Crime & Safety
Fujita Trial Start Postponed Two Weeks
The trial for the man accused of murdering Wayland teen Lauren Astley in 2011 is now scheduled to begin in February.
Nathaniel Fujita sat quietly today in a Middlesex Superior courtroom as his attorney and the prosecutor on his case discussed some procedural details and eventually agreed to a Feb. 11 start date for the his trial.
Fujita is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Lauren Astley, and dumping her body in a Wayland marsh on July 3, 2011.
The trial was originally scheduled to begin in October 2012, but defense attorney William Sullivan's request in September to possibly utilize an insanity defense pushed the start date back to Jan. 22, 2013. Then, in October, Fujita indicated he wanted to part ways with Sullivan and hire a new attorney, a move that would likely have further delayed the trial start.
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Ultimately, Fujita decided to maintain his relationship with Sullivan, and a trial date of Jan. 28, 2013 was established. Today, however, that date was pushed back two weeks to Feb. 11.
A final pre-trial conference is now scheduled to take place on Jan. 28, 2013.
Find out what's happening in Waylandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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