Suspected New England Serial Killer’s Targets Revealed in Shocking New Report

There has been a lot of talk and. coverage about a potential serial killer. stalking the New England area after body. after body started piling up earlier. this year. Well, guess what? As all of. that has been going on, police caught a. guy who authorities are now saying could. in fact be a serial killer in. Massachusetts. We are going to break. this down with the reporter who has been. all over this story. Welcome to Sidebar. presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. [Music].

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of several months, mostly women found in. Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, all being found. since March. For example, you had a. female body that was found in the woods. of a Massachusetts suburb of Milton in. June. April, a woman was found dead near. a Springfield, Massachusetts bike path. A woman's remains were found along the. bank of the Connecticut River in Rocky. Hill, Connecticut. The same month, March, a woman was found in the woods of. Foster, Rhode Island. And look, while. every case was different, the identities. of many had been confirmed. Authorities.

indicated these were isolated, separate. incidents for the most part. What police. tried to do was calm the public's fear. of a serial killer on the loose. Now, they didn't stop online speculation that. all of these were connected. But now, this is something that's not getting. enough attention. As all of this is. going on, it is being reported by Boston 25 that. there may actually be a serial killer. who was caught. Now, let me be clear. I'm not saying this person is directly.

connected to all the deaths that I just. mentioned. There's no evidence to. suggest that right now. And frankly, and. I'll get into this, it may be impossible. he was able to do this. Maybe, maybe there's one or two that we. have to be talking about here. But, and this is to be clear, this is not. vindicating all those who say, "Oh, there was a serial killer and the and. the authorities were saying there wasn't. a serial killer, now there's a serial. killer." Not saying that. But, whether or not there's a connection to. anything I just mentioned doesn't take.

away the fact of what the guy I'm about. to mention, what he's accused of doing. How can we not address the arrest of. someone who authorities are concerned. may be linked to multiple deaths in that. area? It's almost like the public was. looking for a serial killer and now. authorities may have just found a. different one in the area. So, I want to. talk about 38-year-old Kevin Leno who's. currently facing two counts of. first-degree murder in connection with. the deaths of two homeless men. But, there is maybe a remote possibility that.

they are investigating him in connection. with other deaths, maybe the ones that. we just talked about. So, I want to talk. right now about 38-year-old Kevin Leno. currently facing two counts of. first-degree murder in connection with. the deaths of two homeless men. He was. arraigned in August and there was a lot. to get into. So, I want to go through. what we know so far and I want to bring. on a special guest. I want to bring on. journalist Bob Ward from Boston 25 News, host of New England Unsolved who has. been covering this development. Bob,

thank you so much for taking the time. Really, really appreciate you coming. here on Sidebar. So, I want to start. here. What do we know about the. circumstances of Leno's arrest? How was. he apprehended? This was back in the. summer, right? Yeah. Well, he has been. in custody for a couple of years and he. was arrested in Louisiana as a fugitive. for a murder out in Montana. So, he's. been in custody and while he's been in. custody, these new charges are being brought. against him. What is he accused of.

specifically. with these new charges? He is charged. with first-degree murder for the deaths. of two men in the Boston area. One as. far back as 2010, the other one in 2012. The This is Gary Melanson and Douglas. Leon Clark, right? >> Exactly. What do we know about what. happened to them? I mean, what is the. theory. of prosecutors right now? What are they. saying that he did? In the Melanson case. in 2010,

Leno was living in a homeless encampment. up in Lowell, which is on the pretty. close to New Hampshire, north of Boston. And. he was living at an area there and he. got into an altercation with Melanson. He was upset that Melanson was lighting. fires at the encampment and thought it. would attract the attention of police. And he viciously, the allegation is that. he viciously beat Melanson to death and.

sprawled his body. across the top of a tent in the homeless. encampment. That death was ruled. undetermined. And so, Leno, two years. later, is in a homeless encampment in. Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just over the river from. Boston. He apparently got this idea that. he wanted to rid this homeless unhoused. population in Harvard Square where. people where they used to hang out.

