Day Nine - Christopher Brandon Lee Confesses To Murdering Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin/Facebook

Sorry it took me so long to write and post this. I'm battling a Migraine that came on during Christopher Lee's chilling and horrifying testimony. Yes, the defendant's words literally made me ill. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

It's not exactly common for the defendant to testify on his own behalf in a murder trial. So I was shocked when defense attorney David Kaloyanides called Christopher Brandon Lee as his first witness. A fellow courtroom reporter mused it must be to make Lee seem more human for the jury, and I agreed. Boy, were we wrong.

Kaloyanides started with questions of Lee that allowed him to wax poetic on his idyllic childhood in Alaska. Lee said was fond of thing most kids like to do, like play with throwing stars and swords (???). Anyway, soon the questioning moved on to his relationship with Erin. Some key points:

• Lee admitted he and Erin had a sexual relationship.
• Lee admitted Erin told him she was pregnant, and that she was upset because she didn't know if Lee or husband Jon Corwin was the father.
• Lee said he was in love with Erin Corwin, and admitted it was he who wrote the love note that prosecutor Sean Daugherty showed the jury the day before. Lee said he gave it to Erin after Nichole had discovered the affair by looking at the texts he wrote to Erin. 

Then Kaloyanides asked Lee about the day Erin disappeared: June 28, 2014:

• Lee admitted he picked up Erin at the spot where her car was found off base in Twentynine Palms
• Lee claimed he was planning to build a tire fire in a remote mine, but didn't tell Erin this little nugget. Instead Lee testified he told Erin he was taking her out "for a surprise" while on a hunting trip.
• Lee testified he threw down the mine shaft the propane tank, the tires, the water jugs filled with gasoline, and the torch made of his t-shirt and a stick, all to start a mine fire. While doing this, Erin was supposedly just sitting in his Jeep, listening to music.
• Lee said was so upset he could not start the mine tire fire that he decided to play Russian Roulette in his jeep. This upset Erin, said Lee, so she walked away into an adjacent mine shaft.
• Lee testified was unable to kill himself with the gun, so he called Erin to come back out of the mine shaft. 

This is where things get dicey. Writing down the excuse Lee gave for murdering Erin - putting down it in black and white - somehow feels like I am giving it legitimacy. I AM NOT. It is such a ludicrous assertion that I believe it will turn any juror against Lee who wasn't already convinced he is a soulless, cruel, lying, cold-blooded murderer.

Lee testified that out in the desert, after his unsuccessful game of Russian Roulette, Erin admitted to him that she had molested his daughter, Liberty. (Lee testified earlier that Nichole saw "suspicious" irritation on Liberty's genitals, and automatically assumed she was molested, and by Erin Corwin, although neither parent called law enforcement or a pediatrician - in fact, both parents continued to let Erin babysit Liberty.)

Lee testified that a "red hot knife went through his heart" upon hearing Erin's "confession" and he lost it. As luck would have it, he just happened to have a garrote in his hand when Erin "confessed" and he got so angry he strangled Erin to death, then dumped her body down the mine shaft.

Lee was calm during his testimony. He looked scared. He appeared to try and express some true emotion, even making crying sounds at one point. But there were no tears, and no tissues were used. His vocal affect was flat, and much of what he said sounded rehearsed to me. We heard him used that same flat, vocal affect during the videotaped interrogation with Det. Hanke, when everything he said was a lie. But now, because he's under oath, he is somehow supposed to be believable?

After this revolting testimony, the court took a lunch break. I'll write about what happened after the lunch break in the next post...

Day Eight - DNA Evidence Ties Christopher Lee To Mine Where Erin Corwin Was Found

Erin Corwin/Facebook

Court was back in session today after Tuesday's session was cancelled; a juror had a family emergency. The first witness was Dennis B. Key, a Criminalist with San Bernardino County. Key has spent twelve years as a DNA Specialist.

The first part of Key's testimony consisted of explaining what DNA is for the jury. Key was very good at breaking down complicated scientific concepts for laypeople without degrees in biology (like me).

Key testified as to how DNA was obtained from Jon Corwin, Christopher Brandon Lee, and Erin Corwin (at her autopsy).

Here's what Key found:

• There was DNA consistent with Erin Corwin's DNA on the knob of the propane tank found in the mine shaft where her body was discovered. That DNA excluded both Jon Corwin and Christopher Lee as a match.
• Blood removed from the outside of one of the water jugs found in the mine shaft were Erin was discovered contained DNA consistent with Erin Corwin. That DNA also excluded both Jon Corwin and Christopher Lee as a match.
• Key found DNA consistent with Erin Corwin's DNA on the rebar handles of the garrote looped around Erin Corwin's neck. That DNA excluded both Jon Corwin and Christopher Lee as a match.
• The green t-shirt that was part of the torch found in the mine shaft where Erin Corwin's body was discovered contained DNA that had a one in 16 billion chance of belonging to someone OTHER that Christopher Lee. (The population of the Earth is just 7 billion.) Complicated way of saying the DNA on the shirt belonged to Christopher Lee. DNA on the shirt excluded Erin and Jon Corwin as possible contributors.
• Swabs taken from the mouth of the Sprite bottle found in the mine where Erin Corwin's body was discovered had two contributors of DNA, one male and one female. The male contributor was Christopher Lee (with a one in 20 quadrillion chance it was NOT Christopher Lee) and the female contributor was Erin Corwin (with a 1 in 1.4 quadrillion chance it was NOT Erin Corwin).

