Pregnant Marine is missing

[thedrifter]

Documents say wife delayed report
JENNIFER HLAD AND LINDELL KAY
January 18, 2008 - 12:41AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The key witness in the investigation of a pregnant Camp Lejeune Marine's slaying knew about her death at least a day before she told law-enforcement officials, according to court records unsealed Thursday.

Cpl. Cesar Laurean has been on the run since Friday, when authorities say he left behind a note for his wife, Christina Laurean. The note indicated that Laurean buried Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach's body in the backyard of the Laureans' Half Moon home, officials have said.

Lauterbach, who in May accused Laurean of rape, was last seen Dec. 14.

Since the sexual assault accusations in May, Laurean had been keeping his wife up to date on the developments in the case against him and later, the details of the missing person case, according to the probable cause affidavit attached to a search warrant for phone records unsealed Thursday.

Christina Laurean also told investigators that she knew Lauterbach was dead and buried in her backyard at least the day before she went to law enforcement, according to court files.

A copy of the warrant and attached affidavit are available online at www.jdnews.com.

On Jan. 10, as the couple drove to speak with Jacksonville attorney Mark Raynor, Laurean asked his wife whether "she was with him on this," according to court records.

Christina Laurean told investigators she responded, "I do not know. Is there anything that you have not told me?"

It was then, records say, that Laurean told his wife that Lauterbach had come to the Laureans' house at 103 Meadow Trail on Dec. 15 and said she planned to leave the area. Laurean went with her to buy a bus ticket, but the two returned to the Laurean residence and began arguing, according to the version of events in the affidavits, based on what Christina Lauren told Sheriff's Department detective John Dubois on Jan. 11.

According to a report posted on CNN.com, Sheriff Ed Brown said that Christina Laurean told investigators that she was at a Christmas party for her husband's unit on the day of the incident. She said her husband did not attend.

At the Laurean home, Lauterbach was "disorientated, agitated, and acting differently," the statement says Laurean told his wife. Lauterbach then slit her own throat with a knife, Laurean told his wife, according to court records. He also made that claim in the notes he left behind.

The Lauterbach autopsy report, however, says she died from blunt-force trauma to the head. Two sources close to the investigation told The Daily News that officials believe Lauterbach was killed in Cesar Laurean's garage with a crowbar.

"We believe that we have an item that may have been used in the murder of Maria Lauterbach," Onslow County Sheriff's Department Capt. Rick Sutherland said Thursday. "It is consistent with what the medical examiner believes is the cause of death. We have not confirmed what this item is."

The possible murder weapon was taken to the State Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Raleigh to be examined, Sutherland said - adding that the object was given to them by a witness, therefore ruling out the possibility the weapon was recovered from Laurean's 2004 Dodge Ram pickup. The truck was found Tuesday at a hotel in Morrisville, near the Raleigh Durham International Airport and an unmanned Greyhound bus stop.

Law enforcement officials have said they cannot rule out the possibility the bus ticket Lauterbach purchased Dec. 15 has been used by someone else.

Though Cesar Laurean said Lauterbach came to his house acting upset and then committed suicide, Lauterbach's car was found at the bus station in Jacksonville on Jan. 7.

The Daily News asked Sheriff's Department officials whether investigators believed someone helped Laurean drive Lauterbach's car to the bus station after Lauterbach was killed.

"If anyone would have knowingly assisted (Laurean) after the homicide, that would be a chargeable offense and it would be inappropriate for me to discuss it at this time," Sutherland said.

The notes - and Cesar Laurean's story - have several inconsistencies, including his claim that he buried Lauterbach in a wooded area adjacent to his house. Lauterbach's body and that of her unborn child were found in a burn pit in the backyard.

The Daily News spoke by telephone to a female at Cesar Laurean's parents' residence in Nevada on Thursday. The woman said she believed there was more to the story than law-enforcement officials were telling.

"I don't believe it," said the woman, who would not identify herself, before hanging up.

The FBI believes Laurean has fled into Mexico, and federal officials are working with authorities south of the border to track him down.

The new information adds even more events to an already complex investigation timeline of Lauterbach's disappearance and death.

The Onslow County Sheriff's Department and II Marine Expeditionary Force have laid out their respective timelines concerning Cesar Laurean and Lauterbach, clearing up some questions but raised others.

In a press conference Tuesday, II MEF spokesman Lt. Col. Curtis Hill said Lauterbach first reported two sexual assaults by Cesar Laurean to NCIS investigators at Camp Lejeune on May 11.

Hill also said Laurean was told May 12 to stop communicating with Lauterbach and stay at least 1,000 feet away from her at all times. That order was perpetuated in a series of military protective orders, the military equivalent of a restraining order, Hill said.

Though NCIS investigators continued to pursue the rape case, in October they recommended no disciplinary action be taken against Laurean until DNA could be retrieved from the child, which Lauterbach had said was a result of the rape.

On Nov. 5, Lauterbach adjusted her statement to say while she was raped by Laurean, she no longer believed the pregnancy was a result of that assault.

On Dec. 14, Lauterbach went to work. Her roommate said that when he returned home, she had taken some personal items and left a note saying, "I could not take this Marine Corps life anymore. So I am going away. Sorry for the inconvenience. Maria," Hill said. The Sheriff's Department is having the note's handwriting analyzed.

That same night, authorities say, bank records and video surveillance show Lauterbach withdrew $700 from her bank account.

When she did not show up for work on Dec. 17, her unit leadership called to check on her and sent Marines to her home. Because of the note, and the fact that personal items and her car were not there, Marine officials believe she had voluntarily gone on unauthorized-absence status.

Two days later, Lauterbach's family asked the Sheriff's Department to help find their daughter, Sutherland told The Daily News.

"The best evidence in this case is that nothing anyone could have done on December 19th would have prevented her death," Sutherland said.

Court records show that Lauterbach's cell phone was found on Dec. 20 and turned over the Sheriff's Department. But Marine Corps officials say they did not know about the phone until Jan. 9.

And while Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said he did not hear Laurean's name until Dec. 7, NCIS investigator Paul Ciccarelli said agents told deputies Laurean's name Dec. 19 when the county contacted the Marine Corps about the missing person case.



What's ahead?

The biggest news Thursday was the release of search warrants and their attached affidavits that indicate Christina Laurean knew Maria Lauterbach was dead the day before she told authorities.

But many questions still surround the case and Christina Laurean.

She has, so far, remained out of the spotlight - the Marine Corps has not released requested information on Christina Laurean, an active-duty Marine, and the Onslow County Sheriff's Department has described her only as a cooperating witness.



Key questions



Here are a few questions surrounding the investigation and search that remained on Thursday:

Why did Christina Laurean wait a day to tell authorities that Lauterbach was dead?

Will Christina Laurean face any charges in Lauterbach's death?

Who delivered what is believed to be the murder weapon to the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and where was it found?

