A 16-year-old boy has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of an MIT student a year ago.
Shon McHugh was found guilty of murder and armed robbery by Judge John Brandt in Cambridge District Court after a non-jury trial. He was tried as a juvenile. The trial was open-an unusual move-because of the serious nature of the charge.
Among those in the courtroom during the trial and when the verdict was announced were Elmer and Inghild Raustein, parents of the slain MIT student, Yngve Raustein, and Yngve's brother, Dan-Jarle, all of Os, Norway. Yngve was a student in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Mr. and Mrs. Raustein have remained in Cambridge and plan to attend the trial of Joseph Donovan, 18, also charged with murder and robbery in the death of their son. Jury selection began in that case on October 18. A third defendant, Alfredo Velez, 19, negotiated a plea bargain in return for testifying in the McHugh trial and received a seven-year term for manslaughter.
The three defendants were charged with accosting Mr. Raustein and a friend as they walked along Memorial Drive near the library the night of Sept. 18, 1992. Without warning, police said, Mr. Raustein was struck in the face by Mr. Donovan and stabbed by Mr. McHugh, who will remain in the custody of the Department of Youth Services until he is 21. The balance of his term will be served at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Cedar Junction.
The Raustein family's travel to Cambridge for the trials was arranged by the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office and MIT. MIT also arranged living quarters for the family.
A version of this article appeared in the October 20, 1993 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 38, Number 10).
