The Black Urban Times
The heartbroken mother of Maria Lauterbach got to address Cesar Laurean, the man convicted of murdering her daughter during her victim impact statement Monday at the Wayne County courthouse.
Mary Lauterbach was tearful, reported The Associated Press, as she read her statement before the court. She told Laurean to remember the pain in his mother's face, and to think of the daughter who will have to live with the shame of a father who is a killer.
"Now you will have time to think about your shame, time to think about your failures," Mary Lauterbach said. "There are many people out there who will die today, people who would love to have the time that God has given you."
"I think you failed in your performance as a Marine. I think you failed in your responsibilities to your fellow Marines," said Mary Lauterbach.
"I think you failed in your responsibilities to your family. I think you failed in your responsibilities to God."
Mary Lauterbac, who adopted Maria when she was a toddler, has filed a civil wrongful death suit against Laurean and his wife, Christina, who did not testify or attend her husband's trial.
Laurean was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the 2007 death of Lauterbach, who was eight months' pregnant when prosecutors said Laurean bludgeoned her to death then buried her in his backyard and set her body afire. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
An autopsy showed that Lauterbach, 20, died of blunt-force trauma to the head. Onslow County Sheriff's investigators discovered Lauterbach's charred remains along with those of her unborn fetus from a fire pit in Laureans backyard in January 2008.
Laurean and Lauterbach, both personnel clerks in the Marines, served at the same combat logistics battalion aboard Marine Corps Base Camp lejeune. The two were said to have engaged in an extra marital affair that was uncovered after Lauterbach later accused Laurean of raping and impregnating her. A DNA test later ruled Laurean out as the father of Laureans baby.
During his trial, Laurean's attorney, Dick McNeil, alluded to the fact that Laurean's wife, Christina, an active duty Marine, could have been the killer. His argument was backed by forensics experts who said it was Christina Laurean's DNA, not Cesar Laurean's, that was found on the handle of the crowbar the State asserted was used to kill Lauterbach.
Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson scoffed at McNeil's statement, saying that maybe Cesar Laurean's parents or his two sisters killed Lauterbach because they had as much to gain as his wife from Lauterbach's death.
One juror said they also did not believe Laurean's lawyer's theory.
"The thought entered out minds, but everything pointed to the fact that he is the one who did this crime," juror Brenda Peters said. "We went back over every speck of evidence that there was, piece by piece. That's how we reached our verdict."
Laurean's father, Salvador, and sister Blanca spoke with the media and said they did not believe Laurean murdered Lauterbach. Laurean's older sister Blanca said that Lauterbach jumped from a second-story window at one time.
"Does that sound like a normal person?," asked Blanca Laurean.
"My brother didn't do it," she said. "I'm always going to stay by him because he's always been a good man."
The Laurean family also stated that they wished more testimony that would have explained problems Laurean had with Lauterbach would have been allowed into evidence. They said that Laurean was ordered by his military superiors to help "shape Lauterbach up."
Prosecutors said Lauterbach's character was not on trial, but McNeil stated knowing why Lauterbach lied may have made a difference for his client.
Mary Lauterbach said she plans to use her daughter's murder to push for better protection of service members who allege sexual assault. Lauterbach, who allegedly had a reputation within her unit of being untruthful, was the "perfect victim," according to her mother.
"Because of her (Lauterbach) credibility problems, our pleas for help (following her disappearance) were rejected or discounted by everyone," said the victim's mother, who earlier in the investigation of her daughter's disappearance told police that Lauterbach was a compulsive liar.
Several Marines who worked with or lived with Lauterbach were called as defense witnesses on Wednesday and Thursday and said she was known for telling lies.
One Marine, Taina Robles, who worked with Lauterbach and said she had a reputation as a "habitual liar" in the unit.
Another Marine, Chief Warrant Officer Caroline Bier told the court (outside of the jury) that Lauterbach had a troubled history at Camp Lejeune unit and was known for being dishonest.
Bier testified that in 2006, money in a holiday decorations fund was discovered missing from the office where Lauterbach worked.
When she was confronted about the incident, Lauterbach told Bier that was missing from the office where Lauterbach worked, and officials later determined that Lauterbach had stolen it, Bier said.
When Lauterbach was confronted about the theft, Bier said, she explained that she needed money to visit her brother's grave after he'd been killed during a family altercation.
Bier testified that she called Lauterbach's adoptive mother and learned that her brother was still alive and that Mary Lauterbach told her that her daughter "had a tendency to create fantasies" and said that at least one of her biological parents suffered from mental illness.
"I was shocked," said Bier, "this wasn’t a simple fib to get out of something. This was a pretty serious lie."
Lauterbach also reportedly told her supervisors that she was having family troubles in Ohio involving her sister's pregnancy. Lauterbach said their mother wanted her sister to give the baby up for adoption, but that she wanted to adopt the child, according to Bier.
After Laurean joined the unit in February 2007, Bier said, she asked him to counsel Lauterbach for consistent tardiness, WRAL.com reported.
Laurean, 23, was moved to Central Prison in Raleigh, NC to begin serving his life sentence almost immediately after the guilty verdict was read. His lawyers said they plan to appeal the verdict.
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Check out Calls for Justice on the Laurean Trial
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