And the biggest question of all, where is Cesar Laurean and how did he get there?

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Wife knew of Lauterbach’s death
By Estes Thompson - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jan 18, 2008 9:07:42 EST

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The wife of the key suspect in the violent slaying of a 20-year-old pregnant Marine waited almost 24 hours after learning of the woman’s death to go to police, according to court documents released Thursday.

The sheriff’s affidavit, which details the account Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean’s wife gave to detectives, does not provide an explanation for why she waited. Police have consistently described her as a cooperating witness, and she does not face charges.

Laurean told his wife, Christina, while driving to their attorney’s office last Thursday that Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach visited the couple’s home on Dec. 15, demanded money and told him she planned to leave the area, according the affidavit. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape in May, a charged he denied to military investigators.

He told his wife that he and Lauterbach purchased a bus ticket for her to El Paso, Texas, but that she later returned to their home and they began to argue. He claimed Lauterbach produced a knife and slit her own throat. Laurean also told his wife he then buried Lauterbach in the woods near their home, the documents state.

Laurean disappeared the next day, leaving behind a note in which he repeated his claims that Lauterbach killed herself. Investigators later found Lauterbach’s burned remains, and those of her child, in a fire pit in Laurean’s backyard.

An autopsy determined Lauterbach died of blunt force trauma to the head. Authorities have said they don’t believe she committed suicide, citing a large amount of blood found on the walls and ceiling of Laurean’s home. Investigators used a chemical process to identify the blood evidence, finding that some had been disguised by washing and painting.

Authorities said Thursday they may have recovered the weapon used to kill Lauterbach, although they declined to say who gave them the item last weekend and what it was. Prosecutors have said an autopsy failed to answer all the questions about Lauterbach’s death, including whether she gave birth before her death and of the identity of the father.

Authorities believe Lauterbach was killed on or about Dec. 15. Marine officials have said they attempted to find her after she failed to report to work on Dec. 17, but had evidence — including a note left for her roommate in which she wrote she was tired of the Marine Corps lifestyle — that led them to believe she left on her own.

The FBI has said Laurean is believed to have fled to Mexico, and they are working with authorities there to track him down. Laurean, 21, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and still has some family in the country, authorities said.

Laurean told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of rape, according to court documents filed this week by the FBI, and his wife also told authorities she believed he would head to Mexico if he was in trouble.

———

Associated Press writer Mike Baker contributed to this report from Raleigh, N.C.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Jacksonville women hold vigil for murdered Marine
By WWAY
Created 18 Jan 2008 - 6:47pm

JACKSONVILLE -- Two Jacksonville women, a former marine and a former National Guard member, have organized a vigil for tonight in memory of Maria Lauderbach.

The two women have very close ties to the Marine Corps. One is a former member, the other has been around marines most of her life, and they're both married to Marines.

Kathleen Foley says she had a wonderful experience when she was a marine in 2002 and 2003. She says she was treated fairly, and pregnant marines weren't judged. She's expecting her third child and says this situation has hit especially close to home.

Foley and Cristal Romeo say it's difficult to form an opinion about how the Marines handled Lauderbach's case.

Foley said, "This really does shock me, because it's not typical of the marine corps and it's not indicative of other marines."

Romeo said, "The Marines are like my family, so when I found out this happened to one of our marines and a pregnant woman at that, being a mother myself, it was devastating."

Romeo says she feels the marines and law enforcement have done the best they can to handle this situation.

At Friday night's vigil the women will also be asking people to sign a petition to pass a fetal homicide law in North Carolina, meaning someone who kills a pregnant woman would also be charged in the baby's death.

The vigil is from seven to nine at Northeast Creek Park in Jacksonville.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Search for Laurean turns to TV
LINDELL KAY
January 19, 2008 - 12:42AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
With the man accused of killing a pregnant Marine and burying her burned body in his backyard still on the run, local investigators have turned to "America's Most Wanted" to help track him down.

Camp Lejeune Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 21, has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, the woman who had accused him of rape in 2007.

The Onslow County Sheriff's Department has been working with "America's Most Wanted" since last week to profile Laurean on the show, which airs tonight at 9 on Fox.

The show will have surveillance footage of a man law enforcement thinks is Laurean at an ATM on Dec. 24, shopping and other photos and images not seen in the news yet, according to producers of the show.

Capt. Rick Sutherland and Detective T.J. Cavanaugh with the Sheriff's Department will be standing by tonight to speak to viewers who call the hot line with credible tips.

Investigators and producers with the show have been in Onslow County for several days going over the case, visiting the crime scene and interviewing witnesses in preparation of the show tonight.

Producers have been watching the story since Sheriff Ed Brown's first press conference on Jan. 8, when he said he needed help from the news media to find Lauterbach.

"We are different than the rest of the media," said Angeline Hartman, a correspondent for the show.

"We profile fugitives, and we help catch them."

Hartman said "America's Most Wanted" is in it for the long haul.

"When the satellite trucks are gone, we will still have people looking for Laurean," she said. "We work with investigators behind the scenes to get the bad guy."

Steph Watts, a producer for the Fox News show "On the Record," said he was frustrated with "America's Most Wanted" holding on to video of Laurean.

"Our show goes out to 2 million people, and we have markets in Mexico. The faster this footage is shown, the faster Cesar Laurean might be caught," he said.

Advanced images of Laurean were released to news media, including The Daily News, at 6 p.m. Friday. The images include a head shot and a still shot from video taken on Dec. 24 of a man the Sheriff's Department believes is Laurean at an ATM where $400 was taken out of Lauterbach's account with her ATM card.

Brown said Friday the Sheriff's Department partnered with "America's Most Wanted" because he knew from past experience that the show got results.

In 1990, Onslow County residents Scott Gasperson and his fianc e, Phyllis Aragona, were kidnapped from their home and taken to the pawnshop Gasperson owned. Eventually the pair was shot execution-style.

Brown said law enforcement was close to exhausting its investigative resources when "America's Most Wanted" pitched in to help in the search.

Tips generated by an episode of the show led authorities to the Dominican Republic, where three of the four killers were located. The other one was arrested in New York City. Gary Fernandez; his son, Orlando Fernandez; Maria Monserrate; and her son, Eli Nain Ocasio, are all serving life sentences for the crimes.

"America's Most Wanted" returned to eastern North Carolina in 1997 to try and track down the suspects in another double-homicide: Havelock pawnshop co-workers James Lucas Smith IV and John Phillip Mattmiller were beaten to death during a robbery. Normally, the show only profiles identified fugitives on the run but made an exception in the case, the show's producers said. Despite dedicating five minutes to the crime on national TV, the show and law enforcement came up empty and no arrests have been made in the case.

The show also aired a 15-second item on Pvt. Frederico Pimienta, a Camp Lejeune Marine accused of killing another Marine in Afghanistan in 2005. Pimienta fled the U.S. but was apprehended in Spain. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his roommate.

