Return to Transcripts main page
NANCY GRACE
Burned Remains Believed to Be Missing Pregnant Marine; O.J.`s Bail Revoked
Aired January 11, 2008 - 20:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. A gorgeous young Marine vanishes into thin air, Camp Lejeune. Kicker? She`s eight months pregnant when she goes missing. In the last hour, bombshell divorces. Police announce 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach and her unborn baby are dead. In a stunning twist, as we go to air, authorities just announced the discovery of her burned skeletal remains in the prime suspect`s own backyard. Suspect, 21-year-old Cesar Laurean, the Marine corporal Lauterbach accused of sex assault.
Although police documents are full of comments trying to discredit the alleged rape and now murder victim, little is known about the murder suspect. Laurean was never detained by police or military police, and now he`s on the run, possibly in a black pick-up, North Carolina tag TRR 1522. Tonight, the manhunt for 21-year-old rape and murder suspect Cesar Laurean and the recovery of the remains of 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news out of the North Carolina. This is the scene investigators are combing in Jacksonville, North Carolina. They`re no longer looking for missing Marine Corps Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach. They`re trying to recover her body. And they`re also looking for the man suspected of killing her. The Associated Press reports a female former Marine gave investigators the key information, including evidence that Lauterbach is dead. She has been missing since December 14, and her body has not yet been recovered. The suspect`s identified as 21- year-old Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean, who is not in custody and who last seen around 4:00 this morning on the base.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Breaking news. Police announce a gorgeous young Marine who vanishes from Camp Lejeune is dead. The manhunt for the prime suspect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mrs. (SIC) Lauterbach is dead and has been buried here at Onslow County.
I`m not calling it murder because the story has got some twists and turns in it. The suspect in the case is the Marine accused by her for assaulting her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the sheriff here in Jacksonville saying that Maria Lauterbach is believed to be dead. They are searching a residential wooded area, trying to discover whether or not she has, indeed, be buried there in a shallow grave. Authorities here in Jacksonville say that late last night, a key witness in this case, a new witness, came forward and led them to believe this.
They say they have tangible evidence that, even though they don`t have a body yet in this case, they do believe that what they`re hearing from this witness is, indeed, true. And because of that, they have put out a "be on the lookout" statement for -- across the country for Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean, a 21-year-old male who is believed to be the person who Lauterbach had actually made the charges of sexual assault against. It has been a dramatic morning here in Jacksonville.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And as we go to air, we learn that burned skeletal remains have been discovered -- repeat, burned skeletal remains -- believed to be those of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child. Around nine months pregnant at this juncture, she would have been delivering any day.
Out to Ed Lavandera, CNN correspondent there on the scene, Jacksonville, North Carolina. Ed, bring us to date.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just spoke with the sheriff just a short while ago before coming on air here, Nancy, and he says that his investigators are still at the home of the suspect in this case. They`ll continue to work there for the next coming hours, and then tomorrow morning, they will return back to that house and continue searching in the backyard, where they believe this missing pregnant Marine is buried.
GRACE: It`s my understanding, Ed Lavandera, that a shallow grave, or as they termed it, a shallow cavity, was found in his backyard. Now we learn that there are burned remains. What`s going on there right now? Are they still in the backyard, or have they suspended for the evening?
LAVANDERA: My understanding is they`ve suspended for the evening, and they want to do this in daylight to try to preserve the evidence and make sure that they don`t miss over anything that`s there at that crime scene. So they will continue back there at first light tomorrow.
GRACE: Ed, explain to me how they came upon the tip, the information, that she could likely be buried in his backyard.
LAVANDERA: My understanding was -- and this has only been described throughout most of the day as -- by the sheriff here as a tangible piece of evidence. They said that they had gotten a call from a new witness late last night, and also reestablished communication with this person this morning. And the sheriff won`t really say exactly what was in this communication that led them to believe with certainly that Maria Lauterbach was dead. But based on that information alone, he came out here earlier today and said that -- and pronounced her -- and pronounced her dead and made this -- and turned on the manhunt for the suspect in this case.
GRACE: Ed Lavandera reporting there on the scene. Repeat, as we go to air tonight, the burned skeletal remains of Maria Lauterbach, just 20 years old, have been discovered in the prime suspect`s own backyard.
And let`s just get this straight, Ed Lavandera. I`ve combed over many of the police documents, and they`re full of comments about how the alleged rape victim is a compulsive liar, how she may have bipolar disorder, how there have been inconsistencies in her statement. Nothing in there about the prime suspect, Cesar Armando Laurean. Now he has absconded. He`s gone and she`s dead.
