Jury Is Out In High School Murder Case Of Nathaniel Fujita

The prosecution claims that 20-year-old Nathaniel Fujita planned the murder of his high school girlfriend Lauren Astley.

The defense is claiming that the murder by the high school student was an act of temporary insanity and that Fujita was depressed at the time of the killing because Astley broke things off with him.

Lauren Astley's body was found in a swamp by a bicyclist in the girl's hometown of Wayland, Massachusetts. Astley had been beaten and strangled to death. Police found blood all over Fujita's home and a pair of bloody sneakers that he hid in his attic.

The defense is arguing that Nathaniel Fujita, 17 at the time of the crime, was going through a severe depression, which only got worse after Astley broke up with him. They also claim that his family has had a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia.

The prosecution says that Fujita is exaggerating his depression and that by trying to cover his tracks by hiding the sneakers is proof of premeditation and guilt.

District Attorney Lisa McGovern told the jury, "the time for blaming football, the time for blaming marijuana, the time for blaming the victim, is over."

In his closing arguments to the jury defense attorney William Sullivan said, "Apply the law to those facts in a way that is not swayed by emotion, by sympathy or anger."

The jury has begun deliberating Nathaniel Fujita's fate. If convicted of first-degree murder, the high school student will get life without parole.