While "America's Most Wanted" will focus on the manhunt for Laurean, questions beyond his whereabouts still surround Lauterbach's death.

In other developments in the case:

The Sheriff's Department continues to call Christina Laurean a "cooperating witness" but will not rule out the possibility she may be charged for some crime related to Lauterbach's death at some point. However, the Sheriff's Department maintains they have no plans to charge anyone else in the death.

"We are not contemplating charging anyone else," Sutherland said at press conference Friday morning.

Christina Laurean knew about the Lauterbach's death the day before she told authorities, according to affidavits, and neighbors continue to say she knew about the painting in the house.

Law enforcement has not been able to say how long Cesar Laurean's truck was parked at a hotel near Raleigh-Durham International Airport and an unmanned Greyhound bus station.

"As far as we can determine, he left his house at around 4 a.m. Friday morning," Sutherland said, adding there has been no information to cause him to rule out the Sunday morning Shreveport, La., sightings.

The paternity of the unborn child, found dead with Lauterbach on Jan. 11, has yet to be confirmed. Lauterbach had accused Cesar Laurean in May of raping her in March and April. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service said it planned to compare DNA of the child when it was born with Laurean to see if he was the father. But Lauterbach changed her story on Laurean being the father of the baby in November, according to the Marine Corps.

"We have asked for a DNA profile from the Marine Corps," Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson said on Friday, adding he had yet to receive conformation whether the Marines had provided the requested information.

The II Marine Expeditionary Force public affairs office, which was asked questions about the DNA profile and for other clarification in the case, told The Daily News that there will be not further comment on the investigation at this time.

"You have the timeline and the extent of information we are currently providing," said Lt. Col. Curtis Hill, public affairs officer for the II Marine Expeditionary Force.

Several of Laurean's neighbors are telling media outlets, including The Daily News, that the Laureans hosted a bonfire party on Dec. 24, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.

"A lot of comments are being made by neighbors and a lot of people are commenting on what they say the neighbors said, but we would not reveal anything that we have uncovered during our investigation about that until the appropriate time, if there is one," Sutherland said Friday.

Investigators continue to receive tips as to Laurean's whereabouts on a daily basis - including unconfirmed reports he has been spotted in the western part of the country. They are also busily going over the physical evidence in the case and interviewing possible eye-witnesses.



Contact police reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534. To comment on this story or to read others' comments go to jdnews.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Anti-Lejeune protest postponed
January 18, 2008 - 4:26PM
A protest planned by members of a controversial Kansas church has been postponed.

Westboro Baptist Church and its members had planned to picket Camp Lejeune on Saturday as their response to Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean's alleged murder of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

However, the protest could not take place legally this weekend because the Jacksonville Police Department decided not to waive the 10-day waiting period for a public-assembly permit required in the city's ordinance.

Church members said on Thursday that the protest has been postponed until Jan. 26.

On Wednesday, Col. Adele Hodges, commanding officer of Camp Lejeune, released an all-hands notice urging all Marines and sailors to stay away from the demonstration.

"For your own safety, if you happen to come in contact with this gathering, leave the area immediately," the notice read. "Do not attempt to engage in any verbal taunting or physical altercation with this group. We believe they want to generate additional publicity by provoking such a confrontation. Do not help them in this effort by engaging in any provocative activity."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

DA won't seek death penalty if Laurean has to be extradited from Mexico
BY HEATHER GALE
January 19, 2008 - 8:28PM
THE DAILY NEWS
Caesar Laurean may not face the death penalty.

Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson said he made an agreement on Friday with Mexico that if Laurean is found there and extradited to the United States, he will not face the death penalty if convicted in the killing Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach.

“I am not happy with the decision that I had to make and was very reluctant to give up the death penalty,” he said. “However, the agreement only deals with Mexico and no other countries.”

Laurean has been charged in the death of Lauterbach, whose charred remains were found along with those of her unborn child in a pit in Laurean’s back yard on Jan. 12. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her earlier in 2007. The medical examiner’s report states she died of blunt force trauma and lists her cause of death as homicide.

Hudson, who supports the death penalty, said the president and Congress should re-examine the U.S.'s 1980 treaty of extradition with Mexico because he believes people should not be able to avoid the death penalty just because they flee to Mexico.

Laurean is facing charges in Onslow County of first-degree murder, bank card theft and obtaining property by false pretense, as well as a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution

Authorities believe Laurean, a naturalized American citizen who was born in Mexico, fled Onslow County on Jan. 11, hours before Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown told the nation that Lauterbach, who had been missing since Dec. 14, was dead.

Investigators have not said how Laurean might have fled the area, but his truck was found Tuesday in the parking lot of a motel in Morrisville near Raleigh-Durham International Airport and an unmanned bus station. The truck, along with Lauterbach’s car, which was recovered in a parking lot near the bus station in Jacksonville, are being kept behind the gates of the sally port between the court building and the jail.

“Laurean's truck has been processed and physical evidence has been found,” said Capt. Rick Sutherland of the Onslow County Sheriff's Department. “That evidence will be sent to the (SBI) crime lab in Raleigh to determine its relevance to the current investigation.”

Even before Laurean’s truck was recovered, the search for him had gone, as Brown called it, “Earth-wide.” Reports have Laurean being located at various times in Shreveport, La.; Houston, Texas; and in the western part of the United States.

FBI court documents state Laurean told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of raping Lauterbach. Laurean’s wife, Christina Laurean, also told authorities she believed her husband would head to Mexico if he was in legal trouble.

FBI investigators told The Daily News last week that they “strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico.”

Mexican officials will not extradite any person to the U.S. if he or she will have to face the death penalty, a criminal defense attorney in Texas told The Daily News last week.

“There is an incredible advantage to anyone who makes it to Mexico,” Joseph Gutheinz said. “Mexico is well-known for refusing extradition back to the U.S. for any person facing the death penalty in the States.”

Contact Heather Gale at hgale@freedomenc.com or 910-219- 8464.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine's rape claim failed to raise red flags
Mother says slain lance corporal wanted to be sent to Iraq rather than be around alleged attacker

By Mary McCarty and Margo Rutledge Kissell

Staff Writers

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Mary Lauterbach was strolling out of Wal-Mart on May 10 when her cell phone rang. Maria again. Her oldest daughter, "strong as a bobcat," had seemed lonely and vulnerable since being stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. It was, after all, the first time away from home for the 20-year-old Marine lance corporal from Vandalia. She called three or four times a day — so often that Mary found herself guiltily screening her calls.

Maria gasped out the words between sobs: "Mom, I was attacked."

She didn't reveal the name of her attacker, only that he was Hispanic, a married man with a child. She said the two Marines had been assigned to night duty together when the man locked all the doors and raped her.

"Maria, when did that happen?" her mother asked.

"April 10."

