Cesar Laurean Pleads Not Guilty

Right: Maria Lauterbach

June 8, 2009
By Parul Joshi

wnct.com

Eye Witness News 9.

The plea is the result of Cesar Laurean’s arraignment this afternoon on first degree murder, armed robbery and financial card fraud charges. In all, Laurean spent about five minutes in court.

Cesar Laurean walked into the Onslow County courtroom without shackles, avoiding eye contact with the cameras and everyone else. He did not show any reaction to what was going on.
The state told Judge Charles Henry it would not seek the death penalty against Laurean. A decision the state doesn’t like.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson says, "We contend this should have been tried as a capital case and that there were aggravating factors but, unfortunately we can’t because of the agreement we entered with Mexico many years ago."

Laurean remained silent as his attorney Dick McNeil entered the “Not Guilty” plea on his behalf. Now, the state gets ready for trial, aiming for fall. That’s not sitting well with the defense.
McNeil says, “I do have a heavy load. I think the state is presumptuous thinking I can get this done by October or November this year.“

McNeil says he has 3,000 pages of material to go through to prepare for trial. He wants a trial in March. He also doesn’t think Laurean’s being treated like everyone else as Sheriff Ed Brown claims. Laurean remains in a private cell constantly, except for a total of four hours every week.
McNeil says, “I think the whole policy is hypocritical. He’s treating Mr. Laurean like he’s treating everybody else, but it’s kind of b.s. if you know what I mean.“

McNeil says he knows of inmates receiving that kind of treatment for behavior issues, but according to McNeil, Laurean doesn’t have any behavior problems noting the staff has been good to Laurean and Laurean in turn has been getting along well with jail staff. Sheriff Ed Brown says he has not had any problems with Laurean and insists his treatment is what other inmates would receive. Brown says he wants to ensure Laurean’s protection.

McNeil also criticized the Sheriff’s rules limiting inmates’ reading material to the Bible and their legal papers. McNeil says, “It doesn’t make any sense to deprive these people who are presumed innocent to not be allowed to utilize their brain and have something to do.“

Sheriff Ed Brown stands by his general reading material policy telling Nine On Your Side it’s the best way to protect all the inmates. As for Laurean’s location, Brown says some inmates verbally harassed him when he got there. So, he moved him to a private cell for his own safety. Brown said Laurean didn’t complain, but some of the jail officers overheard the statements and reported it to their superiors.

I asked Sheriff Ed Brown whether Laurean was wearing a bullet proof vest and after he did some checking he said yes; though he was surprised because according to Brown - Laurean should be treated like every other inmate. Brown says there’s no reason for Laurean to be wearing a bulletproof vest stating that any other inmate charged with First Degree Murder wouldn’t wear a bullet proof vest.

Laurean’s attorney Dick McNeil says he’s not going to seek bond. He also said that Laurean has been able to see his wife and daughter on the weekends. Next up will be pre-trial motions scheduled for July 20th. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown tells us he talked to Laurean for the first time today. He told Laurean he doesn’t want the suspect treated any differently than any other inmate. Brown said Laurean was polite, respectful and responsive.

Nine On Your Side has been following every angle of this story since it began almost a year and a half ago.

It started on December 19, 2007, when Maria Lauterbach’s mother reported her missing.
Less than a month later on January 11, 2008, police found the remains of Lauterbach and her unborn baby in a fire pit in Cesar Laurean’s backyard.

An arrest warrant for Laurean came the next day. A grand jury indicted him for Lauterbach’s murder on January 24, 2008

On April 10, 2008, police in Mexico arrested Laurean. He stayed in prison there for a year fighting his extradition. Then on April 17, 2009 Cesar Laurean came back to the United States. He made his first court appearance 3 days later.

On May 15, 2009 the Marine Corps announced it administratively separated Laurean from the Corps. Again, today Cesar Laurean officially pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. 9 On Your Side will stay on top of this story as it progresses.

Gag Order issued in Case of Murdered Pregnant Marine Maria Lauterbach

Gag Order Issued In Case of Murdered Pregnant Marine
Thursday 30 April 2009

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LCPL Maria Lauterbach, USMC (20) - Pregnant Marine went missing Dec 2007 Camp Lejeune, N.C.; had accused fellow Marine of rape, and her body along with that of her unborn child were found buried in Cesar Laurean's back yard under a fire pit on January 11, 2008

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Cesar Laurean (24) - Accused of murdering LCPL Lauterbach and her unborn child; fled to Mexico, where he was arrested three months later

Jacksonville, NC

Gag order issued in Laurean case

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An Onslow County judge has issued a gag order in the Cesar Laurean case, according to court documents made public today.

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The order states that to ensure Laurean's right to a fair trial, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and Laurean's defense attorney are not to release any information to the news media or the public that would "have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."

