Nathaniel Fujita, a rising freshman at Trinity College, was charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley on Tuesday in Framingham Massachusetts. Fujita allegedly stabbed Astley, wrapped bungee cords around her throat and left her body in a marsh. He pled not guilty to the charges.
Astley had been missing since her shift at work the day before, when her body was discovered Monday night by a cyclist.
The two Wayland High School graduates had been dating for three years when prosecutors say that Astley allegedly broke off the relationship, prompting the attack.
The Boston Globe has more:
Police searched the Fujita family home in the hours after Astley was reported missing Sunday night. She [District Attorney McGovern] said that investigators found blood in the garage and a blood-stained bungee cord. Blood was also found in the kitchen and the bathroom, she said.
More evidence linking Fujita to Astley’s death was found in a crawlspace in his bedroom, McGovern said. She said investigators recovered a pair of sneakers stained with blood along with a plastic bag filled with wet, muddy and bloody clothing.
Prosecutors also allege that Astley had been exchanging phone calls with Fujita leading up to the attack.
Fujita told investigators he had a short and “awkward” conversation with Astley after she finished work, but claims the last time he saw her, she was alive.
Astley was slated to Elon College this fall.
“If I had thought there was anything amiss like that I would have been hot on it. I’m alert to those issues,” Malcom Astley, Lauren’s father, told WBZ-TV, “I cry every five to eight minutes, then there’s stability again.”
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