"You realize you've lost all your evidence now?"

Then her mother got even more stern with her daughter: "Maria, you have to know you cannot make any false statements because that is one of the worst things you could possibly do. You could ruin somebody's career, and you won't be doing yourself any favors either when they find out."

Mary Lauterbach had a solid reason for these words of motherly caution. While assigned to Marine Occupation Specialties School at Camp Lejeune in the fall of 2006, Maria told a disturbing lie to some of her fellow Marines, claiming her father had accidentally killed her 6-year-old brother by throwing a lamp at him. Lauterbach was placed in counseling after her mother assured authorities that Maria's actual brother, nearly 9 at the time, was alive and well.

Now, Mary Lauterbach told her daughter, it was imperative to tell the truth about the rape allegations. "Maria, if this is true, you have to report it, to protect all the other female Marines there," she said.

An avid fan of TV crime dramas, Maria spent her last two years of high school studying criminal justice at a vocational school. Why did she wait so long before reporting the crime, her mother asked, when she knew better?

Maria replied, "I didn't think anyone was going to believe me."

'I know there's going

to be hell to pay'

Lauterbach kept her promise to her mother the next day, telling her officer-in-charge about two occasions when she said Cpl. Cesar Laurean raped her. She filed a formal complaint with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service office, stating the first rape occurred on March 26, and the second approximately two weeks later.

On May 12, the company commander told Laurean not to initiate any contact or communication with Lauterbach and to stay at least 1,000 feet from her. That same day the regimental commander reassigned her to a duty office across the base from where Laurean worked.

Lauterbach wanted to be moved farther away from Laurean. Much farther.

"She desperately wanted to be deployed to Iraq," her mother said.

Maria confided to her mother that her attacker was "very popular," and said, "I know there's going to be hell to pay for saying anything."

On May 18, Laurean told NCIS investigators he did not have sexual contact with Lauterbach. The next week, the company commander issued a written Military Protective Order that would later be extended through Dec. 23. The Marine Corps said it was established to preserve the integrity of the investigation and was "not based on any perceived threat" toward Lauterbach.

When she vacationed at her parents' home in Vandalia in mid-June, Maria came down with what appeared to be the flu. She learned why after she returned to Camp Lejeune.

"Mom, I'm pregnant," she told Mary in a phone call.

Raised in a strongly pro-life family, Lauterbach never considered an abortion. Her parents had adopted her when she was 19 months old, and she told her mother she planned to give the baby up for adoption.

"Maria, if you never do another thing in your whole life, you are a hero by doing that," Mary told her.

Lauterbach told NCIS that Laurean was the father as the result of the rape. But in a July e-mail to a friend from boot camp, informing her of the pregnancy, she referred to "an incident," but didn't use the word rape.

"Is that (the pregnancy) a good thing or a bad thing?" asked Marine Lance Cpl. Jessica Riley.

"Well, I have to wait and see," Lauterbach replied.

'What are you

doing to us?'

As the summer wore on, Lauterbach reported several incidents of harassment to her mother. In August, a man called Lauterbach's name and punched her in the face, knocking her down, she said. Lauterbach felt certain it was one of Laurean's friends but never filed a formal complaint.

Later in the summer, somebody keyed her blue 2006 Hyundai Sonata from the front door all the way back to the tail lights.

Maria also told her mother about an ugly confrontation involving Laurean's wife, Christina. Maria said Christina called her a "*****," and said, "What are you doing to us?"

On Oct. 18, NCIS recommended no disciplinary action in the rape case "until forensic evidence DNA can be retrieved from the child."

Thirteen days later, her command granted Lauterbach permission to move into off-base housing. A friend, Sgt. Daniel Durham, offered a place to stay out of sympathy for her plight.

"He babied her a little bit ... but it was strictly a hands-off relationship," Mary Lauterbach said.

Living off base didn't prevent Maria from encounters with Laurean, however. On several occasions she told her mother she had to go to meetings and "he's going to be there again."

"Maria, this is ridiculous. You have a restraining order on this guy," Mary Lauterbach said she told her daughter during one conversation. "I said you need to complain to somebody and tell them you're just not going to go."

Meanwhile, her Jan. 15 due date was fast approaching. During an appointment at the Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital on Nov. 26, her obstetrician said her baby weighed more than 6 pounds.

Ashley Dupuis, 19, a friend from boot camp, called in early December to see how Maria was doing.

"She was really down and out," Dupuis recalled. "It was not like her."

Maria once loved the Marine Corps so much she had a USMC bulldog tattooed on her upper right arm.

Now, Dupuis said, "She didn't like it and she wanted to get out."

'I'm going away'

Mary Lauterbach's last conversation with her daughter occurred Dec. 14, when Maria called her about 2:30 p.m. at her office at the University of Dayton. Maria felt she needed to make an appearance at a command Christmas party, even though she knew Laurean would be there.

"Call me when you get home from the party," her mother said.

That night, Durham called, saying Maria had left a note, which stated, according to the Marine Corps, "I could not take this Marine Corps life anymore. So I'm going away. Sorry for the inconvenience, Maria."

Mary Lauterbach said Durham begged her not to file a missing persons report because he was concerned the Marines would put her into a status known as unauthorized absence.

"You're going to get her in a lot of trouble," she said he warned.

Durham did not respond to numerous efforts to contact him.

Video surveillance cameras from that day show Lauterbach withdrawing $700 from her account at an ATM in Jacksonville, N.C. Then, on Dec. 15, someone purchased a Greyhound one-way bus ticket in Lauterbach's name to El Paso, Texas, departing that evening. It was never redeemed.

Mary Lauterbach filed a missing persons report in Vandalia on Dec. 18, and the police department alerted the Onslow County Sheriff's Office in Jacksonville.

Lance Cpl. Lauterbach, the Marines determined, has "voluntarily placed herself in an unauthorized absence status" based on the note she left behind. Her car and some other personal items also were missing.

As one first sergeant explained to Lauterbach, "We have so many missing people we don't possibly have the resources to go out looking for them."

'I want you to find

my daughter'

When an Onslow County sheriff's investigator asked Mary Lauterbach to send an e-mail telling everything she could about her daughter, she didn't hold back.

"For 10 minutes I pounded out a three-page e-mail that I didn't even re-read," she said. At the bottom of the e-mail she wrote, "I am holding nothing back from you because I want you to find my daughter."

Some of her statements were summarized — inaccurately, she contends — in the search warrants regarding her daughter's disappearance.

"I said she had problems with occasional compulsive lying," she said. She also speculated that Maria's biological father suffered from bipolar disorder.

In the search warrant affidavit, her words became simplified as calling her daughter "bipolar" and a "compulsive liar." Before it was all over, those words would appear on CNN's red news ticker and pounced on by the news network's self-styled victims' advocate, Nancy Grace, who snorted, "I can't believe the things that were being said by that family."

