AP News, January 16th, 2008
In the middle of a nationwide manhunt during the most watched case of his career, Ed Brown sneaked away from detectives and reporters alike to teach Sunday school. The lesson: "Facing Opposition."
"It really blesses you when you step back to think, 'This came up right at the time it was relevant,'" Brown said Tuesday. "My nature is not to enjoy confrontation. In fact, I despise conflict."
Brown, 63, has led the search for Cesar Armando Laurean, a Marine corporal suspected of murder in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her, and her body was found late last week in the fellow personnel clerk's backyard fire pit.
Brown is so affable that he ended one news conference by giving out his cell phone number on national TV. He's quick to apologize when a reporter's question triggers his temper, and has cut off several network anchors in order to thank them for devoting so much air time to the case.
For all the time Brown has spent on camera talking about the case, investigators say he's spent much more working it, chasing leads by cell phone and pulling 20-hour days to track Laurean down.
"He comes across as just a nice Southern boy, but he's very good at his job," said Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson.
Lauterbach's family and others have criticized how the sheriff's department and the Marines have handled the case. The 20-year-old disappeared sometime after Dec. 14, soon after talking to military prosecutors about the rape case, but sheriff's investigators did little searching until last week. Laurean, 21, had refused to talk to investigators, and fled as they closed in on the body.
Brown, the sheriff since 1990, says his department acted as best it could on the facts available.
He said he had promised himself he wouldn't appear on the shows of cable news personalities who criticized his department, but gave in because he felt the need to be fair.
"As passive as I am, I ain't going to get run over," Brown said. "The behavior of people like (CNN's) Nancy Grace and (Fox News') Geraldo (Rivera) are not who they really are. I think they're just like that for ratings."
Still, Brown said he could do without all the attention. Courted by both Democrats and Republicans to run for a seat in the state Legislature, his interaction with reporters since Lauterbach disappeared has led him to decide against it.
Doing so would require Brown to leave his humble country home, frequently filled by his two grandchildren and his parents, who live across the street. He can't imagine leaving his church, filled each Sunday by dozens of "kinfolk" who live in an area where he was raised as the oldest of six children by a tenant farmer.
Brown is at the church every morning, in a small chapel with just six pews, praying under its cozy cathedral ceiling. A placard in the lobby of the sheriff's office tells visitors that the department is "serving God and Onslow County," and Brown bemoans the difficulty of keeping the priorities in that order.
Locals greet Brown as "Mr. Ed" at his favorite diner, where he favors sweet tea with extra ice, and are quick to recognize "Ol' Betty," his boat-sized 1990 Chevrolet.
Onslow County is dominated by the massive Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps' main base on the Atlantic coast. The base and surrounding community are home to nearly 150,000 people with ties to the base, active duty and retired Marines, their family, and civilian base employees.
