Prayers for L/Cpl Maria Lauterbach

[Phantom Blooper]

Laurean's DNA not on murder weapon


August 17, 2010 8:44 AM
LINDELL KAY and ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated at 3:50 p.m.

GOLDSBORO — A North Carolina crime scene investigator testified Tuesday that she found no DNA evidence from a former Marine on a crowbar prosecutors say was used to kill his pregnant colleague.

Special Agent Sharon R. Hinton, an expert in DNA analysis, testified Tuesday afternoon that a sample taken from a blood stain on the crowbar came from the victim, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio.

But Hinton testified that she did not find DNA from suspect Cesar Laurean, 23, on the crowbar. She also tested it for DNA from Laurean’s wife, Christina Laurean, but could not determine if that was part of the mixture.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson told jurors last week an autopsy showed Lauterbach died from a blow to the head.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Dick McNeil focused on the mixture of DNA samples on the handle of the crowbar, emphasizing through Hinton’s testimony that Cesar Laurean’s DNA was not present but his wife’s might have been.

North Carolina law bars prosecutors from forcing Christina Laurean, also a Camp Lejeune Marine, to testify against her husband.

Jurors were allowed to examine the crowbar.

Cesar Laurean is charged with killing Lauterbach and burning her body in a firepit in the backyard of his home in December 2007. He has pleaded not guilty.

The two were personnel clerks together in a combat logistics regiment at Camp Lejeune. Lauterbach was about eight months pregnant when she died, but DNA tests revealed that Laurean wasn’t the father. Lauterbach told Navy investigators that Laurean raped her in 2007, though she later recanted her claim that he impregnated her.

Navy investigators said they had no physical evidence to corroborate her claims, and Laurean denied they ever had sexual contact.

Laurean was on the run when Lauterbach’s remains were discovered, leading authorities on an international manhunt. He was arrested in April 2008 in western Mexico and extradited last year. Hudson agreed not to seek the death penalty so Mexico would consider returning Laurean to the U.S. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors started Tuesday by examining how investigators handled evidence. Onslow County Sheriff’s Capt. Donnie Worrell said he took evidence from the crime scene, including one of Lauterbach’s femur bones and the crowbar, to the State Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab in Raleigh. Capt. Patrick Garvey later testified that he kept all the evidence after it was returned from the crime lab.

The defense has questioned how the crime was investigated.

Matthew Clifton, an SBI crime scene investigator, testified Monday that it became useless to collect shoe prints near the firepit grave after Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown walked through the area searching for Lauterbach’s buried corpse with a divining rod.




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Updated at 2:25 p.m.





GOLDSBORO – Cesar Laurean’s DNA was not found on a crowbar the state maintains is the weapon he used to kill a pregnant colleague in 2007, a SBI forensics expert said.

Laurean, a former Camp Lejeune Marine, is on trial of charges of first-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

Laurean, 23, is accused of hitting Lauterbach in the head with a crowbar, burning then burying her body and that of her unborn child in the backyard of the Half Moon community home he shared with his wife in December 2007. A court ruling earlier this year moved the proceedings to Wayne County from Jacksonville due to pre-trial publicity.

SBI Special Agent Sharon R. Hinton testified Tuesday afternoon that Lauterbach's blood DNA was found on the crowbar and items splattered with blood in the Laurean garage.

"It is my opinion the DNA could have come from no one other than Maira Lauterbach," she testified.

However she said Laurean's DNA was not found on the items, including a yellow crowbar, which according to court testimony, Laurean gave to a friend in Dec. 16, 2007, two days after Lauterbach vanished.

Christina Laurean's DNA could not be excluded as having handled the crowbar.


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Updated at 1:03 p.m.





GOLDSBORO — A state crime scene investigator testified Tuesday there was blood on a crowbar that prosecutors say was the weapon used by a former Marine to kill a pregnant colleague whose burned body was later found in a shallow grave.

Prosecutors presented evidence for a fourth day to a jury hearing the first-degree murder case of Cesar Laurean, 23, of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, who months earlier had accused Laurean of rape.

Special Agent Jenny Elwell from the State Bureau of Investigations, an expert in body fluid and DNA analysis, said the reddish-brown stain on the crowbar was blood. She also confirmed that blood was found on pillows and painting supplies taken from the crime scene.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson told jurors last week blood taken from the crowbar belonged to Lauterbach and an autopsy showed she died from a blow to the head.

Just before lunch, prosecutors started their direct examination of Special Agent Sharon R. Hinton, an expert in DNA analysis. She performed the DNA analysis on the crowbar and other evidence. Her testimony will continue after lunch.

Prosecutors started Tuesday by examining how evidence was handled by investigators. Onslow County Sheriff’s Capt. Donnie Worrell said he took evidence from the crime scene, including one of Lauterbach’s femur bones and the crowbar, to the State Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab in Raleigh. Capt. Patrick Garvey later testified that he kept all the evidence after it was returned from the crime lab.

The defense has questioned how the crime was investigated in previous testimony.

