Weapon of Choice | "48 Hours: NCIS" | "48 Hours" Podcast (Episode 5) | Forensic Files

since Aaron's body had been found in a desert mine authorities were finally able to charge someone for her murder
and Chris Lee was suspect number one before finding Aaron's body police were able to arrest Chris for possession of a
potato gun he had made bail and was told not to leave San Bernardino County this
way authorities could keep tabs on him as they continued to search for Aaron investigators knew Chris was
staying at Isabel meckley's horse ranch before he was picked up for the potato gun so they made their way to the ranch
after they found Aaron's Body by the time investigators arrived Chris and his family were gone breaking
the conditions of his bail Christopher Lee and aoli did disappear and nobody really knew where
they went the family they were planning to leave the area how are they going to do this
they were were they going to move themselves were they going to contract a moving company we needed to know that
information and so that's when Cliff asked me if I could I could assist with potentially trying to locate Lee in
coordination with San Bernardino NCIS special agent Clifton Randolph Jr and NCIS analyst Ashley delfen scoured their
military database to gather everything they could on Chris and zeroed in on where he might have
gone but since Chris had just been honorably discharged getting an exact location proved to be difficult if you
move in the military usually there are contractors that can move you and those are military records part of your
permanent change of station however with outside contracted military moves takes a little more digging to locate
how someone is going to move once a marine moves on their own accord into civilian life the military
no longer keeps track of them so NCIS Personnel sifted through more than just military records well if he left 29
Palms how did he leave we did a little bit of research and found that he had rented a car and appeared to have driven
up to Washington State and then crossed over into Alaska eventually NCIS was able to
pinpoint where Chris had gone back to his hometown of Anchorage Alaska soon after local authorities arrested Chris
after finding him driving his mother's car while searching the vehicle they found blue climbing rope several knives
and a handmade Grant during all of this investigators made sure to keep lore Aaron's mom
updated it probably wasn't 30 minutes after I got that phone call saying that it was definitely Aaron that I got
another phone call saying Chris was arrested in Alaska Anchorage Alaska is Christopher
Lee's Hometown he was a small boy here once playing in the snow learning survival techniques like hunting and
fishing as a teenager he played football football and his High School varsity team once Chris graduated he prepared to
leave snowy Anchorage to join The Honorable Marine Corps it's also here in Anchorage Alaska where Chris Lee was
arrested for murder I think he was confident enough that they would never find Aaron's body that he could just go
on with life I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie Morales and this is 48 hours NCIS episode 5 weapon of
choice numb you felt numb you just go through the motions you just do what you have to
do Laura had been preparing to hear the worst for weeks when she and her husband
Bill finally got the call that they found her daughter's body she did her best to stay strong for her other
children you know it's midnight and we're bill and I discussed you know there's no
reason to wake them up a few of her kids still lived in the house few had moved out and started their own families they
might as well have a good night's sleep so we decideed we'd wait until the next morning to call them the weight of it
all was unbearable a few weeks after they confirmed it was Aaron's body in the Min
shaft Laura and her family were able to properly greet leave in the middle of September of
2014 we had a candl light vigil at the barn where she had kept her horse a final goodbye in honor of Aaron
Corwin's life the barn was located at the East Tennessee Riding Club in Oakridge it's
small tucked away off the side roads there were posters hung all over the walls collages of Aaron and her favorite
things in life her animals and her family it was dusk everyone held a candle and sat on the
bleachers anyone who wanted to share a few words about Aaron was invited to do so a couple of her friends spoke one of
the youth leaders from church spoke and the minister that baptized her as a child said the prayer over it John
Aaron's husband was there as well but he didn't say anything he held his candle looking
stoic Beyond her friends and family Aaron's tragedy touched so many there were so many people hundreds of people
there I hugged so many necks of people I didn't know the support that we got from complete strangers is
just unbelievable lur was able to see the beauty and strangers empathizing with her it gave her strength in the midst of
her nightmare the body of a pregnant Oak Ridge woman has been found 19-year-old Aaron Corwin had been missing for nearly
2 months friends remembered Aaron as a shy teenager Who Loved animals we need to remember that she's a person first
she's a daughter a sister a wife a friend Beth Ford Roth who covered aon's case for public radio remembers how
media Outlets all over the country clung to this story when you see a photograph
of Aaron Corwin you know why because she was sweet naive pregnant Marine wife a teenager from Eastern Tennessee a family
who loved her there was the obvious salacious nature of it all but Beth believes it was more than
that she's a small town girl she doesn't have a lot of experience with men and this is a crazy situation that she found
herself in she looked to the wrong person to help her get out of it most of us have fallen for the wrong person when
we were young most of us have made rash and dramatic decisions in our teenage years but most
of us get to learn and grow from them I think if women are honest with themselves and they look back at how
innocent or naive they may have been at that age it could have been any one of us but
