Thursday

True Crime Update 3/20/08

Some ongoing crimes and investigations updates in this True Crime post.

First, remember Maria Lauterbach? She's the pregnant marine allegedly murdered by another marine whose backyard held Maria's charred remains. We've an update on a curious post-mortem injury on her remains.

Plus the search for the missing Hilton Head couple goes to a local landfill.

The fine man who burned his two young sons alive pleads not guilty.

Some new crimes covered in this post include a fine couple who left their terrified 8 year old alone in the car while they drank in a bar, a woman found dead in her California home with no apparent death wounds, a felon who successfully defended himself in court and a naked man runs amok on a forklift, we're not making that up.


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Post Mortem Neck Injury On Maria Lauterbach's Remains

It's almost as if poor Maria Lauterbach and her unborn baby has been totally forgotten by her country, the marines and investigators looking for her believed murderer, Cesar Laurean, also a marine.

The fine Laurean, believed to be the father of Lauterbach's unborn child, is thought to have escaped to Mexico and, well that's the end of that it seems like.

Laurean's wife is still here in the states and her involvement in Lauterbach's murder is unknown, at least by the public.

Lauterbach's burnt remains as well as her unborn baby's were found buried under a barbecue pit in the fine folks' Laureans' back yard.

These cretins even had a big barbecue right over the top of the dead bodies!

From CNN.com:
Marie Lauterbach, missing pregnant marine

(CNN) -- A 20-year-old pregnant Marine had a superficial wound to her neck that may have occurred after death, according to autopsy results released Friday.

If so, the finding casts doubt on the main suspect's story.

An autopsy concluded that Lauterbach had a four inch wound on her neck that was made after Maria had died. Cesar Laurean had left his wife a note stating that Lauterbach had killed herself by slicing open her own neck.

An unbelievable tale at any rate but the confirmation that a neck wound happened AFTER Lauterbach died removes any doubt that the weird suicide story was true.

Maria Lauterbach had early on been thrown under the bus by her own mother, who publicly declared that Maria was bi-polar and had a history of lying. It's not clear how such early pooh-poohing of Maria's claims that she had been raped might have caused a delay into investigating her disappearance, giving Laurean time to escape to Mexico.

This crime looks increasingly like it will never be solved.

This Blogger will not forget Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child.
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Search for Missing Hilton Head Couple Leads to Local Landfill

This is an intriguing case that, as of this writing, has practically solved itself.

First covered on this Blog HERE, John and Elizabeth Calvert went missing on 3/3/08. The Calverts were a well-to-do couple who lived part of the year on Hilton Head Island. Their disappearance wasn't a total mystery very long in that a "person of interest", one Dennis Gerwing, up and committed suicide suddenly by slicing open a major artery in his leg.

Gerwing was a financial advisor for the Calverts.

Now a videotape evidently shows Gerwing tossing something in the trash bin of a local strip mall. Although I find the notion of throwing two adult bodies into a trash bin a bit hard to believe, investigators are searching the landfill where the trash might have been dumped and they certainly should.

From The state.com:
John and Elizabeth Calvert

A videotape showing a man putting something in a strip mall trash bin might have led authorities and their cadaver-sniffing dogs to search a Georgia landfill for missing Hilton Head Island couple John and Elizabeth Calvert.

It's not at all clear why Gerwing might have killed the Calverts. And the assumption is that Gerwing is likely their murderer in that his own suicide shortly after they disappeared pointed the finger of suspicion directly at him.

The working theory seems to be that the Calverts suspected Gerwing of pilfering money from them. In fact, it was after a scheduled meeting with the Calverts that they disappeared.

I'm sure investigators know a lot more than has been publicized and with the passage of time they've certainly pored over the Calverts' money transactions and how Gerwing might have been involved.

At this point it's almost conclusive that the Calverts' murderer executed himself. Now the main task is to find the couples' bodies that they may have a decent burial.
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Fine Man Who Burned His Sons to Death Pleads Not Guilty

Covered on this Blog HERE, and HERE, we've followed the story of Kaushik Patel and the tragic, tragic story of his young sons who were not only set afire by their father, but who both suffered many, many hours before death finally claimed them.

From the Chicago Tribune:
Patel children burned

Kaushik Patel pleaded not guilty Monday to murdering his two young sons by dousing them with gasoline and setting them on fire in the bathroom of their Glendale Heights home Nov. 18.

Patel, 34, a native of India, used an interpreter as he entered his plea to charges of murder and aggravated battery of a child for Om, 4, who died Jan. 17, and Vishv, 7, who died last month.

The fine father claims that he was only trying to kill himself when his sons suddenly burst into the motel bathroom and they caught the brunt of the gasoline Patel had splashed around and the subsequent flames that did burn the adult Patel a bit but which killed the two young boys.

Well I think this story is bullshit but a jury will sort it all out.

