No One Can Hide Forever; No Red Carpet, No Acceptance Speeches, No Best And Worst Dressed, Could This Really Be The Golden Globes
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: No one can hide forever. Tonight a sighting of a man wanted in the horrific murder of a pregnant marine in North Carolina. How close are the cops? After years as rebel hostages, they walk out of the jungles of Colombia as free women.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A thousand thank you to all my friends and my fellow countrymen. You don't have to do that.</s>HARRIS: We'll bring you their heroine tales. People in the northeast are going to bed tonight in one world but they may wake up tomorrow in a very different one. That's because a nor'easter is blowing their way. He was a top executive at Microsoft. He could say he had it all, but he turned his back on the good life. Why?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can you live in a world with so much abundance and have something is lacking in books on children's lives.</s>HARRIS: For this man, it's all in a book.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Golden Globe goes to.</s>HARRIS: No red carpet, no acceptance speeches, no best and worst dressed, could this really be the Golden Globes? It is and we've got the winner. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. And good evening, everyone. I'm Tony Harris tracking tonight what may be a key moment in the nationwide hunt for suspected killer. The victim you'll recall, a 20-year-old active duty marine. She was 8 months pregnant. The body found burned and buried is believed to be her. Then today, the man police think murdered her may have popped up on the radar. I say again, maybe. Do this for me here. Draw a line from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to Shreveport, Louisiana. It is about 1,000 miles. But it's where more than one person has reported seeing a man who fits the description of the Marine Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean. They saw this man at this bus station. Coming or going, no one's sure. But tonight, as far as leads go, it's the only one murder investigators actually have. So we wait for word, any word from the marines, from police or from anyone in the country who may see this desperate man charged with murder and on the run. We just learned of this awful crime a few days ago. But the events leading up to it go back almost a year. Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.</s>RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): April 2007, Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach tells her superiors at Camp Lejeune she was raped by Corporal Cesar Laurean, a fellow persona clerk. She's pregnant. An investigation begins. That's also when her family says her nightmare really began.</s>PETER STEINER, MARIA LAUTERBACH'S UNCLE: She was scared and didn't know what was going to happen to her. And so during this process, after she eventually did report it she was consistently harassed by other marines.</s>DORNIN: In May, a protective order is issued by the marines against Laurean. Then in October Camp Lejeune marine commanders request the military version of a grand jury investigation. In December, Lauterbach was due to testify. On the 14th is the last time her mother speaks to her by phone. The same day a woman believed to be Lauterbach buys a bus ticket to El Paso, Texas, for the following day. The ticket was never used. On December 19th, Lauterbach's mother calls police and says her daughter is missing. After she disappeared the marines listed her on unauthorized leave. The day before Christmas, police say Corporal Laurean uses Lauterbach's ATM card. On January 9th, the marine corps at Camp Lejeune says it's cooperating with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department. There was speculation that the pregnant marine might be alive. But then on January 11th, a break in the case. Laurean's wife Cristina notifies the sheriff's department that her husband gave her a note. In the note, Corporal Laurean claims the pregnant marine committed suicide and he buried her.</s>SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: Mrs. Lauterbach is dead and has been buried here at Onslow County. The suspect in the case is the marine accused by her for assaulting her.</s>DORNIN: But Laurean fled four hours before his wife notified authorities. Something that surprised military investigators.</s>PAUL CICCARELLI, NAVAL INVESTIGATOR: He was considered not a flight risk. There's a lot of factors in this investigation that obviously I can't divulge. It's still an active investigation as far as this rape complaint that I can't share with you at this point in time.</s>DORNIN: His wife said Laurean left their home at 4:00 a.m. that morning. The search was on to find Lauterbach's remains. They find blood spattered on the walls and ceiling at the marine corporal's home and a grim find in the backyard fire pit.</s>BROWN: The body was much charred. It appeared that the body of the adult was lying over on the side with the facedown in the bottom of the pit.