And then he came in contact with Douglas. Leon Clark. And the idea is that Douglas. Leon Clark was found dead by the side of. the river, the Charles River. It was. suspected to be an overdose, but now. they're saying that. that Leno. purposely gave him a hot shot, which is. a fatal overdose of heroin and some. other drugs. And those the circumstances between. those two cases. Let me Yeah, and and and let me just lay.

out a little bit more. I saw this from. the Lowell Police Department. It says. this, quote, "On the afternoon. of November 29th, 2020 2010, excuse me, Lowell Police received an anonymous. phone call reporting a body under the. Rogers Street Bridge. Upon arrival, they. located Gary Melanson's body sprawled. over a collapsed tent with numerous. visible wounds. An autopsy conducted by. the office of the chief medical examiner. concluded he had suffered blunt impact. injuries to his head, torso, extremities, including fractured ribs, a. collapsed lung, a fracture of his left.

arm. His manner of death, as you said, was initially ruled to be undetermined. Two years later, August 2nd, 2012, Cambridge Police received a call of a. man apparently unconscious in the area. of 975 Memorial Drive on the bank of the. Charles River. Upon arrival, police. located the body of Douglas Leon Clark, 30 years old, who often went by the name. Rage. Goes on to say toxicology. examination of the victim's blood. revealed the presence of a substantial. concentration of morphine as well as. codeine, ethanol, and gabapentin. His.

manner of death was recorded as an. accident, result of acute and chronic. substance abuse. There was no evidence. at that time that the death had been. intentional. So, Bob, what changed? I. think there was something that happened. in 2018, right? How. What drove them back to this? And I'm. still trying to understand exactly how. this all got put together, but. they were. state police attached to the Middlesex. County DA's office was doing some work. on an unrelated case and they were able.

to develop information about the. Melanson murder. They must have talked. to witnesses and got a clearer picture. of what happened up there in Lowell and. that's what drove them there. And they. also got some information once they had. the name that also. they they started figuring out where he. was, then they started tracing him back. over to Clark and took another look at. that and that's how they developed the. charge in Douglas Leon Clark. He's also.

been convicted of another. homeless person also in 2012, so the. same year as Douglas Leon Clark. This is. Norman Varieur and he was found. on a pier on Boston Harbor behind the. Boston Garden. in an area called Paul Revere Park and. he his body was found there badly. beaten, but he was still alive. And he. died a couple of days later. from blunt force trauma. And so, Leno. was connected to that murder eventually.

and. he's doing time on that one. But, those. are the three the three before he heads. out to Montana. 2010, 2012, and 2012 again. So, you're talking four deaths in. multiple states right now connected to. him. Do By the way, do we know how he. was able to move from place to place, what he was up to? There's a lot we. don't know about Kevin Leno. You know, I'm still trying to figure out he all we. know is that he's one point he lived in.

Lowell, but I don't have a lot of. information on his background, how he. moved around from just Lowell down to. Cambridge. You could walk. It's a long. walk. It's many many miles, but um but. he got around. And then how did he get. out to Montana and why he went to. Montana, uh we don't know. And when it comes to Gary, you know, they they allegedly beat him with a. baseball bat that it was some dispute. over starting fires um that it was going. to attract attention. It comes to.

Douglas, you know, he seems I guess the allegations right. now he was part of this homeless or. unhoused community, but really had some. ill feel ill will towards them in a way. >> Yeah, it he has if you have from what. we're seeing, he's got a real rage. problem. He has an issue with somebody. and he flies into this uncontrolled. anger and he goes after these people. And you know, all of these victims are unhoused.

unhoused community. They're homeless and. they don't get a lot of attention. Um I will say that the Suffolk County DA. with the Norman Barrier case, he did. have a press conference um about that. and he was asking for the public's help. when uh Norman uh was found um you know, injured fatally injured on that pier in. Charlestown. So, there you know, it's. not that nobody cared. It's just that it. doesn't get the attention that you know, it would something like this would have. have if this were a predator kind of a. thing where somebody is stalking you.