LAVANDERA: And to add to that, Nancy -- and I think this is what authorities here in Jacksonville are going to have a hard time answering in the coming weeks -- is that this was someone that not only have -- they`ve never spoken to him, even -- she`s been missing since December 14, and authorities here are saying that is because he had three lawyers in that sexual assault case who prevented the authorities here from talking to him, and that they had made those efforts, but until now, someone who would have obviously been, I think you`ll be -- you can find many law enforcement officials who would tell you this would be the logical place to start your search, someone who would have the ultimate motive in this case to do harm. And they have never spoken to him in this case, and the authorities here say they`ve been blocked by his attorneys from doing so.
GRACE: Out to Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. Mike, let`s just straighten something up. You get an armed robbery, you get a shoplifting, you get an ag assault, a shooting, a battery, a beating, you have an arrest with the eyewitness testimony, with the victim`s testimony. Why, in a felony rape case -- they couldn`t talk to him? Fine. Why didn`t they arrest him, like with every other felony case? Why is it in a rape case, you have to have a rape kit, you have to have DNA, you have to have fiber, you have to have hair comparisons? We don`t ask that in any other case except in rape cases, and now she is dead. They had a chance to arrest him. They had their chance. They did nothing! Now she and her unborn child are dead.
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: They sure had a chance, Nancy. And today, when they were speaking to the head of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the NCIS there for Camp Lejeune, you know, the question was asked, Why didn`t you lock this guy up? And basically, he was -- he was kind of dancing around the question but saying that they didn`t have enough to arrest him at the time.
And you know, in that initial investigative report that we talked about on last night`s show, Nancy, you know, NCIS stated in there about inconsistencies. And he also -- the head of the NCIS also stated something to the effect of, Well, they thought that they had gotten a relationship going again, they were on friendly terms. You know, but I don`t care. There`s still an allegation of a rape!
GRACE: Hold on, hold, hold on. Mike, I`ve been examining that. Let`s just think about it. I think it may be hard for you to imagine, but imagine a female worker and she`s made a rape claim against...
BROOKS: Right.
GRACE: ... someone superior to her, but he`s still on the job. He doesn`t get arrested.
BROOKS: Right.
GRACE: He doesn`t get questioned. He doesn`t get picked up. He doesn`t give hair samples. He doesn`t give DNA samples. Nothing. Nothing!
BROOKS: No. Not at all.
GRACE: And she still sees him every day at work. What is she going to do? What was this woman supposed to do, when the military police did nothing and the local police did nothing?
BROOKS: Right. I agree. I mean, hey, you`re preaching to the choir here, Nancy. I think something should have been done. You know, on that fact, they should have charged him with -- she should have a domestic violence complaint against him. Then they would have locked him up!
GRACE: Take a listen to what was said at the presser today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the search of the property, cartilage (ph) of the property, a cavity was discovered in the backyard. That cavity was preliminarily examined very lightly, which produced a suspicious situation in which we believe it needs to be contained and protected to in the morning, where it can be processed meticulously. And it is believed that cavity and the house will eliminate moving any farther in searching any farther for the body of the missing Marine, Maria Lauterbach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think that we have found what would be the skeletal remains of the victim, Maria Lauterbach. Until tomorrow, until the site`s completely excavated and the medical examiner makes a determination, we`ll not know for certain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s been missing since December 14. How you guys don`t ever talk to him and he now turns out to be the suspect -- serious questions about what you guys have been doing since December 14.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m glad you mentioned that, sir, because Mr. Laurean`s attorney was standing there yesterday when you all were trying to get me to answer questions that would expose what we were doing. He was standing there listening while y`all were listening. We can`t talk to somebody because their attorney won`t let us talk to him, so don`t come hollering at me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Talk to him? How about arrest him, sir? How about, why didn`t you arrest him in a rape complaint when the complaint was made? Now he -- and I`m referring to prime suspect in not only a rape but a murder, Cesar Armando Laurean, 21 years old, in the murder of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach, just 20 years old, along with her unborn child.
Out to the lines. Connie in Kentucky. Hi, Connie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. Congratulations on the twins.
GRACE: Thank you, dear. Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d like to know if the suspect was married. And also, if his wife knew about the murder, would she be charged with anything?
GRACE: The suspect is married. If she knows about the murder, I doubt she`ll be charged. If she helped in any way, if she helped to cover up, if she gave an alibi, anything of that nature would be construed to be accomplice to murder. And under conspiracy to commit murder, she would have the same sentence as him.
