Last Breath | "48 Hours: NCIS" | "48 Hours" Podcast (Episode 6) | Forensic Files

a warning to listeners that this episode contains graphic depictions of violence just over 2 years since Aaron
left the Marine base and never came back her family finally had the answer of what happened to her and who did it
Christopher Lee killed her for the first time they finally learned his story why
according to Aaron's killer she allegedly abused his daughter the court was shocked by Chris Le's testimony it
was hard to believe it kind of came out of left field it kind of seemed like it was this last attempt to paint Aaron in
a in a horrible light to make some type of excuse for his behavior and it was hard to watch NCIS analyst Ashley deelin
kept up with the case thanks to reporter Beth Ford Roth's blog and the national news coverage since ncis's official
involvement in Aaron story had concluded the NCIS agents had done their job they helped find Aaron and the
person who killed her but special agent Clifton Randolph Jr said it was hard to move on from a case they had worked on
so intensely years before it never goes away especially when you you had such a big role in it in the news coverage the
agents remembered seeing a side of Chris Lee that chilled them when I saw it his testimony I was
surprised by what he said that he had done to Aaron Corell I was surprised that he admitted what he did in the
detail that he did I I was surprised by his spcial Expressions kind of like he was reading off the script yeah the
script it was shocking and almost robotic but was Chris Lee telling the truth I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie
Morales this is 48 Hours NCIS episode 6 Last Breath the air in the courtroom when he testified I think initially uh
became very very heavy prosecutor sha D was seated at the prosecution's table the one closest to the jury when Chris
testified you could feel the emotions in the courtroom you could see it on the juror's
faces could have heard a pin drop I think very quiet very serious very heavy prosecutor dty said the court was
silent when Chris claimed that many months before he killed Aaron his wife Nicole was giving their daughter a bath
when she noticed something wrong and that Nicole said I I think that maybe she's been molested and I think Aaron
did it reporter Beth Ford Roth sat in her usual seat in the courtroom right behind Aaron's mother lore she had
watched every second of the trial making note of every piece of evidence she didn't want to miss anything in her
daily write up for the blog she knew the rest of Aaron's family would be following along and this part would be
especially difficult for them to read up to this point the court knew that Aaron would sometimes babysit Chris
and Nicole's daughter so it might have seemed plausible to the jurors that something could have happened to the
Le's daughter and that Aaron could have done it but the time came for prosecutor d to
cross-examine Chris and DH was prepared for something like this Chris's last ditch attempt to save himself he spoke
to lur first to prepare her for this possibility when Sean first told me I was just like you there's just no way
absolutely no way Aon would do anything like that sha had actually asked him if they'd noticed
any difference in their daughter's Behavior once this supposedly all started and Chris answered no like why
in the world are you even asking me this you know Chris had made the allegation now he had to prove it Beth
watched how quickly the claim dissolved Under Pressure did they call military police
no did they go to a pediatrician who would have been requ fired to call the police no there was no evidence entered
in by anyone to say there's evidence this child was molested special agent Randolph said the
NCIS never received a report about the Lee's daughter on the 29 Palms Marine base it was known protocol that anyone
on base who has any sort of problem any criminal matter could and should report it to NCIS
there's at least one agent working 24 hours a day that can take any report of any wrongdoing especially on a military
installation and we don't operate in secret we interact with the commands and say hey we're here we're here to assist
so that's why I was shocked being in that area that was never reported to us clearly if Aaron actually abused the
Lee's daughter her parents didn't appear to take it it very seriously to say well oh we thought
Aaron did it like 6 months ago but we kept letting her babysit and you know I was still having romantic relationship
with her no we didn't tell anyone we just sort of Let It Go it didn't make any sense at all but as for why this
allegation came up now that made perfect sense well the reason to do this was to
get the jury to vote for voluntary manslaughter voluntary manslaughter is the crime of killing another person in
circumstances that do not amount to murder for example killing without premeditation that's what the defense
attorney in his closing arguments said that this was not premeditated very last minute he didn't think about it at all
until he was actually doing it he didn't really know what he was doing and it was
brought in by this incredible love for his daughter and protection for his daughter and therefore he would not be