know, the the stereotypical serial. killer Ted Bundy or something like that. But you know, that's what got my. attention with this when I found out. that um this guy was picked up on these. new cases. It's well, how many more. cases could be out there because nobody. knew about him. And he was picked up for. one case in 2012 in Suffolk County. Uh. the 2014 case out in Montana. Uh he's. got a 40-year sentence on that. But you. know, there's a lot of time and space. for him to move around and for there to.

be a potential for more victims and I'm. very concerned about it. You know, in. the media we don't we don't. keep track of these homeless deaths and. and you know, one of these was a. suspected overdose. So, that wouldn't be. on our radar. So, it's pretty incredible. I think that that the state police here. in Middlesex County, which is right. outside Suffolk, um how that unit was. able to put this all together. No, you. you raise a disturbing point and it's a. really troubling point about there being.

a lack of focus, lack of attention when. it comes to this segment of the. population. So, it is reassuring to see. they are bringing renewed attention and. and investigating and bringing charges. with respect to these two individuals. Just to be clear though, it would be. impossible that Leno's connected to any. of the deaths that started popping up in. March of this year in the New England. area. Like I mentioned to you, we. covered this so extensively all of these. deaths that were popping up. Now, as far. as I know, unless you're talking about a. body that had been there for for years,

he is not directly connected to the. these rumors of a New England serial. killer. It just so happens to be as. there's talk of is someone connected to. all these deaths, you have somebody who. allegedly been killing in this very. area. You know what? On on the surface, you're. right. He's been incarcerated since. about 2015. So, he's not available to do. some of these cases that we're hearing. about. However, I'll just throw this out there.

that one of the cases involves the. discovery of a human skull in in. Plymouth, Massachusetts, south of. Boston. So, we don't know much about the. circumstance of that skull. We've heard. that it's a tiny skull, but we don't know how long it was there. We don't know who the person was. We. don't you know, so you know, I think. there's. a minute possibility, but it's not zero. that he could be connected to something. like that. Do you know. if authorities are trying to see if he's.

connected to this in any way. um. to any of these deaths that we mentioned. in that began in excuse me, the bodies. that were starting to be found earlier. this year? I think that they are looking. to see if he is connected to any other. cases that are out there here in this. area. And at the same time, they're. trying to get out the word to other. departments and other places. Hey, we've. got this guy. Do you have anything out. there that's beyond our jurisdiction? Um but the last I checked, they hadn't.

really heard from anyone yet, but I. don't know if you know, the word has. really gotten out there. This has been kind of underreported, you. know? You know what's funny you. mentioned that because when I was. writing this and I was looking into it, it was your reporting that I only saw. about it. It was just your report about. it and I was like, this needs to be. amplified a little bit more if we're. having this conversation. Um and so great work on on your part to. do that. You spoke to the Middlesex. County District Attorney Marian Ryan,

right? What did she tell you about all. this and maybe her concerns about this. Leno allegedly being involved in more. deaths, allegedly being a serial killer? Well, she came right out and told me. that Kevin Leno is a serial killer. And. that kind of set me back a little bit. because I in my experience working in. New England, I've covered other serial. killing cases. That can be kind of like a third rail. and I've watched, you know, what. happens, but she was bold. She said, "No, he is a serial killer that under.

the definition of the Department of. Justice, it's two murders not connected. and he's already got two. The two that he's incarcerated for and. they're bringing charges in two more.". So, she is very concerned about this and. I know that the state police that are. attached to that unit, the cold case. unit at Middlesex County, they're very. concerned about it, too. Because. you know, out here the the the fentanyl. epidemic has claimed so many people. There are a lot of missing people out.

here in Massachusetts and I'm I'm sure. across the country, but in my area where. I report, there there are concentrations. of missing people. I do I try to do as. many of these stories as I possibly can. And it just raises the possibility, you. know, how long have these people been. missing? Um is there another Kevin Leno out. there? And this is a guy that was in a. homeless encampment he off the radar, off the grid. Uh if this is happening. involving this person, there's likely to. be more out there. So, all of that is on.

