Thursday, March 7, 2013
Nathaniel Fujita has been convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Lauren Astley.
It was a tearful morning for the families of both Lauren Astley and Nathaniel Fujita, 20, as a Middlesex Superior Court judge read less than an hour ago that Fujita is guilty of first-degree murder in Astley's death. Comments have begun to appear on Wayland Patch as people react to the verdict. Michael Barrett writes: "The case was very clear the evidence was OVERWHELMING," and "Nate Fujita inflected an enormous amount of hurt on many people and the entire community. There will never be a full recovery but today is the start of rebuilding as best we can." User XYZ says he felt a second-degree murder verdict was more appropriate. "Sent to prison for the rest of your entire life for the murder of one person is still madness to me, Sweden …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
A first-degree murder conviction could be handed down in the Wayland murder case, says Northeastern University criminologist.
Was Nathaniel Fujita experiencing a brief psychotic episode when he killed Lauren Astley? While that question and the case as a whole is now in the hands of jurors to decide, a local criminologist says no; Fujita is criminally responsible. The 20-year old Wayland man faces murder and assault charges in the July 3, 2011, death of his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Astley. While the defense does not dispute Fujita strangled and stabbed Astley to death in the garage of his West Plain Street home, Fujita's lawyers say he was having a brief psychotic episode during the killing. If successful, such an insanity defense could lead to a verdict of not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. If he is deemed guilty, the jury will decide whether …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Wayland man Nathaniel Fujita is facing first-degree murder charges arising from the death of Lauren Astley, also of Wayland, in 2011.
Editor's Note: Wayland Patch will post regular updates from the courtroom at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. The most recent updates will be at the top of the story with a time stamp. For more about this case and trial, see "Wayland Murder: Nathaniel Fujita Trial." 3:40 p.m. -- Det. Christopher Cohen has been a detective with the Wayland Police Department since 2003. He said he arrived at Water Row on July 4, at about 9:10 a.m., at which point he had a conversation with Det. Sgt. Jamie Berger, who directed his attention to the water. Cohen said he then observed the body in the water, as well as a shoe. Cohen said that afternoon, at 2:05 p.m., he went to the Fujita residence to secure it as a search warrant was being obtained. He met …
State Trooper David Twomey was on the stand when court adjourned in the first-degree murder trial of Nathaniel Fujita on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Lisa McGovern was in the midst of her questioning of State Trooper David Twomey when Judge Peter Lauriat adjourned court in the trial of Nathaniel Fujita on Tuesday. Fujita, now 20, is facing a first-degree murder charge arising from the death of Lauren Astley, his ex-girlfriend and Wayland High School classmate, in 2011. Twomey was on the stand for a significant portion of Tuesday, the fourth day of testimony in the case. Several of the photos already submitted as evidence were revealed to have been taken by Twomey, who was serving with the crime scene services section at the time of Astley's murder. Twomey explained the photographs he captured at Water Row, where Astley's body was discovered on July 4, 2011, and was in the …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Wayland man Nathaniel Fujita is facing first-degree murder charges arising from the death of Lauren Astley, also of Wayland, in 2011.
Editor's Note: Wayland Patch will post regular updates from the courtroom at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. The most recent updates will be at the top of the story with a time stamp. For more about this case and trial, see "Wayland Murder: Nathaniel Fujita Trial." 3:46 p.m. -- David Twomey is trooper with the Massachusetts State Police. He is currently with the marine unit, but prior to that he was with the crime scene services section. As a member of crime scene services, Twomey said he would do fingerprints, footprint analysis, tire mark analysis and more. He said he would also assist in documenting bodily fluids at a scene, though a chemist would conduct the actual collection of the supply. Twomey said he was on call on July 4, …
Jurors will be back in the courtroom today after spending Friday on a view of scenes in Wayland and the courts being closed Monday for Presidents Day.
