A former Marine charged with killing a pregnant colleague was not the father of the unborn baby, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
In a report completed by the Department of Defense Armed Forces Institute of Pathology on May 7, DNA analysts concluded that former Cpl. Cesar Laurean was not the father of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach's unborn child.
The tests are based on bone samples from Lauterbach's autopsy and samples taken from Laurean on April 27 after he returned to the United States.
Laurean, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lauterbach, 20. Investigators believe he fled hours before Lauterbach's charred remains were found in January 2008, buried behind the house Laurean shared with his wife and young daughter.
Lauterbach, who was about eight months pregnant, worked with Laurean at nearby Camp Lejeune. She told Navy investigators that she was raped by Laurean in 2007, though later recanted her claim that Laurean fathered of her unborn child. Investigators never corroborated her rape claims.
Mexican authorities captured Laurean just over a year ago in the small town of Tacambaro, Mexico. He was extradited to North Carolina last month after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.
Laurean was expelled from the Marine Corps on Wednesday because he "was unavailable to perform his mission," said Maj. Cliff Gilmore, a Second Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman. Gilmore said the Marine Corps would not release anything more specific, citing privacy rules.
Defense attorney Dick McNeil said Laurean received an "other than honorable discharge." Laurean was notified April 17 and waived his right to appeal the discharge.
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