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That information includes Laurean's background, the results of any tests or nature of any physical evidence, opinions about Laurean's guilt or innocence, and any other information that would prejudice a trial, according to the order signed by Senior Resident Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry.

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Laurean, 22 - a Camp Lejeune Marine corporal scheduled for discharge - faces a charge of first-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, a pregnant colleague who had accused him of rape.

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Onslow County Sheriff's detectives believe Laurean used a crowbar to kill Lauterbach on Dec. 14, 2007, according to search warrant affidavits.

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Laurean fled Onslow County in January 2008, shortly before the charred remains of Lauterbach and her unborn child were found buried in his Half Moon community backyard. Laurean was arrested in Mexico in April 2008 and extradited back to Onslow County earlier this month.

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He also fought extradition from Mexico where he has duel citizen status, and when finally sent to Texas, fought extradition again to keep from going to North Carolina. Not such a big man now, eh Cesar?

Mexicans Recall Marine Suspect in Cabin

Apr 11, 5:09 PM EDT

By TRACI CARL Associated Press Writer

SAN JUAN DE LA VINA, Mexico (AP) -- People wondered about the bearded foreigner who moved into a rustic cabin weeks ago in the pine-clad mountains surrounding this picturesque village.

Some thought maybe he was a drug trafficker - something not unheard of in these parts. It was not until Friday when they saw Cpl. Cesar Laurean's photograph in the local newspaper that they learned he was a U.S. Marine suspected of killing a pregnant colleague.

Police arrested Laurean, 21, on Thursday as he was walking along the main street in San Juan de la Vina in the municipality of Tacambaro, ending a three-month manhunt. He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, who had accused him of rape.

Lauterbach's burned remains were found in January in the backyard of his home near Camp Lejeune, a coastal North Carolina base that is home to roughly 50,000 Marines. FBI Public Affairs Specialist Amy Thoreson said FBI agents were present at Laurean's arrest in Mexico, but it was unclear what role they played.

Bearded and thin, Laurean told police he survived for months largely by eating avocados from the orchard in the mountains where he lived in Michoacan state.

After his arrest Thursday, a slightly disoriented Laurean spoke briefly with The Associated Press while being held by Mexican police.

"You know my name. You know who I am," Laurean said. Asked if he wanted to say anything, Laurean answered, "Proof," but would not explain.

Asked what he would do next, he replied, "Do I have a choice? ... I don't know."

Residents here said Laurean lived in a three-room wood cabin with a corrugated metal roof where he slept on a bed of crushed cardboard boxes. On Friday, there was a notebook on the cabin's floor showing that he kept a diary of his daily exercise routine, including push-ups, sit-ups and crunches.

There were two shelves filled with canned tuna, instant soup and candy. He walked to town daily, greeting those he passed, and spent hours at the local Internet cafe. "He always seemed really happy to see us. He was serious, respectful," said Tomasa Boteyo, 78, who lived near his cabin.

Then on Thursday afternoon, state police officers drove through town looking for someone, residents say. They spotted Laurean walking toward the Internet cafe...

On Friday, Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson said Laurean and his wife, Christina, sent Internet messages to each other through the MySpace social-networking service. Christina Laurean used her sister's computer, which was seized, Hudson said.

Christina Laurean did not break any laws by communicating with her husband as long as she did not provide him with money or aid of any other kind, Hudson said.

Onslow County Capt. Rick Sutherland said Cesar Laurean "repeatedly asked for resources from family members" and that his wife "specifically denied those resource when she was asked."
Christina Laurean fully cooperated with investigators, he said, "and got us to the point where we are today."

The FBI in Las Vegas said Cesar Laurean is awaiting extradition to the U.S., although local authorities in North Carolina cautioned the process could take a year or more if he decides to fight it. They encouraged him Friday to waive extradition, saying the process--however lengthy --will inevitably lead to his return.

Hudson, the district attorney, agreed not to seek the death penalty against Laurean in order to win the cooperation of Mexico authorities, who refuse to send anyone back to the U.S. unless assured they will not face execution...

Lauterbach and Laurean were both personnel clerks in a logistics unit at Camp Lejeune. Detectives have said Laurean left behind a note for his wife in which he denied killing Lauterbach but admitted burying her remains.

In the note, Laurean said Lauterbach committed suicide by cutting her own throat, an assertion authorities have rejected, citing evidence that she died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Maria's mother, Mary Lauterbach, said Friday that a sheriff telephoned her with news of Laurean's capture.

"This has been a terrible tragedy, not only for our family but for Cesar and Christina, and Laurean's family," she said as she backed out of her driveway at her Vandalia, Ohio, home.

In a separate statement released through her attorney, Lauterbach added that "nothing can replace the pain" of Maria's death. "At the same time, we know that Maria would want justice to be done in this case."

