America’s Most Wanted | MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

Maria Lauterbach, US Marine Corps

The family of slain Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach is hailing recent provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that profoundly change the way the Department of Defense will handle sexual assault charges…Provisions include access to legal counsel for victims and the right to request a base transfer. Lauterbach’s mother, Mary Lauterbach of Vandalia, said the new law would have made the difference in the case of her daughter, who was denied a base transfer after accusing fellow Marine Cesar Laurean of sexual assault. “Maria would be alive today if the base transfer had been available to her,” she said. Representative Mike Turner (R-OH) concurred, “In civilian life you have complete control of your movements, and if you’re in an unsafe situation you can remove yourself. In military life, the victim needs permission to take even basic self-preservation actions.” –Dayton Daily News (December 25, 2011)

In the News:

The murder of pregnant Camp Lejeune Marine Maria Lauterbach has many people examining North Carolina’s fetal homicide law. North Carolina is one of twelve states that does not have an unborn child homicide law. Cesar Laurean, the Marine Corporal suspected of killing Lauterbach, only faces a murder charge in her death, not the death of the fetus. Henderson County state representative Trudi Walend proposed House Bill 263 to change that. Walend believes our state leaders have a fear that recognizing an unborn child might affects pro choice laws. -WITN-TV (January 15, 2008)

The autopsy shows that 20 year old Maria Lauterbach, who disappeared mid-December in North Carolina died from blunt force trauma. The sheriff says the autopsy also shows that Lauterbach died before her family reported her missing. -Associated Press (January 16, 2008)

Maria Lauterbach Case – Autopsy Confirms Body Is Lauterbach -WITN-TV (January 16, 2008)

Authorities say murder suspect Cesar Laurean has probably gone into hiding. His truck was found in a motel parking lot on Tuesday. An autopsy report confirmed burned remains found in his backyard were those of his pregnant colleague. -Associated Press (January 17, 2008)

Pregnant Marine’s mom laments her death -Today Show (March 12, 2008)

Missing Marine’s Uncle Speaks Out -ABC News (March 12, 2008)

The Oversight Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs holds a hearing, “Sexual Assault in the Military.” Panel one is Reps. Louise Slaughter (NY-28) and Jane Harman (CA-36); panel two is Ingrid Torres, MSW, CSW and Mary Lauterbach, Mother of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach; panel three includes representatives of the Defense Department, the Army, and the GAO. Mary Lauterbach, whose daughter was murdered after reporting a rape, testifies. -Nancy Pelosi (July 31, 2008)

A Marine who fled to Mexico shortly before he was charged with killing a pregnant colleague in North Carolina has been returned to the U.S., according to an FBI spokeswoman. -Associated Press (April 17, 2009)

Lauterbach murder trial to begin -WDTNTV (August 2, 2010)

The attorney for an ex-Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague says the victim’s lies may have so angered the defendant he couldn’t have premeditated the murder. -Associated Press (August 12, 2010)

A North Carolina jury says a former Marine is guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a pregnant colleague whose remains were found under a backyard firepit. -WITN (August 24, 2010)

Dept. of Defense Gives New Provisions to Military’s Victims of Sexual Assault -WKEF/WRGT (August 15, 2013)

Major Hurdle Cleared for Victims of Sexual Assault in the Military -WKEF/WRGT (December 20, 2013)

Law protecting military victims of sexual assault discussed | Expedited transfer policy includes provisions for victims of domestic violence -WDTN TV (May 1, 2018)

Investigation Discovery:

Cesar and Christina Laurean’s Marine marriage ranks perfection, but when Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach, joins the regiment, disaster strikes. -Burned by Desire, Deadly Affairs (S3,E3)

Robert Cox, US Army Veteran

Sherrill Levitt, Stacy McCall, and Suzie Streeter vanished from Sherrill Levitt’s Springfield, Missouri home on June 7, 1992. Dishonorably discharged Army veteran Robert Craig Cox was named a person of interest in their disappearance. Cox not only had a history of violence and run ins with the law but he was living in the Springfield, Missouri area at the time of ‘The Springfield Three’ disappearance and coincidentally worked with Stacy McCall’s father. While serving in the Army, Cox pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon in California. He was sentenced to nine years in prison and dishonorably discharged from the Army, ironically after being named ‘Soldier of the Year’ in 1979. Cox was also a suspect in the death of 19 year old Sharon Zellers who disappeared after leaving work at Walt Disney World on December 30, 1978. Zellar’s badly beaten body was found several days later near Orlando, Florida in an orange grove. Cox was in central Florida visiting his parents and as a result became a suspect because he was staying in a motel close to the grove. Hospital staff also reported Robert Cox to authorities because part of his tongue had been bitten off by someone else, despite his claims that he bit his own tongue off. A case against Cox was never pursued by Florida authorities due to lack of evidence, therefore the case went unsolved for a decade. But after Cox was released from prison in California in 1986, Florida authorities charged Cox with Sharon Zeller’s murder and he was convicted and sentenced to death in 1988. Although in a rare ruling, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction and death sentence arguing that prosecutors only had circumstantial evidence which was not enough to convict in a criminal case. Robert Cox was released in 1989 and then moved to Springfield, Missouri where he worked with Stacy McCall’s father. Although questioned in the disappearance of the three women, Cox has not admitted to any wrongdoing and authorities have found no evidence linking him to their disappearance. To this day, ‘The Springfield Three’ have not been found and no one has been charged with any crimes.

Stacy McCall, Sherrill Levitt, and Suzie Streeter went missing from Springfield, Missouri on June 7, 1992.

More than 15 years after the disappearance of “The Springfield Three”, clues to their location may lie beneath a parking garage at Cox Hospital. Will investigators find the answers they need to bring the missing women home? -Investigation Discovery

MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

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Tag Archives: America’s Most Wanted

Camp Lejeune Marine Maria Lauterbach & Unborn Child Murdered, Remains Discovered in Fellow Marine’s Backyard; Cesar Laurean Sentenced to Life in Prison, No Parole (December 15, 2007)

Dishonorably Discharged Army Veteran Robert Cox is a Person of Interest in the Disappearance of ‘The Springfield Three’ in 1992