GUILTY CA - Erin Corwin, 19, pregnant, Twentynine Palms, 28 June 2014 - #9

[Dmacky]

Public Military Records

Cpl. Christopher B. Lee, 24, was discharged from the Marine Corps on July 7, 2014 and is currently serving in the Individual Ready Reserve. Cpl. Lee served as a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division.

Cpl. Lee entered the Marine Corps July 7, 2008 and received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps on July 7, 2014.

He did not reenlist in 2012. He was on a six year contract.

Cpl. Lee deployed with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines from November 2012 to April 2013 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Awards:
- Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal (awarded July 7, 2011)
- Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
- National Defense Service Medal
- NATO Medal- ISAF Afghanistan

*Looks to me like these are pretty much basic medals.*

 

[Twistinginthewind]

This article has a good map with timeline showing all the locations where 'things' took place in this case -- it helped me put it all in perspective.

http://www.pe.com/articles/corwin-748445-lee-detectives.html

 

[ArianeEmory]

Here's a quick summary article for those us who haven't been following the case closely, including motive and where her body was found.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/aug/18/neighbor-missing-marine-wife-erin-corwin-arrested/

 

[Seajay]

Or perhaps, speaking from my personal experience, in deep deep grief that he never had the opportunity to works things out, and forgive her while she was alive.

I so hope he is getting to a counselor :grouphug:

I can't even begin to imagine the pain this man is going through. It has to be unbearable. I really do hope he seeks counseling. Bad enough to have a wife who was cheating on him, bad enough that she got pregnant by the guy she was cheating with, bad enough everyone in the world knows he got cheated on and so many details of the affair, but to have her murdered by the guy on top of it??? No chance to work things out, no chance to express his feelings to her about what she did. Nothing. He already lost a child through a miscarriage. This poor man has had a lot of loss and grief. And who could blame him if he were angry about it all? Anger is one of the stages of grief. He has to be wondering what went wrong, what he could have done differently and there has to be an element of self-blame as well.

It's hard enough to process that your spouse cheated on you, let alone have to deal with all this additional stuff. IMO, MOO.

 

[RSC]

I completely agree that we don't have the right to know anything in an open investigation. But I do not think LE should lie to the public. I am always supportive when they say "we are not discussing details of this investigation" (etc). That said, I am only thinking of the media's reporting of this--it may well be that LE was very careful to phrase things appropriately and honestly here, and that media made it sound flip-floppy.

I disagree. What "we" the public have the right to know in an open investigation is zero. Especially in a case where LE has a suspect and is protecting an investigation. I believe the comment you referenced above was made in response to a reporters question. LE obviously had evidence early on that pointed to Chris, but they did not want him to think they were looking at him. I trust their judgement, that it was the right thing to say at that time ...

 

[Seajay]

Public Military Records

Cpl. Christopher B. Lee, 24, was discharged from the Marine Corps on July 7, 2014 and is currently serving in the Individual Ready Reserve. Cpl. Lee served as a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division.

Cpl. Lee entered the Marine Corps July 7, 2008 and received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps on July 7, 2014.

He did not reenlist in 2012. He was on a six year contract.

Cpl. Lee deployed with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines from November 2012 to April 2013 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Awards:
- Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal (awarded July 7, 2011)
- Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
- National Defense Service Medal
- NATO Medal- ISAF Afghanistan

*Looks to me like these are pretty much basic medals.*

He served in Afghanistan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Enduring_Freedom

 

[RSC]

I would not think CPS has a legal standing to "step in" unless NL is arrested. Person of Interest could mean nothing.

Wouldn't CPS be involved by now? We have the father under arrest for murder and the mom a POI, so I would think somebody would be stepping in. Maybe someone with knowledge in that area can explain.

jmo

 

[RSC]

I'm inclined to agree. I thought she sounded like she was going to cry in this last interview.

I think people are being tough on the horse lady. She didn't say anything about the horse getting adopted on camera, the reporter quoted her about that later. We have no idea how long that interview was and how leading the reporter's questions were. It's obvious to me there was a lot left on the editing room floor.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I think the horse lady was hoodwinked by CL and knew nothing until well after the fact. I think her weirdness in interviews can be chalked up to fear and shock. This woman had a murderer living in her house for weeks. A murderer who killed someone SHE knew. That must be both horrifying and terrifying.