First, Patel might well have been trying to kill himself that fateful night after picking up his boys from their custodial mother and returning to the motel room of their torment. But make no mistake that he was also taking his sons with him because he wanted to punish his estranged wife. Or so went the theories.

As the boys succumbed to their wounds, the charges against Patel changed to murder of first one son, then the other.

Now let a jury decide based on the evidence and may Jesus hold these innocents in His loving arms now finally free from the pain inflicted on them by a father they'd once loved and trusted.
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"Aspiring Actress" Found Dead in Her California Home

Juliana Redding was found dead by police performing a "wellness" check based on a call from Juliana's frantic mother.

What might be almost mirthful had this tragedy not happened is the fact that one of Juliana's movie credits is what appears to be a cinematic masterpiece titled "Kathy T Gives Good Hoover".

Nancy Grace was covering this crime on her show the evening of 3/18/08. There's still a lot unknown about this murder. First, according to local journalists covering this case, police are saying that Juliana has no obvious bullet or stab wounds. Although the claim is that Juliana was obviously assaulted, it's not at all clear what sort of "assault" is referred to.

From ABCnews.com:
Julia Redding found dead in home

Authorities in Southern California are investigating the murder of an aspiring actress whose body was found Sunday night in her Santa Monica apartment.

Juliana Redding, 21, was found dead "as the result of an assault" when authorities went to her home to check on her well-being, Lt. Alex Padilla of the Santa Monica Police Department told ABC News.

The article linked above refers to a Greg Cipes, another actor with whom Juliana had a romantic relationship.

We'll be keeping an eye on this.
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Fine Parents Leave Terrified 8 Year Old In Truck While They Drink in Bar

These parents finally left the bar after police found them in a follow up report about the child left in the truck. Who knows how long they might have kept on drinking had the police not intervened?

From Foxnews.com:
Edward and Lisa Davis left child in car while in bar

An 8-year-old girl was locked in a truck for at least two hours while her parents were drinking inside a Florida bar, according to a report by MyFOXOrlando.com.

Edward Wise Davis, 37, and Lisa Brazell Davis, 36, face charges of child neglect after police say they found the girl locked in the truck, the TV station reports.

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Felon Defends Self...Pronounced "Not Guilty"

Harold Stewart is hardly anybody's idea of a model citizen. He is an unmarried father of four children, a puzzling thing that. He had been living in what was evidently some sort of rooming house and a roommate irked Stewart so much that Stewart was alleged to have beaten the roommate to death.

The victim, known as "Spuds" Johnson, was attended to by paramedics around midnight on the night of the alleged assault. The main witness, another roommate, Kevin Green, said he saw Stewart attack Johnson and walked to a nearby fire station to report the murder.

Only Green says the attack happened at 9:30 pm while paramedics didn't work on Johnson until after midnight.

From the Washington Post.com:
harold stewart defends himself

It's an axiom known by every lawyer and judge in every courthouse in the land: A man who represents himself in court has a fool for a client.

Try telling that to Harold J. Stewart

Well hey, that's a pretty damn important difference in time there and I must wonder why the fine Merryland prosecutors didn't define why the delay in their main witnesses' testimony until paramedics came to attend to the victim.

One trial against Stewart resulted in a mistrial so there's something definitely amiss in the prosecution of this case. Stewart even had a private attorney paid for by his family and finally he dismissed this guy and won his case.

It's probable that Stewart really killed his roommate. Three drifter types having a beer party, words of anger are sparked, the hands on the clock blur.

But in this country the prosecutor has to make his damn case! Else we'll have a country full of prosecutors like the fine Nifong of Durham fame. The jury found Stewart not guilty on all charges and hey, three hours difference in a major time point in the crime and I've reasonable doubt all over the place.
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Naked Man Goes Berzerk in Local Store

The video at the link shows customers, store personnel and finally security personnel trying to deal with this nut.

The guy's naughty bits have been blacked out.

From Lancasteronline.com:
A Willow Street supermarket today released footage of a naked man who ran amok inside the store Friday evening, doing about $40,000 in damage.

Viewer discretion is advised.

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FOCUS ON Maria Lauterbach
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She was a young woman enlisted in the United States Marines. She accused a fellow marine of raping her and so far there's been no explanation about that accusation save a rather unkind statement by Maria's own mother that she is bipolar and a known habitual liar.

Maria's disappearance was reported before Christmas but it wasn't until around 1/8 the following year that anyone got around to looking for the poor woman. Maria's body was discovered, burned and buried, in the backyard of that same marine she accused of raping her!

That fine young man took off somewhere for Mexico and as of the writing of this synopsis he's still there. Cesar Laurean's wife, however, was left behind and it's really confusing what she had to do with Maria's death.

First report on Blog of the missing pregnant marine
Information on Lauterbach continues to come in
Lauterbach's "mother" tries to save her reputation

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I hope they find who killed her and give them death.