guilty of first-degree murder not even second deegree murder but voluntary manslaughter when Chris Lee was arrested
he was charged with first-degree murder killing with a full intention to kill it's the most serious type of murder and
punished accordingly in California if you are convicted of first-degree murder you
face 25 years to life in state prison if you are convicted of voluntary manslaughter it's a much lesser
punishment you face a sentence of up to 11 years in state prison and a fine of up to
$10,000 so if prison was unavoidable Chris wanted to do as little time as possible I argued during the trial that
he wasn't confessing out of some sense of remorse or sadness or anything else he couldn't care less about that or
Aaron for that matter he was telling them that story in the hopes that someone by uh the heat of passion
argument and in order for anyone to believe the heat of passion argument his child abuse allegation against Aaron
would have to be airtight the jury would have to believe it to be true it was horrifying because the only
thing worse than a murderer is a child Mester and so Christopher Brandon Lee tried to make himself the second most
terrible person in this story and if Aaron was the worst person then he would have been Justified for what he did in
the courtroom Beth couldn't believe what she was hearing my reaction was immediate emotion I had to put my head
down because I began to cry this man not only broke this poor girl's heart he murdered her and now to save his own
skin he was going to try and ruin her name and turn her into some sort of monster it was so
horrific and I have a flash of looking at the jury and the jury's face reflected that it sounded like an
absolute complete and total lie there was no evidence Aaron Corin was molesting his daughter other than from
him uh his story was ridiculous even from the basic fact of a 19-year-old girl being out in the middle of the
desert with someone she loves and according to him confessing to a horrible crime just doesn't pass the smell test
at all in the very first row of the courtroom lur sat listening she watched Chris Lee admit to killing her daughter
and then she had to watch him try to avoid responsibility in order to shave off a few years from a prison
sentence Chris was trying to cover all his bases trying to do whatever he needed to do to make things less
horrible for him prosecutor DH had one more thread to pull that he hadn't [Music]
already according to Chris's testimony he found out about Aaron allegedly abusing his daughter from his wife
Nicole Lee so Nicole was sort of this little Insidious thread throughout the trial the jury never saw her testify but
she was there and her name was mentioned and there was always a suspicion of what
did she know when did she know it there were no charges against Nicole and while she was kept on call as a
witness for both sides at points in the trial she was never called to testify spousal privilege means that
wives don't have to testify against their husbands and the defense never did end up calling Nicole for reasons that
are unclear she told more than one person that she didn't care if Aaron had died that if
there's no body there's no case and that they'll never find the body and that her
husband needs to keep his story straight so there's every indication that Nicole knew in my opinion but no
charges have been brought against her it was only when the judge was questioning Chris's heat of passion
argument that Nicole was called to court after Christopher brenon Lee testified that Aaron had abused his
daughter and that was the reason why he had killed her the prosecutor asked that Nicole be
brought into the courtroom when Nicole arrived in court she seemed at peace she had a big smile on her face she was
wearing her husband's dog tags you know she was dressed business suit make up just everything was great Nicole stood
in the middle of the court in front of prosecutor dhy and the judge D said if Nicole's daughter really was put in
danger if Aaron really was abusing her he was prepared to call the child to the stand as soon as the prosecutor said you
need to have your daughter available to be brought in as a witness she started to shake
and got very very angry I think she was absolutely shocked that the prosecutor sort of called their
Bluff and said okay if you're going to use your daughter as a tool to try and get your husband off of
murdering his mistress we're going to ask her questions if she was really abused that we should want to find out
what happened to her according to Beth Nicole stormed out of the courtroom Beth felt Nicole's emotional response wasn't
out of concern for her daughter's well-being it was almost like at that moment she realized that that lie wasn't
going to work and that her husband was going to get convicted of murder so if Aaron was innocent why
would Chris kill her to prosecutor DH Chris's motive was clear here Chris Le killed Aaron Corwin
because he didn't want the baggage of a child with another woman and the fact that she was going to be a part of his
life for the rest of his life Chris when he was on the stand was talking about the fact that he joined the Marines