The case only started to heat up when Mary Lauterbach and her brother, Kentucky psychiatrist Dr. Peter Steiner, showed up at the base on Jan. 7 accompanied by an Onslow County sheriff's detective.

The Marine Corps later contended, "This the first indication to the command that foul play may be suspected in her absence."

That's nonsense, Mary Lauterbach now says: "From Day 1, I voiced that concern."

But things finally seemed to be happening. That same day — 25 days after Lauterbach vanished — Laurean was brought to NCIS to speak with the sheriff's office. "He is questioned as a possible witness, not a suspect," the Marine Corps said.

On Jan. 8, the sheriff's office issued the first press release about the missing, pregnant Marine. Before long, the parking lot became a makeshift media encampment, swarming with news crews from across the country.

Then, on Jan. 11, Laurean failed to report to work.

Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown scheduled a news conference at noon and hinted during nationally televised interviews that a positive outcome still seemed possible. That prompted Mary Lauterbach to call the sheriff to see if Maria had been found.

"If we find your daughter, you'll be the first to know," Brown assured her.

Shortly before noon, the sheriff called back with news of some "negative developments." In her dazed state, Lauterbach didn't think to ask what he meant. She found out along with the rest of the country when, in bold red letters, CNN bannered the headline, "Maria Lauterbach is dead."

'Stellar' Marine

Christina Laurean had come forward with a note from her husband claiming that Lauterbach committed suicide and that he panicked and buried her in the woods near the couple's house. It was the break the investigators needed.

The next day, her body was found in the fire pit in the couple's backyard. An autopsy revealed she died from blunt force trauma to the head — probably from a crowbar, investigators now believe.

Cesar Laurean leapfrogged to the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List.

During daily press conferences, reporters asked Brown variations of the same questions: "With the rape charges out there, why did it take nearly a month for investigators to look at him seriously as a suspect?" Why weren't basic investigative techniques — such as a trace of the use of her ATM card — employed earlier?

The sheriff gave variations of the same answer: Authorities considered Lauterbach AWOL until the moment Laurean's wife handed them the note telling them where to find the body.

Last Monday, Brown said the sheriff's office regarded the alleged rape as a "minor incident" that had "no validity" to the investigation. "Holiday leave" at the base was frequently cited as a reason for delays in information being passed along by investigators.

Even after the discovery of the body, investigators seemed oddly focused on refuting the rape charges.

"After the Duke case, we are all sensitive to the fact that false accusations can be made," said District Attorney Dewey Hudson.

Another reporter raised his hand, trying one more time.

"But it seems like Laurean would have been looked at seriously as a suspect, because of the rape charges, whether they were true or false."

Brown finally lost his patience. "There are a lot of things that 'seem like,'" he barked.

On Tuesday, the Marine Corps held its own press conference, challenging the timetable set forward by the sheriff's office. Early in the press conference Lauterbach was described as a "solid Marine," and Laurean as "a stellar Marine."

Marine officials said Lauterbach met with prosecutors in November and told them she no longer believed Laurean was the father.

Col. Gary Sokoloski stated, "At no time did she indicate that she was threatened by Cpl. Laurean."

'The perfect victim'

The city of Jacksonville, N.C. — population 66,715 — is grieving a crime that seems to strike at the very core of who they are. "Marines don't do this to other Marines" is an often-heard refrain.

Townspeople also wonder what needs to be changed about the culture of the Marine Corps — and of the town itself — that would be so slow to make a connection between a rape charge and the disappearance of a pregnant Marine.

"Absolutely she would still be alive if the Marines had taken her seriously," said Marsha Williams, who lives across the street from where Lauterbach was staying. She said sheriff's investigators didn't knock on her door until Jan. 7, when they asked her to leave a note for Lauterbach's housemates.

"She was missing for three weeks yet it took them until Jan. 7 to come to that house?" she said. "That's too much of a gap."

The Lauterbach family holds the highest respect for the Marine Corps. They're a military family, going back for generations, and Maria's father, Victor, is in an Air Force Reserve unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. They sent their daughter off to the military believing it would be a safer environment than college because of the structure, authority and celebrated brotherhood of the Marines.

"She'll always have somebody watching out for her," her parents reasoned.

Now, Mary hopes the tragedy will prompt some soul-searching on the part of the Marine Corps. Among the changes she will advocate: a guaranteed base change for Marines who bring forth rape allegations.

"My instinct tells me the majority of rapes are not reported. For a woman to come forward and complain about a rape takes a lot," she said. "It took Maria a lot."

As Cesar Laurean remains hidden from authorities, many questions remain unanswered about the sad, disturbing saga of Maria Lauterbach.

None are more painful than the ones tormenting the family. What if Maria had never made up the story about her brother? It may have been a cry for attention, a reaction to the stress of Marine Corps life.

It may also have been fatal.

"Because someone might have perceived credibility issues, that doesn't mean you can just presume they're lying," Mary Lauterbach said. "Think about it. My daughter was a beautiful girl with a beautiful figure and perceived credibility issues. That set her up to be the perfect victim."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Slain Marine's mom: No one would listen
While mother was waiting weeks for news about her daughter, suspect threw parties at home where body was buried

By Mary McCarty and Margo Rutledge Kissell

Staff Writers

Sunday, January 20, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — As far as Wanda and Richard Alander could tell, their next-door neighbors were a "perfectly normal family," a Marine couple in a Marine town with a nice house and an 18-month-old daughter who "just doted on her daddy."

The Alanders attached no significance to the fact that Cesar Laurean had recently borrowed a shovel from Richard. "He borrowed a rake before," he said. Nor did Wanda think much of it when Christina Laurean told her they were repainting the interior of their house.

On Christmas Eve, the Laureans lit a bonfire in their backyard. The next day, the cars lined up on the street as they entertained friends and fellow Marines. They welcomed friends to their home again on New Year's Day.

Life on Meadow Trail continued to appear normal right up until the morning of Jan. 11, when police crews descended on the house just before the world learned that a pregnant Maria Lauterbach was killed and buried in Laurean's backyard fire pit, and that he was gone.

The night before, the Alanders saw their next-door neighbors sitting on their front porch. She didn't think much of it at the time, but Wanda said she noticed Cesar kept walking into the backyard.

Shocking details continue to pour out like muck from a broken faucet. Christina Laurean waited 24 hours after learning of Lauterbach's death before alerting authorities, allowing her husband to escape. Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean remains at large, believed by authorities to have escaped into Mexico.

And perhaps the most maddening detail of all: Lauterbach, now believed to have been killed on Dec. 15, was dead for more than three weeks before investigators appeared to take a serious look at the man she accused of raping her.

While the Laureans were holding their Christmas party in North Carolina, Lauterbach's family in Vandalia struggled in vain to maintain their Christmas spirit.

There was no Maria to drag them off to midnight Mass, then bound into the bedroom at 5 the next morning shouting, "Everybody get up!"

