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December 4, 2008 6:20:38 PM CST

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Pregnant Marine's Neck Wound Likely Post-Mortem

Posted Mar 15, 08 12:46 PM CDT in Crime & Courts 

(Newser) – A neck wound on the pregnant Marine slain earlier this year was probably made after death, pointing to faked evidence in her murder, CNN reports. The main suspect in the case, Cesar Laurean, said Maria Lauterbach, 20, slit her own throat, but the surface cut may have been made by her murderer to make the body “conform” to the suicide story, lawyers said.

“The autopsy would support the criminal investigation conclusion that Laurean's story is not supported by the evidence,” a lawyer added. Officials have said Lauterbach died from a blunt blow to the head. Her body, along with that of her unborn child, was found in North Carolina in January, near the house of fellow Marine Cesar Laurean, who fled to Mexico and is still missing.

Source CNN

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A Marine Corps bugler salutes during the funeral of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach at Calvary Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008.   (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)
In this undated US Marine Corps photo released by the Onslow (N.C.) County Sheriff's office, Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach is seen.   (AP Photo/Onslow (N.C.) Sheriff via U.S. Marine Corps)
This image provided by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office in Jacksonville, N.C. on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008, shows Cesar Laurean.   (AP Photo/Onslow County Sheriff's Office)
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murder • suicide • Maria Lauterbach • pregnant marine • Cesar Laurean • neck wound


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