Christopher Lee was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole Tuesday for the murder of Erin Corwin, 19, of Twentynine Palms. Corwin’s husband, mother and sister gave victim impact statements prior to the sentencing, in which they stressed how her death affected their families. Lee also gave a statement, in which he said he was “truly sorry” for killing Corwin, but denied that her murder was premeditated. Lee admitted during his trial that he strangled Corwin, who said she was pregnant with his baby, because he said she molested his young daughter. Lee then admitted to dumping her body down a nearby 140-foot mineshaft, where investigators found her body seven weeks later. There was no evidence to support his claim of molestation and the prosecution debunked the claim. Lee had been found guilty of murder in the first degree with the special circumstance of lying in wait on November 4. A restitution hearing has been set for February 10, 2017.
