Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has announced that Carlos Colina, 35, of Cambridge, was found guilty Friday in Middlesex Superior Court of first-degree murder and improper disposal of human remains in connection with the April 2015 death and dismemberment of Jonathan Camilien, 26, of Somerville.

Judge Elizabeth Fahey scheduled sentencing for Monday, May 21, 2018  in Middlesex Superior Court.

“The facts of this case are particularly disturbing,” said District Attorney Ryan. “After a  fatal altercation with the victim, the defendant deliberately tried to cover up his crime by dismembering the victim’s body and using various cleaning products in an attempt to remove any trace evidence from the scene. Thanks to the swift work of authorities Mr. Colina was apprehended hours after this horrific crime.”

On April 4, 2015 at approximately 7:54 a.m., Cambridge Police responded to a report of a suspicious duffel bag leaning against a fence on Binney Street in Cambridge. Inspection of the duffel bag resulted in authorities locating a human torso. Cambridge Police and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office immediately began an investigation.

Authorities subsequently reviewed security footage from local businesses and determined that at approximately 4:15 a.m. on April 4, a male exited an apartment building on Binney Street and placed a duffel bag, matching the one police would later locate, next to the fence. Police responded to the apartment building where the suspect had been recorded exiting from that morning. Through their investigation authorities learned that the defendant had reentered the building after dropping off the duffel bag. Authorities searched the trash rooms on each floor of the apartment building. On the third, floor investigators located two bags containing human remains. Outside of the defendant’s third floor apartment police detected a strong odor of bleach and could hear a vacuum cleaner being used inside.

The defendant later emerged from his apartment where he was observed to be wearing wet clothing, and he smelled strongly of cleaning products. When authorities asked the defendant to accompany them to the police department, the defendant responded, “Why am I a suspect?”

While reviewing apartment security footage, authorities observed the defendant and the victim, who were known to each other, entering and exiting the building twice on the evening of April 3, 2015. The last time that the victim was seen entering the building was at 11:17 p.m. on April 3. Security footage also captured the defendant entering the building on the morning of April 4 with shopping bags containing cleaning supplies.

Investigators would later discover the victim’s identification and credit cards cut into multiple pieces in the trash as well as a broken saw and rope. A search of the defendant’s apartment resulted in authorities finding trace evidence of blood under the carpet and in the defendant’s bathtub as well as tool marks in the tub. Authorities would also discover CDs recorded by the defendant where he rapped about topics including murder and dismemberment.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also determined that the victim had petechiae in his eyes indicative of asphyxiation prior to death.

This case was investigated by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Cambridge Police Department, and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

The prosecutors assigned to this case were Assistant District Attorneys Nicole Allain and Margaret Pastuszak. The Victim Witness Advocate was Helena Clarke.

 

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