Now, interesting, Connie in North Carolina, believe it or not, there is not a statute that treats the murder of a female with a child, carrying a child, as double homicide. They don`t have that in North Carolina. However, in North Carolina, I believe this could be treated as a death penalty case. It`s allowed where there is willful, deliberate and premeditated killing. So I think the prosecution could make that out, Connie in Kentucky.
Out to Kimberly in Alabama. Hi, Kimberly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Welcome back.
GRACE: Thank you, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, what evidence led them to this suspect?
GRACE: Straight back out to Ed Lavandera, CNN correspondent there in Jacksonville, North Carolina. What is the evidence -- well, number one, she had filed a formal rape complaint naming this guy as the rapist. I also have read from the documents for my own research, Ed, that she had been harassed following making of this complaint. A, what types of harassment did she allegedly endure? And B, Ed Lavandera, what led them to naming him as a prime suspect?
LAVANDERA: Well, obviously -- let me take A first. In terms of -- her uncle had come out this evening and said that over the last few months, that it`s been very difficult for her to be on base, that her car on base had been keyed, things like that. She`d been ridiculed by other Marines. So we haven`t heard any comment from the Marines here at Camp Lejeune as to what they have to say about that, but that`s what her uncle is alleging tonight.
And as far as the piece of evidence that drove them back, it was essentially -- remember, up until this morning, the focus had been on this roommate, bringing back this roommate from California, who had been training there, another Marine. And then all of a sudden, last night they get a call from this key witness. Authorities here -- we`ve tried and tried all day long to try to figure out what it was exactly that was said, but clearly, there was something in this phone call, and whatever this witness told them made them feel very certain about what they were dealing with. And clearly, based on what is happening tonight at the suspect`s home, they feel they are much closer to finding that body. And reading between the lines here, it just seems like that body is buried in that backyard and it`s just a matter of finding it, at this point.
GRACE: Ed Lavandera, have your sources revealed that the key witness is a former female Marine?
LAVANDERA: Right. That`s the way it`s been described to us so far.
GRACE: OK. But we don`t know who that is yet, right?
LAVANDERA: No. There is an Associated Press report out there tonight saying that they believe that that person might actually be the suspect`s wife. We have not been able to confirm that at this point, but that is out there tonight.
GRACE: Out to Mandi Sheridan, reporter with CNN affiliate WDTN. Mandi, welcome back. Can you tell me, Mandi, when we believe the alleged rape occurred? And is this unborn child -- was this unborn child a result of the rape?
MANDI SHERIDAN, WDTN: Nancy, I asked the uncle those exact questions, and he told me that the rape occurred -- I`m not exactly sure exactly where this rape occurred, but he did tell me that the unborn child is the result of that rape. He also went on to tell me that that had -- that she had absolutely no relationship -- Maria had no relationship with Laurean.
GRACE: I`m just sick. I`m sick, sick, sick. This murder of a 20- year-old girl and her unborn child did not have to happen. This didn`t have to happen had local authorities or the military police done their duty and made an arrest following the rape complaint.
When we get back, we`ll unleash the lawyers, Anne Bremner, Alex Sanchez, and a special guest, Tim Susani (ph), a former JAG with us.
But first, as we go to break, very quickly out to CNN correspondent Jim Acosta. He is standing by at the jail in Las Vegas. O.J. Simpson headed back to jail. What`s going on? Thank you for being with us, Jim Acosta.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you`re welcome, Nancy. We`re expecting O.J. Simpson to land at the airport here in Las Vegas within the hour. And basically, he`s being brought back to jail, hauled back into jail for allegedly breaking the agreement that he made with the judge when he was given bail earlier back in the fall, back in September.
Apparently, on November 16, O.J. Simpson, according to prosecutors here in Las Vegas, called a local bail bondsman and basically complained about one of the other co-defendants in this case, basically complaining about what one of the other co-defendants said in a pre-trial hearing. And that phone message that was left with this bails bondsman was apparently laced with profanities.
We don`t have a transcript of it at this point, so we don`t know exactly what he said, but that is in violation and -- you know, basically violating the agreement he made with this judge. And the judge at the time when he granted O.J. Simpson bail, said to O.J. Simpson in court, By -- you know, Mr. Simpson, by no contact, I mean no direct contact, no indirect contact whatsoever. And this would probably qualify as indirect contact, Nancy.
GRACE: With us there at the scene, Jim Acosta. O.J. Simpson -- Orenthal James Simpson -- accused of contacting a co-defendant, has his bail revoked. He`s headed back to jail.
