Fitchburg man charged with murder in 2021 death of Worcester teen
A Fitchburg man is facing a murder charge in the shooting death of 19-year-old Franklin Mane, of Worcester, in 2021.
Wilbert I. Nieves, 25, will be arraigned June 1 in Leominster District Court, according to the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. Nieves is currently in custody at a Massachusetts jail on unrelated firearms charges, Early's office said.
Mane's body was found by a passerby May 12, 2021, in an overgrown area at the edge of a parking lot at 46 Industrial Road in Leominster.
Mane was last seen in Worcester on March 6, 2021.
The Office of the State Medical Examiner determined that Mane had died of gunshot wounds; his death was ruled a homicide.
In October 2018, Nieves was charged with making a bomb/hijacking threat. The charge was amended to threatening to commit a crime Jan. 14, 2019. The case ‒ in which he allegedly threatened to shoot employees at the business he was fired from ‒ was continued without a finding.
On Jan. 31, 2020, Nieves was found guilty of a parole violation when he was charged with numerous firearm violations in Worcester Central District Court, including carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of a large capacity firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, improper storage of a firearm, possession of ammunition without an FID card and resisting arrest.
The investigation remains ongoing by Leominster and Worcester police and the Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Wilbert Nieves charged with murdering Franklin Mane of Worcester