because he wanted to protect our country and he had several deployments but none of them involved him being in
action and he was very very disappointed that he did not get to kill anybody he actually said that he said
that if that was painful for lore to hear the next bit was excruciating a warning to listeners that
what you're about to hear is graphic I knew about the garot before the trial it was still around her
neck as prosecutor d cross-examined Chris on the stand he felt Chris's story and the way he told it made murdering
Aaron sound sort of sterile and one-dimensional doy needed to help the jury better visualize the crime he had a
strategy he had prepared lore for it as he knew she would be watching in the courtroom Sean warned me that he was
going to have Chris demonstrate how he used the garot and I did not watch it when I cross cross examined Chris Le and
we reached the point where I was bringing out the dummy and the garat uh I believe my question was show me how
you did it show me how you killed her reporter Beth Ford Roth was seated near the front of the courtroom as usual
her eyes fixed on Chris she watched as he stepped down from the stand the prosecutor had sort of a um it
looked like a r giant rag doll basically a a humanized doll and he asked Christopher Lee to demonstrate on the
doll how he used the garat on Aaron Corwin I was absolutely shocked because he had no emotion about it it was kind
of like oh okay yeah I'll do that Chris Lee faced the court his back to the judge Beth couldn't look
away we can see his face the doll is in front of him he puts the garat around the doll 's neck and then he when he
twists it he turns around and the doll went up it flew up in the air Beth heard a gasp the
demonstration was violent but Chris didn't seem aware of this he continued when he twisted it he wasn't
facing her anymore she was back to back with him he didn't have to look at her when he was doing
this the people in court didn't have to imagine Aaron's shock or how her body responded because she was so tiny her
feet would have flown up in the air and they never did find her shoes when she was down there they must have
flown off her feet Beth's eyes moved from Chris to lore I sat there and put my head down
and closed my eyes while he was demonstrating what he had done to my daughter and then the prosecutor
timed what happened just so that the jury could see how many moments how many seconds
how many minutes he had to change his mind and stop doing what he was doing to save Aaron's
life ear earlier in the trial the medical examiner had testified that it would have taken 20 seconds for Aaron to
black out which means that for 20 seconds she experienced pure conscious panic and so the prosecutor timed out 20
seconds of what she must have experienced and I would ask him every 20 seconds or so could have stopped you
could have stopped you could have stopped the jurors reactions they're right in front of me they're squirming in their
chairs uh several of them are tearing up I think a lot of us hoped it was she didn't see it coming at least she didn't
know what was about to happen to her but she did the medical examiner testified that
it would have taken 4 and 1 half to 5 minutes for Aaron to die Chris stood with the dummy hanging
over his shoulder it's legs kicked out and Limp he held the garat taut until he was told to stop it was dead silent and
um I got the point across I I I did I I stopped they get it it was so brutal to know that he just stayed there after she
was no longer conscious and and held her like that for 4 minutes to make sure she was dead
the demonstration proved that Aaron's death was no accident regardless of whether it was voluntary manslaughter or
first-degree murder what I was showing is the to the jury is he had plenty of time to think about life letting someone
live or think about killing them and once you've had that opportunity that's premeditation Liberation when you choose
death and that's certainly what he did and and he could have stopped which even further shows premeditation Del
liberation in the desert with the garat still around Aaron's neck Chris had to get rid
of her body the prosecutor asked how Aaron ended up in the mine and he said I dragged her with the garat and she went
down head first into the mine he didn't initially want to answer eventually he admitted that's the way he
did it it was important for the jurors to hear that it was important for everyone to hear that that he he did he
threw down like a piece of garbage lur kept her head down during the demonstration but she knew she would
never forget it one thing that does kind of haunt me is what was going through her brain what was she thinking when he
was joking her she was with somebody that she thought loved her somebody she felt she could
trust and my only Saving Grace is I choose to believe that she was unconscious very quick that she didn't
have much time to think about it after three full days in court spread across the month of October
2016 the judge sent the jury to deliberate the day the jury went out I was so totally drained that I
literally was tripping just walking I could not pick my feet up reporter Beth Ford Roth recalled that it
didn't take long for the jury to come back with a decision so the jury was given the case the last day of trial