"She loved Christmas," her mother, Mary, said.

When they didn't hear from Maria during the holidays, they knew something was terribly wrong. Mary Lauterbach had reported her daughter missing on Dec. 18, but she couldn't seem to get anyone to listen to her strong suspicions that her daughter hadn't gone AWOL.

"We have a very pregnant woman here and there is a rape accusation," she said she repeatedly told investigators, "Where is she?"

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Onslow case may impact legislation
Bills in General Assembly would make death of a fetus in act of killing mother also murder
HEATHER GALE
January 21, 2008 - 12:55AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
A fetus cannot be murdered in North Carolina.

State law makes no exception for the willful death of a fetus at the hands of another.

But there is a growing movement to change that.

When 20-year-old Maria Frances Lauterbach died, she was estimated to be seven months pregnant. Her unborn child, who was far enough long in development to be considered "viable" according to Supreme Court ruling, also died.

However, Cesar Laurean, 21, is only charged with one count of first-degree murder - for Lauterbach's death.

And that's what has many in the local community upset.

Jacksonville residents Cristal Romeo, 21, and Kathleen Foley, 26, organized a candlelight vigil Friday night in honor of Lauterbach and her unborn child. They set up a petition at the vigil for people to sign in support of a change in the North Carolina law that states the murder of a pregnant woman that results in the death of her unborn child is only one offense, not two.

Mike Eubanks, pastor at the Pine Valley United Methodist Church, said he was unaware that fetuses were not protected by law if they are hurt or injured by another person.

"I was shocked when I found out that (Laurean) would not be charged with the baby's death," he said. "I signed the petition to help it become law."

Romeo, however, said she did know about the law beforehand and thus put the petition together.

The petition supports N.C. Senate Bill 295 and N.C. House Bill 263 now before the General Assembly. The bills would make a person guilty of murdering a pregnant woman also guilty of a separate offense of murder for the death of the woman's fetus.

State Sen. Andrew Brock, R-Davie, sponsored SB295 and said the state has had incidents where pregnant women and their fetuses died at the hands of another throughout the years, but the bill has never passed.

"Many people think the bill will erode abortion rights," he said. "I made sure with the language of the bill that it would have nothing to do with abortion."

Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow, is a co-sponsor of the Senate bill. He said the bill has been to committee about six times, and each time it gets lost in conversation. He also said that even though the circumstances surrounding the Lauterbach case are terrible, he hopes the case will help get the bill passed.

State Rep. Robert Grady, R-Onslow, is a co-sponsor for the House Bill, and with the recent death of Lauterbach and her unborn child, he said he supports a change in the law more than ever.

"The bill was introduced in the House in 2003, 2005 and again in 2007," he said. "We are having such a hard time getting a hearing because many Democrats believe it is an attack on abortion. However, the bill specifically excludes abortion."

A petition has been set up online for people to sign and comment about the proposed change in the law at www.thepetitionsite.com/1/AFetusisHuman.

At the federal level, The Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which President Bush signed in 2004, provides that under federal law any person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb shall be charged with a separate offense, in addition to any charges relating to the mother, according to a press release.

More than 34 states have recognized the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.

Anita Lewis of Richlands said that because it was a federal law, she assumed it was also a state law.

"Once I found out, I e-mailed the General Assembly and my representatives to tell them I want the law changed," she said. "People need to get out there and tell the representatives what they want."



Contact Heather Gale at hgale@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8464.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Mother says slain Marine was vulnerable

2 hours, 59 minutes ago

A slain Marine's image as a woman who struggled with the truth made her vulnerable and may have triggered events that led to her violent death, her mother says.

The burned remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, and her fetus were found last weekend in Jacksonville, N.C., one day after a fellow Marine she had accused of raping her, Cpl. Cesar Laurean, disappeared. Authorities were awaiting autopsy results to determine whether her fetus had been born.

A murder warrant has been issued for Laurean, who is believed to have fled to Mexico.

"My daughter was a beautiful girl with a beautiful figure and perceived credibility issues. That set her up to be the perfect victim," Mary Lauterbach said of her daughter in an interview published Sunday in the Dayton Daily News.

Mary Lauterbach said that when an Onslow County, N.C., sheriff's investigator asked for an e-mail telling everything she could about her daughter, "I said she had problems with occasional compulsive lying."

She said she last talked with her daughter by phone on Dec. 14. Later that night, a friend of her daughter called and said Maria had left a note that said, according to the Marine Corps, "I could not take this Marine Corps life anymore. So I'm going away. Sorry for the inconvenience, Maria."

Mary Lauterbach believes her daughter should have been more forceful in pursuing the rape accusation against Laurean. She said her daughter told her in May that she had been attacked on April 10.

Mary Lauterbach's first reaction was skepticism.

"You realize you've lost all your evidence now?" she recalled telling her daughter. "Maria, you have to know you cannot make any false statements because that is one of the worst things you could possibly do. You could ruin somebody's career, and you won't be doing yourself any favors either."

The newspaper said a Marine report shows that Maria Lauterbach told fellow Marines in 2006 that her father had accidentally killed her 6-year-old brother by throwing a lamp at him, and she was put in counseling after her mother assured authorities that the brother was alive.

Her mother said that fed Maria Lauterbach's skepticism that the Marine Corps would fully pursue her rape charges against Laurean, but she said she told her daughter she had to report any rape to protect other female Marines.

Naval investigators said they have no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony to corroborate Maria Lauterbach's claims of rape. They concluded that her first sexual encounter with Laurean was not criminal in nature, and that a second did not involve any force or coercion. Laurean denied they had any sexual contact at all.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Laurean 'sightings' abound
LINDELL KAY
January 22, 2008 - 12:31AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
As the international manhunt for a Marine corporal charged with the slaying of a pregnant Marine continues into its 12th day, investigators say they are still receiving credible tips as to his whereabouts.

"We receive tips on a daily basis and are developing information in the course of our investigation," said Capt. Rick Sutherland of the Onslow County Sheriff's Department.

A segment of "America's Most Wanted," which aired Saturday night and detailed Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach's death and the subsequent search for her accused killer, Cpl. Cesar A. Laurean, generated several leads for investigators to follow, Sutherland said.

The hunt for Laurean has investigators fielding tips that Laurean has been spotted everywhere from Mexico to Nevada, all points in between and less credible information that he is still in North Carolina.

Laurean fled his Half Moon-area home Jan. 11, leaving behind at least two notes with his wife, Christina Laurean, saying that he had buried the body of Maria Lauterbach in the couple's backyard. Christina Laurean learned about the death of Lauterbach at least the day before, according to an affidavit attached to search warrants.

Cesar Laurean has been charged in the death of Lauterbach, whose charred remains were unearthed along with those of her unborn child in a pit in Laurean's backyard on Jan. 12. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her earlier in 2007.

