A Marine wanted in the brutal slaying of a pregnant colleague who had accused him of rape was arrested Thursday night in Mexico after a three-month international manhunt, authorities said. FBI agents and Mexican authorities arrested Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean around 7 p.m. EDT. He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, whose burned remains were found in January in the backyard of his home near Camp Lejeune.
"You know my name. You know who I am," Laurean told The Associated Press while being held at the Michoacan state Attorney General's Office in Morelia, the state capital. Asked if he wanted to say anything, Laurean simply said, "Proof," but wouldn't explain. Laurean appeared slightly disoriented. Asked what he would do next, he replied: "Do I have a choice? ... I don't know."
Magdalena Guzman, a spokeswoman for the Michoacan, Mexico, state prosecutors office, said police carrying out an anti-kidnapping operation stopped Laurean as he wandered on a street in the rural township of Tacambaro, Michoacan, because they thought he looked suspicious. When they realized he didn't speak Spanish well, they became even more suspicious. After running his name through a computer, they realized Laurean was wanted in the United States to face charges in Lauterbach's death.
Guzman said Laurean told the arresting officers he had only 10 pesos (about US$1) in his pocket, and that he had been surviving by eating avocados and other fruit he found in the fields of the farming community where he was found. The FBI said Laurean, 21, is awaiting extradition to the U.S., although local prosecutors in North Carolina cautioned the process could take a year or more. "Laurean's swift arrest in Mexico was due to the diligence and dedication of the Mexican government and our law enforcement partners," Nathan Gray, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Charlotte office, said in a statement. "This was truly an international effort, and we will do all we can to ensure Laurean is brought back to Onslow County (N.C.) as quickly as possible to answer the charges against him."
Friday, April 11, 2008
Rapist / Murderer Cesar Laurean Captured in Mexico
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Marine Lauterbach / Laurean Mystery Continues
As the hunt for Cesar Laurean drags on, a few mysteries are being solved in the murder of Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child. Police have admitted to obtaining a "piece of evidence" they believe to be the murder weapon in the case. This piece of evidence is thought to be a crowbar handed over, along with the now public note, by Laurean's wife, Christina.
In my opinion, the crowbar is the piece of "tangible evidence" Sheriff Ed Brown spoke over when we first found that Cesar Laurean was the primary suspect late last week. The note is helpful, but not what law enforcement would consider a piece of definitive tangible evidence, from what I know about LE investigations.
Christina Laurean is apparently cooperating with police, but they are still very vague as to her status (witness or co-suspect) and location (when questioned, they always say they don't know exactly where she is at the moment). One more thing we know is that Christina Smith Laurean has told authorities she believes her husband is either in or headed to Mexico. She handed over two letters she received from Cesar Armando Laurean (Ramirez) -- one of which had a Houston, TX. postmark.
Friends and fellow Marines have also said Laurean made statements leading them to believe he would flee to Mexico "if it appeared he would be found guilty of rape" -- a two-count charge Lauterbach made against him in 2007. An Article 32 hearing was scheduled just days after Lance Cpl. Lauterbach disappeared on December 14, 2007.
Police believe she was killed around December 15th. We believe her body was stored somewhere (possibly in the Laurean home) from the time of her death until December 24, when Cesar Laurean lit a large fire in a pit in his backyard. There is also reason to speculate that the body was dismembered before being burned in the pit. OTOH, the baby's body was not disposed of separately, which would make sense in this type of case.
Even though Lauterbach accused Laurean of two counts of rape (one incident in March and one in April), medical examiners say the time of conception was around May 14th. According to military records, the first positive pregnancy test was in June, 2007. Two mysteries surrounding the child are still unsolved questions of whether Laurean is the father AND whether or not the baby was born prior to Maria Lauterbach's death.
