Nathaniel Fujita, right, enters the courtroom for the jury's verdict at his murder trial Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Mass. (AP Photo/MetroWest Daily News, Ken McGagh, Pool)
Both the prosecution and defense in the arson and murder case …
Updated: Thursday, 07 Mar 2013, 1:04 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 07 Mar 2013, 11:28 AM EST
WOBURN, Mass. (AP) - A Wayland man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend a month after they graduated from high school.
Nathaniel Fujita was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder in the July 2011 death of Lauren Astley. They were both 18 at the time.
Fujita hung his head as the jury foreman read the verdict.
Astley's mother broke down in tears.
Prosecutors said Fujita was angry because Astley had broken up with him. They said he stabbed and strangled Astley, then left her body in a marsh.
A forensic psychiatrist testifying for the defense said Fujita lacked the ability to know his actions were wrong due to depression, daily marijuana use and repeated brain injuries suffered playing football.
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