When we get back, we`re taking your calls live. Twenty-year-old Maria Lauterbach, the missing Marine, has been found dead, her skeletal and burned remains in the backyard of the man she accused of rape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... about what she was about to testify on (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t comment on that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can`t say anything on that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she nervous about that or anything? Or can you comment on that at all, whether she was nervous?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, she was very anxious about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lauterbach`s stepmother says Lauterbach`s pregnancy may be the result of a rape. Apparently, Marine authorities are looking into those allegations. Miss Lauterbach`s stepmother says the Marine corporal is bipolar and a compulsive liar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All these comments about her being bipolar and not credible, they`re very disturbing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: First of all, it`s not her stepmother or adoptive mother, it is her mother.
To Mandi Sheridan with WDTN. Mandi, you`ve been with the family all day. How are they feeling about putting it out there in the national media that this murder victim was a compulsive liar, that she had bipolar disorder, that the mom didn`t think she could take care of her own child, basically, doubting the disappearance, thinking that the girl had taken off on her own?
SHERIDAN: Well, Nancy, I -- as you said, I was with the family all day. I spoke with Mary Lauterbach earlier and I spoke with Maria`s uncle, as well. They first want to make sure -- they wanted to make it very clear that Mary does not think her daughter was a compulsive liar. Mary told me that she made statements in a police report and was very thorough for the purposes of trying to track Maria down. She made the statement that Maria had a history of lying at times.
I cleared that up with her uncle, as well. I asked him. He said that Maria did struggle sometimes with lying if she was in a hard spot, but he also went on to say she had a conscience. She would always come back...
GRACE: I don`t understand why that was even released. To Anne Bremner. I think that, in its own, may have stopped police from searching for her earlier, when your own mom puts out a statement...
ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.
GRACE: ... she lies all the time.
BREMNER: Right and -- hi, Nancy, and welcome back. We`ve missed you. You`re right -- compulsive liar, manic-depressive. They made her a suspect in her own disappearance, like the runaway bride.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the Lauterbach family. "We would like to thank everyone for their prayers in this time of grieving. Maria has been a gift for her family and friends. The outpouring of love from family, friends, neighbors and the general community has been very touching. Please understand that the family needs time alone to deal with this tragedy. We wish to thank everyone for their love and concern. The Lauterbach family."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, we learn that the remains, the skeletal and burned remains of Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child have been found in a shallow cavity grave in the backyard of the prime suspect. He is on the run, Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean, 21 years old, a suspect in not only the rape of Maria Lauterbach but her murder.
Quickly, out to the lines. Amy in California. Hi, Amy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Congratulations.
GRACE: Thank you, love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to find out, why didn`t the military give her any kind of protection after filing the complaint? And why did it take them so long to get it out to the public?
GRACE: What do we know about that, Ed Lavandera?
LAVANDERA: I`m sorry, Nancy. I apologize. Getting some new information. What was the question again?
GRACE: Give me the new info first.
LAVANDERA: Real quick, we`re just talking to investigators here in Jacksonville. There was a report that we`ve just been able to confirm saying that the suspect in this case, Laurean, had left this -- and this goes back to this key piece of evidence, what it was that led authorities to make Laurean a suspect in this case. But apparently, we`re told by investigators here that he had left a note to his wife, saying that she had committed suicide and then he buried the body. Investigators here do not believe that she committed suicide by any means, and they say that they have found blood splatter evidence inside the house that points to that this was...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Mrs. Lauterbach is dead and has been buried here in Onslow County. The suspect in the case is the Marine accused by her for assaulting her. The wheels have been turning so fast that I don`t have everything right before me. We have been getting out there in our searching the area for the lead that could be in and around the place where she was murdered or where she is claimed to have died, and I`m not calling it murder because the story has got some twists and turns in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And now we learn in addition to the discovery of Maria Lauterbach`s burned skeletal remains along with those of her unborn child, that apparently the prime suspect in this case, Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean, insisted that this young girl, Maria Lauterbach, had committed suicide and then he buried her body.
According to CNN`s Ed Lavandera there on the scene, Jacksonville, North Carolina, blood spatter, spatter is very important. The type of the blood dropping is indicative to the mode of death has been found in the home of the prime suspect. He is on the run tonight, Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean, in a black pickup truck, North Carolina tags.
I want to go to Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner and forensic pathologist.
DR. WILLIAM R. MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Good evening.
GRACE: Dr. Morrone.
MORRONE: Yes.
GRACE: Couldn`t there have been a test very simply taking DNA from the unborn child in life or maybe amniotic fluid to determine a DNA match to the rape suspect?
MORRONE: Yes. There`s some risky procedures but that`s very possible.
GRACE: What`s the risky procedure? Isn`t it -- wouldn`t it be just like an amniocentesis test?
