Friday Live Blog Summaries:
Expert Analysis of Insanity Defense:
- Wayland Patch 3/4/13: Legal Info: A Collection of Legal Experts Weigh In on Fujita Trial
- CBS Boston 3/1/13: Doctor: Football Head Injuries Could Have Left Fujita ‘Disconnected’ In Astley’s Murder
- Fox25 3/1/13: Phil Tracy breaks down the Fujita Trial
- Boston Herald 3/2/13: Fujita attorney blames head injury
Friday Coverage:
NECN 3/1/13: Testimony continues in Wayland, Mass. teen murder trial. Testimony continues Friday in the teen murder of a Wayland, Mass. man. Nathaniel Fujita is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend when they both just 18 years old. The defense in the Nathanial Fujita trial brought their second witness to the stand Friday. Dr. Wade Myers, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that he believes Fujita was suffering from a “brief psychotic episode” when he killed his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley.
WHDH 3/1/13: Psychiatrist testifies in Wayland murder trial. A forensic psychiatrist testifying for the defense in the trial of a Wayland man charged with killing his ex-girlfriend says the defendant was unable to control himself. Video available online here.
Boston Globe 3/2/13: Psychiatrist says Wayland’s Fujita had explosive impulse during killing. As he wrapped a bungee cord around his former girlfriend’s neck in his Wayland garage, Nathaniel Fujita felt nothing, he told a psychiatrist, just numb. When she stopped moving, he went to the kitchen and got a knife. He shut the garage door. He cut her throat. “He’s acting, but his mind is disconnected from his body,” said Dr. Wade Myers, who testified for the defense Friday in Middlesex Superior Court. “He described not having any feelings at all.”
Boston Globe 3/1/13: Nathaniel Fujita could not control his actions when he killed his ex-girlfriend, psychiatrist testifies. When Nathaniel Fujita strangled and slashed his ex-girlfriend to death at his Wayland home, he felt that his mind was not controlling his body and he could not understand or control his actions, a psychiatric specialist called by Fujita’s lawyer testified Friday.
Boston Herald 3/1/13: Doc testifies Fujita ‘was no longer controlling his body’ during murde. Nathaniel Fujita had a feeling his “mind was no longer controlling his body” when he strangled girlfriend Lauren Astley until she stopped moving, then a cut her throat in the garage of his home, according to a defense expert. Dr. Wade Myer said in the moments leading up to the murder, Fujita met Astley outside his home and walked her into the garage. She asked Fujita why he didn’t hang out with their friends more. And then, the doctor said, Fujita snapped.
Wayland Patch 3/1/13: Defense Continues to Present Its Case in Fujita Murder Trial. The defense team for Nathaniel Fujita will continue presenting its case Friday in an effort to show jurors that Fujita suffered a brief psychotic episode when he killed 18-year-old Lauren Astley in July 2011. On Thursday, the Commonwealth, led by prosecutor Lisa McGovern, rested its case after calling a string of nearly 30 witnesses — beginning with Wayland Police Officer Seanna Lombardo and concluding with Astley’s mother, Mary Dunne — to the stand since testimony began on Feb. 13.
Wayland Town Crier 3/1/13: Expert: Fujita not criminally responsible for murder. As Nathaniel Fujita strangled and then slashed Lauren Astley’s throat a year and a half ago, his whole body was numb and he felt like his mind wasn’t in control of his body. “He said it wasn’t him controlling himself,” said Dr. Wade Myers, testifying Friday in Fujita’s murder trial in Middlesex Superior Court. “It was his body acting while his mind was disconnected from what was happening.”
Thursday Coverage:
Wayland Patch 3/1/13: Defense Continues to Present Its Case in Fujita Murder Trial. The defense team for Nathaniel Fujita will continue presenting its case Friday in an effort to show jurors that Fujita suffered a brief psychotic episode when he killed 18-year-old Lauren Astley in July 2011.
Boston.com 2/28/13: Mother of Wayland victim describes a disturbing scene. Twice Mary Dunne’s daughter, Lauren Astley, came to her crying at the graduation party: her former boyfriend, Nathaniel Fujita, would not leave her alone.
Wayland Town Crier 2/28/13: . Laying the groundwork for an insanity defense, Nathaniel Fujita’s lawyer put his client’s aunt on the stand Thursday, leading her through a detailed Fujita family history of mental illness.