Matthew Clifton, an SBI crime scene investigator, testified Monday that it became useless to collect shoe prints near the firepit grave after Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown walked through the area searching for Lauterbach’s buried corpse with a divining rod.


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Updated at 12:11 p.m.





GOLDSBORO – A judge has ruled the wife of a former Camp Lejeune Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague does not have to testify in her husband’s trial.

The attorney of Christina Laurean, Jacksonville lawyer Chris Welch filed a motion in a Wayne County court to quash a state subpoena that his client appear and testify in the first-degree murder trial of Cesar Laurean who is accused in the 2007 bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

Cesar Laurean is accused of hitting Lauterbach in the head with a crowbar, burning then burying her body and that of her unborn child in the backyard of the Half Moon community home he shared with his wife in December 2007. A court ruling earlier this year moved the proceedings from Onslow County due to pre-trial publicity.

Christina Laurean, a Marine Corps corporal, has been called a cooperating witness by investigators and a co-conspirator by Lauterbach’s family in a 2009 wrongful death lawsuit.

Witnesses testified last week to seeing both Laurean vehicles at home in December 2007 when Lauterbach’s car was also present.

Welch told the court Tuesday that the law was clear his client could not be compelled to testify.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson said the state would not argue in favor of the subpoena in light of spousal privilege, which, if invoked, prevents married couples from having to involuntarily testify against each other.

N.C. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith ruled Christina Laurean was released from her subpoena and would not testify in the trial.

Cesar Laurean’s attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil filed a similar motion last month. He invoked N.C. General Statute 8, which states that “no husband or wife shall be compellable in any event to disclose any confidential communication made by one to the other during their marriage.”

The legal move means the jury will not hear about the notes Cesar Laurean left his wife the morning he fled Onslow County on January, 11, 2008. Christina Laurean also told authorities that her husband had told her that he had buried Lauterbach’s body.

Other communications between Cesar and Christina Laurean will now be excluded, including letters he mailed his wife before crossing into Mexico and electronic e-mails they shared while he was on the lam.

Welch has previously told reporters the Marine Corps has precluded his client from making public comment concerning the case.


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Updated at 11:58 a.m.





GOLDSBORO — A North Carolina judge excused an ex-Marine’s wife from testifying in his murder case.

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III granted Christina Laurean’s motion to quash an order to testify Tuesday. Prosecutors had placed her on a list of witnesses they could call in the trial of 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, who had earlier accused Laurean of rape.

North Carolina law bars prosecutors from forcing Christina Laurean, also a Camp Lejeune Marine, to testify against her husband.


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Updated at 11:38 a.m.





GOLDSBORO — North Carolina prosecutors were examining how evidence was handled Tuesday that they believe points to an ex-Marine clerk accused of killing a pregnant colleague.

Prosecutors started a fourth day of presenting evidence to a jury hearing the first-degree murder case of 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. Laurean is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, who had earlier accused Laurean of rape.

Onslow County Sheriff’s Capt. Donnie Worrell said he took evidence from the crime scene, including one of Lauterbach’s femur bones and a crowbar prosecutors said was the murder weapon to the State Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab in Raleigh. Capt. Patrick Garvey later testified that he kept all the evidence after it was returned from the crime lab.

James Faggart, a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations fingerprint expert, said he did not find any latent prints on Lauterbach’s ATM card prosecutors say Laurean used.

Special Agent Jenny Elwell, an expert in body fluid and DNA analysis, confirmed that the redish, brown stain on the crowbar was blood. Lauterbach died from a blow to the head, and a DNA sample taken from a crowbar showed it was her blood, District Attorney Dewey Hudson said last week during his opening statement. Elwell’s testimony was cut short by the morning break.

The defense has questioned how the crime was investigated.

Matthew Clifton, an SBI crime scene investigator, testified Monday that it became useless to collect shoe prints near the firepit grave after Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown walked through the area searching for Lauterbach’s buried corpse with a divining rod.


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GOLDSBORO — North Carolina prosecutors are expected to unveil DNA test results they believe points to an ex-Marine clerk accused of killing a pregnant colleague.

Prosecutors on Tuesday will present a fourth day of evidence to a jury hearing the first-degree murder case of 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, who months earlier accused Laurean of rape.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson told jurors last week DNA tests showed blood taken from a crowbar and from Laurean’s garage belonged to Lauterbach. Hudson said an autopsy showed Lauterbach died from a blow to the left side of her head. Testimony from the doctor who performed the autopsy is expected Wednesday.

[Phantom Blooper]

Victim's mother takes stand at Laurean trial


August 17, 2010 5:41 PM
LINDELL KAY

GOLDSBORO — An emotional yet composed Mary Lauterbach took the stand Tuesday to talk about her daughter during the murder trial of the former Marine accused in her death.

Prosecutors say 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach was killed by former Camp Lejeune Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean. His first-degree murder trial is in its second week.

Mary Lauterbach, who adopted Maria when she was 19 months old, testified to signing papers so a 17-year-old Maria could enter the Marine Corps.