MORRONE: Right, because you`re extracting DNA and chromosomes and you just risk loss of fluid, some infection, and you follow it up with a short hospital stay. But it can be done.
GRACE: What, hospital stay?
MORRONE: Because it`s an outpatient procedure. You don`t have something like that, though.
GRACE: It`s not a hospital stay with an amniocentesis.
MORRONE: I said if there`s risk. If something happens.
GRACE: Oh, I see, I see.
MORRONE: Yes. For follow-ups.
GRACE: That would have been so simple to do.
MORRONE: Yes.
GRACE: Alex Sanchez and Anne Bremner, also with us tonight, Tim Susanin, former Navy JAG and former federal prosecutor.
To you, Alex Sanchez, that would have nipped the whole thing it in the bud. If this child, say they didn`t get DNA from sperm or semen at the time of the alleged rape, if she claimed rape and then the DNA from that child matched up to the suspect, there`s your case, Alex.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, but what does that exactly prove? They had sex? And that he`s the father of the child?
GRACE: Yes. That they had sex and she said it was a rape.
SANCHEZ: But that -- yes, you know something?
GRACE: That`s what`s proved in every rape case with DNA.
SANCHEZ: Yes. That may have been additional evidence. But that factor in it of itself doesn`t mean anything. And you know something about.
GRACE: Oh, good God in heaven, Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: About.
GRACE: If there hasn`t been DNA you`d scream to high heaven there`s no DNA. Now there is DNA and you`re saying, doesn`t prove so much.
SANCHEZ: Yes, but you know something? The allegations that were initially made -- you have to ask yourself in this day and age where every rape allegation in the military has national media paying attention to it.
GRACE: That`s not true.
SANCHEZ: .how come they didn`t arrest this fellow? Why didn`t they?
GRACE: I`ve already asked that and nobody has an answer other than.
SANCHEZ: Right. And maybe.
GRACE: .the local police and the local military police were sitting and twirl on their thumbs the whole time choosing not to believe her.
SANCHEZ: Or maybe she withdrew the charges.
GRACE: She did not withdraw the charges.
SANCHEZ: Well, we don`t know that. Do you have access to her file? We don`t know what her personal file says and we don`t know what the investigators have uncovered.
GRACE: Actually, we do. We do, Alex Sanchez. A thorough reading of the documents reveals that the rape investigation was ongoing. If she had withdrawn the charges, there would not be an active investigation. Hello?
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, we learned from the family that she had some problems with telling the truth.
GRACE: Fall back on you, right.
SANCHEZ: And maybe they know that in the military about her also and that`s why they were walking so carefully.
GRACE: So? Because a woman had lied about something in the past, maybe? You want me to forget the rape allegations?
SANCHEZ: Wait a minute. Wait.
GRACE: OK. You know what? You had your chance. You struck out as far as I`m concerned.
I want to go now to -- excuse me, to Tim Susanin and former Navy JAG, former federal prosecutor.
Sir, thank you for being with us.
TIM SUSANIN, FORMER NAVY JAG, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Maria was accusing the suspect of sexual assault. How would the military police have responded? How should they have responded and why the huge delay? They basically did nothing.
SUSANIN: Well, I don`t think that`s the case, Nancy. It does look like from the record there was an Article 32 investigation under way.
GRACE: What is that?
SUSANIN: .which as you know is the military`s equivalent of a grand jury investigation. From what I`ve read in the press, it looks like that came to a halt at the point where she was going to testify because they had concluded, maybe because of these comments from the mother, that there was problems with her voracity. I also heard reports that she withdrew the complaint and struck up a friendship with him. So I don`t know, why they had problems with her Article 32.
GRACE: Well, hold on. Let me clarify that.
SUSANIN: But that`s out there.
GRACE: Tim, let me just clarify that. We are hearing that that is third hand that she struck up a friendship with her alleged rapist, now the prime suspect in her murder. The investigation was ongoing and what I don`t understand, Ann Bremner, is why in a rape case you have to have, before there`s an arrest made, unlike any other case under the sun, a shoplifting, an armed robbery.
ANN BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.
GRACE: .a burglary, do you get DNA in all those cases to make a claim and arrest? No?
BREMNER: No. Well, no, Nancy. But the thing is, in this case, if she struck up a friendship with him.
GRACE: But -- what?
BREMNER: But, but, Nancy, here`s the thing. We have one suspect which is a victim in the disappearance. Now the second suspect now a suspect in the disappearance but why is he a suspect? Someone I would look at as a third suspect, and that`s his wife, is the one that`s come forward with a note that says he`s involved.
GRACE: No. You know what? Ann?
