GUILTY CA - Erin Corwin, 19, pregnant, Twentynine Palms, 28 June 2014 - #13

[la2cabo]

Truthbeknown: My understanding is that Nichole Lee didn't attend the hearings these past couple of days. If this is accurate I find it pretty odd that she wouldn't be there to support her husband. These were very crucial headings, in my opinion. Anyway, if she was not there I'm wondering if their marriage is on the outs? Have you heard anything about it? If you don't feel comfortable replying I totally understand. TIA

 

[heartgoesout]

here's his latest picture, also a picture of Jon. and more in depth of yesterdays hearing.

http://www.z1077fm.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chris-Lee-4-2-15.jpg

http://m.kesq.com/news/christopher-lee-will-go-to-trial-accused-of-killing-erin-corwin/32161460 here is a quick summary of yesterday with a photo of Lee

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

The first link I posted has his most recent picture.

Your link, the picture of him was from his first court appearance months ago.

 

[SeeAlice]

It would be incredible dangerous, I'm serious. We've shot what we've thought were empty oxygen tanks, and they turned into missiles, watched propane tanks go straight up in a ball of major flames. You can NEVER tell what direction they'll go, even if you put it on a track rail.
He might of thought he could open the valve on the tank, let the gas fill the shaft and drop a match into it...........works better on TV. Propane is 2 1/2 times heavier than air, so the gas would drop to the lowest point, a match would blow out before it got to the gas. I can't remember if there was methane gas in the shaft when SAR went down it.......

As far as evidence, neither side is going to show all their cards at this point, the State is going to give just enough to get an indictment/charge. If the defense had anything worth while, they would have presented it and asked for a bond/bail/or dismissal.

I think NL is going to be thrown under the bus. One way or another. She had access to the Jeep.

And an easily believed motive, IMO. Hell hath no fury and all that. Not sure how the mechanics of that theory would work out though.

Thank you for the explanation about why he would choose not to use his gun to blow up the propane tank. Thinking back, I realize that I am only aware of suicidal suspects who attempted to do that. (One in particular was a man who had been fired from his civilian job at a nuclear submarine base. He killed his boss over 20 years later, IIRC.)

JMO

 

[truthbeknown]

Truthbeknown: My understanding is that Nichole Lee didn't attend the hearings these past couple of days. If this is accurate I find it pretty odd that she wouldn't be there to support her husband. These were very crucial headings, in my opinion. Anyway, if she was not there I'm wondering if their marriage is on the outs? Have you heard anything about it? If you don't feel comfortable replying I totally understand. TIA

We have no clue why Nichole wasn't there

 

[heartgoesout]

http://www.z1077fm.com/woman-was-expecting-a-proposal-christopher-lee-held-to-answer/

Here is the link again with in depth coverage of the hearing and the most recent pictures.

 

[la2cabo]

I am not at all happy about this new information. Once again tptb outright lie to the public FOR MONTHS about what happened. Making out like it was a shooting death, that they had the murder bullets matched to a gun printed to CL. Pathetic. The truth is that what evidence they do have seems to point away from their suspect. Someone committing a functional murder is not going to strangle the person, it's messy and it's personal. This turns everything on it's head.

I think if you take a few minutes to read the article linked in post #85 (sorry I can't link it) it will explain and clarify many things. JMO

 

[Meemaw12]

http://www.z1077fm.com/woman-was-expecting-a-proposal-christopher-lee-held-to-answer/

Here is the link again with in depth coverage of the hearing and the most recent pictures.

Excellent review by this reporter, with only a small bit of the evidence entered, can't see
how CL will get out of it.

Good job LE




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Peppery]

I didn't think this case could get any more sad, but that new info is stunning. It's heartbreaking all over again.

I'm pretty new to sleuthing. Is it common for a "woman scorned" to use such a personal method? I could see NL using a gun or something else, but to strangle someone you have to be very close physically or sneak up on someone. Assuming Erin would be at the least uncomfortable around NL, I can't imaging she would have let her guard down enough for NL to be close enough to have done it. No, this looks like the work of someone sick enough not to just want a problem to go away, but who enjoyed the process. I bet CL got off on the idea.

 

[DexterMorgan]

http://www.z1077fm.com/woman-was-expecting-a-proposal-christopher-lee-held-to-answer/

Here is the link again with in depth coverage of the hearing and the most recent pictures.

Whoa. Very in depth article. That guy is done for. Why not just go to Alaska and let her live.

Her text are sad. Rip Erwin.