On Mother’s Day 2007, Maria Lauterbach confided in her mother she had been raped and was pregnant. She accused Laurean of the crime. He was never charged for rape, but military officials were investigating Maria Lauterbach’s claims.

Mary Lauterbach said her daughter had a hard pregnancy.

“She was sick every day,” Mary said, adding that they often argued about what to do with the baby once the child was born. Mary wanted her to give up the child for adoption. After friends gave Maria a baby shower, she had an argument with Mary who told her not to remove the tags from the gifts.

But things were getting better between them, Mary testified Tuesday.

She said she spoke to Maria via phone at around 2 p.m. Dec. 14, 2007. They had decided to meet face to face and talk about Maria’s pregnancy and whether she should keep the child or allow for an adoption. It was the last time Mary ever spoke to her daughter.

Mary said when she returned home that night, her daughter’s roommate, Sgt. Dan Durham, was on the phone. He read her a note from Maria saying she couldn’t take the Marine Corps life. Mary called her daughter’s cell phone, but each time it went to voicemail.

“Unless there was some reason not to, I would talk with her at least once I day,” Mary said, adding that she knew something had gone terribly wrong when she couldn’t get her daughter to answer over the weekend.

Laurean’s attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil, told jurors last week during his opening statement that Maria Lauterbach had trouble with the truth and had a history of theft and lying. His questions for Mary during cross-examination Tuesday focused of those issues.

The questioning was slow going with several objections from the state sustained by N.C. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith.

At one point Mary asked McNeil whether he could be more specific and he replied, “I’m trying to, but I keep getting objected,” which drew a rebuke from the judge.

McNeil asked questions about Maria’s health, finances and truthfulness. He asked Mary whether she remembered telling authorities that Maria was a compulsive liar. In a long rambling answer, Mary Lauterbach said she told police her daughter had “occasional problems with compulsive lying.”

Mary denied calling her daughter a pathological liar.

“Nancy Grace called Maria a pathological liar, not me,” she said.

[Phantom Blooper]

Prosecutors rest at murder trial of former Marine


August 18, 2010 8:00 AM
Associated Press


GOLDSBORO — Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case and the defense will begin presenting evidence in the North Carolina trial of an ex-Marine clerk accused of killing a pregnant colleague.

The prosecution on Wednesday will present a fifth day of evidence to a jury hearing the first-degree murder case of 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, who months earlier accused Laurean of rape.

Testimony from the doctor who performed the autopsy is expected on Wednesday. District Attorney Dewey Hudson said that an autopsy showed Lauterbach died from a blow to the left side of her head. The defense is expected to call Marines who served with both Laurean and Lauterbach.

[Phantom Blooper]

Judge refuses to drop robbery charges against Laurean


August 18, 2010 8:00 AM
LINDELL KAY and ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated at 11:23 a.m.

A judge has refused to drop robbery charges against a former Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague.

Defense attorney Dick McNeil asked the court to drop charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon in the Cesar Laurean murder trial.

Laurean, 23, is accused of trying to use 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach's ATM after her death in which Laurean is charged with first-degree murder.


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Updated at 11:08 a.m.

A FBI agent testified Wednesday to finding murder defendant Cesar Laurean on the run in Mexico.

Laurean, 23, a former Camp Lejeune Marine is on trial for first-degree murder, accused in the 2007 bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach.

Laurean fled Onslow County a few hours before Lauterbach’s body was discovered in a shallow grave in his Half Moon community backyard Jan. 11, 2008.

Laurean crossed the border into Mexico by bus a few days later, according to FBI reports.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Steve Kling testified Wednesday to searching small towns and mountain areas of southern Mexico in April 2008 looking for Laurean.

Local and federal authorities had used phone call traces and Internet use to zero in on the fugitive’s location.

Kling said he was at the office of a local politico in the rural township of Tacambaro on April 10, 2008, when he saw a man matching Laurean’s description walking towards him. The man had a beard and was wearing a ball cap.

Mexican police closer to the man stopped him and one of the officers lifted his shirt sleeve to reveal a phoenix tattoo Laurean was known to have.

“He lifted up his shirt and there was the tattoo,” Kling said.

The man spoke Spanish and tried to act like he didn’t know why he had been arrested, Kling said.

“I said ‘tattoos don’t lie,’” Kling told the jury he said to the man, later positively identified as Laurean.

Kling said Laurean had lost a lot of weight. Laurean’s resources had been whittled down to the 10 pesos in his pocket and had been surviving on avocados.

Laurean lost his extradition fight in April 2009 and was returned to Onslow County.


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Updated at 10:49 a.m.

GOLDSBORO — A North Carolina doctor who performed the autopsy on the burned body of a pregnant Marine says she died from a skull fracture.

The prosecution started presenting its final day of evidence Wednesday to a jury in Goldsboro hearing the first-degree murder case of 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, who months earlier had accused Laurean of rape.

A doctor who worked for the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner testified Wednesday that Lauterbach died of a "blunt force injury." Dr. Thomas B. Clark said that could have been caused by a crowbar that prosecutors argue is the murder weapon.

Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case and the defense was expected to begin presenting evidence Wednesday afternoon.




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GOLDSBORO — Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case and the defense will begin presenting evidence in the North Carolina trial of an ex-Marine clerk accused of killing a pregnant colleague.

The prosecution on Wednesday will present a fifth day of evidence to a jury hearing the first-degree murder case of 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, who months earlier accused Laurean of rape.

Testimony from the doctor who performed the autopsy is expected on Wednesday. District Attorney Dewey Hudson said that an autopsy showed Lauterbach died from a blow to the left side of her head. The defense is expected to call Marines who served with both Laurean and Lauterbach.

[Phantom Blooper]

Defense wraps up case at ex-Marine's murder trial


August 19, 2010 7:26 AM
Associated Press

GOLDSBORO — Defense lawyers are expected to call their final witnesses in the trial of an ex-Marine clerk accused of killing a pregnant colleague.

The defense will present on Thursday a second day of evidence to a jury hearing the first-degree murder case of 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, and burning her body in the backyard of his home in December 2007.

Testimony from Marines who supervised Laurean and Lauterbach is expected Thursday. Prosecutors rested their case on Wednesday after the doctor who performed the autopsy on Lauterbach's body said she died of a skull fracture that could have been caused by a crowbar which prosecutors say is the murder weapon.

[Phantom Blooper]

Judge denies motion to allow consideration of 2nd degree murder


August 19, 2010 7:26 AM
LINDELL KAY and ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated at 2:44 p.m.

GOLDSBORO — A judge has denied a defense motion to allow the jury in the first-degree murder trial of Cesar Laurean to also consider second-degree murder during deliberations.

Laurean, 23, a former Camp Lejeune Marine corporal, is charged with the 2007 bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

Prosecutors made their case to N.C. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith that Laurean’s alleged actions surrounding Lauterbach’s death amount to premeditation and deliberation, the factors needed to reach first-degree murder.

Laurean’s attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil told the court that with evidence of one blow being struck and no proof of why Lauterbach traveled to Laurean’s home the day she is said to have died.

“Why did Ms. Lauterbach go to my client’s house?” McNeil asked. “We’re asking for second-degree because we believe it fits.”

McNeil said a theory is that Laurean was at his home minding his own business when a very irrational woman showed up.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee said there was a lack of provocation by Lauterbach to be hit with a crowbar, burned and buried in a shallow grave.

McNeil rested his case earlier in the day after calling six witnesses.

The state dropped its charge of obtaining property by false pretense.


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Updated at 2:32 p.m.

GOLDSBORO — The ex-Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague stationed with him at Camp Lejeune is declining to take the stand in his own defense.

Cesar Laurean said Thursday he decided against testifying in his first-degree murder trial. The 23-year-old is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of of Vandalia, Ohio, who served with Laurean in the same personnel unit and accused him of rape.

Laurean spoke his first words under questioning by the judge as his defense attorney said he was resting his case. Witnesses had testified for six days.

Laurean, who is from Las Vegas, is also accused of robbing Lauterbach of her bank ATM card, as well as theft and fraud for allegedly trying to use it to withdraw cash.


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Updated at 2:13 p.m.

GOLDSBORO — A defense attorney for an ex-Marine charged with killing a pregnant Camp Lejeune colleague in 2007 went on the attack Thursday, calling witnesses to cast doubt on the victim’s truthfulness.

Jurors heard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Caroline Bier testify that while then-corporal Cesar Laurean and Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach served under her in the personnel unit, she observed Laurean as "mature, an outstanding performer," while Lauterbach’s reputation was "that she was not always truthful."

A second Marine in the personnel unit, Carmen Ortega, also testified that Lauterbach had trouble telling the truth.

"I couldn’t really believe most of her comments," Ortega said.

Before she was slain, Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her, then recanted her claim that he was responsible for impregnating her.

Defense attorney Dick McNeil had said at the start of the trial that prosecutors would fail to meet their obligation to prove Laurean is guilty of planning the slaying of Lauterbach, 20, of Vandalia, Ohio. Laurean is charged with first-degree murder.

McNeil has painted Laurean, 23, of Las Vegas, as the victim of a false rape accusation that retarded his military career. He has tried to demonstrate to jurors the stress Laurean was under, while also suggesting that someone else might have killed the young Marine inside Laurean’s garage.

However, the jury did not hear everything Bier had to say about Lauterbach’s conduct after Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III refused to allow some of her testimony.

Outside the jury’s presence, Bier said Lauterbach admitted stealing money from an office collection to buy Christmas decorations in 2006. When confronted, Lauterbach returned the cash, Bier said. When Bier asked Lauterbach why, she made up a story about a family tragedy that never happened.

"This was a pretty serious lie," Bier said. "That raised pretty serious concerns, that she would lie to this extent."

Several weeks later, Lauterbach was habitually failing to get to work on time, so Bier said she asked the higher-ranking Laurean to coach Lauterbach in hopes her performance would improve.

