1/22/2008

Murder of the Pregnant Marine: Would Cesar Laurean Be Extradicted From Mexico?

Of course, here in San Antonio everyone is checking out everyone else -- in grocery store lines, at the gas pump, in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

We're close to Mexico, and we've got a huge Hispanic community as well as a large military population. Cesar would fit right in here.

Does that guy look like Cesar Laurean? What if you discount the red hair and the glasses and the limp, then could it be him? What was the reward again?

Maybe it's because we all remember the manhunt for Jose Del Toro, the young man who left here for Florida to kill San Antonio Quad Mom Sheila Bellush, and made it into Mexico before being found and extradicted.

Yes, a deal was made with Mexico for Del Toro's return - no death penalty. He's currently serving two consecutive life sentences in Florida.

It Took Almost 2 Years to Get Del Toro Extradicted

Over the 20 months that the extradition deal was being negotiated, Del Toro sat in a Mexican prison after being located by Mexican authorities. That negotiation took lots of time, and involved both the U.S. Congress (there was a congressional hearing on the matter) and the Mexican Supreme Court (Del Toro appealed in the Mexican courts) in the decision to allow Del Toro back into U.S. jurisdiction for trial and sentencing. Del Toro's decision to admit guilt was purportedly a factor in his return to the States.

Laurean Might Well Win a Mexican Extradiction Fight

If Cesar Laurean has made it across the border, and if he is discovered in his native Mexico, then it's going to be a big legal fight to get him back here. If Del Toro's case is any gauge, Laurean could be remain in Mexico for a very long time.

I'm thinking that not only will Laurean not take responsiblity for murder, as Del Toro did, but that Laurean is also a Mexican native - which Del Toro was not. Two big factors that might sway the Mexican courts to keep him in Mexico, unlike their Supreme Court decision in Del Toro's case to allow extradiction.