Marine's arrest shocks neighbors in Mexico
Cabin dweller suspected in woman's death
SAN JUAN DE LA VINA, Mexico - 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 he might be a drug trafficker - something not unheard of in these parts. It was not until yesterday when they saw Corporal Cesar Laurean's photograph in the local newspaper that they learned he was a US 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 was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Marine Lance Corporal 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. Yesterday, 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.
Yesterday, 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 Captain Rick Sutherland said Cesar Laurean "repeatedly asked for resources from family members," and that his wife "specifically denied those resources when she was asked."
Christina Laurean fully cooperated with investigators, he said, "and got us to the point where we are today."
Lucio Tapia, 22, said before his arrest, Laurean told him he had just returned from Spain and that his parents were punishing him by making him live on an avocado orchard in Mexico. Laurean was born in Guadalajara but reportedly moved to the United States more than 10 years ago.
"I thought he was a drug trafficker," Tapia said. "There's a lot of drugs here and drug traffickers hide out in the mountains here."
The FBI said Laurean is awaiting extradition to the United States, although local authorities in North Carolina cautioned the process could take a year or more if he decides to fight it. They encouraged him yesterday to waive extradition, saying the process - however lengthy - will inevitably lead to his return.
Hudson 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 United States unless assured they will not face execution.
Authorities believe that on Dec. 14, Laurean killed Lauterbach, who was eight months pregnant, after forcing her to remove money from her bank account.
Lauterbach and Laurean were 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 Lauterbach's mother, Mary Lauterbach, said yesterday 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 at her Vandalia, Ohio, home.
In a separate statement released through her lawyer, 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."