"She was being counseled over and over for her tardiness" about the time she accused Laurean of raping her in the spring of 2007, Bier said.

Lauterbach later recanted her claim that Laurean impregnated her. DNA tests revealed that Laurean wasn’t the father. Lauterbach was in her third trimester of pregnancy when she disappeared.

But the rape allegation persisted and a probable cause hearing on whether there was enough evidence to court-martial Laurean was expected around the time Lauterbach disappeared in December 2007, Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent Megan Grafton testified.

Grafton said Laurean’s wife, Christina, cooperated with law officers from the day Laurean fled. He left his wife a note describing his version of events and alleging that Lauterbach killed herself. That note, along with e-mails the couple exchanged in the months after Laurean fled to Mexico will not be seen by jurors due to a rule that prevents communication between spouses from being used in court.

Lauterbach’s remains were discovered in a shallow grave in Laurean’s backyard, hours after Christina Laurean handed over the note to authorities.

Cesar Laurean was arrested in western Mexico and extradited last year. The potential for a death penalty was dropped in exchange for Mexico returning Laurean. He was kicked out of the Marines after fleeing.

Christina Laurean stayed in contact with her husband for months at the request of investigators, Grafton said. Her testimony under questioning by prosecutors was aimed at discrediting a defense theory that Christina Laurean could have killed Lauterbach. McNeil has not accused anyone of a crime.


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Updated at 12:25 p.m.

Cesar Laurean’s defense counsel continued today to paint a negative picture of homicide victim Maria Lauterbach with witnesses testifying to her reputation of being untruthful.

Laurean, 23, a former Camp Lejeune Marine corporal is charged with first-degree murder in the 2007 bludgeoning death of Lauterbach, a 20-year-old lance corporal from Vandalia, Ohio.

Laurean is accused of burying her charred remains in his backyard and fleeing to Mexico when authorities closed in on him as a suspect in her disappearance. She was a missing person for three weeks.

Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape in May 2007. DNA tests revealed he is not the father of her unborn child.

Laurean’s attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil called current and former Marines to the stand who testified that Lauterbach had trouble being truthful and made up stories to get out of trouble.

“Maria Lauterbach’s mental health goes to the heart of our defense,” McNeil told the court. “She was a person who was sometimes normal and sometimes irrational.”

Out of the presence of the jury, McNeil questioned Marine Warrant Officer Caroline Bier, a former supervisor of both Laurean and Lauterbach.

Bier testified that Lauterbach stole cash from a Christmas fund and made up an elaborate lie about her needing money because her brother had died and she wished to visit family. Bier said she found out the entire story was false when she called Lauterbach’s mother, Mary Lauterbach, who told Bier that Maria Lauterbach often created fantasies, and that her biological parents had mental health issues.

Bier said she recommended Lauterbach not be promoted for lack of integrity. She also ordered Lauterbach to seek mental health treatment.

Bier said she told Lauterbach in early 2007 that if she were late one more time she would be written up for unauthorized leave. Bier also had Laurean - who was filling an E-5 or E-6 billet in the personnel separation office where they all worked - council Lauterbach for minor mistakes.

When Lauterbach made rape allegations against Laurean in May 2007, Bier asked her whether she had stopped taking her medication and Lauterbach said she had, according to Bier’s testimony.

In contrast to what Lauterbach had told family, her Navy OB/GYN testified she did not have a complicated pregnancy. Dr. Lynn Carlton said Lauterbach had “a routine, uncomplicated pregnancy with no bed rest.”


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Updated at 10:50 a.m.

GOLDSBORO — A North Carolina judge has refused to allow some testimony questioning the truthfulness of a pregnant Marine who was killed nearly three years ago.

A defense attorney continued presenting evidence in Goldsboro on Thursday in the first-degree murder case against 23-year-old Cesar Laurean of Las Vegas. He is accused of killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio, and burning her body in the backyard of his home in 2007. The two were clerks in the same unit.

Outside the presence of the jury, the unit’s commander said Lauterbach was caught stealing collections for Christmas decorations in 2006. Chief Warrant Officer Caroline Bier says when she confronted Lauterbach, she made up a story about a family tragedy that never happened.

The judge ruled refused to allow that testimony.

[Phantom Blooper]

Jury deliberations in Laurean trial begin Monday


August 19, 2010 6:21 PM
LINDELL KAY

GOLDSBORO — It’s all or nothing for a former Camp Lejeune Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague.

A judge denied a defense motion Thursday to allow the jury in the first-degree murder trial of Cesar Laurean to also consider second-degree murder during deliberations.

Laurean, 23, a former Camp Lejeune Marine corporal, is charged with the 2007 bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

Prosecutors made their case to N.C. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith that Laurean’s alleged actions surrounding Lauterbach’s death amount to premeditation and deliberation, the factors needed to reach first-degree murder.

But Laurean’s attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil told the court that with only evidence of one blow being struck and no proof of why Lauterbach traveled to Laurean’s home the day she is said to have died other options should be considered.

