Crime & Safety

Computer, Phone Records Part of Discovery Hearing in Murder Case

Prosecution and defense in the case of the murder of Lauren Astley of Wayland met for a discovery hearing Tuesday.

The case of the Commonwealth v Nathaniel Fujita took another step forward Tuesday as the prosecution and defense reached agreement on a number of motions related to evidence in the case.

Fujita is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Lauren Astley, on July 3, 2011, and dumping her body in a Wayland marsh near the Sudbury town line. A passing bicyclist spotted Astley’s body on July 4, and Wayland Police arrested Fujita the following day.

A Middlesex County Grand Jury on Aug. 4 indicted Fujita on charges of first-degree murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery.

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During a discovery hearing on Tuesday at Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn, prosecutor Lisa McGovern and Fujita’s attorney William Sullivan discussed multiple motions that outline the evidence each party must share with the other.

The two parties reached agreement on the motions before the hearing commenced before Judge Mitchell Kaplan. Sullivan said after the hearing that at this point in the process both the prosecution and defense are willing to cooperate to reach a common goal.

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“Everyone just wants to get some answers,” Sullivan said. “It’s such a mystery of what happened. There’s still a lot of unknown.”

Several of the motions discussed Tuesday were related to evidence from both Astley’s and Fujita’s computers as well as from phone records.

The motions provided for, among other things, sharing forensic copies of digital evidence as well as protecting the privacy of the contents on the computers, should that be necessary.

Fujita did not appear in court today, but his parents Tomo and Beth Fujita were present, as they have been for the other hearings.

“They’re struggling,” Sullivan said of the Tomo and Beth Fujita. “It’s been difficult for them, but more so for the Astley family.”

Malcolm Astley, Lauren Astley’s father, also attended Tuesday’s hearing and said afterward that he comes to the hearings – he has attended most – because he wants to understand what is happening as much as possible and doesn’t want to hear the information secondhand.

“Partly, it’s a way of staying in touch with my daughter,” he said, standing in front of the courthouse. He added that in the months since his daughter’s death, he has come to better understand the nature of violence against women and “care deeply about it.”

“I care through my daughter,” Astley said. “The more we let ourselves become aware, the more we can take care of such problems.”

In a written statement, Astley echoed a plea he has made often in the months past, that "we move to understand the causes of such tragic cases. May we promote prevention through enlisting men to engage with the movement and help us all avoid such pain and the loss of lives in the future."

Astley told reporters that he speaks with Tomo and Beth Fujita occasionally “just to share the pain and keep in touch.”

The next hearing in the case will be a motion to suppress hearing on June 11. Sullivan explained that the hearing will examine the search warrants executed in the case and determine whether they were obtained and executed admissibly. The hearing will involve the judge looking only at the documents involved and will not feature testimony.

The trial is scheduled to begin in October, but Sullivan said whether that occurs will depend on the time it takes for forensic evidence to be returned and other factors. He said he could not estimate at this point whether that October trial date will come to pass.


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