The prosecution rested its case Wednesday in the murder trial of Christopher Lee, who is accused of killing 19-year-old Erin Corwin of Twentynine Palms in 2014. This week, the county’s chief medical examiner admitted under cross-examination by Lee’s attorney that Corwin’s strangulation could have happened as much as a day before the head injury. More of the video of Lee’s interrogation by Sheriff’s investigators was played, in which Lee said on the day Corwin disappeared, he drove out into the desert and got lost, visited a mine somewhere, shot at a rock, and someone shot a handgun at him. But Lee denied meeting Corwin that day. An expert in DNA evidence testified that a T-shirt with Lee’s DNA and a soda bottle with DNA from both Corwin and Lee were found in the mine shaft with Corwin. The prosecution closed its case by presenting a love letter from Lee to Corwin. After the jury was dismissed from the courtroom, Lee’s defense attorney asked that the case be dismissed for lack of evidence. The judge denied the request. The defense will begin to present its case today.