McNeil said one theory is that Laurean was at his home minding his own business when a very irrational woman showed up.

“Why did Ms. Lauterbach go to my client’s house?” McNeil asked. “We’re asking for second-degree because we believe it fits.”

Another theory floated by the defense is that Laurean’s wife, Christina Laurean is the real culprit. McNeil has stopped short of accusing her of the crime, but has on several occasions alluded to her possible culpability. And he told reporters on Wednesday that his client may have ran to Mexico to protect someone.

Laurean spoke his first words in the two week trial to tell the judge he would not be testifying in his own defense.

Laurean’s mother cried several times during the proceedings, especially when bailiffs led Laurean away at the end of the day.

Salvador Laurean told The Daily News on Thursday that his son was a good person and hard worker. Cesar Laurean’s two sisters present at the trial told reporters Wednesday that they believe Laurean is innocent and that Lauterbach, who they say had mental health problems, killed herself in their brother’s garage.

Laurean provided that theory himself in notes he left to his wife, which have been ruled inadmissible due to a state law that prevents communication between spouses from being used in court.

Lauterbach’s remains were discovered in a shallow grave in Laurean’s backyard, hours after Christina Laurean handed over the notes to authorities Jan. 11, 2008.

Christina Laurean cooperated with law enforcement in her husband’s fugitive manhunt, Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent Megan Grafton testified. She was one of six witnesses called by the defense before it rested Thursday afternoon.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Mike Maultsby aimed his cross-examination questions for Grafton at discrediting the defense theory that Christina Laurean could have killed Lauterbach.

Maultsby had Grafton explain to the jury that she is roughly the same height and weight as Christina Laurean. Then he asked her to hold the 12-pound crowbar the state maintains is the murder weapon. The jury watched intently as Grafton struggled to hold the tool in the air.

The state did drop one count against Laurean. Prosecutors dismissed a charge of obtaining property by false pretense. Laurean remains accused of murder, robbing Lauterbach of her bank card and attempted financial card fraud.

McNeil told reporters outside the courtroom Wednesday that it was his client in ATM surveillance footage trying to get cash from Lauterbach’s account Dec. 24, 2007, but since his client knew Lauterbach’s personal identification number it was not attempted theft.

Laurean was arrested in western Mexico in April 2008 and extradited last year. The potential for a death penalty was dropped in exchange for Mexico returning Laurean. He was kicked out of the Marines after fleeing.

Closing arguments will be heard Monday morning.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[zx6rdr]

GOLDSBORO, N.C. -- A jury on Monday convicted a former Marine of first-degree murder in the death of a pregnant colleague who had accused him of rape, a charge that stalled the military career he treasured.
Cesar Laurean, 23, of Las Vegas, was found guilty of killing Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, of Vandalia, Ohio, in December 2007. The two were assigned to the same logistics unit at Camp Lejeune, the base in Jacksonville that is home to about 50,000 Marines.
The former Marine was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Laurean also faced three other charges of robbing Lauterbach of her bank ATM card, and of theft and attempted fraud for allegedly trying to use it to withdraw cash. He was found not guilty of the robbery charge, but Laurean was convicted on the fraud and theft charges.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three hours since Monday before convicting Laurean.

Laurean was eventually cleared of the rape accusation, and a Marine buddy testified Laurean told him the sex was consensual.

Prosecutors said Laurean wanted to get rid of the woman because their encounter threatened to destroy his military career. Even if the sex was consensual, Laurean could have been punished because it is against Marine Corps rules to have sex with a subordinate.
Defense attorney Dick McNeil said prosecutors failed to prove Laurean swung the crowbar that fractured Lauterbach's skull. Laurean's wife, also a Marine, could have exploded when Lauterbach appeared at the couple's home on the day she disappeared. Authorities described Christina Laurean as a cooperating witness and have not charged her with any crime

[Zulu 36]

Gee, there's a surprise.

[sparkie]

It's done,,,, Now let me hang the bastard.

[Big Jim]

GOLDSBORO, N.C. -- A jury on Monday convicted a former Marine of first-degree murder in the death of a pregnant colleague who had accused him of rape, a charge that stalled the military career he treasured.
Cesar Laurean, 23, of Las Vegas, was found guilty of killing Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, of Vandalia, Ohio, in December 2007. The two were assigned to the same logistics unit at Camp Lejeune, the base in Jacksonville that is home to about 50,000 Marines.
The former Marine was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Laurean also faced three other charges of robbing Lauterbach of her bank ATM card, and of theft and attempted fraud for allegedly trying to use it to withdraw cash. He was found not guilty of the robbery charge, but Laurean was convicted on the fraud and theft charges.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three hours since Monday before convicting Laurean.

Laurean was eventually cleared of the rape accusation, and a Marine buddy testified Laurean told him the sex was consensual.

