Posted on 01/11/2008 9:43:08 AM PST by Pyro7480
January 11, 2008)--Authorities in North Carolina said late Friday morning pregnant Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach is dead.
They said she’s buried in a shallow grave, for which investigators are now searching.
They identified the suspect in the case as a Marine officer whom she accused of sexually assaulting her.
Police earlier were planning to interview a man who lived with her and said he would answer questions that "will shed a lot of light on the case."
Authorities said again Friday Marine Sgt. Daniel Durham isn't a suspect, but police believe he's the last person to speak with the Marine.
She disappeared Dec. 14 ahead of her expected testimony in a military investigation into her claim a senior officer had sexually assaulted her.
Court documents show the investigation went sour amid inconsistencies in the woman's story and allegations that she's bipolar and a compulsive liar.
Search warrants show she was facing a possible discharge from the service.
Lauterbach was eight months pregnant when she disappeared.
That jumped out at me. I thought that CL told the wife that Maria killed herself?
Because she like he thought no one would know about the murder, but as the chit began to hit the fan... he fled and she, well,
told them.
But only AFTER he was gone.
Hrmpt.
Yes, freema, there are some pretty good shots of the truck in Matt Lauer’s piece, post 1428. Good find.
DebM,
Found this posted on this thread post # 212
He is also survived by a son, Bruce (Debbie) Shifflet, Prospect; grandchildren Christina ( Cesar ) Laurean , Jacksonville, N.C., Amber (Tyler) Emrick of Jacksonville, N.C. and Robert Shifflet, Prospect; great-grandchildren Abrianna and Caleb; brothers Dwight Shifflet of Stover, Mo., and John (Mary) Shifflet, Eldon, Mo., and half brothers and sisters Roscoe (Sue) Shifflet, Roger (Cindy) Shifflet, Dale Shifflet, Phyllis Shifflet, Juanita (Larry) Cravener and Gloria (Delmar) Herdman, al of Columbus.
So yep looks as if she might has a sis/bil in Jacksonville. Who was the Maj (I think) that went with her to the sheriff’s office?
This is another thing that I touched upon upthread and it was repeated in the report at this link. This meeting was NOT included in the USMC timeline. One can only guess what was said. Is this where the subject of her being discharged was brought into play? If so, I can not imagine that subject would come up at that point in time (8 months into a pregnancy) for the life of me. ESPECIALLY considering there was an empty 5 month span of the pregnancy on that timeline.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=65833101
This is Christina Laurean’s sister’s MySpace page. There’s a pic. It’s private.
Did you know this? Maria Lauterbach is the niece of Steve Lauterbach, who was among 52 Americans taken hostage in Iran in 1979.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/10/ddn011008marineinside.html
Nice looking couple. God, what a mess.
Yes, this last meeting is not specifically addressed even though there is reporting early on about it in print media. It could be a mistake in the reporting, or the military left this out of their timeline. The military isn’t answering any more questions from here on out. I still think they have more answers that haven’t been provided as to a “relationship” between Cesar and Maria. I hope they are not preventing the sheriff’s dept from interviewing people on base to get their own assessment of any relationship or to find more clues. That would be obstruction, IMO.
Related?
Arrests Made In Onslow County Murder
Posted: 8:29 PM Jan 20, 2008
Last Updated: 11:47 PM Jan 20, 2008
http://www.witntv.com/home/headlines/13936022.html
Hope you find this link a good source for ALL updates/news articles:
http://search.msn.com/news/results.aspx?q=maria+lauterbach&FORM=EWRE
DA won't seek death penalty if Laurean has to be extradited from Mexico
Caesar Laurean may not face the death penalty.
Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson said he made an agreement on Friday with Mexico that if Laurean is found there and extradited to the United States, he will not face the death penalty if convicted in the killing Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach.
“I am not happy with the decision that I had to make and was very reluctant to give up the death penalty,” he said. “However, the agreement only deals with Mexico and no other countries.”
Thanks for the link, sodpoodle. One piece of this whole case that has been reported quite differently is the relationship between Cesear and Maria. The military has seemingly painted a picture that Maria was not afraid, could not necessarily be believed, and there was an ongoing relationship. They merely tried to make the best of a confusing “he said/she said” situation with little actual facts.
The family, on the other hand, has painted a picture of Maria being afraid, claiming a rape, harrassment, with fear of the actual process required to convict Cesear.
The available evidence currently gives more credibility to Maria’s assertions. She and her baby have been murdered at the hands of the man she accused of rape. The autopsy indicated she was 8 months pregnant which would easily fall within the time frame of the second incident she reported.
Her checkup in late Nov. revealed a baby that was 6 plus pounds. Doing a little research, predicted weight of a 7 month baby is 3 pounds, 5 pounds at 8 months, and 7 pounds at 9 months. So, there is ample information that the baby was closer to her proposed conception from a rape than the military’s proposed May 14 conception date would allow.
One “fact” that has been put out there, with no verification, is that Maria told the military that she no longer thought Cesear was the father. Why would she do this? One theory could be she was afraid Cesear would try to get custody of her baby. Nobody seemed to believe that she had been raped. If it went before a military jury panel, he was the “stellar” Marine, she was only a “solid” Marine, and she had credibility issues. If DNA established that Cesear was the father, and a rape conviction was off the table, then he would have rights to the child. She could have been more afraid of his custodial rights than trying to prove rape charges, which at this point would have been almost impossible to do.
Well, I did it - I called on the video regarding the hand. That was bugging me all weekend and after talking with my son who just returned to Ft Carson from his block leave, he said call.
Of course the person I was connected to isn’t part of the ones working on it, he said it was worth passing on for them to look at a still and study it had they not done so. So wait and see.
I have played around with the truck also, captured and tried to clean up...but it looks as if that is a different one with running boards or chrome on the bottom. Didn’t see either on his truck.
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