the table here. Now, yeah, DA Ryan said quote, "These. allegations demonstrate a violent. pattern of behavior in which the. defendant is alleged to have targeted. and victimized some of the most. vulnerable members of our communities. These cases not initially ruled by the. medical examiner to be homicides left. the families and friends of Mr. Mellenson and Mr. Clark with little or. incorrect information about what had. happened to them. When I created the. cold case unit, I made a commitment to. re-examining existing evidence and to. exhausting every possible option to. bring answers to families. In this case,

through painstaking investigation and. the development of new evidence, we were. able to uncover the truth behind the. deaths of Gary Mellenson and Douglas. Leon Clark. Uh you mentioned before that. Leno's already serving time for the. murders of Norman Barrier in Charlestown. in 2012 for Jack Gilbert Berry at a. homeless encampment in Missoula, Montana. two years two years later. This is. interesting. I understand you spoke to a. citizen journalist who met Kevin Leno, right? Yeah, he at the time uh the the.

journalist was working um in you know, for the homeless in Missoula. He was. doing some outreach social work. So, he. he knew and he saw Kevin Leno. Uh he. wasn't intimately involved with him, but. he was very much aware of him because. this is interesting. He attracted a. little group of people around him like a. like a little. gang, family. And they kind of moved together. And the. the Berry murder.

was somebody who was close to. um Leno and that's how that happened and. then they all scattered. They all left, he told me. They all disappeared. This. little group disappeared. So, Berry is. found. Um you know, he was he was that murder. was really incredible. I mean, he was. he was beaten. He was shot in the head. Uh he Leno allegedly carved made. carvings in the victim's skin. Um I. think he urinated on the body and then. pushed the body into the river and.

that's where Berry's body was found. But. then Leno was gone. This little gang of. people, they were gone. Um the FBI put out an alert and. eventually Leno was found in Louisiana. And. the uh the citizen journalist Travis, he. told me that he's concerned about a man. who was. hanging out with Kevin Leno and was part. of that crowd um in the encampment in. Montana. He said that.

this guy Monty would was taking care of. the pitbulls that belonged to the group. and he is he's traveling with them, but. he is nowhere to be found. Everybody. else been accounted for, but that guy. Monty Swanson is still missing and he's. concerned that Kevin Leno is responsible. for that disappearance and possibly his. death. And it would make a lot of sense. I mean, as I said, this guy's profile is. that he just flies into a rage and it. seems like you know, when.

it seems like it escalates. So, when you. get out when he gets out to Montana, he. allegedly has already killed three. people in Massachusetts and that murder. um of Jack Gilbert Berry is just over. the top. So, if there was another. argument, uh if something happened. between Leno and Monty Swanson, you know, where could he possibly be? So, uh Travis here has been uh he has a. blog and he's been raising that. possibility and he's trying to get.

authorities out there to pay attention. and actually, you know, develop. information, maybe find Monty because he. thinks that he could be a a fifth. victim. I was going to ask you, are authorities. have they talked about this? Are they. looking into what happened to Monty? Are. they working with Travis? Is there any. confirmation. >> know. I don't know. I was trying to get. somebody to talk to me from Montana for. my story, but I wasn't really successful. in doing that. What's the status of uh. Kevin Lenox's case? I understand he had, right, his first court appearance on.

these new charges in in in August, right? I mean, what do we know about the. status of his case? He is back in court on December 1st in. Middlesex County. Uh I think for a. probable cause hearing. Okay. >> So, you know, we'll be paying attention. He's going to be in court on the same. day that the Brian Walshe trial begins. So, Oh, wow. Okay. I know. I know. So, that's going to be that's going to be. crazy. Well, I I mean, they're both. important stories. Obviously, Brian. Walshe is getting a a lot of attention. right now, but I I am curious to hear.

