Oak Ridge Today

Man convicted in Corwin’s death in California, LA Times reports

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Erin Corwin with Horse

Erin Corwin, who was from Oak Ridge, was an animal lover who volunteered at a horse rescue near Twentynine Palms, California.

 

A man was convicted Thursday of killing Erin Corwin, 19, a former Oak Ridger, and dumping her body down a 140-foot mine shaft, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The conviction came just days after Christopher Brandon Lee, 27, confessed to the slaying on the witness stand, the newspaper said.

A San Bernardino County jury in California found Lee guilty of murder. Jurors also found true a special sentencing enhancement that Lee was lying in wait for Corwin, his married lover, in June 2014, the Los Angeles Times said, citing the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office.

Lee’s sentencing was set for November 29. He faces life without the possibility of parole.

See the LA Times story here. [Read more…]

Trial for Corwin’s alleged killer to be moved

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Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee

Information from WYSH Radio

The trial for a former Marine accused of killing an Oak Ridge native who was living in California with her Marine husband is being moved.

Christopher Lee is charged with the 2014 murder of Erin Corwin.

Prosecutors say that after he killed her, Lee dumped Corwin’s body down an abandoned mine shaft in a remote section of the Joshua Tree National Park.

Authorities say the two had an affair while Corwin’s husband was based at Twentynine Palms, California. [Read more…]

Suspected Corwin killer has hearing postponed

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Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee

Information from WYSH Radio

A scheduled court appearance for the suspected killer of Oak Ridge native Erin Corwin was postponed on Tuesday so that his attorney could review hundreds of pages of evidence in the case.

Ex-Marine Christopher Lee is suspected of killing the 19-year-old Corwin, who was married to an Oak Ridge Marine and stationed in California. Her body was found weeks after her disappearance at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft in the Southern California desert.

Authorities say that the two were having an affair and allege that Lee killed her to keep his own wife from finding out.

Lee was supposed to appear in court on Tuesday, but his attorneys requested a delay after receiving nearly 1,500 pages of documents from the prosecutor. His next scheduled court appearance will be October 29.

Candlelight vigil for Erin Corwin in Oak Ridge on Friday

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Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin

Erin Renae (Heavilin) Corwin of Twentynine Palms, California, went to be with the Lord on August 16, 2014. Erin, originally from Oak Ridge, was a doting wife, daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend.

Erin’s friends remember her as being a great confidant who was always willing to go above and beyond to help anyone she knew. Erin’s love for animals, especially horses, will live on in the memories of those closest to her. Erin’s nurturing soul led her to become the mother of dozens of animals in her short life. Her “children” ranged from fish and guinea pigs to cats and dogs.

Before her husband Jon’s career in the United States Marine Corps took them to California, Erin worked at Tractor Supply in Oak Ridge and spent most of her free time with her horse or checking out the latest yard sales with her mom and brother. Though Erin enjoyed being in California, she and Jon were looking forward to being able to move back to East Tennessee next year. [Read more…]

Updated: Man charged, waives extradition in Corwin death

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Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee (Photos courtesy San Bernardino County (California) Sheriff’s Department)

Note: This story was last updated at 9:30 p.m.

Information from WYSH Radio

The man arrested for killing a woman originally from Oak Ridge and dumping her body in a southern California mine shaft has been charged in her murder.

Christopher Brandon Lee, 24, was arrested Sunday night in Alaska in the death of 19-year-old Erin Corwin. The charges were announced Tuesday by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office in California, which also filed what is called a special circumstance allegation of “lying in wait,” increasing the potential penalty to life without parole or death.

The decision on which penalty to seek will be made after prosecutors review all the evidence in the case.

Authorities also said Tuesday that Lee had been looking into how to dispose of a human body. Investigators also say .22-caliber fired casings and rebar were recovered with the body of Corwin and that the head stamp from the casings matched those on casings found in Lee’s vehicle and residence. [Read more…]

Erin Corwin’s body found in Calif. mine shaft; suspect arrested in Alaska

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Erin Corwin with Horse

Erin Corwin, who was from Oak Ridge, was an animal lover who volunteered at a horse rescue near Twentynine Palms, California.

