Cesar Armando Laurean was born on November 13, 1986, in Mexico and later immigrated to the United States. At the time of the crime, he was a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Laurean served in the Marine Corps as a personnel clerk and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Logistics Group. His service record before the murder did not publicly reflect prior criminal misconduct.

Laurean was married to Christina Laurean and resided in Jacksonville, North Carolina. It was at Camp Lejeune that Laurean came into contact with Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach, a 20-year-old Marine who later accused him of rape. Lauterbach, a native of Vandalia, Ohio, had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2006 and was also working as a personnel clerk. At the time of the accusation, Lauterbach was pregnant and claimed that Laurean was the father. The military was investigating the allegation, but both Marines continued serving at the base.

On December 14, 2007, Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was brutally murdered by Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean at his home in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Lauterbach, who was eight months pregnant at the time, had accused Laurean of sexual assault and was preparing to testify against him. Rather than facing possible prosecution, Laurean chose to silence her permanently.

According to forensic evidence and court records, Laurean bludgeoned Lauterbach with a crowbar during an argument. In an attempt to conceal the crime, he burned her body and that of her unborn child in a homemade fire pit in his backyard. He then attempted to clean up the blood and other forensic evidence from the scene. Investigators later discovered a large amount of Lauterbach's blood inside Laurean's home, confirming she had died there.

On January 11, 2008, authorities discovered her charred remains buried in a shallow grave behind Laurean’s residence. A suicide note left by Laurean, addressed to his wife, falsely claimed that Maria had taken her own life by cutting her throat during an argument, and that he panicked and tried to dispose of the body. However, this narrative was swiftly debunked: the autopsy revealed that the throat wound occurred post-mortem and that the true cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

As the investigation unfolded, authorities learned that Laurean had fled the country shortly after the murder became public. A federal warrant was issued for his arrest on January 12, 2008. Laurean had returned to Mexico, his country of birth, prompting the FBI, Interpol, and Mexican authorities to issue an international alert. Despite the manhunt, Laurean managed to evade capture for several months.

He was finally arrested on April 10, 2008, in the town of Tacámbaro, Michoacán, Mexico. The extradition process was lengthy, complicated by Mexico's refusal to extradite individuals who might face the death penalty. In exchange for Laurean’s return, Onslow County prosecutors agreed not to seek capital punishment. After multiple appeals, Laurean was returned to the United States on April 17, 2009.

Laurean’s trial venue was moved from Onslow to Wayne County due to intense media coverage. The trial began in June 2010. During court proceedings, the prosecution presented overwhelming evidence of Laurean’s guilt, including forensic analysis, ATM transactions made using Lauterbach’s card after her death, and testimony that he had planned to flee to Mexico with Lauterbach in a plot to discredit her. According to prosecutors, Laurean killed Maria when that plan failed, fearing that her rape accusation would derail his military career.

On August 24, 2010, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of 2025, Cesar Laurean remains incarcerated.