Suspect's family testifies in Wayland murder trial

WOBURN, Mass. (WHDH) -- Another relative took the stand Friday in the trial of a Wayland man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend.

An emotional Nathaniel Fujita sat in court while his uncle testified about his nephew’s depression. He says Nate appeared at a family cookout the day his ex-girlfriend Lauren Astley was murdered.

"He and his mother both looked extremely tired. They looked very stressed. They looked stressed, I don't know what else to say," said Fujita’s uncle.

Fujita was arrested at his uncle’s house that night and charged with killing the 18-year-old last seen alive leaving the Natick mall where she worked. Friends testified Astley was going to meet the suspect with whom she had recently broken up.

Nathaniel's cousin looked over a list of text messages between the suspect and victim, and then described how he looked distraught.

"He looked like he was crying or was going to cry,” said Caroline Saba.

Saba says Fujita was eating steak and salad with friends and that he had taken off his shirt in the kitchen.

"I think I remember seeing one scratch on his arm. I don't know where or when it was from,” said Saba.

Saba described the tension that day and said she began to suspect Fujita had allegedly killed Astley.

“Having done what it was- I was beginning to realize what he’d done I was asking how he could have possibly called me to hang out after something like that. He said that he just needed someone to hang out with. That he needed to get his mind off of it,” said the cousin.

The prosecution will continue presenting its case on Monday.