Laurean documents made public

More than 200 pages of documents in the Cesar Laurean case were made public today by Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry.

Laurean was arrested April 10 in Tacambaro, Mexico, nearly three months to the day after fleeing Onslow County. A grand jury indicted him in January for first-degree murder in the death of pregnant Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. She had previously accused Laurean of rape.

Authorities said Laurean left the area Jan. 11, leaving notes with his wife, Christina Laurean, saying that he had buried Lauterbach's body behind their home.

Laurean, of Las Vegas, was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, but family members there have said he moved to the U.S. more than 10 years ago. He had told members of his Marine Corps unit that he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of rape, according to the FBI.

The FBI believes Laurean entered Mexico under the alias Armando Ramirez on a bus from Houston, Texas to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, according to the newly released affidavits.

Law enforcement found research on Laurean's home computer about Mexico, purchasing land in Mexico and finding a job in Mexico, according to the documents.

"The search also showed that Cesar Laurean was using the internet to follow the events of this investigation through the media Web site: www.jdnews.com," affidavits state.

The court documents unsealed today range from subpoenas for phone, e-mail and Web site records to probable cause affidavits. Henry has spent more than a month going over the documents and redacting private information.

A press briefing concerning the newly unsealed documents is scheduled at the Onslow County Sheriff's Department for 2:30 p.m.

The unsealed documents are available by clicking HERE.