Suspect in 1999 shooting outside nightclub heads to trial

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A suspect who evaded capture for almost two decades after a 1999 shooting outside a Massachusetts nightclub that left one man dead and another injured is scheduled to go on trial Monday.

Edwin Novas faces murder and other charges in the killing of Danny Guzman, 26, outside a now-closed nightclub in Worcester on Dec. 24, 1999, The Telegram & Gazette reported.

Novas was indicted in 2002 but was not caught until he was arrested in the Dominican Republic in 2017. He was arraigned in 2018 and pleaded not guilty. A message seeking comment was left with his attorney.

Authorities have said Novas was involved in a dispute inside the club before the shooting, and that Guzman was an innocent bystander.

Fingerprint evidence and witness identification implicate Novas, prosecutors said.

Guzman's family filed a wrongful death suit against the manufacturer of the gun used in the shooting, which they said was stolen and sold by a drug-dependant employee with a criminal record. The gunmaker paid the family a $600,000 settlement.