Overview
- Prosecutors say investigative genetic genealogy narrowed a cold-case 2007 DNA profile to Matthew Nilo and that samples from glasses, a fork and a napkin collected after an April 2023 Manhattan bar visit produced a direct match.
- Agents who followed Nilo to the Oscar Wilde bar described for the first time in open court how they coordinated with staff, watched him for hours and later bagged items they say were his for DNA testing.
- Defense attorneys argue the FDA's warrantless collection violated Nilo’s constitutional rights because he did not knowingly abandon the items, and they are seeking suppression of the DNA evidence as central to the case.
- The multi‑hour evidentiary hearing produced live agent testimony on Monday and remains ongoing with no ruling yet, leaving the indictments and any trial schedule unresolved.
- If the judge excludes the DNA, prosecutors may have little left of their case; a decision either way could set precedent on expectations of privacy, the abandonment doctrine, and the limits of using consumer genealogy in investigations.