Suspect's Wife Kept Mum On Marine's Death

The wife of the key suspect in the violent slaying of a 20-year-old pregnant Marine waited almost 24 hours after learning of the woman's death to go to police, according to court documents released Thursday.

The sheriff's affidavit, which details the account Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean's wife gave to detectives, does not provide an explanation for why she waited. Police have consistently described her as a cooperating witness, and she does not face charges.

Laurean told his wife, Christina, while driving to their attorney's office last Thursday that Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach visited the couple's home on Dec. 15, demanded money and told him she planned to leave the area, according the affidavit. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape in May, a charged he denied to military investigators.

Cesar Laurean reportedly told his wife that he and Lauterbach purchased a bus ticket for her to El Paso, Texas.

Christina Laurean told Onslow County sheriff's detective John Dubois that a disoriented and agitated Lauterbach returned to Cesar Laurean's house later that night and told him that "her plan had failed, that an argument ensued" and that she produced a knife and killed herself by slitting her throat," reports CBS News affiliate WRAL-TV in Raleigh.

"He became scared, took her body to a wooded area adjacent to his residence, and buried her. He obtained legal counsel and explained the facts to them. He was told that he was facing the death penalty," Dubois wrote.

Laurean disappeared the next day, leaving behind a note in which he repeated his claims that Lauterbach killed herself. Investigators later found Lauterbach's burned remains, and those of her child, in a fire pit in Laurean's backyard.

An autopsy determined Lauterbach died of blunt force trauma to the head. Authorities have said they don't believe she committed suicide, citing a large amount of blood found on the walls and ceiling of Laurean's home. Investigators used a chemical process to identify the blood evidence, finding that some had been disguised by washing and painting.

Authorities said Thursday they may have recovered the weapon used to kill Lauterbach, although they declined to say who gave them the item last weekend and what it was. Prosecutors have said an autopsy failed to answer all the questions about Lauterbach's death, including whether she gave birth before her death and of the identity of the father.

Authorities believe Lauterbach was killed around Dec. 15. Marine officials have said they attempted to find her after she failed to report to work on Dec. 17, but had evidence - including a note left for her roommate in which she wrote she was tired of the Marine Corps lifestyle - that led them to believe she left on her own.

The FBI has said Laurean is believed to have fled to Mexico, and they are working with authorities there to track him down. Laurean, 21, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and still has some family in the country, authorities said.

Laurean told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of rape, according to court documents filed this week by the FBI, and his wife also told authorities she believed he would head to Mexico if he was in trouble.

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