Overview

• Kevin Lino, 38, was indicted on first-degree murder charges for the 2010 beating death of Gary Melanson in Lowell and the 2012 overdose death of Douglas Leon Clarke in Cambridge.
• Both deaths were initially ruled undetermined or accidental before state police linked Lino to the cases in 2018 and reclassified them as homicides.
• Prosecutors allege Lino beat Melanson with a metal baseball bat after disputes over fires under a Lowell bridge and later poisoned Clarke to curb drug use at a Harvard Square encampment.
• Lino is already serving a life sentence for second-degree murder in Charlestown and a 40-year term for a deliberate homicide in Montana, and he awaits arraignment in Middlesex Superior Court.
• The case underscores historical forensic oversights in investigations involving unhoused victims and decades of cross-jurisdiction collaboration by law enforcement.