after the closing arguments that afternoon and by the next morning they had a verdict it was just
a very scary day cuz you just don't know you know what are all these people thinking when
the jury filed in I mean you're still very apprehensive you know I don't have a good read on them the courtroom held
its breath awaiting the verdict Christopher Brandon Lee was convicted of first-degree murder and
sentenced to life without the possibility of parole when they read that the verdict I you know immediately
thought we've got Justice for you Aaron prosecutor sha dar's strategies in court had paid off the special
circumstance allegation in the case was ly and wait and that is he essentially waited and watched for an opportunity to
act to kill with the intent to kill all the evidence in this case pointed that that's exactly what he did Chris sat in
the defendant's chair in handcuffs his expression did not change I didn't look over at him I I've
heard he didn't react at all behind him his mother started to cry lur Aaron's mother fixed her eyes on
Chris Chris would not look at me when he was sitting on the stand and saying how
sorry he was that he did this to her I literally stared at him during that time and he would not look up at me you know
if you're truly sorry look at me and tell me you're sorry but he would not look at
[Music] me Chris was led away in handcuffs the judge returned to his Chambers and the
rest of the room filed out after four long days in court and 2 years since Aaron's murder perhaps the community
could finally start healing but there would be no peace for lore not yet Chris wasn't done fighting he
filed an appeal on November 29th 2016 the day of the sentencing hearing in his appeal Chris claimed that had the jury
been more fully instructed it could have found that he did not premeditate and deliberate The Killing and therefore the
jury could have convicted him of second degree murder instead of first-degree murder the Appellate Court disagreed and
affirmed the judgment and they're basically saying you have nothing to stand on but then his attorney has a chance to
reply again this could go on for years and years and years and years it's just like you're going along
just fine and then all of a sudden someone rips your emotional scab off again today Chris is in prison in San
Bernardino County since he lost the appeal he filed in 2016 he has not filed another and since the day he was
sentenced when he couldn't look lore in the eyes it's not clear whether he feels
any real remorse for taking Aaron's life you know he's stolen so much from us but I also talked about the huge
ripple effect you know yes it affects us it affects her siblings it affects her nieces and nephews it affects her
friends but lore demonstrates an unbelievable Grace I felt a peace that couldn't be
explained pretty much through the whole trial I had so many people praying for me that's the only way I can explain the
peace that I felt I have no hate or animosity towards Chris I've forgiven him a long time
ago if I was hateful and bitter it wasn't going to bother Chris at all it would destroy
me and I decided he's already taken enough from me he's not going to get my heart my mind my soul lur knows that
Aaron is not the only victim here not only did he throw Aaron under the bus he threw his daughter under the bus I mean
what's she going to think when she grows up and Googles all this with astonishing
empathy lur thinks of the rest of Chris's Family Y when his mom gave birth to him and holding him the dream she had
for him and surely this wasn't one of her dreams and how proud was she of him when he played football and how proud
was she of him when he joined the Marines and how excited was she when he was getting discharge and coming home
not only did he destroy our family he destroyed his fames too following his sentencing Chris Le's
military service record was amended with a dishonorable discharge Beth Ford Roth with her
reporting background on military family life says this is a huge deal so you're never supposed to say that someone is an
ex-marine he's an xmarine after he was honorably discharged he was dishonorably discharged with dishonorable discharge
charge status the US government does not legally consider Chris Lee a veteran and
therefore he cannot receive veteran benefits it is an indelible mark on his service permanent for the rest of his
life and while this doesn't have a serious effect on Chris serving a life sentence it means his family isn't
eligible for benefits either but as far as we can tell Nicole is still married to Chris we couldn't find divorce
records her latest address is listed as Chris's mom's house in Alaska at the White Rock horse rescue
where Aaron and the Lee family first came together Isabelle megley has reminders of Aron everywhere I had her
horse her horse just passed away every time I saw that horse I thought of her Aaron's murder changed how Isabelle runs
the horse rescue I learned that anything can happen that the friendship I had with a volunteer is now different I
don't trust uh I I can't believe what they say and it has changed me to be a little
harder but for the best because it can happen and you can see in this instant good went to bad in a
