007 and December 2008.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate has been supported in court by his fiancée, Lauren Griffin. He was released from jail on Monday after his family raised $500,000 cash of his $5 million bail.
“He literally hid from cops for 16 years. How is he not a flight risk?” one unidentified alleged victim told the Daily Mail of his release.
Pinkham says she is confident that Nilo is the man who raped her – and that she looks forward to facing him at trial.
“I want him to know that I’m not scared of him,” she insisted.