Boston.com 2/28/13: Lauren Astley’s mother testifies at trial of Nathaniel Fujita, accused of killing her ‘only child’. Mary Dunne’s voice was ragged as she identified the photograph the prosecutor set in front of her on the witness stand in Middlesex Superior Court. “This is my only child, Lauren Astley,” Dunne said, her body shaking. In the picture, her daughter beams, her head tipped to the side. It remained up on the screen Thursday morning as Dunne described her daughter’s love of her friends, of singing, and music, and the last time she saw her alive.
Boston.com 2/28/13: Mental illness runs in Nathaniel Fujita’s family, aunt testifies at murder trial. Mental illness runs in Nathaniel Fujita’s family, and Fujita himself had slipped into a deep depression in the months before his former girlfriend was slain, his aunt testified Thursday as the first witness for the defense. “Nathaniel was withdrawn and seemed depressed,” said Joyce Saba in Middlesex Superior Court. “There was an extreme change in his behavior.”
WHDH.com Channel 7 News 2/28/13: Victim’s mom takes stand in Wayland murder trial. here was more emotional testimony Thursday in the murder trial of a Wayland man accused of killing his high school girlfriend, 18-year-old Lauren Astley. Nathanial Fujita, 20, hung his head and sobbed as Astley’s mother took the stand. Mary Dunne described how her daughter came to her in tears because of Fujita’s behavior at her graduation party. With video online here.
WCVB TV 2/28/13: Murder suspect sobs as victim’s mom describes teen. The mother of a Wayland teen allegedly killed at the hands of her former boyfriend brought the trial to recess Thursday when her emotional testimony caused many, including the defendant, to weep in the courtroom.
NECN 2/28/13: Murder victim’s mother calm, composed as she testifies. For this third week of trial, many have watched painfully as Astley’s mother sat in the front row of the court, physically reacting to details of her daughter’s murder, but Mary Dunne was very calm and composed on the stand Thursday. She was only on the stand for about 10 minutes. Dunne was not very emotional, but admitted killer Nate Fujita sobbed as she described Lauren as a girl in the choir, on varsity tennis, in the a capella group and someone always with her friends. Fujita’s sobs could be heard over Dunne’s testimony. It was the most emotional he has been during the trial.
Wayland Patch 2/28/13: Astley’s Mother Testifies, Fujita Breaks Down. The short testimony of Lauren Astley’s mother proved emotional for the many people gathered in Courtroom 530 in Woburn on Thursday. As Mary Dunne told jurors about her daughter’s petite frame — 5 feet and just under 100 pounds — quiet tears and the crinkling of people reaching for tissues could be heard throughout the room at Middlesex Superior Court.
Thursday Live Blog Summaries:
Wednesday Coverage:
Boston.com 2/27/13: Friend describes frantic search for Lauren Astley the night she was killed, in trial of Nathaniel Fujita. One of Lauren Astley’s best friends described a frantic search for the young Wayland High graduate that took place after she failed to answer phone calls and text messages the night of July 3, 2011. Her battered body was found in a marsh the next day. The dramatic testimony came Wednesday in the trial of Nathaniel Fujita, who is accused of luring 18-year-old Astley to his home, telling her to park out of sight, and then beating, strangling and slashing his former girlfriend to death in the garage.
NECN 2/27/13: Emotional testimony from victim’s best friend in Mass. murder trial. Perhaps the most emotional testimony came from one of Astley’s friends, who was possibly the last person to speak with Astley before, of course, Fujita. Ariel Chates, now a college sophomore, also had contact with Fujita before everything unraveled.
Wayland Patch 2/28/13: Combination of Strangulation, Incised Wounds Killed Astley, Medical Examiner Says. The courtroom Wednesday responded with silent tension as the state’s chief medical examiner described the myriad of wounds he found on the battered body of Lauren Astley. At the defendant’s table, Nathaniel Fujita, now 20, sat hunched almost to the point of laying his upper body on the table in front of him while Chief Medical Examiner Henry Niels testified about the results of his July 5, 2011, autopsy of Astley.
CBS Boston 2/27/13: Nate Fujita Hangs Head, Cries As Expert Details Last Moments Of Astley’s Life. Nate Fujita hung his head and cried as the medical examiner took the stand and detailed the last moment’s of Lauren Astley’s life. With audio report, and video.
Wayland Town Crier 2/27/13: Medical examiner details injuries to slain Wayland teen. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Lauren Astley in 2011 described what appeared to be a violent death in which she was strangled, her throat slashed and her body covered with scrapes and bruises.
Wednesday Live Blogs:
Tuesday Coverage:
Wayland Patch 2/27/13: Investigators: Blood Stains in Fujita Garage, Car; Wet, Muddy Clothes in Defendant’s Home. State trooper Anthony DeLucia told jurors Tuesday that he poked his head through a crawlspace opening in the ceiling of Nathaniel Fujita’s bedroom and found a pair of stained sneakers and a trash bag holding wet, muddy clothing.
