Saturday, February 13, 2010

Cesar Laurean Wants Wrongful Death Suit Postponed




~Cesar Laurean



In a not so surprising move, Cesar Laurean has filed a motion asking for a postponement of the wrongful death suit filed by Maria Lauterbach's family.

If the civil trial occurred before the criminal trial, Laurean's right to remain silent would be jeopardized and he potentially would be forced to expose defense witnesses to depositions, reveal defense theories which could result in “substantial pre-trial publicity that would taint the jury in the criminal case and deprive me of a fair trial and due process.”

Laurean has been indicted for the December 14, 2007 bludgeoning death of Maria Lauterbach. Onslow County authorities claim Laurean killed Lauterbach with a crowbar and Maria and her near full-term child were then buried under a firepit in Laurean's backyard. Laurean fled to Mexico and eluded authorities for 3 months.

Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape, however DNA tests have since shown that he was not the father of her child.

The suit is also filed against Laurean's wife, Christina. According to the suit, Christina found Lauterbach's wallet in her house and, "knew or should have known the wallet contained Lauterbach's driver's license." The suit claims Christina not only knew about the crime, but also helped build the firepit and aided Laurean while he was on the run.

Laurean's motion for postponement states that he had no knowledge that Christina ever had Maria Lauterbach's wallet and he states that Christina never helped him after he fled.

Authorities have always stated that Christina was cooperating in hunt for Laurean and was not considered a suspect.

Laurean filed an answer to the December wrongful death suit saying, “Defendant is not liable to the Plaintiff in this action because he did not cause, directly or indirectly, the death of Maria Frances Lauterbach, and did not conceal, or conspire to conceal, evidence concerning her death.”

Laurean's criminal trial is scheduled to begin June 28. He will not face the death penalty due to an extradition treaty with Mexico.

jdnews

5 comments:

Sprocket said...

It will be interesting to see if we ever find out "who" was the father of Maria's baby.

donchais said...

Hearty party gone bad - ala Duke ape case?

What is beyond sad is the fact that Laurean was obviously so freaked out that he actually was the father that he not only caused Maria's death, but in the process killed a child that never even got the chance to be born!

That just shouts guilt, IMHO.

ritanita said...

Donchais, it's the ultimate irony in this awful case.

Anonymous said...

I was unaware that the DNA test results had been released. So it wasn't even his child he killed along with Maria. This crime was so horrible - so unimaginable. How can he even say he was not responsible. He did it. He murdered Maria and her baby. There was evidence of her death inside his home! If he didn't do it, someone in his home did! Christina? I still think she had some involvement in the murder and the cover up.

Thanks for the update! Cesar will go down for this murder. Little doubt in my mind.

Kitty

donchais said...

I can't even begin to fathom what Cesar thought when he found out he wasn't the baby's daddy!

I too believe that Christina knew much more than we have been led to believe. Her silence til after Laurean fled the US makes her complicit in my mind.