</s>HARRIS: Man, these are just gruesome details. Our Rusty Dornin joins us now from Jacksonville, North Carolina. And Rusty, you know, there seem to be a lot of excitement about the reported sighting in Shreveport and now questions.</s>DORNIN: Well, it just -- we've heard these witnesses saw -- purportedly saw Laurean at the bus station in Shreveport. But now law enforcement officials went at Shreveport and here are a little bit skeptical. U.S. Marshal's office is saying there are no confirmed sightings. And they're also saying the person who bought the bus ticket, apparently these people saw bought a ticket from Dallas to Shreveport and was seen there at some point, which is a little bit confusing. We did speak to the sheriff here a little earlier and he's saying, well, you know, we're going through this all now. He hadn't even spoken to investigators in Shreveport, but there are some things that may be contradicting that sighting. So there are still a manhunt on. The FBI announced today that they are also joining in investigating the case. In the meantime, of course, the circumstances surrounding Maria Lauterbach's death remain and her body will be taken to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, presumably tomorrow for the official autopsy.</s>HARRIS: OK, Rusty Dornin for us in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Rusty Appreciate it. Thank you. North Carolina police believe the Louisiana suspect sighting is credible, their word. But really, in the time since Laurean was named suspect, the entire country is now a search area. Mike Brooks is on the phone with me right now. He is our security analyst, a former detective, former FBI agent. Mike, let's be clear about this. This is absolutely national manhunt. And if we're looking now, Louisiana, possibly Texas, we also need to think about Mexico, don't we?</s>MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Tony. You know, when people are on a run, where do they try to go? They try to get over the border to Mexico, you know, because -- because you get down there and the authorities are not so, you know, they don't want to get you back to the United States so much. Well you know, but when we hear what Rusty just reporting, is you know, they're not so sure. Well, the FBI right now, they have UFAP warrant. It's Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. Now, that is so if anybody anywhere in the country happens to find this guy, they can snatch him up and say, yep, we're holding you. And that's basically a holding charge. Now, the U.S. Marshals, you know, they usually get their man or their woman. But, you know, in this particular case, this guy, you know, he's not stupid, Tony.</s>HARRIS: Right, right.</s>BROOKS: He knows, you know, he's Latino, you know, he's Hispanic. He speaks the language. He can get around if he has to get down into Texas, get down towards Brownsville, that kind of way. But again, you know, they're looking at the video because most of the bus stations, Tony, they have video. And they can take a look and say, OK, is this the guy or is it not the guy? Now, you know, there's been a lot of -- there's been a lot of criticism of the investigative part, why didn't they hold this guy?</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>BROOKS: You know, well, if you look back, the sexual assault, the alleged rape against her happened on the base. So, you know, a lot of people say, oh, why didn't Onslow County hold this guy? Well, Tony, when it happens on the base, it's the Marine Corps, military police, and the NCIS. They were criminal investigator service, they were doing the initial investigation. So, you've got that and there were in the initial report that we've talked about over and over again, in the last four days, they said there were inconsistencies in her statement. Even her mother said, oh, you know, she's a liar. Well, you know what, that's out of the window right now.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>BROOKS: But when you look at the reports, law enforcement, the local law enforcement, Onslow County, Sheriff Brown, all his people can do is go on what they have. Now, you know, I think there was a little bit of problem, what I'm seeing as a former investigator, Tony, I see that there was a little bit of problem on communication between the Marine Corps, NCIS and the local authorities when she was reported missing. Her roommate who found a note, there was a note there that said, you know, I'm going to leave, I'll be -- you know, I'm going to leave for a while, I'm happy with the marines, you know, he reported her as missing. They reported -- the Marine Corps said, she's now U.A., Unauthorized Absence. She wasn't reported as AOL. Now, did the local authorities know about this former sexual assault, you know, back when they first started the investigation? I tell you what, I'm a little troubled, Tony, about the communication.</s>HARRIS: Well, Mike, I got to tell you something, this is a real reporter story right now because there are so many. You just listed another set of questions to be answered. A real reporter story right now and perhaps we'll get some clear answers here in the days to come. Mike Brooks on the line with us this evening. Mike, appreciate it. Thanks.