Metrowest Daily News 2/27/13: Investigators detail evidence found in Fujita’s home, computer.When police searched Nathaniel Fujita’s Wayland home the day after authorities say he murdered Lauren Astley, they found bloody and wet clothing hidden in his room, an investigator testified Tuesday.
Boston Globe 2/27/13: Stained and muddy sneakers, bungee cords found at Nathaniel Fujita’s home after ex-girlfriend’s slaying. When police went to Nathaniel Fujita’s home after his ex-girlfriend’s body was found in a Wayland marsh, they discovered two pairs of sneakers – one pair soaked and muddy and the other stained with appeared to be blood, according to court testimony Tuesday.
Boston Globe 2/26/13: Blood stains found at Nathaniel Fujita’s home. When police searched Nathaniel Fujita’s Wayland home hours after the body of his former girlfriend was pulled from a marsh, they found soaking wet clothing stuffed in a crawl space and blood in the kitchen and all over the garage, according to court testimony Tuesday. Later, when a cyber specialist searched Fujita’s computer, she found a Google search about how to get rid of fingerprints and evidence that Fujita had joined a Facebook group called “Have you seen Lauren Astley,” his former high school sweetheart.
MyFoxBoston 2/26/13: Prosecutors display blood-stained clothing in Fujita murder trial. Prosecutors in the murder trial of 20-year-old Nathaniel Fujita displayed some of the items seized during the investigation in court on Tuesday. Link to video online here.
WHDH 2/26/13: Bloody details come out in Wayland murder trial. Testimony in the murder trial of 20-year-old Nathanial Fujita brought a mother to tears on Tuesday. Fujita, 20, is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Lauren Astley, and dumping her body in a marsh in Wayland in July 2011. Astley’s mother fought back tears in court as prosecutors showed the jury the clothing she was wearing the day investigators found her body. Video online here.
Tuesday Live Blog Coverage:
Monday Coverage:
Boston Globe 2/25/13: Nathaniel Fujita lost his temper at Wayland High graduation party, victim’s best friend testifies. Nathaniel Fujita showed up drunk at a Wayland High School graduation party, confronted his ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley, and then angrily shoved a tent pole so hard that the tent nearly collapsed, Astley’s best friend testified Monday.
Wayland Patch 2/25/13: Friend Says Fujita Lost His Temper, Acted Out at June 2011 Party. A close friend of Lauren Astley returned to the stand Monday, where she told jurors that Nathaniel Fujita, the man now accused of killing Astley, became so upset when his ex-girlfriend wouldn’t talk to him at a party that he threw his fist into a tent pole, nearly bringing the tent down on the party goers underneath.
Metrowest Daily News 2/26/13: Friend: Angry Fujita harangued Astley at graduation party. The night before Nathaniel Fujita and Lauren Astley graduated from Wayland High School in 2011, Fujita harangued his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend and showed an explosive temper before more than 100 people at a party, a friend said Monday.
NECN 2/25/13: Broadside: The Fujita Trial. Monday night, Broadside features a focus on a crime that goes back to 2011. Nathaniel Fujita is on trial, accused of killing Lauren Astley. Both were 18 at the time and had just graduated from high school. The testimony is raising questions about the state of mind of the defendant. “Broadside” host Jim Braude is joined by attorney and legal analyst Phil Tracy and Evan Allen, who has been covering the Fujita trial for The Boston Globe. Watch the attached video for their complete discussion.
MyFoxBoston 2/26/13: Fujita trial: Lead trooper describes discovery of victim’s body, weapon. Thus far, the trial of Nathan Fujita, a then high school senior accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him, has been emotional to say the least. On Monday, the Massachusetts State Police Trooper who led the investigation went into detail regarding the condition of Lauren Astley’s body, as well as the discovery of one of the murder weapons. With video.
CBS Boston 2/25/13: Victim’s Best Friend Testifies About Fujita Anger, Relationship Before Murder. There was more damaging testimony Monday against Nate Fujita, the young Wayland man on trial for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley. Video here: http://boston.cbslocal.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8487536
Monday Liveblogs:
Summaries before the week begins:
NECN 2/25/13: Testimony resumes in the trial of a Wayland, Mass. man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend when the two were teenagers.
Wayland Patch 2/25/13: The trial of the Wayland man accused of brutally slaying his 18-year-old classmate and ex-girlfriend opens its third week of testimony today with a friend of his alleged victim on the stand.
Week 2 Coverage: online here
All Coverage: online here