Prosecutors said Laurean wanted to get rid of the woman because their encounter threatened to destroy his military career. Even if the sex was consensual, Laurean could have been punished because it is against Marine Corps rules to have sex with a subordinate.
Defense attorney Dick McNeil said prosecutors failed to prove Laurean swung the crowbar that fractured Lauterbach's skull. Laurean's wife, also a Marine, could have exploded when Lauterbach appeared at the couple's home on the day she disappeared. Authorities described Christina Laurean as a cooperating witness and have not charged her with any crime

Thank God this worthless piece of sh!t got what he he did. Now that family can rest easy and Maria can rest in peace. I think if anyone deserves to fire a bullet into that P.O.S. head is Maria's mother. I have no doubt he will get what is coming to him in one way or another.

I'm with you Sparkie, my brother....I'd love to skin this fvcker alive with a dull deer antler....!!

[Phantom Blooper]

GUILTY

August 24, 2010 11:09 AM
LINDELL KAY

GOLDSBORO — A Camp Lejeune Marine corporal who killed a pregnant colleague to save his military career will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Cesar Laurean, 23, was found guilty by a Wayne County jury in the 2007 bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before reaching its verdict based on testimony from 49 witnesses over a two-week period.

With his mother crying in the background, Laurean was shackled by bailiffs and led away after sentencing by N.C. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith.

“I am extremely satisfied the jury made the right decision in this case, said District Attorney Dewey Hudson, who called Laurean during closing arguments “a coward who hit a pregnant woman in the back of the head with a crowbar.”

Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee said Mary Lauterbach lived a parent’s worst nightmare for 28 days beginning Dec. 14, 2007, when she last spoke to her daughter.

“On Jan. 11, 2008, Mary Lauterbach’s nightmare became a reality when her daughter’s body was found buried in the defendant’s backyard,” he said.

Mary Lauterbach said after the trial that she intended to continue to push for sexual assault reporting reforms in the military.

“Maria will always be my hero,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

She thanked Onslow County Sheriff’s Sgt. TJ Cavanagh.

“He was the first person I spoke to here that knew something was wrong,” she said.

During a two-week trial, prosecutors painted Cesar Laurean as a Camp Lejeune Marine corporal willing to kill a pregnant colleague to silence their adulterous affair while the defense countered that he was a good Marine caught in the vindictive trap of a female subordinate he had reprimanded.

Laurean and Lauterbach worked together aboard Camp Lejeune as personnel clerks until she accused him of rape in May 2007. A DNA test later revealed Laurean was not the father of her unborn child. She was in her third trimester of pregnancy when she died.

Lee said Laurean was well aware of the detrimental effect Lauterbach’s allegations would have on his career, whether their relationship was consensual or not.

Adultery is a crime in the Marine Corps, which could have damaged Laurean’s career, Lee reminded the jury in his closing argument.

He said Laurean told a fellow Marine that he planned to trick Lauterbach into going to Mexico, discrediting her and salvaging his career. But Laurean’s plan was far more sinister, Lee said.

“The defendant wanted to be a good Marine, but as long as Maria Lauterbach was still out there he couldn’t,” Lee said. “As long as she was out there he would be looking over his shoulder.”

Lee said Lauterbach thought she was going to Mexico to live a happy life with the father of her child; instead Laurean sent her to a cold, dark grave in his backyard.

Laurean fled Onslow County on Jan. 11, 2008, hours before authorities discovered Lauterbach’s charred remains and that of her unborn child buried beneath a firepit in his Half Moon community backyard.

Lee said not only did Laurean plan Lauterbach’s demise, he tried to cover it up afterwards. Lee reminded the jury how Laurean cleaned the crowbar, painted the garage walls, folded a blood-stained raft and put it away in the days after Lauterbach’s death.

“He then held a Christmas bonfire on the very spot he buried his victim,” Lee said.

Laurean’s attorney Jacksonville lawyer Dick McNeil said he was very disappointed in the verdict. He was also disappointed that the judge did not allow certain evidence and that second degree murder was not offered to the jury as a possible verdict.

“We will be in appellate court within six months,” McNeil said.

During the trial, McNeil told the jury there was no question that Lauterbach was buried in the Laurean backyard, the real question is why she went to 103 Meadow Trail in the first place and who actually swung the crowbar the state maintains is the murder weapon.

McNeil painted his client as a good Marine who became the target of Lauterbach’s vindictiveness after he counseled her for being habitually late to work. She accused him of rape out of spite and later showed up at his home troubled, distraught and in violation of a protective order.

McNeil also said his client’s wife, Christina Laurean, had motive and opportunity. He said Christina Laurean, as a trained Marine, was totally capable of lifting and swinging the crowbar.

He questioned why the state — which learned just 19 days before his client’s trial began that Christina Laurean’s DNA could not be excluded from being found on the crowbar — had not pursued her as a suspect.

Lee said Christina Laurean, who he referred to as a cooperating witness, was not the one accused of rape. He said Christina Laurean did not buy cinderblocks and dig a hole in the backyard. He said it was also not Christina Laurean captured on surveillance footage trying to remove cash from Lauterbach’s bank account, an additional charge — bank card theft, but not armed robbery — the jury found Laurean guilty of.

