Fugitive marine indicted on murder charge

JACKSONVILLE, N.C., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Fugitive Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean was formally charged Thursday with killing the woman whose charred remains were found in his North Carolina backyard.

Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson announced a grand jury indicted Laurean for the murder of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. He was also charged with robbery and other theft counts for allegedly stealing and using Lauterbach's ATM card.

Laurean was not charged with killing the pregnant Lauterbach's fetus because that is not a crime under North Carolina law, Hudson said.

Hudson told reporters he will not ask for the death penalty if Laurean is in Mexico, a country that refuses to extradite people who might face execution. Laurean, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen, is believed to have returned there by bus after leaving his truck in a parking lot near the Raleigh-Durham airport.

Laurean left a note with his wife claiming Lauterbach, who had accused him of rape, cut her own throat. An autopsy found she was killed by being hit on the head.