Wayland man, 18, charged with murdering ex-girlfriend and dumping her body in woods

By Vivian Yee, Globe Correspondent, and Peter Schworm ,Globe Staff

FRAMINGHAM -- IN what prosecutors say was an act of teenaged domestic violence, the former boyfriend of Lauren Astley was accused today of cutting the throat of the Wayland High School graduate after a search of his family’s home found blood in the garage and his clothing, stained with blood, stashed in the attic.

Nathaniel Fujita, 18, wore an orange T-shirt from the Wayland High School football team in court today, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and was ordered held without bail.

Fujita, like Astley, was a member of Wayland High’s Class of 2011; he was also a member of the football and track teams in high school and was a body-builder, records show.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said at an afternoon press conference that Astley recently broke off a relationship that had lasted for three years between the two Wayland residents.

“We do believe this to be a case of teen dating violence,’’ Leone said. “Lauren broke off the relationship…It’s a classic fatal paradigm that we see around teen dating relationships.’’

Still, Leone said it is not clear what specifically prompted Fujita to violently attack Astley, with whom he appeared to have remained on friendly terms in the weeks since the relationship ended.

“We’ve identified no particular trigger at this time,’’ he said.

The body of Astley, 18, was found in a marsh off Route 27 Monday morning by a bicyclist.

Middlesex Assistant District McGovern said in court that Astley had a “gaping incision to the neck” and that her body was bound with at least one bungee cord around her neck

McGovern said that through interviews, phone records and an examination of the Fujita family home, investigators pieced together a strong case linking Fujita to the slaying.

“There was a strong case of premeditated murder … and attempts to cover up with what he had done,’’ McGovern said in court.

McGovern said that Fujita was questioned by police three times, the most recent being 7 a.m. Monday, about half an hour before Astley’s body was found. During each interview, Fujita admitted meeting her at his home, but also insisted that Astley was alive when she left his home after they met briefly.

McGovern said that police searched the Fujita family home in the hours after Astley was reported missing Sunday night. She 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.

Phone records show that Fujita and Astley had a number of conversations on Sunday while she was at work at the Shop344 store in the Natick Collection mall, McGovern said. Astley told co-workers she was going to meet Fujita after she left work on Sunday.

William Sullivan, a Quincy attorney retained to represent Fujita, said in court and in brief comments to reporters that Fujita knew police were investigating him since Sunday night, but he made no attempt to flee the area.

Sullivan said Fujita has no prior criminal record and is scheduled to attend Trinity College in Connecticut this fall.

“Everyone involved is very upset,’’ Sullivan said.

Lauren Astley

Fujita is the son of Tomohisa Fujita, known as Tomo, an assistant professor of guitar at Berklee College of Music who specializes in blues and funk music.

According to his Berklee biography, the elder Fujita counts Eric Krasno of the jazz trio Soulive and pop star John Mayer among his former students.

A Kyoto native, Fujita immigrated from Japan before earning a Berklee degree; he has taught at the college since 1993.

He is also a professional guitarist, playing a guitar solo version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park in October 2009.

Astley’s father, Wayland School Committee member Malcolm Astley, spoke with the Globe about his daughter Monday. He did not attend the arraignment of his daughter’s alleged killer today.

With graduation cards spread out over the living room table, Astley spoke of his daughter’s impending departure in the fall for Elon University in North Carolina, where she was planning to study business. He recalled Lauren as a popular teenager -- a singer, an athlete, an aspiring fashion designer, and a passionate volunteer who made three trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Speaking at the home on Boston Post Road where Lauren grew up, Astley said his daughter disappeared around 8 p.m. Sunday after working the closing shift at Shop344. She was believed to have gone to the Wayland town beach after work, he said. But Lauren never called home to check in, and her father began reaching out to her friends to see if they knew where she was.

“The more time went on, the more worried I became,’’ he said.

Malcolm Astley declined Monday to speculate about what might have happened to his daughter. Asked if she had a boyfriend, he said she had no current boyfriend, but had dated in the past. “There was nothing. Nothing I could predict,’’ he said.

Her father said the last time he saw his daughter was Sunday afternoon, for lunch at a local restaurant before she went to work.

Astley said his daughter, who had no siblings, was bright and musically gifted. She was a onetime captain of the high school tennis team, but quit the team this past year to take a part-time job at the clothing boutique because she wanted to have a career in fashion.

Lauren was passionate about “fixing up the world,’’ her father said. She was also active in her school’s a cappella group, which had recently released a CD.

“So often when someone leaves, we miss their voice,’’ the father said. “But luckily we have that.’’