 

[SeeAlice]

The Conor Malakei thing is bothersome to me. What if he had said yes initially?

http://www.z1077fm.com/woman-was-expecting-a-proposal-christopher-lee-held-to-answer/

 

[Bernina]

http://www.z1077fm.com/woman-was-expecting-a-proposal-christopher-lee-held-to-answer/

Here is the link again with in depth coverage of the hearing and the most recent pictures.

A few key issues from the article:

Corwin did have multiple fractures to the back of her skull, and a broken clavicle, although he was confused about whether they happened before or after her death.

The coroner was unable to determine if Corwin had been shot or stabbed, or if she had indeed been pregnant, as she had told people, due to the decomposition of her body. Woods then offered the coroner’s official opinion on Corwin’s death. “The cause of death was homicidal violence with possible strangulation and blunt force trauma.”

“During the external examination, he located a piece of black cord, possibly nylon, with two pieces of rebar tied to each end, and those pieces of rebar were approximately 6 inches in length on each side. And this device, which we refer to as a garrote … was wrapped around her neck.”

Investigators said they found a similar device, with black plastic handles, in a Chevy Suburban Lee was driving in Alaska when he was arrested.

(I wonder if he was planning on killing someone else?)

Malakie’s husband, Conor, said he saw a propane tank in Lee’s Jeep Cherokee the day Corwin went missing, and said that Lee told him he wanted to blow up a mine shaft. Detectives testified that a propane tank (as well as two containers filled with gasoline) was found at the bottom of the mine shaft with Corwin.

Corwin also mentioned that Lee planned to do some hunting on their romantic get-away, and intended to bring his gun.

Malakie also testified that Lee had asked her husband, Conor, to go with him that morning; Lee said he was going to go hunting coyotes. But Conor backed out at the last minute.

He said Lee finally returned between 3 and 5 p.m. When Malakie asked how it went blowing up a mine shaft, he said Lee replied, “It didn’t go off.”

Conor Malakie took the stand next. He testified that Lee told him the affair with Corwin “wasn’t anything serious and would end when he left” for Alaska in July.

Detective Mauricio Hurtado testified that he saw footprints in the dirt road lead from Corwin’s car to another vehicle that had been parked nearby, and that the other car’s tire tracks matched the tires on Lee’s Jeep.

The detectives recovered photos of the sites they went to from the friend’s phone. A cave expert from Twentynine Palms saw the photos August 6 and said they were taken near the Rose of Peru mine complex, which is where Corwin’s body was recovered 10 days later.

They found a propane tank and blue climbing rope with red and white diamonds on it in the mine shaft with Corwin, along with an unburnt, home-made torch, made of a wood, with a green t-shirt tied around the end with white twine. White twine was found in Lee’s Jeep.

Deputies also found a blue, red, and white climbing rope with Corwin, and in Lee’s Jeep that looked like the rope found in the mine shaft with Corwin.

Detective Michael Walker, testified about finding rebar under the front passenger seat of Lee’s Jeep, and that Hurtado had found white twine in the Jeep.

Lee said his relationship with Corwin was “a make-believe life.”

The detective said Lee’s computer had a search history of how to dispose of bodies.

According to Hanke, Lee said that both Jonathan and Erin were having marital problems, and he and Nicole were having marital problems, and that he and Erin would run to each other during these times.

In addition, Hanke said Lee asked him some unusual questions, whether he was good at his job as a homicide detective; what his clearance rate was; and how good the Sheriff’s department was at finding bodies in the desert.

Current pic of CL in court April 3rd 2015.

You have to wonder how CL got into the Marines. What a twisted individual. I have a feeling it's going to get even more twisted as the trial begins.

 

[Bernina]

The Conor Malakei thing is bothersome to me. What if he had said yes initially?

http://www.z1077fm.com/woman-was-expecting-a-proposal-christopher-lee-held-to-answer/

That bothered me too. You have to wonder about CM's character, or CL's perception of it, if he thought CM would be party to this. Or would CL have murdered CM also? Just creepy!

 

[DexterMorgan]

The Conor Malakei thing is bothersome to me. What if he had said yes initially?

http://www.z1077fm.com/woman-was-expecting-a-proposal-christopher-lee-held-to-answer/

I think he would have killed him too. But he could have just been asking him to throw off suspicions of going solo.

