thedrifter
04-16-09, 06:39 AM
DA: Laurean set to return to United States
Comments 6 | Recommend 7
District Attorney says extradition appeal denied
April 15, 2009 - 6:02 PM
LINDELL KAY and JENNIFER HLAD
A Camp Lejeune Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague and fleeing to Mexico is expected to be returned to the U.S. by the end of the week, local and federal authorities said.
Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 22, is expected to be transferred from the custody of Mexican authorities to U.S. federal law enforcement officials shortly. He will remain in federal custody until he can be transferred to Onslow County authorities, said Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman for II Marine Expeditionary Force.
"Once he is back in Onslow County, we will have a first appearance and begin the trial process," said Dewey Hudson, the district attorney for the 4th Prosecutorial District, which includes Onslow County.
Laurean's attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil, said he is ready to get started.
"I'm relieved he will be back and we will finally get some answers about what happened," McNeil said. "I am anxious to work on the case."
McNeil said his client will enter a plea of not guilty.
Laurean - who has been in deserter status for more than a year - fought extradition back to the U.S. since his arrest in Tacambaro, Mexico, in April 2008. He had been on the lam three months, living in a rundown shack and surviving on avocados, according the Associated Press.
Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown declared an "earthwide" search for Laurean after he fled his home in mid-January 2008 as investigators zeroed in on him as a suspect in the disappearance of a coworker.
Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, disappeared in mid-December 2007 and became the focus of an intense search by authorities and the media in early January 2008. On Jan. 11, 2008, authorities found the remains of her and her unborn child in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard at 103 Meadow Trail.
Laurean's wife, Marine Cpl. Christina Laurean - recently returned from a period of leave, which included a visit to see her husband in a Mexican jail - was heavily scrutinized by authorities and the media while Laurean was on the run. A raid on her sister's house by the FBI in March 2008 produced evidence that while Christina communicated with her fugitive husband, she did not aid him financially.
Although Laurean, a native Mexican, has been indicted with first-degree murder, which caries the death penalty, prosecutors had to forgo the possibility of capital punishment in order to get Mexican authorities to agree to extradition.
Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.
Ellie
Comments 6 | Recommend 7
District Attorney says extradition appeal denied
April 15, 2009 - 6:02 PM
LINDELL KAY and JENNIFER HLAD
A Camp Lejeune Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague and fleeing to Mexico is expected to be returned to the U.S. by the end of the week, local and federal authorities said.
Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 22, is expected to be transferred from the custody of Mexican authorities to U.S. federal law enforcement officials shortly. He will remain in federal custody until he can be transferred to Onslow County authorities, said Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman for II Marine Expeditionary Force.
"Once he is back in Onslow County, we will have a first appearance and begin the trial process," said Dewey Hudson, the district attorney for the 4th Prosecutorial District, which includes Onslow County.
Laurean's attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil, said he is ready to get started.
"I'm relieved he will be back and we will finally get some answers about what happened," McNeil said. "I am anxious to work on the case."
McNeil said his client will enter a plea of not guilty.
Laurean - who has been in deserter status for more than a year - fought extradition back to the U.S. since his arrest in Tacambaro, Mexico, in April 2008. He had been on the lam three months, living in a rundown shack and surviving on avocados, according the Associated Press.
Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown declared an "earthwide" search for Laurean after he fled his home in mid-January 2008 as investigators zeroed in on him as a suspect in the disappearance of a coworker.
Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, disappeared in mid-December 2007 and became the focus of an intense search by authorities and the media in early January 2008. On Jan. 11, 2008, authorities found the remains of her and her unborn child in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard at 103 Meadow Trail.
Laurean's wife, Marine Cpl. Christina Laurean - recently returned from a period of leave, which included a visit to see her husband in a Mexican jail - was heavily scrutinized by authorities and the media while Laurean was on the run. A raid on her sister's house by the FBI in March 2008 produced evidence that while Christina communicated with her fugitive husband, she did not aid him financially.
Although Laurean, a native Mexican, has been indicted with first-degree murder, which caries the death penalty, prosecutors had to forgo the possibility of capital punishment in order to get Mexican authorities to agree to extradition.
Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.
Ellie