Lots of Marine misconduct in the news lately.
Lots of Marine misconduct in the news lately.
Top 2 stories on my news wire when I checked in this afternoon. Guess these guys aren't angels after all?
Pregnant Marine's Grave Found in N.C.
JACKSONVILLE ? Authorities issued an arrest warrant Saturday for a Marine corporal wanted in the death of a pregnant colleague, whose burnt remains were excavated from a fire pit in his backyard.
Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said investigators also recovered the remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach's unborn child.
"The fetus was developed enough that the little hand was about the size of my thumb," Brown said. "The little fingers were rolled up and this is consistent with what we were looking for, a pregnant lady who is the victim, Maria Lauterbach, and her unborn child."
A nationwide search is under way for Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, who authorities said fled Jacksonville early Friday morning after leaving his wife a note in which he admitted burying Lauterbach's body.
Lauterbach, 20, disappeared in December, just days after meeting with military prosecutors to talk about her allegations that Laurean had raped her.
Her remains were found in a fire pit in the backyard of Laurean's home, buried up to a foot in ashes and dirt, said Dr. Charles Garrett, the county medical examiner.
Authorities have described a violent confrontation inside his home that left blood spatters on the ceiling and a massive amount of blood on the wall. It appeared that someone had tried to wash and paint over the blood, Brown said.
Garrett and Brown said the remains will be sent to the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill for a formal identification using dental records.
"As well as I could see, the body was much charred," Brown said. "The fetus was in the abdominal area of that adult. ... That is tragic, and it's disgusting."
Laurean's note said Lauterbach had "come to his residence and cut her (own) throat," Brown said. He confirmed Saturday that authorities received the note from Laurean's wife, Christina, around 8 a.m. Friday, about four hours after they suspect he fled.
Laurean wrote in the note that he had nothing to do with Lauterbach's suicide, but that he had buried her body, the sheriff said.
Authorities have dismissed the idea that Lauterbach killed herself, pointing to the blood stains and the obvious signs of a cleanup inside Laurean's one-story, brown brick ranch home. Brown challenged Laurean, who has not been charged with a crime, to come forward and defend his claims of innocence.
Brown declined to say whether authorities thought Christina Laurean had a hand in Lauterbach's disappearance.
She is "heartbroken," said her mother, Debbie Sue Shifflet.
"I feel sorry for the other family," Shifflet said. "It's horrible what they're going through. My heart goes out to them."
Brown said there had been no sightings of Laurean, 21, of the Las Vegas area. He had refused to meet with investigators and left without telling his lawyers where he was going, the sheriff said.
Lauterbach met with military prosecutors last month to discuss pursuing rape charges against Laurean, said Kevin Marks, supervisory agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at Camp Lejeune. He said military prosecutors believed they had enough evidence to argue that the case should go to trial.
In court papers filed this week, authorities said the anticipated birth of the baby "might provide evidentiary credence to charges she lodged with military authorities that she was sexually assaulted." Lauterbach reported the rape in April and was due to give birth in mid-February, authorities said.
Outside the family's home in Vandalia, Ohio, on Friday night, Lauterbach's uncle, Pete Steiner, said the rapist was the father.
Authorities said they had not been concerned that Laurean would flee because they had information he and Lauterbach carried on a "friendly relationship" even after she reported the assault to military authorities. There is no indication Lauterbach asked the military to protect her after she leveled the rape allegations, investigators said.
Steiner, however, said his niece didn't have any kind of relationship with her attacker, and that Lauterbach had been forced to rent a room off base because of harassment at Camp Lejeune.
"She was raped," Steiner said. "The Marines, unfortunately, did not protect her, and now she's dead."
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Lauterbach was reported missing Dec. 19 by her mother, who last spoke with her daughter on Dec. 14, authorities said. Her cell phone was found Dec. 20 near the main gate at Camp Lejeune, and she missed a Dec. 26 prenatal care appointment.
Lauterbach, who joined the Marines in 2006, and Laurean were personnel clerks in the 2nd Marine Logistics Group of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune. Neither had been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Drill instructor convicted in abuse case
SAN DIEGO - A military jury on Friday convicted a senior drill instructor of dereliction of duty in the abuse of recruits at a Marine Corps training center.
However, the jury found Sgt. Robert Hankins not guilty of more serious charges of maltreating recruits, destroying personal property and other offenses.
A sentencing hearing was under way at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. Hankins faces up to a year's confinement, a reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge.
Hankins is the senior of three drill instructors court-martialed in what prosecutors claim was rampant abuse of recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot between December 2006 and February 2007.
During the trial, a former drill instructor, Pvt. Jerrod Glass, testified that Hankins encouraged him to punish recruits for alleged infractions by destroying their hygiene kits.
Several former recruits testified he was a mentor who encouraged them to talk to him about their concerns.
Glass, 25, was convicted of eight counts of cruelty and maltreatment, destruction of personal property, assault and violating orders on how to properly treat recruits.
He was demoted, sentenced to six months in the brig, and was ordered to forfeit all pay and be dishonorably discharged upon completing his sentence.
Another drill instructor, Sgt. Brian M. Wendel, was sentenced last month to a reduction in rank and a reprimand in the case.