 

[jojo87]

I knew poor Erin had fell for this git and thought he was taking her back to Alaska she was even looking at housing there. Ugh why did he keep stringing her along. She couldn't see him for what he was. Love is naive and blind especially at 19.
I didn't know it was possible to hate someone you didn't know but I hate him. I hope he gets the death penalty and I don't even believe in it. I'm so mad at him I'd do it myself.

 

[DexterMorgan]

I knew poor Erin had fell for this git and thought he was taking her back to Alaska she was even looking at housing there. Ugh why did he keep stringing her along. She couldn't see him for what he was. Love is naive and blind especially at 19.
I didn't know it was possible to hate someone you didn't know but I hate him. I hope he gets the death penalty and I don't even believe in it. I'm so mad at him I'd do it myself.

Agree. Iam very saddened on how happy she was when she thought he was taking her there to propose to her. I hope it was done quick and she didn't see it coming. Poor girl.

 

[nikb]

A few key issues from the article:<respectfully snipped for space>

You have to wonder how CL got into the Marines. What a twisted individual. I have a feeling it's going to get even more twisted as the trial begins.

Thank you so much Bernina for taking the time to pull out some of the key points. I'm sure that took awhile! I'm finally getting time to read the whole article but I really appreciated you posting those.

Twisted is right. Wow I bet Malakie is so glad he didn't go that day. I'm thinking he must have thought something was off. I mean I don't think I'd even remember someone having a propane tank in their car, much less ask them about it. It's hard for me to even imagine a conversation with a neighbor that would go along the lines of "so I notice you've got propane in there - what's up?" with the response "I'm going to blow up a mine shaft." If I even happened to notice the propane I'd assume they were planning to BBQ later. A couple of gas cans too wouldn't even be that weird - I'd think they were going camping/ATV riding. [ETA: by propane tanks I mean those ones typically attached to a BBQ, outdoor heater, RV, etc. - I'd notice something more extreme than that! I'm not clear on what was in CL's vehicle]. Then again my neighbors don't talk about how to hide bodies, and if I saw the rebar and rope along with it, that would definitely change how I saw things. I doubt he had any idea HOW horrible CL's plans were, but I am thinking some self-preservation instinct kicked in that prevented him from going "coyote hunting" that day.

 

[Bernina]

Thank you so much Bernina for taking the time to pull out some of the key points. I'm sure that took awhile! I'm finally getting time to read the whole article but I really appreciated you posting those.

Twisted is right. Wow I bet Malakie is so glad he didn't go that day. I'm thinking he must have thought something was off. I mean I don't think I'd even remember someone having a propane tank in their car, much less ask them about it. It's hard for me to even imagine a conversation with a neighbor that would go along the lines of "so I notice you've got propane in there - what's up?" with the response "I'm going to blow up a mine shaft." If I even happened to notice the propane I'd assume they were planning to BBQ later. A couple of gas cans too wouldn't even be that weird - I'd think they were going camping/ATV riding. [ETA: by propane tanks I mean those ones typically attached to a BBQ, outdoor heater, RV, etc. - I'd notice something more extreme than that! I'm not clear on what was in CL's jeep]. Then again my neighbors don't talk about how to hide bodies, and if I saw the rebar and rope along with it, that would definitely change how I saw things. I doubt he had any idea HOW horrible CL's plans were, but I am thinking some self-preservation instinct kicked in that prevented him from going "coyote hunting" that day.

Not a problem! Sometimes peeps just "bleep" over links, and that article was a pretty solid wall of type. But it answered quite a few questions that were brought up, and how the search warrants and evidence pieced together.

Unless the defense can put someone else in the Jeep, or someone waiting at the mine shaft, it appears the State has solid foundation.

 

[nikb]

Agree. I am very saddened on how happy she was when she thought he was taking her there to propose to her. I hope it was done quick and she didn't see it coming. Poor girl.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I have a hard time understanding getting happy for a married person going out for a 'special day' day with another person who is married to someone else, and hoping that a proposal was in the works. I still 100% agree that CL was horrible and I hope it was quick and that she didn't suffer. IMO it should've all turned out to be one of those "damn I was an idiot when I was 19" situations - not this.

 

[heartgoesout]

I was reading back through some posts looking for something and I saw my own post that read something along the lines of ...
"I think that red car is going to be a WOW moment."
Remember the red car?? That the witness swore he saw. Wonder if this still plays a role?

 

[heartgoesout]

It really bothers me too that CL invited him to go and sounds like he was all set to go but Conner back out last minute... he does not say whether he knew Erin was going too. How would that day differ if he had gone?
What was the plan that day?