we got to move on we got to suffer the Heartbreak and then move on and Erin never got that chance she'll never get
that chance police and NCIS had done their part and now it was up to the judicial system to
do theirs it was time to get a conviction and hopefully some justice for Aaron lore remembers the grueling
wait for trial to start it took almost 2 and 1/2 years for the trial to happen started October
2016 during that time Chris Lee had been held in a San Bernardino County Jail he
was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to murder before the start of the trial lore headed back to San Bernardino to be
there in person her sister accompanied her Aaron's Father Bill would not attend I don't think I could have contained
myself unable to do that that would have put more stress on my wife she had enough stress with going to the trial
herself but to worry about how I would handle it would not be any better I attended every moment of the trial
the San Bernardino County Superior Court is only 60 miles outside of LA and 90 M
outside of 29 Palms the courthouse itself looks like any major municipal building massive and old with large
imposing pillars at the front the courtroom looks like a church rows of wooden pews facing forward
toward the bench where the judge presides Chris walked in wearing a white button-down shirt a blue tie khakis and
a clean shaven face Chris sat down calmly on the defense side of the courtroom lur thought he looked
different Chris lost a ton of weight lur had met Chris years ago during the investigation so when she first saw
Chris enter the courtroom she was shocked by his appearance I don't know that I would
have recognized him if I was just walking down the street and saw him he almost kind of looked
[Music] scary based on court transcripts there was a long list of witnesses who were
called to testify for the prosecution this included Aaron's mom lore her husband John her hometown best
friend Jesse and the malakis Aon neighbors who live downstairs Laura's family expected her
to report back about the trial daily but some of the information was so dense it
was hard for her to keep all the facts in her head during a break in the proceedings
Laura and her sister looked around the room they noticed a woman sitting behind them just a few feet away riding on a
notepad fervently it was reporter Beth Ford Roth that first day it just poured out of me
Beth published daily updates from the trial on her blog to sit so close to aon's family members she was their
daughter their wife and then also to sit in the same room with the man who ended
her life and it was I was filled with so much emotion I didn't know what else to
do so I wrote it down Beth had initially started as a public radio reporter covering the case but she had become so
attached to Aaron's story she decided to continue reporting on it through a personal blog she created called Justice
for Aaron Corwin Laura's sister approached Beth after court one day and said thank you
because of her blog lur did not have to retell every detail of the trial to the rest of the family instead she could
just send them over to Beth's website when I was attending the trial and writing the blog my older sister was
following it on the blog she hadn't heard the story before and she called me one night after the day of the trial and
she said oh my God Bethy that could have been me and I said I know it could have
been me Beth attended trial every day she said in a strange way the courtroom reminded her of a wedding instead of the
bride's family on one side and the groom's family on the other it's it's laur's family and friends on one side
and on the other side it's the family friends of Christopher Lee the defendant not far from her was the
prosecutor my name is sha dhy I'm a deputy district attorney with sanino County and I was the trial prosecutor on
the case of people versus Christopher Lee sha Doty has been an attorney for over 20 years and has exclusively worked
on homicide cases since 2009 as soon as he heard of Aaron's case it moved him Dory asked to be a signed to the case
the theory of my case is that chrisly was uh about to discharge from the Marines that he had planned and told his
wife that they were going to move their family back to Alaska but there was a hitch as a result of his relationship
outside of his marriage with Aaron Corwin she had become pregnant and she had told him he was the Father which
would interrupt not only his marriage but his plans Chris Lee backed himself into a corner and the only way out was
to to kill Aaron prosecutor dty appeared to have a plethora of evidence at his disposal he started by showing the video
footage from inside the mine where Aaron was found and then it sort of stayed on that
image and it was kind of hard to make out because of the fact that Aaron had been there for 6 weeks in the Heat and
jurors were covering their mouths I I was looking down Erin's mother was looking down even the defense attorney
would look up and then look down but Beth noticed one person who didn't look away Christopher Lee was forward looking
like this the entire time and I was thinking I never met Aaron I can't look at this the jurors never met her they
can't look at this at the very least he had a friendship with her and he was almost like looking at his handy work
with pictures and visuals prosecutor DH was able to ensure that the jury would see the gruesome end Aaron met they
stayed on a photograph of her hand and you could see the nail polish you couldn't really recognize her
but you saw the fingernail polish and all of a sudden it was like oh yeah she's a 19-year-old girl Beth kept an
eye on Chris Lee through it all he just did not show any emotion that someone who was friendly with Aaron let alone
someone who had an intimate relationship with her would have had it I I couldn't
believe it but then a guilty man doesn't know how an innocent man would [Music] act prosecutor DH continued on
establishing Aaron as a sweet young girl who could be easily influenced then went through through
each piece of evidence in great detail the fact that Chris's story changed multiple times during initial