</s>BROOKS: Thank you, Tony.</s>HARRIS: As if this case wasn't complicated and twisted enough, there's also a gray area when it comes to who's in charge. A military victim, civilian jurisdiction, and if the suspect fled the state, well, there's the FBI. Tonight we brought in a military legal expert to help us sort it all out.</s>HARRIS (voice-over): The murder victim and active duty member of the United States Marine Corps. The murder suspect, an active duty member of the United States Marine Corps. So far, the only public face of the investigation belongs to a civilian sheriff. So where's the Marine Corps? What are they doing to bring in their fugitive corporal? And who gets him when or if he's eventually arrested?</s>GWEN LINDSAY-JACKSON, FORMER PROSECUTOR NEW YORK NATIONAL GUARD: When the authorities catch him, and I presume that's going to be is civilian authorities because the civilian authorities is -- they're the authorities that have jurisdiction over this investigation with the murder and with the investigation in the beginning with finding the whereabouts of the young lady and now enforcement turns out to be a murder investigation. It is their primary jurisdiction. This is something that was said by, you know, the military investigator, that primary jurisdiction does rest with the civilian authorities with this particular case.</s>HARRIS (on-camera): But you said something interesting, that he is likely to be captured by the civilian authorities. That makes me wonder if the FBI, if NPs (ph) are involved in helping to find him?</s>LINDSAY-JACKSON: Well, I think we heard in the beginning when the sheriff first put out his statement, he said that he got cooperation from various law enforcement officers. Now that doesn't mean that, you know, the jurisdiction changes. It just means that everybody is trying to put their arms around this and cooperate. So if he moves across state lines, obviously the FBI would be involved with trying to seek and find him. Obviously the military would want to help in any way they're can because here we're talking about one of their marines. But primary jurisdiction, it's important to remember this, does rest with the civilian authorities for the murder investigation and for the seeking of this marine that's on the lamb.</s>HARRIS (voice-over): And then there's the question of whether this suspect, Corporal Laurean, should have ever been allowed to come and go as he pleased. He was, after all, accused of a very serious crime, a sexual assault. Our legal expert says an accusation and a formal charge are two very different things.</s>LINDSAY-JACKSON: We hadn't gotten to the point where this person was even officially charged with the sexual assault. We were just in the investigation. He was entitled to due process. Now, with the civilian authorities, it sounds like when they got a hold of the case, I don't know how many days late it was, it sounds like when they got a hold of it, they were obligated to go ahead and move forward with the investigation. And there are a couple of things that, you know, they could have done and maybe they had done it, perhaps they could have monitored the coming and goings of the marine when he left the base. Now, these were not recoups. These were people, again that were, you know, they were already trained. They were performing their jobs. And they were allowed to leave the base. So my understanding is that both of these parties live off-base. So again, without a formal charge with all this murkiness with the military, I'm not really entirely sure, you know, if they had any obligation to hold him on the base in light of what was happening.</s>HARRIS: Of course, we'll never know what the investigation would have found. The body with unborn baby believed to be Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was found just this weekend, buried in Laurean's backyard.</s>HARRIS: Now, just in the past few minutes really we did get an official statement from the U.S. Marine Corps at Champ Lejeune, North Carolina. It's says, the corps quote, Collecting information and conducting a review to determine what information was available to commanders -- it goes on -- "We understand the press and public desire to know what happened, but we want to ensure whatever information we release is accurate and that our release of information would not adversely impact any on going investigation and/or future judicial proceeding." Change gears here. Let's talk about the weather. Boy, a big winter storm is rumbling into the northeast and New England tonight dumping a lot of snow and threatening to make a real mess of tomorrow's commute. Let's check in now with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in the CNN severe weather center. Are we talking nor'easter here, Jacqui?</s>HARRIS: And the show did go on. Can you really call it a show? The 65th Annual Golden Globes Awards was the shortest, that's not bad, and certainly the least glamorous ever because of the Hollywood's writer strike. It was essentially a news conference. Categories were read, winners were announced and folks went on their way. CNN's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" anchor Brooke Anderson and our Kareen Wynter were there. Ladies good to see you. Hey Kareen, you know I love you but I want to toss this first question to Brook, as we see the video of Brooke Anderson sashaying across the stage as a presenter.