Evidence Mounts Against Ex-Marine Accused of Murder

The charges against ex-Marine, Cesar Laurean, 23, for the first-degree murder of Maria Lauterbach, 20, will be played out in a North Carolina courtroom, as reported by Fox News and Jacksonville Daily News.

The former Camp Lejeune Marine is accused of bludgeoning Lauterbach to death, burning her body in a firepit in his backyard and then burying her in a shallow grave in December of 2007.  Laurean has pleaded not guilty.

Twenty-two witnesses have been called in so far on the first two days by prosecutors.  Marines, investigators and neighbors all gave testimony in a Wayne County court.

Joel Larsen, a Marine Chief Warrant Officer, has contended that Laurean was "a stellar Marine" while The Jacksonville Daily News reported that Lauterbach was known for being dishonest.

Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape and being responsible for her pregnancy.

When Laurean went on Unauthorized Leave, and fled to Mexico in January 2008 just before her remains were found, Officer Larsen still held the same high opinion of him.

Laurean's wife Christina had a note he left her that said he had been arguing with Lauterbach, and that she had pulled a knife and proceeded to slit her own throat, but the state conceded that evidence is likely to fall under spousal privilege.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson told jurors he would show DNA evidence of Lauterbach's blood in Laurean's garage and on a crowbar Laurean had given to a neighbor.  Hudson also has autopsy reports showing that Lauterbach died from a blow to the left side of her head and, though there was a neck wound, it was only minor.

At the time Lauterbach accused Laurean of rape, the two were Marine personnel clerks.  She later recanted the claim of the child being his, DNA tests proved Laurean was not responsible. When Lauterbach died she was eight months pregnant.

Lauterbach had purchased a bus ticket to Texas and left a note telling her roommate, Marine Sgt. Daniel Durham, that she could no longer live as a Marine.  He has testified to finding the note the day of her disappearance.  He tried to reach her by phone first and then reported it by the end of the weekend.

It was when authorities began their physical search for Lauterbach that Laurean's wife turned in the note he had written to her.  State Bureau of Investigation Agent Hiram Coble, a crime scene search specialist, found a corpse buried about two feet below cinderblocks and a firepit in their backyard.  Coble described the body as both burned and decomposed.  Laurean had purchased the cinderblock two days after Lauterbach disappeared.

An international manhunt ensued after the discovery of the body and Laurean was found in western Mexico in April 2008.

To get Mexican officials to release Laurean, prosecutors had to agree not to seek the death penalty.  The trial has been moved to Goldsboro from Jacksonville due to the publicity that the case has garnered.

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