The medical examiner's report states she died of blunt force trauma and lists her cause of death as homicide. Sources close to the investigation have told The Daily News the weapon used to kill Lauterbach was a crowbar.

Laurean is facing charges in Onslow County of first-degree murder, bank card theft and obtaining property by false pretense, as well as a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

On Christmas Eve, 10 days after authorities believe Lauterbach was killed, a male removed cash from the Marine Federal Credit Union automatic teller machine in the Bojangles parking lot at Gum Branch Road and Western Boulevard - 3.28 miles from Laurean's home.

Sutherland said the Sheriff's Department is sure that the person was Laurean and the charges of bank card theft and obtaining property by false pretense stem from the Dec. 24 withdrawal.

"America's Most Wanted" also had footage of Laurean shopping a Lowe's Home Improvement with another man, buying a wheelbarrow, cinderblocks and paint.

Sutherland said investigators have identified the other man, questioned him and received information from him. Sutherland would not provide the man's name.

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility Laurean had help fleeing the area. His 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck was found Jan. 15 in the parking lot of a motel in Morrisville near Raleigh-Durham International Airport and an unmanned bus station.

Sutherland said he has not heard anything to make him discount reports that Laurean was sighted at a Shreveport bus station Jan. 13.

FBI court documents state Laurean told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of raping Lauterbach. Christina Laurean also told authorities she believed her husband would head to Mexico if he were in legal trouble.

FBI investigators told The Daily News last week that they "strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico."



Contact police reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534. To comment on this story or to read others' comments go to jdnews.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Protest Planned Against Marines

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 - 06:09 PM

By Jennifer Coates
Eyewitness News 9

Word of a possible rally is sparking a lot of buzz around Jacksonville. Members of the group Westboro Baptist Church are planning to protest at Camp Lejeune because of the case. The group wants to "picket the filthy, lawless, Marine Corp". The group filed for a permit to protest this Saturday. Jacksonville police tell us they believe it's been approved. They had to put off a protest last week because the group hadn't filed for a permit early enough.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Scenes From a Pregnant Marine's Murder
Other Images Show Fugitive Marine Using Victim's ATM Card, Buying Suspicious Supplies
By DAVID SCHOETZ

Jan. 22, 2008 —


The most haunting image shows a man-made fire pit, square in shape and enclosed by 12 concrete cinder blocks, a spot where investigators made a gruesome discovery last month.

The photo is part of a group of images released Monday night by officials looking for Cpl.Cesar Laurean, a missing Marine who police think killed another Marine who had accused him of rape.

Police say they hope the images will help end a massive FBI manhunt for Laurean that has stretched from North Carolina, across the United States and perhaps into Mexico, where Laurean was born.

The photos were taken during a police investigation at Laurean's home after his wife confided to authorities that Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, a missing, pregnant 20-year-old Marine who had accused her husband of rape at the Camp Lejeune military base, was dead and buried in their North Carolina backyard.

Crime scene investigators began to slowly excavate the fire pit, and within 24 hours, Onslow County Sheriff's Office had released a grim statement confirming its initial suspicions.

"Charred human remains of an adult and a fetus were unearthed," the statement read. "There appeared to be the bodies of an adult female with a fetus located near the abdomen region of the female."

Authorities also released images from inside the Laurean house, including the garage where they believe the murder took place "based on the blood and the interpretation of the blood spatters" on the walls. The photos show a paint tray and 2-foot square patch of wall that has been repainted.

An arrest warrant was issued for Laurean, but the 21-year-old, who was raised in Nevada, was already on the run, thanks to the 24 hours his wife had waited before she contacted police.

Laurean is a naturalized U.S. citizen, but may have retained his Mexican citizenship as well. Laurean reportedly had told fellow Marines in his unit that he would run to Mexico if he were found guilty by the military of raping Lauterbach.

"That's definitely a viable place he could be," Capt. Rick Sutherland, the spokesman for the Onslow County Sheriff's Office, told ABC News. But Sutherland said that a high volume of tips have come in placing Laurean in the American Southwest and in states immediately surrounding North Carolina.

Tips that come in of possible sightings outside of Onslow County are turned over to the FBI, Sutherland said. The FBI's Charlotte bureau, Sutherland said, is serving as a clearinghouse for the search. "We've received a number of tips that we believe are credible and worth following up on," Sutherland added.

Lauterbach was killed Dec. 15 by some type of blunt trauma to the head, a state medical examiner determined. Last week, Onslow County Sheriff's Office authorities announced that a witness had turned in a weapon that may have been used in Lauterbach's death, but would not confirm reports the suspected murder weapon was a crowbar.

This weekend, authorities teamed up with the TV show "America's Most Wanted" and showed surveillance footage of Laurean and an unidentified man entering and exiting a Lowe's home improvement store once on Dec. 16 and again on Dec. 24. Lauterbach had been last seen Dec. 14 and was reported missing by her family in her home state of Ohio, Dec. 19. In his shopping trips, Laurean purchased a wheelbarrow, paint and concrete blocks like the ones used to ring the fire pit. Another image shows Laurean using Lauterbach's card at an ATM machine Dec. 24.

"It's a possibility that some of these items were used to cover up a crime," Sutherland said.

Sutherland told ABC News that authorities have interviewed the friend seen in the Lowe's videotape three times and that he is considered a "cooperating witness." Christine Laurean, the fugitive's wife and a former Marine, has also been called a cooperating witness, even though she waited almost a day before notifying authorities.

Christine Laurean, the mother of the couple's 18-month-old, handed over notes left by her husband in which he claimed that Lauterbach had slit her own throat before he burned and buried her body.

Before he took off, Laurean told his wife that Lauterbach had demanded money from him so she could leave the area and that he bought her a bus ticket to El Paso, Texas, according to court documents released last week. Lauterbach's abandoned car was recovered at the bus stop, but the ticket to El Paso was never used.

Physical evidence suggests that Lauterbach was planning to leave Jacksonville on her own. She had withdrew $700 from her bank account and packed personal belongings before leaving her off-base roommate with a note that read, "I could not take this Marine Corps life anymore. So I am going away."

Questions have also been raised about the status of the military's rape investigation and whether military investigators believed that the rape allegations from March and April may be unfounded. Marine Corps officials had said that Lauterbach told investigators in November that she no longer believed that Laurean was the father of the unborn child.

Laurean had been Lauterbach's senior officer until she accused him of raping her. He was never taken into custody because he denied the charge and there was no evidence to support the accusation, Marine Corps officials said last week.

The Marines first began searching for Lauterbach, Dec. 17, after she failed to show up for her job as a military personnel clerk.

Mary Lauterbach, Maria's mother, told the Dayton Daily News in an interview published Sunday that questions about her daughter's credibility may have made her a vulnerable target in the events leading up to her death.

Mary Lauterbach chided her daughter for waiting a month before reporting the rape to her commanders. "You realize you've lost all your evidence now?" she recounted asking her daughter in May.