</s>KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Give it up for her, Tony.</s>HARRIS: Wow, let's give it up for Brooke Anderson. Hey Brooke, what was that like for you tonight?</s>BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I have to tell you, my heart was beating so fast, Tony. I was a little bit nervous. And the other announcers and I were sitting up there on stage. And I kind of looked at Jim Moret and Lara Spencer and we said, this is so bizarre, this is so surreal, what are we doing here? This is the Golden Globes announcement, you know. And I know, you can say it, it was dull compared to ceremonies in the past. It was. It was a straight news conference. But at the same time, we all know these awards are very important to the performers and the nominees. And a lot of them have told me over the past couple of weeks that they weren't going to be watching, whether it be at their homes or a private dinner with the cast and crews. So, you know, people still were paying attention, I'm sure.</s>HARRIS: Well, Kareen, I got to tell you something. I love you tonight on "LARRY KING." You were trying to defend the show and defend Brooke.</s>WYNTER: Yes, it was just me alone.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>ANDERSON: Thank you, Kareen.</s>HARRIS: Against the swings and arrows of Debbie Matenopoulos, I can't remember her name there, sitting up there with Larry.</s>HARRIS: I'm sorry. I'm picking a fight here and that's not fair. But I got to ask you. I don't know who won in the major categories. You got a bit of a rundown for me? Who was the big winner tonight?</s>WYNTER: I actually do but who cares. It's all about the presenters on stage, Tony. My goodness. Well, I'll give you one category. OK? In the best motion picture, musical or comedy, well "Sweeney Todd." Let's go back to the interesting stuff. All the other presenters. And this really -- I feel, we are success because it was a last minute scramble to really get this event on, can't even call it a show. The phones are ringing on Friday. They were looking for people to represent on the stage. And you know, I had an interesting conversation with the after rehearsal today. It lasted 28 minutes. And Brooke has said, you know, it was really impromptu. That it want to be scripted. They ran through it quickly. And the fact that this went off, you know, without any snags, any kind of interruption. It's great.</s>ANDERSON: I have to say thank you for trying to defend us. Me, participating. I really appreciate that change. And you know, one thing that stood out to me, Tony, is that the awards were kind of swift. They were given out kind of evenly between the movies "Atonement" was the leading nominee coming in here tonight and walked away with two Golden Globes. The "Diving Bell and the Butterfly" two, "No Country for Old Man" two, "Sweeney Todd," two. So there were a lot of excited people out there hoping to move forward with Oscar nominations as well. We'll just have to see if the Oscars suffer the same fate as the Golden Globes.</s>HARRIS: Sure and to that point, I'm wondering whether or not, and I'll throw this out to both of you, whether or not the fact that this big night, I mean let's face it, they are two big nights for Hollywood, this one and the Oscars, the fact that this one is truncated and looks like a news conference, could that have the power of bringing new sides together? But I got to tell you, if you look at it, it feels like the writers may be are feeling a little victorious tonight.</s>WYNTER: Well, absolutely. This is a huge victory. I have to agree with this, for the writers. It took a lot to really bring things down the way they did. You know, the bet went on but it feels</s>ANDERSON: And they say that the show will go on with or without writers. But you know, the writer's guild will picket if they don't give the academy awards a waiver to go on without the show. So who is going to attend the show from the Screen Actors Guild because they have been showing solidarity with these writers from the very beginning of this strike, November 5th. And I have to say, the writers really made a statement tonight. They demonstrated their power by bringing this show down to its truncation that it was.</s>HARRIS: Yes and you two made strong statements tonight as well. Brooke, great job tonight and Kareen, outstanding in defending our colleague. Good to see you both. That was a lot of fun. Thank you ladies. And still to come in the NEWSROOM tonight, they are free and they are talking.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There are people who are ill. And all the soldiers and policemen, the fact is they're in chains. It's painful. They have them 24 hour as day that way. And to live in that situation is very difficult.</s>HARRIS: Two former hostages are released after years in rebel captivity. We take you through their dramatic ordeal.