Suspect’s wife waited before reporting death

The FBI said Mexican authorities are trying to track the suspect.

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The wife of the key suspect in the slaying of a 20-year-old pregnant Marine waited almost 24 hours after learning of the woman’s death to go to authorities, 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 Dec. 15, demanded money and told him she planned to leave the area, according to the affidavit.

Lauterbach, who grew up in Vandalia, Ohio, had accused Laurean of rape in May, a charged he denied to military investigators.

Laurean asked his wife whether she was “with him on this” as they headed to the attorney’s office, according to the affidavit. She responded: “I do not know. Is there anything you have not told me?” That’s when Laurean told her what had happened, the affidavit states.

He told his wife that he and Lauterbach purchased a bus ticket for her to El Paso, Texas, but that she later returned to their home and they began to argue. He claimed Lauterbach produced a knife and slit her own throat. Laurean also told his wife he then buried Lauterbach in the woods near their home, the documents state.

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.

The FBI has said he is believed to have fled to Mexico, and the agency is working with authorities there to track him down. Laurean, 21, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Guadalajara, Mexico.

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 of the blood had been disguised by washing and painting.

Bruce Shifflet, Laurean’s father-in-law who lives outside Prospect, Ohio, declined to comment. Lauterbach family attorney Chris Conard and Lauterbach’s uncle Pete Steiner, who has served as family spokesman, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

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 Dec. 17 but had evidence — including a note left for her roommate in which she said she was tired of the Marine Corps lifestyle — that led them to believe she left on her own.