After Key stepped down, Detective Hanke was called back to the stand, so the remainder of the Christopher Lee interrogation video could be played. There was about ten minutes left, which basically consisted of Hanke and his sergeant asking Lee if he had any Google searches on his phone or computer they should know about.

Lee said he looked up the "best way to dispose of a body." He mentioned a Google search produced results like having pigs devour the body, cannibalizing the body and grinding up the bones to dust, and burying a body then placing a dead animal on top of it.  

Lee was asked when he was moving back to Alaska, and he replied July 7. One of the interrogators then replied, "Maybe we'll visit you in Alaska."

Court resumes at 2 p.m. I'll have another post this evening detailing this afternoon's events.

Day Six - Morning Session

Wednesday was filled with twists and turns and technical glitches, so I'm going to break up today's update into two posts. This one is about what happened during the morning session of trial, before the lunch break.

The first witness this morning was Christi Bonar, a criminalist with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department who is assigned to the firearm unit. She testified that the bolt-action .22 caliber rifle - that either Nichole or Christopher Lee hid in Isabella "Isabel" Megli's bedroom at White Rock Horse Ranch - fired the spent cartridge casing discovered near the opening of the mine shaft where Erin Corwin's body was found.

The next witness was a Nevada resident named Deborah Valek who lived in Twentynine Palms in 2014. Her home was in the 2700 block of Ranch Road, where Erin Corwin's Toyota Corolla was abandoned. Valek said she first noticed the Corolla at around 8:30 the morning of June 28, 2014, the day Erin disappeared. She said she took note of it when she left with her daughter to get doughnuts. When Valek returned at around 9:15 a.m., the car was still there. Valek drove behind the Corolla and took pictures with her phone because, as she put it:

"It wasn't supposed to be there."

She said she kept her distance from the Corolla:

"I didn't get too close because I didn't know if anyone was inside."

Valek said the car remained in the same place for a couple of days.

"I was going to report it to the police, but I just didn't."

The final witness before the lunch break was the defendant's mother. Karen Lee was called by the prosecution to establish that her son and daughter-in-law were the primary drivers of the Chevy Suburban that was registered in Karen's name:

"Whenever they needed it, they drove it."

Important to remember all the evidence, like the homemade garrote, that was found in the Suburban by Detective Woods.

Karen Lee was shown a picture that law enforcement took inside her home of the People magazine issue that featured Erin and Jon Corwin, and Christopher Lee, on its cover. Mrs. Lee quickly said:

"My husband bought that piece of trash."

She explained she hid it in her bedroom:

"I didn't want Liberty to see it. I was appalled."

I will post what happened after the lunch break either later this evening or tomorrow morning.

Just a note: there is no court on Thursday because one of the jurors suffered a death in the family (this happened before the trial began) and she needed to be at the mortuary on Thursday. Friday is a dark day. Court resumes Monday morning. 

Day Five, Part Two - FBI, USMC, And CSI

FBI Special Agent Kevin Boles was the first witness of the day as the prosecution continued its case-in-chief. Boles is part of the FBI's Cellular Analysis Survey Team, or CAST. Boles testified about the location of both Erin Corwin's cell phone and Chris Lee's cell phone on June 28, 2014 - the day Erin went missing. Some key findings:

• By comparing Erin and Chris Lee's respective phone records, Boles surmised both were traveling in an easterly direction from the Twentynine Palms Marine Base around 7:30 the morning of June 28.
• At roughly 7:36 a.m., Chris Lee's phone was in the same location where Erin Corwin's Toyota Corolla was later found abandoned.
• The last activity of any kind on Erin's phone was at 8:04 a.m. on June 28.
• The last activity on Chris Lee's phone was at 8:22 a.m. until 3:13 p.m. that same day.

The second witness to testify was a Marine veteran named Andrew Johnson, who currently works as a Shipfitter at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington state. Johnson was in the Marine Corps from 2010 until 2016. He was based at Twentynine Palms and was in the same Company as Chris Lee.

