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Raustein update

One of the three youths charged in connection with the stabbing death of an MIT student last year was convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery last week by a Middlesex County Superior Court jury.

Joseph Donovan, 19, of Cambridge was found guilty October 28 of felony murder in the death of Yngve Raustein, who was 21 when he died on September 18, 1992.

Judge Robert A. Barton imposed a life sentence with no parole and a concurrent 20-25 years for armed robbery.

Earlier last month, Judge John Brandt, in a juvenile session which was open to the public because of the severity of the crime, found Shon McHugh, 15 at the time of the incident, guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing of Mr. Raustein. The defendant's appeal to a jury trial will be heard later this year.

A third defendant, Alfredo Velez, is awaiting trial.

Mr. Raustein and a friend, Arne Fredheim, 23, also an MIT student, were walking on Memorial Drive early the night of Sept. 18, 1992, when they were accosted by three youths. Mr. Raustein was punched and fell to the ground. Then he was stabbed. It was Donovan who punched the slain student and McHugh who stabbed him, police said. The victims were robbed of $33.

A version of this article appeared in the November 3, 1993 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 38, Number 12).

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