Thursday, March 7, 2013
Lauren Astley was last seen alive at the Natick Mall, and Nathaniel Fuijita was arrested for her murder at his aunt's house in Framingham.
Sentencing was early this afternoon, and Judge Peter Lauriat gave Nathaniel Fujita the maximum sentence for each of the four charges he faced. The prosecution had argued that he do that. Fujita received 10 years each for both counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a ligature and a knife) and 2.5 years for assault and battery. The charge of murder in the first-degree carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Check out Wayland Patch for more detailed information. _________________________________________________________________ A short time ago the jury returned and announced that they had found Nathaniel Fujita guilty of first-degree murder with deliberate premeditation and extreme …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Nathaniel Fujita is waiting to hear his fate in the death of Lauren Astley, who was last seen alive at the Natick Mall in July, 2011.
The trial of Nathaniel Fujita has been taking place for more than two weeks, and today jurors are deliberating to decide his fate. Wayland Patch editor Brooklyn Lowery has been in the courtroom throughout and currently waiting for the verdict.
Nathaniel Fujita's is on trial for the murder of ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley, who was last seen alive at the Natick Mall.
A jury of four women and eight men will be deliberating to decide the fate of Nathaniel Fujita in his murder trial. Fujita is accused of killing ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley in July 2011, not long after they graduated from Wayland High School. Astley was last seen at the Natick Mall, where she was the assistant manager at 344. Fujita's defense has presented a case for a not guilty by claiming he was suffering through a psychotic episode. Wayland Patch has been in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn throughout the trial providing live-blogging and updates.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Nathaniel Fujita is facing first-degree murder charges in the death of ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley, who was an assistant manager at 344.
The trial of Nathaniel Fujita, the Wayland High School graduate accused of killing his ex-girlfriend on on July 3, 2011, is in its second day at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn today. Fujita is accused of killing Lauren Astley, as assistant manager at 344 at the Natick Mall, shortly after she got off work that night. Wayland Patch is contributing live updates throughout the day from the courthouse.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Malcolm Astley issued a statement on behalf of he and Lauren Astley's mother that expressed hope for conversations promoting healthy relationships.
Malcolm Astley read a brief statement on behalf of he and Lauren Astley’s mother, Mary Dunne, following the Aug. 23 arraignment of Nathaniel Fujita, the man accused of killing their daughter on July 3 in Wayland. As he has consistently done throughout the seven weeks since his daughter was murdered, Astley asserted his hope that Lauren’s death could serve as a means to preventing such tragedy from happening in the future. “Our hearts are with the many who continue to feel the shock and pain of the tragedy and to understand it as best we can,” Astley read from a prepared statement this afternoon while standing outside the main entrance of the Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn. Astley’s statement continued to say that he and Dunne …
Phone records, Fujita's own words, witness testimony and forensics are contributing significantly to the prosecution's case.
Nathaniel Fujita, the man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley in Wayland on July 3, will remain at the State House of Corrections in Billerica, held without bail following his arraignment at Middlesex Country Superior Court in Woburn Aug. 23. Fujita arrived in Courtroom 430 at about 11:15 a.m. wearing khaki pants and a blue button-down shirt. He did not appear to look at his father, seated directly behind the defendant, nor did he show any emotion. Malcolm Astley, Lauren's Astley's father, sat in the front row on the opposite side of the courtroom. Mary Dunne, Lauren Astley's mother, did not attend the arraignment. Fujita spoke only to whisper pleas of not guilty to a first-degree murder charge and several assault and …
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Nathaniel Fujita, 18, has been indicted for murder and other charges related to the death of Lauren Astley, a Wayland teen who was last seen alive leaving her job at the Natick Mall.
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 cause of …
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Natick Mall
1245 Worcester St, Natick, MA
/articles/wayland-suspect-indicted-for-murder-other-charges-2
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Friday, July 8, 2011
Evidence in the Astley murder was apparently collected, but officials won't discuss what was found on Wayland's Water Row.
UPDATE: July 8, 6:05 p.m. - Teams of law enforcement officials Friday combed marshy areas of Wayland near the Sudbury line, searching for evidence related to the murder of Lauren Astley, 18, whose body was found on Water Row Monday morning. According to WBZ’s Karen Anderson, by the end of the day investigators had collected at least two bags of evidence. Earlier scanner reports indicated a weapon had been found, but officials are neither discussing what was discovered nor confirming the scanner reports. Astley's ex-boyfriend and Wayland High School classmate Nathaniel Fujita, 18, has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail. According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Astley died as a result of a …
Facebook pages have sprung up as places where friends and strangers alike can remember the Wayland High School grad.
As friends and family and even total strangers struggle to process the events in Wayland during the past few days, Facebook has become an arena in which people can connect and cope. At least three Facebook pages are now dedicated to messages and memories of Lauren Astley, the 18-year-old woman found murdered Monday in Wayland. The first, “Have You Seen Lauren Astley,” was created at 1:57 a.m. Monday, just hours after Astley was reported missing and still more than five hours before her body was discovered. It wasn’t until 6 p.m., Monday that the posts on that page changed from a hopeful effort to find a missing young woman to a de facto memorial page as news reports began to circulate that a body found in a marshy area of Wayland had been …
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Natick Mall
1245 Worcester St, Natick, MA
/articles/social-network-provides-outlet-for-thoughts-memories-of-lauren-astley-2
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Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Malcom Astley made a statement to the press after the arraignment of his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a murder charge.
Following Nathaniel Fujita's arraignment Tuesday on the charge of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Astley, 18, of Wayland, Astley's father made a statement to the press. "Lauren's mother and I share the anguish of Nate's parents, who put so much caring and love into Nate, and my daughter as well. We want them to know that," Malcolm Astley said. Astley left the courthouse after making the statement and did not take questions from reporters. Before Astley made the statement, Framingham District Court Judge Robert Greco held Fujita without bail. A probable cause hearing has been set for Aug. 15. Lauren Astley's body was found early Monday morning in a marshy area off Rte. 27 in Wayland. She was reported missing hours after leaving her job …
Deborah Strafuss
5:10 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Tragedy So Sad… A lass and a lad…. A relationship gone bad A terrible wiry twist Unraveled fate - Interrupted bliss And a lover’s kiss turned to death The horror of parting, new lives starting torn apart by wroth Traveled darkness’ path and turned from love’s fancy found to tragedy’s blood upon the ground…. Two lives just beginning ended Two journeys begun never tended with what could be found of… more ›