I know, I may be snacking on my hat later if proven wrong, but that's ok.

 

[Mels3kidz]

BBM

That's good to know. If he were found not guilty in State court can he be retried in Federal or Military court? I seem to recall that happening with someone. .was it Jeffrey McDonald?

Mel

As was discussed earlier today, since Lee was active duty Marine, he can be tried in military courts. Since he committed the crime in the County of San Bernadino, in the State of California, he can be tried in civil court as well. Since he committed the crime on federal land *BLM*, he can be tried in federal court as well.
I guess they'll have to get together and discuss which way they are going to go. If he is convicted in military court, he can have his honorable discharge status changed to dishonorable discharge. If he is tried in military court and not convicted, he can still be tried in civil courts or vise versa. If he's tried in Federal court and not convicted, he can still be tried in civil courts or vise versa. If he is tried in military court and not convicted he may not be tried again federally and vise versa. All the links to this information is in this thread a few pages back. HTH.

 

[cluciano63]

Some people ARE born evil, Imo, or at least with a sociopathic tendency to evil. Parents cannot be blamed. Some crappy parents raise solid kids, some good parents wind up with murderers, rapists, etc.

Yes, some behavior is learned, but Imo, most parents of kids who are not prone to violence probably don't know how lucky they are. They simply take it for granted. I have seen plenty of cases where the parents of a murderer are confused and shocked and grieving over their children's deeds.

Anyway...Jmo.

 

[77DarkHorse7]

We don't know anything about CL's background. [modsnip] He is a grown man that chose to kill. When does a grown-up become responsible for their own actions?

[modsnip] I never made any statement that Chris is in any way not responsible for his own actions. He knows the law, he knew what he did was wrong, that's why he concealed the body the way he did. [modsnip].

 

[maskedwoman]

Agree the affair was a factor in all this, but Erin is not to blame -- she was young and naive, and CL was older and also married and knew better. My two cents are that CL could be the one to blame for the affair (i.e., he pursued/wooed her). When I was 19 years old and in a long term relationship, I still had guys (mostly older than me) constantly hitting on me all the time, and I've never admitted this, but sometimes it was tempting if they were attractive and charismatic and persistent (not that I think CL had any of these attributes except maybe the persistence)... so I am not surprised at the circumstances at all. Regardless, people will be judgmental about affairs and their fallout. It wasn't Erin's fault one iota, that she was used and then killed by a sick individual who discarded her when she no longer served his selfish purposes.

BBM I really cannot imagine how people can say some of the horrible things being said under these articles and sleep at night. I just don't. If those people are very lucky, none of them will ever be in need of forgiveness for a very bad decision in the future. Or ever have their dirty laundry plastered on the cover of People magazine.

However, I do want to point out that none of us really know CL or EC at all, so we're really all just guessing about who was the aggressor in their relationship. All of us are framing the situation based on our own experiences or belief system, but we really can't know which of us is closest to right. It could be completely accurate that CL took advantage of her misery and relative innocence and charmed her into a foolish and deadly mistake. I could also imagine a scenario where a sheltered girl leaves home, finds herself miserable and, without a family support system readily available, makes the rash decision to pursue the neighbor. Or it could be a mixture of the two. Enough may come out at trial to give us a better picture, or we may never know what really happened between them.

A few people have felt I was too hard on IM, and perhaps I was, but I was basing my conclusions on words from her own mouth. We have even less to go on for judging EC and CL. We've never heard either of them speak, or heard a really honest assessment of either of them. At least in my view. I think both parties made decisions that led the situation to develop as it did. Right up until the final, worst decision of all, the moment he killed her.

I think it's more accurate to say that everyone involved made decisions that caused things to develop as they did, but no one is to "blame" for Erin's death except the person(s) who killed her. So, now, we have a lost life, wasted lives and shattered families. And that is just tragic all the way around.

 

[Kensie]

I agree masked woman but could never word it as gracefully as you did.

 

[Kensie]

There are so many influences in people's lives. I would not blame a parent for an adult's child shortcomings or crimes, especially if I did not know the person. I know plenty of people that have multiple children that have had some of the kids turn out to be successful and some kids make a bad turn/ decision in their life.
The person at fault is the one that killed Erin.