minute Beth maintains that it was a formative court case for her to cover as a journalist she thinks of Aaron often
but there's this feeling of oh my gosh it all could have stopped at age 19 and it could have been me it could have
been my older sister it could have been any 19-year-old girl who fell in love with the wrong guy prosecutor Shawn DH
still defends Aaron in a sense he remembers how vulnerable she was I I've heard the sentiment that Aaron was at
fault for having an affair um I just always thought it was important to keep in mind her age and her lack of
experience as for John Aaron's husband he is as enigmatic as ever we know he was remarried after Aaron's murder and
they had a child he's divorced now the NCIS agents officially closed the case once Chris was convicted but
Aaron's story stays with them when you work a case like that everyone's ultimate goal is to get Justice for the
victim and to ensure that families have closure and obviously it was a very sad circumstance
and a very sad thing that occurred and I think my main focus was are we getting Justice for Aaron and her family and the
people who loved her in Aaron's case the NCIS agents helped ensure that Justice was served
but her case was just one of many investigations that the agents were conducting at the time Aaron Corwin was
just one victim who special agent Randolph and analyst DCH hin fought for you're working cases simultaneously
there's always mail coming in you know deliveries are going out but males coming in it's a constant process so
there's no moving on really it's compartmentalized this is what I'm working with here this is what I'm
working with here okay we got a conviction here uh did we do everything we needed to do to shore this up and
ensure that we did everything on our part so you're never really over like because I I still I remember that case I
haven't forgotten [Music] it we are at the Min shaft where Aaron's body was found in March 2018 almost four
years after Aaron's murder lur visits the place for the first time where her daughter took her last breaths she goes
with 48 Hours producer Paul L Rosa I wanted the opportunity to be able to come up here to have like a memorial
service for her like you see the flowers on the side of the road when someone has
passed away I wanted to remember the last place where my daughter was alive in the desert lur stands at the
opening of the mine shaft Wind Blows against the Sands it's hard to imagine how desolate it is here pictures don't
do it justice it's very desolate very vast but Beauty just a different kind of beauty Laura bows her
head Aaron Renee our sweet precious daughter sister Aunt friend when you were taken from us we lost our breath of
fresh air shy loving nurturing trusting naive animal Whisperer you were such a wonderful young lady a gift from God we
were a blessed to be chosen to be your family I'm sure the Angels were saying come to Jesus as you left us
here my ear and size hole in my heart is a little bit deeper right now to know that this was
where her life was taken from her didn't know that she had dreams that were stolen from
her memories that were taken from us in in this spot times that we could have spent
together do you feel Aaron here no Aaron's not here Aaron's in Heaven from CBS News and CBS Studios
this is 48 Hours NCIS original reporting by 48 Hours producer Paul Arosa Anthony Batson is
the senior producer for 48 hours Jamie Benson is the senior producer for Paramount audio special thanks to 48
Hours executive producer Judy igard CBS studi senior vice president Rob luchow and Paramount audio vice president Megan
Marcus our podcast was written and produced by J vbl Isabelle Kirby Macwan Cara shillin Max Johnston Megan adoli
and Ian Enright additional reporting and recording by Isabelle Kirby McGowan Jay
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thanks for listening

Will Erin’s story end with justice? Prosecutor Sean Daugherty fights against Chris Lee’s defense with a powerful, unforgettable strategy. As the trial comes to a close, the people in Erin’s orbit — her family and friends, the NCIS agents, and reporters — learn the painful truth about Erin’s tragic end.

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Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Christopher Lee's trial reveals shocking claims about Aaron Corwin, leading to his conviction for first-degree murder and life imprisonment.

Key points

The Shocking Testimony. Chris Lee's unexpected claims about Aaron left the courtroom in disbelief.
A Mother's Pain. Lore's emotional struggle during the trial was palpable as she faced Chris Lee.
The Verdict. Christopher Brandon Lee was convicted of first-degree murder, bringing some justice for Aaron.
The Impact of Chris's Actions. Chris not only destroyed Aaron's life but also impacted his own family significantly.
A Mother's Visit to the Mine Shaft. Lur visits the mine shaft where her daughter was found, seeking closure and remembrance.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was hard to believe it kind of came out of left field.

Testimony from Chris Lee shocked the court.

0:36WatchDec 3, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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