DA: Medical Examiner Rules on Cause of Wayland Teen's Death

Eighteen-year-old Lauren Astley’s death resulted from a combination of strangulation by ligature and an incise wound to the neck by a sharp object, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

Astley’s body was discovered the morning of July 4 in a marshy area of Wayland near the Sudbury line. A passing bicyclist reported seeing the body, and by Monday night, the victim had been identified as Astley, a recent Wayland High School graduate who had been reported missing Sunday evening.

Early Tuesday morning, police arrested Astley’s ex-boyfriend and Wayland High School classmate Nathaniel Fujita, 18, at his aunt's home in Framingham. At an arraignment Tuesday morning, a not-guilty plea was entered for Fujita; Framingham District Court Judge Robert Greco ordered him held without bail on charges of first-degree murder.

Astley was found with a bungee cord around her neck, and investigators located blood and bungee cords on the floor of a garage of 108 W. Plain St., where Fujita lives with his parents. Leone said it is believed the bungee cord was used to strangle Astley, though the sharp object used to inflict the wound has not yet been determined.

“I can’t stress enough the unfortunate reality of yet another instance of violence against women and, in this case, teen dating violence,” Leone said during the news conference. “We’re very confident it was about the perpetrator exercising power and control.”

According to Leone, friends of the teens have told investigators that Astley and Fujita had an “on-again, off-again” relationship of about three years that had recently “gone bad.” Friends told investigators Astley had recently ended the relationship.

Prosecutor Lisa McGovern said during the arraignment that Astley had received three phone calls from Fujita on the night of her death, though Leone said during the news conference they do not yet know why the two met that evening or whose idea it was. He also said investigators plan to examine various forms of electronic communication between the victim and suspect.

Calling the investigation “very active” and “fluid,” Leone said investigators are still working to determine where Astley was killed. They are also trying to determine whether Fujita had a history of violence as well as to establish a full time-line of his whereabouts the night of the murder.

“We lost one of our own … the victim of a brutal and senseless crime,” Wayland Police Chief Robert Irving said at the news conference. “I assure the people of Wayland that we will continue to work tirelessly, in conjunction with the Massachusetts State Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, to see that justice is served in this case.”