Murder of Maria Lauterbach

Lauterbach grew up in Vandalia, Ohio, where she attended Butler High School. Lauterbach joined the Marines on June 6, 2006. She was a personnel clerk assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

According to her mother, Mary Lauterbach, LCpl. Lauterbach was preparing to testify that she was raped by a fellow Marine. Mary Lauterbach told police that her daughter "claimed she had been raped by a senior Marine at her command, and that the investigation had gone sour."{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22579604 |title=Missing, pregnant Marine alleged rape |website=NBC News |date=January 10, 2008 |access-date=August 27, 2016}} Her father, Victor Lauterbach, had explained that Maria, an adoptive child, had long been troubled. "It all comes from fetal alcohol or fetal drug-use syndromes. Although our adoption agency claimed the child's background was satisfactory, we never met the mother. Maria's history was one of constant trouble—calls from the principals at her schools, arguments at sports activities, and a disrespectful attitude. We felt that enlisting in the Marines would be a turnaround for her, but it was a continuation of a problematic life."Statements made at Eastman Kodak Company, Dayton, December 17, 2007. Her mother reported her missing on December 19, 2007, five days after their last conversation.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/11cnd-marine.html |title=Marine's Body Reportedly Found |last1=Holusha |first1=John |last2=O'Connor |first2=Anahad |date=January 11, 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=August 27, 2016}} Her cellphone was found on December 20, near the main gate at Camp Lejeune.

Authorities found the burned remains of Lauterbach and her unborn child in a fire pit in the backyard of Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean. They also found a large quantity of her blood in Laurean's house in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Laurean was reported as having tried to clean up the scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,322285,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113082946/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,322285,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 13, 2008 |title=N.C. Investigators Issue Warrant in 'Disgusting' Murder of Pregnant Marine |website=Fox News |date=January 13, 2008 |access-date=August 27, 2016}}

During a press conference on January 11, 2008, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown reported the death of Lauterbach. Brown stated that authorities "had gotten physical evidence of the woman's death that also linked Laurean to the death."{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/11/missing.marine/index.html |title=Blood, possible grave of pregnant Marine found at suspect's house |website=CNN |date=January 11, 2008 |access-date=August 27, 2016}} Laurean claims in a note found by his wife that Lauterbach committed suicide by cutting her own throat during an argument at the Laurean home. However, authorities found evidence that pointed to murder in the initial investigation, which was further supported by the autopsy results released in March 2008, which classified the neck wound as post-mortem and insufficient to cause death. The official cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/14/missing.marine/index.html |title=Autopsy: Marine's neck wound could be post-mortem |date=March 14, 2008 |website=CNN |access-date=June 17, 2018 |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618002626/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/14/missing.marine/index.html |url-status=live }}

{{Infobox military person

|name= Cesar Armando Laurean

|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1986|11|13}}{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/alert/laurean_ca.htm |title=Unlawful Flight To Avoid Prosecution - Murder Cesar Armando Laurean |website=Federal Bureau of Investigation |access-date=January 21, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117113305/http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/alert/laurean_ca.htm |archive-date=January 17, 2008}}{{cite web |url=http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/17/affidavit.pdf |title=Search Warrant |date=January 17, 2008 |website=CNN |access-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-date=March 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305105957/http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/17/affidavit.pdf |url-status=live }}

|death_date=

|birth_place= Mexico

|image= Cesar Armando Laurean.jpg}}

Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean (SEH'-sahr LOHR'-ee-uhn), the 21-year-old prime suspect in the case, is the man whom Lauterbach accused of sexually assaulting her.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22608032 |title=Arrest warrant issued in case of dead Marine |date=January 12, 2008 |website=NBC News |access-date=August 27, 2016 |archive-date=May 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517113700/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22608032 |url-status=live }} A federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was issued for his arrest on January 12, 2008. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service issued a wanted flier on him. There was also a $25,000 reward offered by the FBI and $5,000 from the state of North Carolina for information leading to his capture.{{cite news |url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_laurean_award_030308/ |title=Reward offered in pregnant Marine murder case |agency=The Associated Press |date=March 5, 2008 |newspaper=Marine Corps Times |access-date=March 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313003833/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_laurean_award_030308/ |archive-date=March 13, 2008 |df=mdy }} Onslow County has primary jurisdiction, but the Judge Advocate General's office may bring charges as well, to include but not limited to charges stemming from Laurean's deserter status.

Shortly after the murder, the press reported that Laurean fled to Mexico, his country of birth.{{cite web |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4174363&page=1 |title=Suspect in Marine Death Believed in Mexico |last1=Thomas |first1=Pierre |last2=Cohen |first2=Jose |website=ABC News |date=January 23, 2008 |access-date=August 27, 2016 |archive-date=August 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828041559/http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4174363&page=1 |url-status=live }} Mexican officials issued an arrest warrant for Laurean as a suspect in the killing of his pregnant colleague, a U.S. Embassy official said on January 29 in Mexico City. Interpol also issued an international wanted notice for Laurean.[http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/2373858/WRAL-TV]{{dead link|date=August 2016}}{{cite web |title=Mexico issues warrant for Laurean a week after sighting |website=CNN |date=January 28, 2008 |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2008-01-28/justice/missing.marine_1_interpol-maria-lauterbach-arrest-warrant?_s=PM:CRIME |access-date=April 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125044051/http://articles.cnn.com/2008-01-28/justice/missing.marine_1_interpol-maria-lauterbach-arrest-warrant?_s=PM:CRIME |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |df=mdy }}

A cousin of the corporal informed reporters that Laurean visited family in the area of Guadalajara, Mexico, in late January 2008, but left without saying where he was going. America's Most Wanted featured this story on its April 5, 2008, episode.