questioning before Chris was even brought to the station he was caught lying to the police when they first
asked him questions outside of his apartment building they inquired about his neighbor Aon Corwin and Chris Le's
initial response was I don't even know her I know who she is but that's about it later that day uh they found out that
there in fact was a relationship and he more than knew her once Chris was brought in for questioning he admitted
to the affair with Aaron in that same interrogation he would get tangled up in another
lie at first Chris stated he did not cross pass with Aaron at all that day she went missing he just happened to be
in the desert doing his own thing but then there were the tire tracks found by her abandoned car
when investigators looked at those they looked visually similar to Chrisley's Jeep they told him that they had that
evidence and asked him if he wanted to change his story Chris changed his story again he at that point said I didn't see
her that day I did see her car in that same interrogation Chris was asked if they would find anything suspicious in
his search history if they checked and chrisly indicated that he had been searching for the best way to get rid of
a dead body during the interrogation Chris claimed that he and some fellow Marines
had a benign conversation about how to dispose of a body Chris said his internet search was out of pure
curiosity Chris started to describe the different tactics he had found online here's a bit of that recording from the
interrogation room oh there results what' you find out um pigs pigs mhm what does it say pigs do thinking are you
serious I've never heard of that Chris said one of the best ways of getting rid of a body was feeding it to pigs Chris
continued on with his findings describing one scenario that was particularly relevant to the trial He
also mentioned burning a body with tires or getting a body extremely hot and then
later in the interview indicated that tires can become extremely hot when they're set on fire and remember tires
were found at in the mine shaft with Aaron's body and a propane tank the same mine Chris had talked about earlier with
friends in town he was excited about having discovered these mines that he felt no one knew anything about but it
wasn't just tires and a propane tank found in the mine authorities also found a soda bottle with DNA
evidence and on the mouth of the Sprite bottle was both Chrisley's DNA and Aaron
Corwin's DNA this matching DNA evidence was especially damning bit by bit all the
evidence was mounting up against Chris for prosecutor D there was no way Chris could explain all this all the
circumstantial evidence uh was somehow explainable it would make him essentially the unluckiest man in the
world from changing his story to the tire tracks that matched his Jeep to the DNA evidence placing him at the scene of
the crime things were not looking good for Chris then the defense decided to do something very unusual put their
defendant Chris Lee on the stand as their one and only witness here's Beth Ford Roth
again when his name was announced there was sort of this electricity in the courtroom
because no one had any idea that he was going to testify with the defense having only one witness
who happened to be the defendant himself it seemed there was hardly a case to be
presented it didn't make any sense to Beth why they'd bring Chris Lee to the stand the evidence against him was so
overwhelming what could he possibly say maybe they're just trying to make him human enough it was shocking to say the
least Beth wasn't wrong the defense tried to humanize Chris in front of the jury Chris seemed ready to take the
stand he was wearing his his crisp white shirt and a blue tie and khaki pants and
his hair was cut short and he was handsome and he had a Charisma about him that wasn't captured in any photograph
I'd seen before the defense started to question Chris Lee asked about his child Hood what his Hobbies were to make him
seem like you know he could be anyone's kid although his Hobbies were things like blowing things up they were trying
to make him seem like a oh gosh golly kind of guy and he loved his wife and he loved his daughter and he loved his
country and that's the only thing that meant anything to him was to be a marine and to protect his country the
questioning went on like this for a while nothing about the actual case nothing about Aaron the defense pushed
for the jury to sympathize with Chris the young patriotic Marine I I had a good feeling in this case just based on
how the evidence played out that he was going to have to testify and he was going to have to either explain away all
the circumstantial evidence against him or admit that he did it but come up with
some reason for why he did it and that's exactly what happened the defense attorney asked
Christopher Brandon did you kill Aaron Corwin and Chris said yes I did that was the first time that he
admitted he had done it the courtroom was still reeling from Chris admitting that he killed Aaron it
was at this stage of the trial when everything came out in the open it was like slow
motion to admit to the crime within a half hour of taking the stand after lying about it for years
was just I I mean my hand was shaking trying to take notes and trying to stay in the moment and realize this was
actually really happening he was confessing there was the truth according to Chris Lee and then there was what
really happened Christopher Brandon Lee made sure to match his story with the evidence that was
found according to Chris Lee on Saturday June 28th Aaron met Chris by the Marine
base she climbed into Chris's passenger seat there was a particular place Chris wanted to take Aaron he had scouted the
spot less than a week earlier but it was a long drive and he wanted to be sure he
had the route down because they weren't heading to an official trail head they were on their way to a remote abandoned
mine Aaron had told her friend Jesse over text she was excited this all seemed very romantic to her he was
planning a trip with Aaron maybe he told her it was a big surprise but he actually was going to tell her that they