Laurean was on the run in Mexico until being arrested there in April 2008. He was extradited in 2009. The state could not pursue the death penalty against him for Lauterbach’s death as part of an extradition agreement with Mexico.

The trial was held in Goldsboro after a judge moved proceedings out of Onslow County earlier this year due to pretrial publicity in Jacksonville.

[Phantom Blooper]

Laurean appeal filed with courts




July 29, 2011 6:19 PM

LINDELL KAY

An appeal lawyer says a judge was wrong not to allow a jury to consider a lesser charge in last year’s first-degree murder trial of a former Camp Lejeune Marine corporal accused of killing a pregnant colleague.
Cesar Laurean, 24, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of first-degree murder in the 2007 bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.
Trial evidence showed that Laurean beat Lauterbach to death with a crowbar in his Onslow County home and buried her body in his backyard. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape, but later recanted. She maintained her unborn child was Laurean’s, but DNA tests after her death confirmed the baby was not his. Laurean admitted to friends to having consensual sex with Lauterbach, according to court testimony.
The presiding judge in Laurean’s August 2010 trial should have allowed the jury to consider second-degree murder and should have allowed evidence that showed Lauterbach’s poor performance record as a Marine, Laurean’s appeals attorney, Chapel Hill lawyer Ann Petersen said in her 71-page brief filed with the Appeals Court last week.
In finding Laurean guilty of first-degree murder the jury determined that he acted on premeditation. The appeal motion states that there was no evidence as to what happened in Laurean’s home the day Lauterbach died other than an autopsy that stated her skull was crushed with a blunt object; and, therefore, the jury should have been allowed to deliberate whether he may have killed her without premeditation, which may have resulted in a second-degree murder verdict.
“Beyond the fact that death resulted from a single blow, there was no evidence offered to the jury about what happened in the time immediately leading up to that blow,” the appeal brief states. “What the State’s evidence does show is a bizarre set of facts which leave a complete puzzle about how and why Maria Lauterbach wound up at the Laurean residence and what took place there immediately preceding her fatal injury.”
The brief also claims the court erred by excluding testimony about Lauterbach being habitually late to work for which Laurean had to counsel her. Her allegations of rape came almost immediately after he disciplined her.
The testimony would have rebutted the prosecution’s theory that Laurean’s motive in killing Lauterbach was to extricate himself from a career-ending situation when it was unlikely the Marine Corps would have taken her allegations seriously in the long run, according to the appeals brief.
There was no clear indication from court officials when the Appeals Court would hear the case.

[Zulu 36]

Typical appeal litany of whines. Unfortunately, some appeals courts buy into the BS.

[Phantom Blooper]

Appeals Court to hear Laurean case




October 26, 2011 2:47 PM

LINDELL KAY - DAILY NEWS STAFF

The N.C. Court of Appeals is set to hear oral arguments next month in the case of a former Marine convicted last year of killing a pregnant colleague.
Cesar Laurean, 24, is serving a life sentence without parole after being convicted of first-degree murder by a jury in August 2010 in the December 2007 bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.
Laurean’s appeal attorney, Chapel Hill lawyer Ann Petersen said the trial court was wrong not to allow the jury to consider a lesser charge in their deliberations.
Trial evidence showed that Laurean beat Lauterbach to death with a crowbar in his Half Moon community home. Laurean fled the area in mid-January 2008, just hours before Lauterbach’s body was found in his backyard. He was arrested three months later in a small Mexican town.
The presiding judge in Laurean’s August 2010 trial should have allowed the jury to consider second-degree murder and should have allowed evidence that showed Lauterbach’s poor performance record as a Marine, Laurean’s appeals attorney, Petersen said in her 71-page brief filed with the Appeals Court in July.
In finding Laurean guilty of first-degree murder the jury determined that he acted on premeditation. The appeal motion states that there was no evidence as to what happened in Laurean’s home the day Lauterbach died other than an autopsy that stated her skull was crushed with a blunt object; and, therefore, the jury should have been allowed to deliberate whether he may have killed her without premeditation, which may have resulted in a second-degree murder verdict.
“Beyond the fact that death resulted from a single blow, there was no evidence offered to the jury about what happened in the time immediately leading up to that blow,” the appeal brief states. “What the State’s evidence does show is a bizarre set of facts which leave a complete puzzle about how and why Maria Lauterbach wound up at the Laurean residence and what took place there immediately preceding her fatal injury.”
The brief also claims the court erred by excluding testimony about Lauterbach being habitually late to work for which Laurean had to counsel her. Her allegations of rape came almost immediately after he disciplined her. Such testimony would have rebutted the prosecution’s theory that Laurean’s motive in killing Lauterbach was to extricate himself from a career-ending situation when it was unlikely the Marine Corps would have taken her allegations seriously in the long run, according to the appeals brief.
Arguments are scheduled for 1 p.m. on Nov. 16 at the Court of Appeals Building on West Morgan Street in Raleigh.

Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lkay@freedomenc.com.