On April 10, 2008, the FBI announced that Laurean had been apprehended in Tacámbaro, Michoacán, Mexico.{{cite web |title=Suspect in pregnant Marine's death in custody |agency=Associated Press |website=NBC News |date=April 11, 2008 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24057875 |access-date=April 11, 2008 |archive-date=June 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619061128/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24057875 |url-status=live }} The popular press indicated that his extradition might involve at least two years of legal proceedings, considering the relationship between the United States and Mexico. In September 2008, Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson agreed not to seek the death penalty, and a Mexican judge agreed to extradite Laurean.

However, in October 2008, Laurean launched another appeal to the Mexican courts to prevent his extradition, arguing that North Carolina's life-without-parole sentence for first-degree murder is not only barred under the countries' extradition treaty but is considered cruel and unusual punishment. (In North Carolina, a person convicted of first-degree murder can only be sentenced to death or life without parole.){{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/10/14/laurean.marine.murder.ap/index.html |title=Marine fights extradition in killing of pregnant corporal |date=October 14, 2008 |website=CNN |access-date=October 14, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015233614/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/10/14/laurean.marine.murder.ap/index.html |archive-date=October 15, 2008 |df=mdy }} On April 17, 2009, the FBI announced that Laurean had been extradited to the United States and was being held in the Onslow County jail.[http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_MARINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT] {{Dead link|date=April 2012}} In December, an Onslow County judge agreed that the trial should be moved to a different county due to the extensive media coverage on the case, and scheduled it to begin on June 28, 2010.{{cite news |url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/12/marine_murdertrial_120809w/ |title=Former Cpl. to face murder trial this summer |last=Talton |first=Trista |date=December 8, 2009 |newspaper=Marine Corps Times |access-date=December 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308055749/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/12/marine_murdertrial_120809w/ |archive-date=March 8, 2012}} In January 2010, Wayne County was selected.{{cite web |url=http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/82618302.html |title=It's Official: Laurean Case Moved To Wayne County |date=January 25, 2010 |website=WITN-TV |access-date=January 25, 2010 |archive-date=July 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718073300/http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/82618302.html |url-status=dead }}

As concern grew through December 2007, Maria's mother, Mary Lauterbach, made frequent appeals for adequate investigation by the Marines. Her advocacy grew until she and congressional representatives, such as Rep. Tony Hall, became associated with the cause of safety from sexual predators in the military. Her father Victor was mostly absent from family appearances during the disappearance of and search for Maria. For the most part, the absence was explained as avoiding the observation that the parents' insistence was a conflict of interest with Victor Lauterbach's position in the Ohio National Guard as a Senior Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. In 2009, Mary Lauterbach filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Laurean and his wife Christina, accusing them of conspiring to conceal the murder.{{cite news |title=Mother of slain Marine files suit against couple |last=Talton |first=Trista |date=December 28, 2009 |newspaper=Marine Corps Times |page=6 |location=Jacksonville, North Carolina}}

On August 24, 2010, Laurean was convicted of murder, as well as theft and fraud charges relating to using Lauterbach's ATM card after the murder, and sentenced to life in prison.{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/former-marine-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-pregnant-colleague/ |title=Former Marine Gets Life in Prison for Killing Pregnant Colleague |agency=Associated Press |website=Fox News |date=August 24, 2010 |access-date=August 24, 2010}} The jurors dismissed the defense's theory that Christina was in fact the real murderer, favoring the prosecution's argument that Laurean's desperation to save his career led to the incident. He initially conspired with Lauterbach to run to Mexico, supposedly with the intent of destroying her credibility with the desertion and continuing his career in the Corps, but reverted to killing her with a crowbar when that failed.{{cite news |url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/08/ap-laurean-sentenced-to-life-082310/ |title=Laurean sentenced to life in prison |last=Dalesio |first=Emery P. |date=August 25, 2010 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Marine Corps Times |access-date=September 8, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322204336/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/08/ap-laurean-sentenced-to-life-082310/ |archive-date=March 22, 2012 |df=mdy }}

• Violence against women
• Women in the Military

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=52333 |title=Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean |website=America's Most Wanted |date=January 31, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131115140/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=52333 |archive-date=January 31, 2008}}
• {{cite web |url=http://shadowscope.com/?s=Maria+Lauterbach |title=Maria Lauterbach Archives |website=Shadowscope|date=June 5, 2023 }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/20/ddn012008mariainside.html |title=Marine's rape claim failed to raise red flags |last1=McCarty |first1=Mary |last2=Rutledge Kissell |first2=Margo |date=January 20, 2008 |newspaper=Dayton Daily News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121173650/http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/20/ddn012008mariainside.html |archive-date=January 21, 2008}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauterbach, Maria}}

Category:2007 murders in the United States

Category:Sexual assault in the United States military

Category:Deaths by beating in the United States

Category:Deaths by person in North Carolina

Category:2007 in North Carolina

Category:Jacksonville, North Carolina

Category:Violence against women in North Carolina

Category:December 2007 crimes in the United States