shouldn't be together anymore and he was moving back to Alaska and he was going to stay with his wife
Chris says he got the breakup over with in the car basically he claimed that he told Aaron
when I moved to Alaska it's over between us and that they listen to music for 2 and 1 half hours until they reached the
point where the mine was despite breaking up with Aaron they continued on with the trip Chris Lee told the jury
that he took Aaron out to this area because he wanted to blow up a mine shaft which was sort of curious because
why would Aaron be excited about accompany him to blow up a m shaft it's not every girl's dream to watch this you
know hunk a man shoot a propane tank and watch it blow up Chris said Aaron was not phased by the breakup she just
wanted to spend time with a person she was in love with it was going to be a chance just for the two of them to spend
the day together alone Aaron didn't get a chance to get out often to use the car
and and this was a chance for her to spend time with him and to be together Chris drove to a mine in the desert he
unloaded the car a propane tank lighter fluid a torch when they reached that area Chris
tried to blow up a propane tank this is his way of explaining why there was a propane tank down in the mine
shaft according to Chris he threw the propane tank down the mine and a lit torch so that it would blow up but it
didn't blow he had forgotten to put the lighter fluid on the torch so it didn't burn hot
enough and that was just one more sign for him that his life was not going the way he wanted it to and he felt
desperate and so he decided to play Russian Roulette remember Chris was supposedly
still very depressed it wasn't abnormal for him to drive around with a gun in the back seat as he liked to hunt and
shoot at rattlesnakes and coyotes in the desert after ending his relationship with Aaron and having failed to
successfully blow up the propane tank allegedly this was the last straw now when he first explained all of
this he said he only brought this 22 rifle well there were enough gun experts out there to say you can't play Russian
roulette with a rifle it has to be a revolver so suddenly there was a revolver there so he took the revolver
and he he told Aaron I'm going to play Russian Roulette and Aaron said well I I can't watch this and so she in 110
degree weather with sandals on walked into the mine shaft there were actually two mines in
the area near Chris and Aaron there was one that was a horizontal mine shaft that was more like a cave but then there
was another mine that was like a deep Rabbit Hole Chris said the horizontal mine shaft is the one Aaron walked
into and that she just waited in there and then came back out when he was unsuccessful with ending his life
playing Russian roulette after hearing The Gunshot that's when Aaron walked out into the sun Aaron came over to
Chris and wanted to go home home during Chris's testimony Beth was sitting behind lore in the
courtroom I watched sort of the back of her head just trying to imagine what is going through her mind Laura's eyes were
fixed on Chris as he spoke over the course of the trial prosecutor Shawn Doty had a feeling that the defense
would call into question aon's character tried to dehumanize her as they had humanized
Chris DH made sure to prepare lore for something like this Sean had prepared me he said that
he you know may put some allegations against Aaron and I had said from the very beginning that if they're
going to try to dig up dirt on Aaron they're going to have to make something up but I never dreamt they would make up
what they made up in Chris's testimony Aaron became so upset from watching him play Russian
Roulette that she broke down he said she told him that she wanted a life with him
and his daughter that the three of them could run away together Chris talks about how he and Aaron went on this ride
and everything and um how Aaron was talking about them getting together as a family and he says
well I'm not going to do that to my daughter aon's like well but I I love her and he
actually said he was jealous of the relationship that Aaron had with his daughter and it was at this point in
Chris's jealousy that he allegedly pieced together the story he found out something terrible something that would
throw him into a fit of rage something that had warranted murder Chris asks Aaron or he says he
asked her whether or not she had been molesting his daughter and Aaron I guess according to his
version kind of stammered a little bit and then he got louder and asked her again and she supposedly said
yes the courtroom was shocked silent Beth sitting in one of the front rows shook her head and disbelief Chris
testified that at that point 2 hours from you know the nearest phone no cell reception 110 degree
weather that pregnant Aaron Corwin 19 decided to confess that she had molested his
daughter with no way of of rescue or no way of responding if he was going to act
negatively that she blurted out this is what I did the jury now fac their decision with
new damning information did Aaron abuse Chris Le's daughter and anybody that knows Aaron
knows that there is no way there's just no way absolutely no way Aaron would do anything like
that next time on the final episode of 48 Hours NCIS is there any truth to Chris's
story 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 Ard CBS studi senior vice president Rob luchow and
Paramount audio vice president Megan Marcus our podcast was written and produced by Jay venables Isabelle Kirby
mcgaan Cara shillan Max Johnston Megan adoli and Ian Enright additional reporting and recording by Isabelle
Kirby McGowan Jay venables and Megan adoli our executive producers are Megan adoli and Ian Enright theme and music by
epidemic sound original music from goat rodeo with additional music from Paramount Final Mix by Rebecca Sidell
Ian Enright is our fact Checker our production manager is Megan adoli I'm Natalie Morales if you're
enjoying this show be sure to give it a rating and review it helps more people find it and hear our reporting if you
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thanks for listening

