Cambridge Man Found Guilty of Killing, Dismembering Friend

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Carlos Colina, 35, of Cambridge, was found guilty today in Middlesex Superior Court of first-degree murder and improper disposal of human remains in connection with the April 2015 death and dismemberment of his friend Jonathan Camilien, 26, of Somerville.

“The facts of this case are particularly disturbing,” said Middlesex District Attorney Marian 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.”

It was previously reported that Colina had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

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 reviewed security footage from local businesses and determined that at around 4:15 a.m. on April 4, a man left an apartment building on Binney Street and placed a duffel bag, matching the one police would later locate, next to the fence. Police visited the apartment building and found that the man, later identified as Colina, had gone back inside the building after dropping off the duffel bag.

Police searched the trash rooms on each floor of the apartment building until they found on the third, floor two bags containing human remains.

Then it turned out police smelled the strong odor of bleach and could hear a vacuum cleaner being used from outside what they later learned was the Colina's third floor apartment.

Colina eventually came out of his apartment wearing wet clothing, and smelling strongly of cleaning products, according to the DA's office.

When police asked the man to accompany them to the police department, the Colina responded, “Why am I a suspect?”

While reviewing apartment security footage, investigators saw Colina and Camilien, who were friends going in and out of the building twice on the evening of April 3, 2015.

The last time that the Camilien was seen entering the building was at 11:17 p.m. on April 3. Security footage also captured Colina going into 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. They searched his apartment and found 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 the man 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.

Colina's sentencing is scheduled for Monday, May 21 at 11 a.m. in Middlesex Superior Court.

Previously:

Somerville Man Found Mutilated, Decapitated in Cambridge (2015)

Photo of Middlesex Superior Court by Jenna Fisher/Patch