BREMNER: But, Nancy, I`m just going to tell you.
GRACE: Just stop. He`s the one on the run and I highly believe that the wife. BREMNER: Right. But -- wouldn`t you?
GRACE: .didn`t get her pregnant during the sex assault.
BREMNER: Right. No. But wait a minute.
GRACE: Unless he`s get.
BREMNER: I`m talking about the death. And, you know, I`m going to brush up on my Shakespeare a little bit and say, you know, hell hath no fury, Nancy. And I`m saying we have now three suspects. Three.
GRACE: Anne, Anne, Anne.
BREMNER: Yes.
GRACE: Please stop. Just stop.
Mike Brooks, weigh in.
BROOKS: Nancy, I just want to clear something up today. The head of the NCIS there at Camp Lejeune, he said that there -- that the rape investigation is still active and when he was also.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, Mike.
We`re going live. Sheriff Ed Brown speaking to the press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: .for a (INAUDIBLE) testing. The process -- produces what I thought it may produce, and that is the trace of violent activity in the house, producing blood traces or suspected blood traces in the residence and an evidence of an attempted cleanup of the residence after the blood may have gotten on the property there.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Only one house and one room or is it all over the house?
BROWN: I understand it`s in a couple of places, a couple locations there. Now, there has been and questions to me from some of you all about a note and I have told you that there`s -- the note is there but there`s been a lot of holes plugged in the note and I think this is just another example of another hole plugged in the note. When a person can`t be there to defend itself, the person who`s doing the talking in this case can say anything they want to but evidence now is saying that what he`s claiming happened did not happen like he said it happened.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Didn`t the note led you to Mr. Laurean as the note was from Mr. Laurean`s wife?
BROWN: I can say this note was some evidence that was imported to which way we went after we got that information. This note has proven and the witness has proven to be important and brings us to where we`re at at this time. I will not comment on who brought it. I can just tell you that it did happen. It has some fact to it. But it has some un-factual things which would be in favor of Mr. Laurean`s comments in favor of himself.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you treating this as a suicide or a murder?
BROWN: I`m not treating it as a suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You`re treating it as a murder?
BROWN: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Does the blood evidence that you got indicate that there was a crime that incurred inside the house? That was the.
BROWN: The indication is that there was activity inside the house which caused blood to be expelled from some person on to the wall and areas of the house. Now, it doesn`t take a -- and I`m not being smart -- it doesn`t take a rocket scientist to understand that if there`s a cavity out back and blood on the inside, that`s probably going to be a key location for where this crime may have taken place.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, do you know if the Marines or anybody has any DNA of Miss Lauterbach that can be confirmed when that was compared to that?
BROWN: I feel sure that with the capabilities of -- DNA`s capabilities is that if they don`t have it, there are ways of cross-referencing other family members to isolate it for process of identification.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Right.
BROWN: And again, this probably in my opinion would be major latest update which I think sheds a lot of light on this case. Tomorrow when the examination of the cavity takes place is going to bring a lot more light to it which will as I said in the beginning we start seeing a clear picture of what took place in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any word on the suspect`s whereabouts?
BROWN: Still don`t have any word on the suspect`s whereabouts. I would like to say to the suspect if he is listening and I`m sure his father is listening and the family is probably listening, it would be best for him to return. Now, this sounds strange voluntarily because sooner or later he`s coming back to Onslow County. And if he is telling it like he wants to tell it, it would be foolish to run from what he claimed happens.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any comment on if the remains were burned?
BROWN: I can tell you this. There is what appears to be the remains. I don`t want to go that far out on a limb but -- I can tell you this, I`m not pleased -- well, I don`t want the D.A. saying it and I won`t try to say he didn`t or did say it but I can tell you this. I do think this case is going to be a bizarre ending, yes. When I say bizarre, more than just a death and a burial.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, clarify, on the chemical tests at the scene for the presence of blood, additional tests reveal that it`s human blood?
BROWN: Right. That is positive tests for blood. Additional analyzation of that will indicate whether it`s human blood. But there is an area that in the house where the cleanup was attempted and there is a place, if I`m to be correct, Mr. Sutherland(ph), where a cleanup didn`t appear to be capable of overcoming and was painted -- that`s still the luminal presented through that making it more evident that there must have been a major amount there.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And how did you come to get the note?
BROWN: It was brought here by a witness this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said where in the house the blood was?
BROWN: I think two locations. The garage location was a major -- I think there was a couple of other locations which indicated, if I`m correct, Mister -- Captain Sutherland, that would indicate it could have been not just isolated in one spot.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you say it appeared somebody had tried to paint over some of the blood?