Testimony is expected to resume today in the first-degree murder trial of Nathaniel Fujita, the Wayland man accused of murdering 18-year-old Lauren Astley in 2011. The trial began Feb. 11 with two days of jury selection, during which Judge Peter Lauriat and attorneys for both sides interviewed about 140 individuals before settling on a panel of 16 jurors, 10 men and six women. Only 12 jurors will decide the final verdict, though all 16 will hear the case. Four will be named alternate jurors before deliberation begins. On Wednesday, Prosecutor Lisa McGovern and defense attorney William Sullivan offered their openings statements to jurors. McGovern urged jurors to constantly ask themselves what Fujita was thinking throughout the murder in …
Friday, February 15, 2013
Jurors in the murder trial of Nathaniel Fujita, accused in the 2011 murder of Lauren Astley, visited several sites in Wayland Friday related to the case.
Friday morning, jurors who will decide the verdict in Nathaniel Fujita's murder trial visited three locations in Wayland that figure prominently in that case. The defendant chose not to take part in those visits. Fujita, now 20, is facing a first-degree murder charge stemming from the 2011 death of 18-year-old Lauren Astley, Fujita's Wayland High School classmate and ex-girlfriend. According to Middlesex Superior Court Assistant Clerk Mark Toomey, Fujita chose not to accompany jurors when they ventured to Wayland Friday for a viewing of several sites. Jurors visited Fujita's family home on West Plain Street where prosecutors say Fujita strangled and stabbed Astley in his family's detached garage; Wayland Town Beach, where Fujita allegedly …
The trial of Nathaniel Fujita, accused of murdering Lauren Astley in 2011, will leave the courtroom Friday for a viewing of several sites in Wayland relevant to the case.
Jurors are expected to gather at Middlesex Superior Court Friday morning only briefly before they will board a bus for a trip to Wayland. In Wayland, Prosecutor Lisa McGovern and Defense Attorney William Sullivan will explain to jurors what they are viewing as they visit sites in town important in the murder trial of Nathaniel Fujita. Fujita, now 20, is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend and classmate Lauren Astley in July 2011, and dumping her body in a marsh near the Wayland border with Sudbury. While the exact locations the jurors will visit have not been officially disclosed during the trial, at a hearing prior to the start of the case, the prosecution indicated that jurors would visit three locations in Wayland: The marsh where …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Wayland man Nathaniel Fujita is facing first-degree murder charges arising from the death of Lauren Astley, also of Wayland, in 2011.
Editor's Note: Wayland Patch will post regular updates from the courtroom at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. The most recent updates will be at the top of the story with a timestamp. For more about this case and trial, see "Wayland Murder: Nathaniel Fujita Trial." 12:55 p.m. -- On cross-examination, Sullivan asks Smith to point out several areas on the map of Wayland, including the Fujita home and various wooded areas and streets. Sullivan testified that from the Fujita house at the corner of West Plain Street and Fuller Street it was "no more than 100 yards" to the end of the Fuller Street cul-de-sac with woods beyond. Sullivan then asked Smith whether he'd ever met Nathaniel Fujita before the July 3 night he visited his home looking …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Wayland man Nathaniel Fujita is facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Lauren Astley, his ex-girlfriend and high school classmate.
The 93-name witness list in the trial of Nathaniel Fujita does not include the defendant's name, but that doesn't mean he won't testify. According to defense attorney William Sullivan, the decision as to whether his client will testify in his own first-degree murder trial "has not been made yet." Fujita is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and Wayland High School classmate Lauren Astley on July 3, 2011, and dumping her body in a Wayland marsh. During opening statements on Wednesday, both the prosecution and defense agreed on a key fact: Fujita, then 18, killed 18-year-old Astley. According to Sullivan, however, the questions the jury must now ask are more nuanced. "Why did this horrific thing happen and how?" Sullivan said to the jury …
Wayland Resident
9:44 am on Friday, March 8, 2013
Alan Reiss, I believe the life sentence without the possibility of parole is mandatory in MA when there is a first degree murder conviction. McGovern actually asked for one of the other convictions (I believe for A & B with deadly weapon) NOT to run concurrently. If her request was granted the sentence would have been life without parole plus 10 years. McGovern's reasoning was that the separate … more ›