Now that Erin had finally been found, it was time to arrest Chris Lee. The only problem was, he had skipped town. Once NCIS and local investigators find him, Chris was facing a grueling trial back in San Bernardino County. But at the trial, Chris's defense attorneys claim new information about Erin—that nobody saw coming.

Listen early and ad-free by subscribing to 48 Hours+ on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4aEgENo."

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

Chris Lee is arrested for the murder of Aaron Corwin, leading to a shocking trial and his unexpected confession of guilt.

Key points

Chris Lee Arrested. Authorities arrested Chris Lee in Anchorage, Alaska after he fled the scene.
Emotional Vigil for Aaron. A candlelight vigil was held in honor of Aaron Corwin, attended by hundreds.
Trial Begins for Chris Lee. Chris Lee's trial began after a lengthy wait, with Lore attending every moment.
Chris Lee Testifies. In a shocking turn, Chris Lee took the stand as the defense's only witness.
Chris Admits to Murder. Chris Lee confessed to killing Aaron Corwin during his testimony.
Chris's Desperation. Chris's failed attempt to blow up a propane tank reflects his emotional turmoil.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was definitely Aaron that I got another phone call saying Chris was arrested.

Laura received the call confirming her daughter's identity and Chris's arrest.

3:09WatchNov 26, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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