BROWN: Yes, right. In attempting to cleanup, sometimes you don`t feel like the cleanup is sufficient so you try to paint over it. However, it does not prevent the process from displaying that when it`s utilized and that was displayed tonight in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, did the wife say that the note was like reading today and giving an indication that the note was written today or just something that was previously written?
BROWN: I don`t want to dance around that but I haven`t said it was the wife. I said there was a note. Someone else has asked me was it the wife and my comment as I`m not commenting who brought the note.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, do you have any reason to believe that the suspect`s wife was involved this in any way?
BROWN: I`ll keep that comment to myself. As I told you before, my beliefs and what I can prove and it has come before you and say to you, I`m going to have -- being able to say, here it is. If I can`t, I`m not going to put it out and be responsible for it. I`m saying right now I believe we`ll keep on marching forward to this. I do know that Mr. Laurean, if he is listening, if he wrote that note and left that note and make that claim, he hasn`t told the truth. I`m confident to say that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, sheriff.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Anything more breaking tonight or.
BROWN: I really don`t see any -- any update tonight, any further than that. And the reason I`m saying this is what I was expecting to happen through the luminal process. That began to shed a real clear picture of which way this case is going to unfold and it appears right now it`s going to unfold that the activity of her death occurred at the house and stayed within the (INAUDIBLE) of the house and I made that statement earlier on in the last report.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The next briefing is tomorrow?
BROWN: Tomorrow morning, I`m obligated to meet here and speak to some folks. I don`t know how early but I know it -- I know it`s going to be real early in the morning so I`ll be here until we complete what needs to be completed for you all. Understand, I appreciate your being here and therefore I`m going to be here.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What time will you plan on.
BROWN: I have to find out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: .to check on the cavity tomorrow.
BROWN: They`ll probably start that process about 8:00.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: 8:00 in the morning?
BROWN: 8:00. That process really light is important to it. And it will be slow and.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You`re hearing Sheriff Ed Brown give an update on the discovery of the burned remains of 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach. Maybe if the home of the rape suspect had been searched immediately following the rape, immediately following her disappearance, maybe her life could have been saved. He was never brought in for questioning. He was never arrested. Why? He says because he had a lawyer. Well, surprise. Practically every felony defendant charged with rape does have a lawyer. That doesn`t stop the justice system in most jurisdictions.
I want to go out to a special guest, Kirsten Holmstedt. She`s the author of "Band of Sisters," studied women in the military.
Kirsten, question to you. Thank you for being with us, number one.
KIRSTEN HOLMSTEDT, AUTHOR OF "BAND OF SISTERS": Thank you.
GRACE: In the military, how are women who have been sexually molested typically treated?
HOLMSTEDT: Well, they do -- the Marine Corps does have a program in place for sexual assault victims. You know what? In talking to the women in the Marine Corps specifically about this and just -- over the past few years, it really comes down to the command climate. I mean, obviously, the Marine Corps doesn`t endorse sexual harassment and they -- the women say that they`ve made a lot of progress over the past 20 years. Women who have been in 20 years say there`s a lot of training, a lot of progress and so forth.
But really, it comes down to the chain of the command, the unit they`re in, how well the women are integrated, respected by the men. And I`ve talked to -- I talked to a senior officer, a retired colonel, who said that when he was in that he treated.
GRACE: Right.
HOLMSTEDT: .his Marines to work for him, men and women, like a family. So if there was ever a problem with sexual harassment, it was incest and he said he never had a problem. And some of the women I talked to.
GRACE: Well, that`s good to know in that specific instance but, in this case, amazingly, no arrest was made after Maria Lauterbach made a formal complaint of rape against a superior officer. He was one grade above her. She did not take her commands from him.
I want to go to Dr. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist.
Dr. Saunders, much has been made of an allegation by a third party that the two had made up, had a friendly relationship just before she went missing. That`s not from her. That`s not from anyone that I consider a reliable witness. And another thing, Dr. Saunders, she is stuck in the environment with the alleged rapist. What is she supposed to do?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: You know, exactly, Nancy. Welcome back and congratulations.
GRACE: Thank you.
SAUNDERS: I don`t believe that there was a friendly relationship. Look. It takes enormous courage for a woman in the military, especially the Marines, to come out and say that she`s been raped and to stick with it. The biggest reason why women don`t is the fear of retaliation. Look. Her car was keyed and there were possibly threats against her. So either she really did have some mental problems and her judgment was lousy and he was Machiavellian and decided to keep her real close and manipulative so she dropped charges. I don`t believe they were friends.