 

[jjw]

[modsnip] I never made any statement that Chris is in any way not responsible for his own actions. He knows the law, he knew what he did was wrong, that's why he concealed the body the way he did. In fact, I said [modsnip]

[modsnip]?

I was defending his family against assumptions about their parenting. They are not involved in this crime and we aren't suppose to sleuth them.

jmo

 

[la2cabo]

Wouldn't CPS be involved by now? We have the father under arrest for murder and the mom a POI, so I would think somebody would be stepping in. Maybe someone with knowledge in that area can explain.

jmo

I don't know about Alaska but in San Bdo. County CPS doesn't typically get involved until a person has been convicted of a crime. Simply being charged with a crime or being a POI isn't enough for them to remove a child from a home.

The Lee's had to have seen this day coming and would hopefully have prepared for it. This is a stretch, but they can't possibly think that their 20 years of life experience would outsmart the 100 plus years of combined LE experience, can they? Let's just hope they didn't let their egos get in the way of what's best for any minor children that may come in to play. (I'm treading lightly so as not to irk the mod's.)

 

[la2cabo]

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: Aug. 19, 2014

District Attorney Ramos Files Murder Charge in Connection with the Death of Erin Corwin

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Today District Attorney Michael Ramos announced the filing of murder charges against 24-year-old Christopher Brandon Lee who is charged with killing 19-year-old Erin Corwin. The District Attorney’s Office also filed the special circumstance allegation of “lying in wait,” increasing the potential penalty to life without parole or death.

“The decision regarding which penalty will be sought will be made after a full review of the facts and evidence in the case,” District Attorney Michael Ramos said.

Lee was arrested on Sunday by officers in Alaska on suspicion of murder and is currently awaiting extradition to California. He is due in court in Alaska today at 3:30 for his initial hearing.

If Lee waives extradition, he can be returned to San Bernardino County immediately. However, if he fights extradition, it may take four to six weeks.

This case was investigated by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the investigation is ongoing. Deputy District Attorney Sean Daugherty is prosecuting the case.

“Once again, we are faced with a terrible crime that shows absolutely no regard for the value of human life,” Ramos said. “Make no mistake that this office will fight to see that justice is carried out for our victim and her family.”

This is an active investigation. No further details will be released at this time.

Click here to download a copy of the complaint. For current updates and breaking information follow the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office on Twitter: @sbcountyda
Contact: Michael Ramos, San Bernardino County District Attorney(909) 382-3665

http://www.sbcountyda.org/Newsroom/...2014/DAFilesMurderChargeinErinCorwinCase.aspx

BBM: I just want to give D.A. Ramos a big high-five - o.k. and maybe a big ol' wet smooch. He's definitely saying all the right things to show how much he cares about this case and the families involved. Go get em' Ramos!!

 

[la2cabo]

I think people are being tough on the horse lady. She didn't say anything about the horse getting adopted on camera, the reporter quoted her about that later. We have no idea how long that interview was and how leading the reporter's questions were. It's obvious to me there was a lot left on the editing room floor.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I think the horse lady was hoodwinked by CL and knew nothing until well after the fact. I think her weirdness in interviews can be chalked up to fear and shock. This woman had a murderer living in her house for weeks. A murderer who killed someone SHE knew. That must be both horrifying and terrifying.


I know, I may be snacking on my hat later if proven wrong, but that's ok.

BBM: Almost wet myself laughing. I've never heard that phrase before. Thanks for the chuckle amongst all this ugliness.

 

[nikb]

Includes map of Joshua tree area and where EC was found


http://www.pe.com/articles/corwin-748445-lee-detectives.html

Interesting article.

BBM - particularly this: "Lee’s immediate family lives in Anchorage. His only tie to California was his service in the Marines, officials said. Lee is no longer in the military."

I thought they had to be in the reserves after active duty, which would still be "in the military" wouldn't it? Who knows, may mean nothing, but that stood out to me.

 

[la2cabo]

Where did you see that?

It's clearly written in the T.O.S. and has been pointed out by the mod's in several threads that I've seen.

See post #3 at this link: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...rin-Corwin-19-Twentynine-Palms-28-June-2014-9