 

The body of Erin Corwin, a pregnant 19-year-old Oak Ridge native who had been missing in southern California since late June, was found 140 feet down a mine shaft on Saturday, authorities said Monday.

Corwin’s body, found with the help of video equipment at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, was identified at 9:30 p.m. Sunday using dental records, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

A half-hour later, at 10 p.m. Sunday, Christopher Brandon Lee was arrested in Anchorage, Alaska, for the murder of Corwin, the Sheriff’s Department said. An autopsy has determined the death was a homicide.

The Desert Sun of Palm Springs, California, said Lee is a 24-year-old ex-Marine who lived next to Erin and her husband, Marine Corporal Jonathan Corwin, who is also from Oak Ridge, at a desert base in Twentynine Palms, California. Detectives believe that Lee and Erin Corwin were having an affair, and that Lee may have been afraid that his wife Nichole would discover his infidelity, the newspaper said.

Corwin vanished June 28 after telling her husband that she was going to Joshua Tree National Park south of Twentynine Palms. [Read more…]

Search for Corwin continues, investigation not classified as criminal

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Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin (Photos courtesy San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department)

Three weeks after she disappeared, the search for an Oak Ridge woman living in southern California continues, but it has not been classified as a criminal investigation, authorities said Friday.

No suspects or “persons of interest” have been identified in the search for Erin Corwin, who is 20 and three months pregnant, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said. And no information is being released about possible witnesses, witness statements, or investigative techniques used during the search, the department said.

The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California, has reported that the Naval Criminal Investigative Services is assisting in the search by helping with the military aspects of the investigation. The newspaper said four search warrants have been served, and they have been used to search two vehicles, including Corwin’s car, and two apartments on the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, where Corwin lives with her husband, Cpl. Jonathan Corwin, who is also from Oak Ridge.

Authorities have said Corwin’s disappearance is suspicious and does not appear to be voluntary. So far, though, they have not announced finding any signs of her. [Read more…]

Investigators search 200 miles of desert for pregnant Oak Ridge woman missing in California

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Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin (Photos courtesy San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department)

Investigators searching for an Oak Ridge woman who now lives in California and disappeared under suspicious circumstances two weeks ago have covered more than 200 square miles of remote desert, authorities said Friday.

The search for Erin Corwin, who is 19 years old and pregnant, has been concentrated around the Joshua Tree National Park in southern California. The vast high desert reserve is east of Los Angeles and just south of the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base, where Corwin lives with her husband, U.S. Marine Cpl. Jonathan Wayne Corwin, who is also from Oak Ridge.

The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said the search has found no sign of Corwin, and her disappearance does not appear to be voluntary.

The search will continue as necessary throughout the weekend using search and rescue volunteers from the San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County, and Kern County Sheriff’s Departments, and Joshua Tree National Park Service rangers, authorities said.

Investigators said they haven’t released much information about Corwin’s disappearance because of its suspicious nature. [Read more…]

Air, ground search under way for pregnant woman missing in California

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Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin (Photo courtesy San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department)

A dozen search and rescue volunteers and a helicopter crew are searching Joshua Tree National Park in California for a pregnant 19-year-old woman from Oak Ridge who was reported missing on Sunday.

Erin Corwin was last seen leaving her Twentynine Palms, California, home on her way to Joshua Tree National Forest at about 7 a.m. Saturday, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said. Her husband, Jonathan Corwin, reported her missing on Sunday.

The Sheriff’s Department said it began an extensive air and ground search using volunteers and search and rescue teams. The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Homicide Detail is assisting in the investigation.

Specialized investigators, detectives from Morongo Basin/Twentynine Palms station, and patrol personnel are also at the scene, the Sheriff’s Department said in an update posted late Thursday morning. The search area continues to be in and around the Joshua Tree National Park, authorities said.

KTLA-TV in Los Angeles said Corwin was going to the park to see if it would be a good place for a family outing during a planned visit with her mother, Lore Heavilin of Oak Ridge. Heavilin had planned a trip there to celebrate Erin’s birthday on July 15.  [Read more…]