The mother reportedly had reason to question her daughter's credibility  she had to prove to Marines at Camp Lejeune that a story Maria Lauterbach had shared with fellow Marines about her father accidentally killing her brother when he was 6 years old was a lie.

When the Onslow County Sheriff's Office asked Mary Lauterbach to write an e-mail telling investigators everything she could about her daughter, she admitted that her daughter "had problems with occasional compulsive lying" and that Maria Lauterbach's biological father may have suffered from bipolar disorder.

Mary Lauterbach faced criticism when she made similar comments on "Good Morning America" Jan. 11, the day her pregnant daughter's remains were discovered.

If Laurean is found in Mexico, Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson will not be able to pursue the death penalty on the murder charge. According to the U.S. State Department, Mexico and the United States have a long-standing agreement not to seek extradition of suspects to face charges in the United States if they could face the death penalty.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Controversial rally permitted for Saturday
HEATHER GALE
January 23, 2008 - 1:13AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Saturday may be a controversial day for local residents, with protests and support rallies left and right.

The Jacksonville Police Department issued a public assembly permit Friday to members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., but that action concerned at least one person who went to Tuesday's Jacksonville City Council meeting to make his opinion known.
The primitive Baptist church, headed by Pastor Fred Phelps, is most known for protesting military funerals and anything it perceives as related to homosexuality. It has come to Jacksonville to protest the U.S. Marine Corps, which it says God hates, and issues involving the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

Scott Peters, a Jacksonville resident, sent out a press release early Tuesday to encourage people to attend the meeting and share their concerns and disapproval of the permit and to offer alternatives. But he appeared to be alone in the audience.

He said during his presentation to the council that it should look at the impact the protesters will have on the community, and it should make people aware of appropriate conduct recommended for onlookers.

Peters also said during the public comment period of the meeting that the area given to the church to protest is not a good area because it could interfere with many city ordinances.
"I am not asking for (the council) to disallow the event," Peters said. "I just want to move the protest to another area where it won't interfere with Jacksonville's daily lives ... like a park."

Kristoff Bauer, Jacksonville's city manager, said the city is prepared for the church group to come and that people should be cautious around them.

Bauer said he agrees with the statement from Col. Adele Hodges when she urged all Marines and sailors to stay away from the demonstration by the church group.

Peters, however, said the city should make sure it has a plan to deal with any Marines that may become enraged by the protest.

"What Col. Hodges said was just a suggestion, not an order," he said. "(The city) needs to be prepared."

Councilman Jerome Willingham said that the group's coming to protest is "troubling and disheartening" and that it is a shame that the church doesn't share the universal courtesy for dignity of loss of life as most of society does.

"We do, however, have to remember that we just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and at times what he was saying was not welcome," he said. "We must allow the appreciation of the Constitution, even if we don't agree with their message."

Mayor Sammy Phillips said the Constitution does allow people to speak and assemble and he would fight for that right; however, he is a big supporter of the military and is excited about the support for troops rally being held at the same time.

In response to the church's coming to Jacksonville, Chrissy Speelman, 31, Mandie Benson, 26, and Nikki Stahl, 29, all of Jacksonville, organized a Support our Troops rally the same day to offer an alternative.

"(Jacksonville) is our home and we want to do something great," Speelman said.
Stahl said she wants Marines and veterans alike to know that Jacksonville is their city and they are welcome and supported.

The church plans to meet from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at Hargett Street and Lejeune Boulevard.

The Support our Troops rally is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Jacksonville Commons Park.
In addition, the Gathering of Eagles is holding an Operation Celebration of American Military rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 2025 N. Marine Blvd. in Jacksonville.

Contact Heather Gale at hgale@freedomenc.com or 910-353-1171, ext. 8464.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Missing Marine spotted in Mexico

By GUILLERMO ARIAS, Associated Press Writer
25 minutes ago

Missing Marine Cesar Laurean, wanted in the slaying of a pregnant colleague, visited relatives in Mexico last week but left without saying where he was headed, a man identified as his cousin said Tuesday.

Juan Antonio Ramos Ramirez told The Associated Press that Laurean walked into his liquor store on Jan. 14 or Jan. 15, and the two cousins chatted for 10 minutes about their families. Laurean then told Ramos Ramirez that he had to get back to two friends outside, but he might return. He never came back.

CNN first reported Tuesday that Laurean had briefly stopped by Ramos Ramirez's liquor store in Zapopan, just outside Guadalajara.

Days later, Ramos Ramirez saw a television report that Laurean was wanted in the United States for killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

"We were completely shocked," he said.

Authorities have said they suspected that Laurean had fled to Mexico, but the comments from Ramos Ramirez were the first public confirmation that the Marine had been in the country.

Mexican and U.S. officials said they were looking into the report, but didn't have any more information.

The Marines first began searching for Lauterbach on Dec. 17, after Lauterbach failed to show up for work. Local authorities took up the case Dec. 19, after her mother reported her missing. Three weeks later, officials found Lauterbach's burned remains in a fire pit in Laurean's back yard.

Lauterbach had earlier accused Laurean of rape. Laurean left a note for his wife, Christina, that said Lauterbach slit her own throat with a knife, and he then buried her in the woods near their home.

An autopsy found that Lauterbach died of blunt force trauma to the head.

CNN reported Tuesday night that Laurean had mailed two other letters to his family before crossing the border. On Jan. 11, Laurean boarded a bus in Raleigh, N.C., headed for Houston, where he caught a second bus to Mexico for about $170, CNN quoted an unidentified law enforcement official as saying.

The second bus driver told authorities Laurean identified himself as Armando Ramirez, the same official said.

CNN also showed video of a man authorities believe is Laurean withdrawing money from Lauterbach's bank account at an ATM on Dec. 24.

Ramos Ramirez said he didn't contact police about his cousin because he believes Laurean is innocent.

"It didn't seem right to contact police," he said. "He is a normal person, with no tendency for doing bad things."

He said police still hadn't contacted him about his cousin late Tuesday, despite the international manhunt.

Officials in Jalisco state, home to Guadalajara, said they hadn't been formally notified of Laurean's warrant.

Ramos Ramirez said Laurean and most of the Marine's family moved to the U.S. more than 10 years ago, and he had seen Laurean only three other times since. The second time, five years ago, Laurean came for vacation and spent a few days with Ramos Ramirez's mother, Maria Ramirez.

Laurean hasn't contacted any other family members in Mexico, Ramos Ramirez said.

He said Laurean didn't stay long, and didn't say anything about why he was in Mexico or where he was headed next. Ramos Ramirez said he wasn't surprised by the brief visit because Laurean isn't very close to relatives in Mexico. His cousin seemed calm, he added.

"It was like any visit," Ramos Ramirez said.

_____

Associated Press writer Traci Carl contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Ellie