Mexico Catches Suspect in Marine Killing

By TRACI CARL Associated Press Writer
AP Photo

MORELIA, Mexico (AP) -- Chained at the wrists and ankles, the American Marine wanted in the brutal slaying of a pregnant colleague stared straight ahead Thursday night, but his eyes occasionally filled up with tears as he answered a reporter's questions.

Cpl. Cesar Laurean was presented by police in the small town of Tacambaro, in western Mexico, hours after Mexico authorities arrested him.

Appearing a bit disoriented, he spoke briefly with The Associated Press while being held at the Michoacan state Attorney General's Office in Morelia, the state capital.

"You know my name. You know who I am," said the bearded Laurean, who was wearing a red Aeropostal shirt. Asked if he wanted to say anything, Laurean simply said "Proof," but wouldn't explain. I think his proof was in his firepit.

Questioned on what he would do next, he replied, "do I have a choice?... I don't know."
Laurean had told police that he had been sleeping in fields and eating avocados and other fruit he found there.

He faces first-degree murder charges in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.
Magdalena Guzman, a spokeswoman for Michoacan state prosecutors, said police carrying out an anti-kidnapping operation stopped Laurean as he wandered on a street 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 - and recognizing his distinctive tattoos - they realized that the United States wants him extradited to face charges in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.

U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement that the arrest "is a clear message to all would-be fugitives from U.S. law that Mexico will not provide them refuge." ...

Marine charged in woman's killing

January 24, 2008
FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A grand jury indicted a Marine on a first-degree murder charge Thursday in the death of a pregnant colleague, but a prosecutor said he wouldn’t seek the death penalty if the man is arrested in Mexico.

Authorities believe Cpl. Cesar Laurean has fled to his native Mexico, which refuses to send anyone back to the United States unless provided assurances they won’t face the death penalty.
‘‘The choices presented to me were either a possible life without parole sentence, or the defendant living in Mexico the rest of his life and never brought to trial,’’ Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson said.

The remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, were found with those of her fetus earlier this month in a fire pit in Laurean’s back yard. Lauterbach, who had once accused Laurean of rape, had been missing since mid-December. Military investigators are still working to identify the father of Lauterbach’s unborn child, Hudson said.

Before Laurean, 21, fled from Jacksonville in early January, he 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. Detectives have rejected that claim, and an autopsy found that Lauterbach died of blunt force trauma to the head.

But because authorities have determined that Lauterbach’s child had not been born at the time of her death, Hudson said, prosecutors can only charge Laurean with one count of murder.
Hudson said the grand jury also charged Laurean with robbery with a dangerous weapon and a charge involving an unauthorized financial transaction involving card theft. The indictment states Laurean forced Lauterbach to remove money from her bank account Dec. 14, the same day authorities believe he killed her.

But because authorities have determined that Lauterbach’s child had not been born at the time of her death, Hudson said, prosecutors could only charge Laurean with one count of murder. Laurean is also accused of trying to use Lauterbach’s ATM card on Christmas Eve, and was charged with attempted card fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses.

Hudson said authorities believe Laurean entered Mexico on a bus Jan. 14, two days after he left Jacksonville. Earlier this week, a man identified as his cousin said Laurean walked into his liquor store in Guadalajara last week, but left without saying where he was headed.

‘‘Because of the all the attention, I hope (Mexican authorities) will move on this case very quickly,’’ Hudson said. Hudson said Thursday that Christina Laurean is still cooperating with investigators, and she does not face charges. She learned of Lauterbach’s death roughly a day before Laurean’s fled, but only then told police and turned over the note he left behind, according to court documents.

Authorities have previously said Lauterbach was killed on Dec. 15, citing the timeline provided by Laurean’s wife. Hudson declined to address the discrepancy in detail, saying only that the ‘‘best evidence available’’ now indicates Lauterbach was killed Dec. 14.

Although Laurean refused to speak with detectives looking into Lauterbach’s disappearance before he fled, authorities have said they didn’t consider him a flight risk because they had information the pair had a ‘‘friendly relationship’’ even after she reported the rape allegation to military authorities.

Lauterbach, of the Dayton, Ohio area, had accused Laurean of rape in May, a charged he denied. Naval investigators have said they have no evidence to corroborate Lauterbach’s claims, but Lauterbach and Laurean’s regimental commander was intent on taking the case to a hearing that could have led to a trial.

Laurean had told members of his unit that he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty. Laurean, of Las Vegas, was born in Guadalajara. Family members there have said he moved to the U.S. more than 10 years ago.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/758139,marine012408.article

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 "bitch," 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." ...Why? Rape is rape, paternity is a whole other matter...?

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."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/20/ddn012008mariainside.html