Fugitive Marine found in Mexico

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Marine wanted in the brutal slaying of a pregnant colleague who had accused him of rape was arrested Thursday night in Mexico after a three-month international manhunt, authorities said.

FBI agents and Mexican authorities arrested Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean around 4 p.m. He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, whose burned remains were found in January in the backyard of his home near Camp Lejeune.

"You know my name. You know who I am," Laurean told The Associated Press at the Michoacán state Attorney General's Office in Morelia, the state capital.

Asked if he wanted to say anything, Laurean simply said "proof," without explaining.

Magdalena Guzman, a spokeswoman for the Michoacán, Mexico, state prosecutors office, said police carrying out an anti-kidnapping operation stopped Laurean in the rural township of Tacámbaro, Michoacán, because they thought he looked suspicious.

When they realized he didn't speak Spanish well, they became more suspicious. After a computer check, they realized Laurean was wanted in the United States.

Guzman said Laurean had only 10 pesos (less than $1) in his pocket when arrested, and that he said he had been surviving by eating avocados and other fruit he found in the fields of the farming village.

The FBI said Laurean, 21, is awaiting extradition to the United States, although prosecutors in North Carolina cautioned Thursday that the process could take a year or more.

"This was truly an international effort, and we will do all we can to ensure Laurean is brought back to Onslow County as quickly as possible to answer the charges against him," said Nathan Gray, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Charlotte office.

Authorities believe Laurean killed Lauterbach, 20, an Ohio native who was eight months pregnant when she died, in mid-December. Detectives have said he left a note for his wife in which he denied killing Lauterbach but admitted to burying her remains.

In the note, Laurean said Lauterbach committed suicide by cutting her throat. Authorities say evidence indicates Lauterbach died of blunt-force trauma to the head.

Tipped by the note, detectives soon discovered the charred remains of Lauterbach and her fetus in a shallow grave in Laurean's backyard.

Lauterbach and Laurean were personnel clerks in the same logistics unit at Camp Lejeune, an expansive base about three hours southeast of Raleigh.

Detectives believe Laurean killed Lauterbach on Dec. 14, after forcing her to take out money from her bank account.

Should Laurean be returned to North Carolina to stand trial, he won't face the death penalty. Hudson agreed not to seek an execution in order to win the cooperation of Mexico authorities, who refuse to send anyone back to the U.S. unless provided assurance they won't face a death sentence.