GRACE: To Shane Brodnick, a high school friend of Maria Lauterbach, this is just a 20-year-old girl.
Shane, thank you for being with us.
SHANE BRODNICK, HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND OF MARIA LAUTERBACH: Hi. Thank you.
GRACE: Very disturbing news that her burned skeletal remains have been discovered in the backyard of the prime suspect not only in her rape but her murder. He is on the run tonight. Number one, I want to hear what Maria was like as a person. I`ve heard so many negative things about her, many of them from her own family which is shocking to me. I want to hear from you what she was like, and the last time you talked to her, your response to what we have learned tonight.
BRODNICK: Well, first I found out yesterday which, you know, shocked me. And, you know, in high school, you know, she was a very outgoing girl. You know, she liked sports. She played soccer, softball. I didn`t go to her high school but we went to a vocational school and that`s how I met her. We also worked to.
GRACE: So tell me about her personality.
BRODNICK: Yes. She was -- you know, she always had, you know, a kind of an uplifting, you know, look most of the time. Every time I saw her, you know, she had an uplifting look to her.
GRACE: I want to go back to Ed Lavandera. We have just heard from Sheriff Ed Brown about the most recent discoveries. Several things popped to mind, there`s no way in a suicide that you`d have blood spatter in several different locations in the home. He seems to be referring to mitochondrial DNA as a possibility to make a match. Can`t they do a DNA field test tonight, a blood field test tonight?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I`m not sure if they have the capability tonight and right now they`re actually inside that home, that`s why we`ve gotten that information so quickly. They`re working the inside of the home and waiting to do the outside investigation until tomorrow morning in daylight. Whether or not they have that capability to do that kind of DNA testing, I`m not aware of.
GRACE: With us on the scene, Ed Lavandera, CNN correspondent.
Also with us, Mandi Sheridan with WDTN there near the home of the victim`s family.
Very quickly tonight, APB, all points bulletin for special moms and dads. If you know a parent who`s an inspiration to others and deserves recognition, get your camcorder. Go to CNN.com/Nancygrace and click on i- Report. Enter that deserving mom and dad in the "Nancy Grace Extraordinary Parent Contest."
And tonight, congratulations to the Watchung, New Jersey Police Department and officers receiving well-deserved promotions. This week, Dan Lorimor, Detective Sergeant Bill Kelly, Chief Sean Whelan and Tim Wenzel and Lieutenant Joe Cina, congratulations.
Tonight, thank you not only to these officers, but to law enforcement all across our country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more important the people who touched all our lives.
Breaking news. Just in. Authorities have found the body of a missing hiker. Joining me is Steve Segars, this is Meredith Emerson`s boyfriend.
Steve, how are you and how is Meredith`s family tonight?
STEVE SEGARS, MEREDITH EMERSON`S BOYFRIEND: I can only speak for me. It`s -- it`s stunning. It`s crippling.
GRACE: Twenty-six-year-old Beth Ann Chester facing more than a dozen charges including statutory sex assault and child abuse. It all unfolds when the boy`s parents find sexually-charged text messages and nude photos of Chester on their son`s cell phone.
Well, that certainly is putting perfume on a pig to call it sexually- charged messages.
We are helping in our own way. Joining the search for a missing Marine, 20-year-old Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach.
JOEL BRODSKY, DREW PETERSON`S ATTORNEY: We think that maybe she`s out there and that she`s afraid to come back because she`s worried about prosecution and we`d like them to come out and publicly state that Stacy has nothing to worry about if she shows herself.
GRACE: Prosecution for what?
BRODSKY: For all the trouble she`s caused. There`s been.
GRACE: I`m sorry. I`m asking for a specific criminal statute, sir.
BRODSKY: Well, it.
GRACE: Prosecution for what? What are you talking about?
Tonight we are live in my apartment here in New York with the twins. The littlest crime fighters, John David and Lucy Elizabeth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t mean to be rude but you`re looking smoking hot, too.
GRACE: Tonight, let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Daniel McCall, just 24, (INAUDIBLE), Florida, killed Iraq. Awarded the Purple Heart and bronze star, a smile that lit up the room. Loved sharing treats with Iraqi kids and dreamed of college and a romantic getaway with his wife. Leaves behind mom, Petra, grandparents Marvin and Lianne, and grieving widow and soul mate Britney. Daniel McCall, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for inviting us into your homes. A special good night from the New York control room. Good night, everybody. As we head into the weekend, a couple of shots I took of the twins at home, one -- this is the one I took today on the way to work and one from Christmas. I`ll post these on the Web for you tonight and let me again thank you for all of us for your prayers for me and the twins.
See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
