The trial of Christopher Lee, the former Twentynine Palms Marine accused of murdering his former next-door-neighbor and lover, 19-year-old Erin Corwin, and dumping her body in a mine shaft east of Twentynine Palms two years ago, finished its second week Wednesday. Sheriff’s investigators described finding Corwin’s body at the bottom of the mine shaft, along with bullet casings, a propane tank, a soda bottle, a home-made torch made out of a T-shirt, and a garrote around Corwin’s neck. Lee’s wife, Nichole, made an appearance in court to say she would be testifying for the defense; later, she was seen talking with a juror in the hallway. The juror, when questioned by the judge, said she complimented Nichole Lee on her shoes. An FBI agent testified that Lee’s and Corwin’s cell phones were together the morning Corwin went missing. Another Marine testified that Lee asked him about ways to hide a body. Detectives in Anchorage, Alaska, said they found a garrote—similar to the one found around Corwin’s neck—under the front seat of the SUV Lee was driving when he was arrested in August 2014. The owner of a horse rescue testified Wednesday that Lee had borrowed a propane tank that he never returned. She also said that Nichole Lee had told her she wanted to kill Erin Corwin if she didn’t stay away from her husband, and that Lee was “too stupid to keep his lies straight.” The trial ended Wednesday with the prosecution showing about 90 minutes of Lee’s 6-hour interrogation by Sheriff’s deputies, in which Lee admitted only to kissing Corwin. The trial will resume Monday and more of the interrogation will be shown then.
