Wayland Suspect Indicted for Murder, Other Charges

A Middlesex County grand jury this afternoon indicted Nathaniel Fujita, 18, on murder charges related to the death of Lauren Astley, also 18, according to a press release from Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

Fujita, Astley's ex-boyfriend according to investigators, was indicted on charges of murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery.

The indictment comes a month to the day after Astley’s body was spotted by a passing bicyclist in a marshy area on Wayland’s Water Row near the Sudbury line at about 7:30 a.m., July 4. The body was later identified as that of Astley, a 2011 Wayland High School graduate, who had been reported missing by her family around 11 p.m. on July 3.

The , according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, was a combination of an incised wound to the neck and strangulation.

Investigators allege that Fujita, also a 2011 WHS graduate, met with Astley at his home in Wayland after she left her job at Shop344 in Natick the evening of July 3. Fujita allegedly killed Astley and then dumped her body in the marsh. The execution of a search warrant of Fujita’s home revealed evidence including a and led to the July 5 arrest of Fujita.

An arraignment date has not yet been set.