what evidence comes out against Lenox. That's kind of the interesting part. about preliminary hearings or probable. cause hearings. You know, prosecution. doesn't have to put all their evidence, but they do put up kind of what they. have to say there's sufficient probable. cause for this case to move forward. towards trial and then we learn new. information. Um I want to switch gears. real quick. I want to circle back to the. rumors of this New England serial. killer, okay? And obviously, we talked. about before whether Lenox, you know, may may be connected uh to at least one. of the deaths. But before I get your.

take, I want to uh play something um a quick. short snippet of a prior interview that. I did on this story with former FBI. criminal profile profiler Candice De. Long. Here's what she had to say. So, I. got to ask you, you know, in your. professional opinion, do you think any of these cases are. connected? Do you think we have a serial. killer amongst us? Unlikely and there's no evidence of the. uh there's no evidence of it whatsoever.

That may turn out to be the case. that. some of them are connected, but there's. no evidence now. Some of the bodies, but at least one of. the bodies was so decomposed when it was. reported, they couldn't even tell not. only the cause of death, whether it was. a homicide, natural, accident. They couldn't even tell what gender it. was until they did more investigations.

So, I think um the internet rumors are. fun, but they're. uh a little too early. So, Bob, going back to this New England. serial killer story, this theory um that. has been ramping up on social media, what can you tell us about this? Um is. this something you looked into? Is the. community still concerned? What can you. tell us about it? People are concerned. about this. I started seeing this grow.

in interest on social media at the. beginning of the year and I watched how. people were saying there's a body found. here, body found there and it it mean. thousands of people all of a sudden. started talking about this possibility. So, I started making calls on the cases. that are in and around my area and. trying to find out, you know, is it. possible? Is it is is this body. connected to that one? You know, what's. happening with these cases? And I found, you know, from my calls at.

the time earlier this year that they. were not related that you know, some of. these. uh deaths were suicides, some of them. are accidental. Um but, you know, they were no one's. been arrested for for quite a few of. these. So, the. I like to say that law enforcement is. skeptical about linking all of those. cases together um. and um and that was kind of the tone of. what I was getting back, but that didn't. really quell anybody's nerves. I mean, people were worried about it. I had.

heard that, you know, college kids. especially were were looking at this and. and worried about going out in public. So, it wasn't a hysteria here, but it. was in the back of everyone's mind and I. think it has died down a little bit, the. concern. But, you know, I I you know, there are. other serial killing cases in New. England. The Kevin Lenox is the the. latest one that we've uncovered, but. there's the New England New England I'm. sorry, the New Bedford serial killer. from the late '80s. There are nine dead.

women, two missing. That has never been. solved. There was another case in. Worcester. called the Main South Woodsman case. That was I think five women. There's a suspect in prison now held on. another murder that's not part of that. case, but that the Main South South Woodsman. has never been solved and there are some. other cases, too. So, I think that one of the things that. people get hung up on when you talk. about serial killers is.

you know, they think about the sexual. predator, the Ted Bundy or the John. Wayne Gacy or the Jeffrey Dahmer type of. a thing. When in reality, there are other serial. killers who kill for other reasons and. that's what we have allegedly here with. Mr. Lenox. and it it makes them, you know, just as. dangerous uh as these other well-known. cases. And in here in Massachusetts, we. do have serial killing cases that have. gone unsolved for decades. I know when. the Long Island serial killer when the.

arrest was made in that, you know, I. started getting calls about seeing if he. was here in Massachusetts at some point. and he was, but it didn't look like. nobody could pin him. to New Bedford or to to Main South. Um. but it's something that people are. thinking about and um and hopefully. people are concerned about, not overly. so, but um but it is something that's. happening and these serial killers don't. they come in all shapes and sizes. There's no one recipe for these guys.

No, it's 100% true. It's a scary thing. to think about. Um Bob Ward, thank you. so much for coming on and great. reporting on this. Really, really. appreciate it. Thank you. Time. Thank. you. And that's all we have for you. right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us and as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcast. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak. to you next time. [Music].