Johnson testified he approached the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department in July 2014 after learning of Erin Corwin's disappearance. Johnson said he told the Homicide Detail about a conversation he had with Chris Lee before Erin Corwin went missing. According to Johnson:

• Chris Lee asked Johnson about ways to hide or get rid of a body.
• Lee specifically wanted to know about the salt evaporation channels in Amboy, and whether a body could be submerged in the chloride pits.
• When Johnson asked Lee, "Who do you want to kill?" Johnson said Lee responded, "Don't worry about it," and gave him a "strange smile."
• Johnson testified he saw Lee make a list on in a notepad with two columns. One had "tools" with things like a shovel and chemicals, possibly lye. The other column had a list with the price of those items.

Erin and Jon Corwin/Facebook

The third witness of the day was a Crime Scene Specialist with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department named Susan Jaquez. She told the jury about the items of evidence she processed for fingerprints and DNA. Most of these items have been discussed on this blog before, including the items recovered from the same mine where Erin's body was found; Jaquez mentioned the tire, the two water cans which contained traces of gasoline, the propane tank, the homemade torch, and the Sprite bottle.

Jaquez also talked about twine she recovered from Chris Lee's Jeep. Both the prosecution and defense stipulated that an FBI analyst determined the twine from Lee's Jeep and the twine from the homemade torch were of the same "color, construction, and composition" and likely from the same source.

Both sides also stipulated that on Aug. 17, 2014 a member of the Anchorage Police Department pulled over a Chevy Suburban driven by Chris Lee, with wife Nichole Lee in the passenger seat.

The final witness of the day was Detective Woods, who was recalled to discuss the search warrant he served to examine the Suburban in Anchorage. Woods recovered several items of note, including two spools of paracord, knives, and blue climbing rope.

But the most important discovery was a garrote situated underneath the front passenger seat. (Because we all keep homemade garrotes in our vehicles, right?) The garrote was made with two pieces of white plastic, braided paracord, and black electrical tape.

That's it for today. Bedtime. Court resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Marine Vet Could Face 2nd Murder Charge In Death Of Erin Corwin's Fetus

First published on Home Post Aug. 21, 2014 | 10:57 a.m. | By Beth Ford Roth

The final results of Erin Corwin's autopsy could determine whether or not Marine veteran Christopher Lee is charged with murder in the death of Corwin's fetus. 

Erin Corwin

Lee has already been arrested and charged with murdering Corwin, 19, who may have been pregnant with his child.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos told the Desert Sun an additional murder charge against Lee is possible if the autopsy can determine whether or not Corwin was actually pregnant, and how far along she was in her pregnancy. 

Ramos said California law allows a murder charge to be filed in the death of an unborn baby just four to six weeks into the fetus's development.

Corwin's sister-in-law, DeeAnna Heavilin, was interviewed by the Desert Sun last month about Corwin's pregnancy:

"We don't know exactly how far along she is with this pregnancy. She only found out about the pregnancy two weeks before she went missing and a doctor hasn't confirmed a due date yet."

As Home Post previously reported, Corwin's body was discovered in an abandoned mine shaft on Aug. 16. 

On June 28, Corwin had told her husband, Marine Cpl. Jonathan Corwin, she was heading to Joshua Tree National Park to scout photography locations. 

Cpl. Corwin reported his wife missing the next day.

The couple lived in an apartment at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, next door to Christopher Lee and his wife Nichole.

Lee was in an Anchorage courtroom Thursday morning, where he waived his rights against extradition to California to stand trial for Corwin's murder.

Deputy DA Clint Campion of Anchorage told KTUU-TV he expects Lee to be transferred to California within a week:

"I would say (in) the next couple of days. The judge set a hearing for Sept. 8 to make sure he's actually gone."

 

The Evidence That Led To Marine Vet's Arrest In Erin Corwin Case

Originally published on Home Post Aug. 19, 2014 | 9:37 p.m. | By Beth Ford Roth

Erin Corwin/Facebook

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos filed murder charges Tuesday against Marine veteran Christopher Brandon Lee, 24, in connection with the death of Erin Corwin.

Ramos said in a news release that the special circumstance of "lying in wait" was attached to the murder charge, making Lee eligible for the death penalty or life without parole:

"The decision regarding which penalty will be sought will be made after a full review of the facts and evidence in the case."

The arrest warrant for Lee, made public by Ramos, sheds light on some of the evidence that led to Lee's arrest Sunday in Alaska. 

Apparently Lee admitted to detectives he searched the Internet for ways to dispose of a human body. But he didn't stop there in his quest for knowledge, according to the warrant:

"A witness... informed detectives that Lee asked him what was the best way to dispose of a human body."

Some of the evidence recovered from the 140-foot mine shaft where searchers found Corwin's body include:

• .22-caliber fired cartridge casings consistent with casings recovered from Lee's car and home.
• Rebar consistent with pieces of rebar detectives found in Lee's car.

Law enforcement officials have made clear the investigation into Erin Corwin's death is ongoing and additional arrests could be made.