He was cooperative, did not request a lawyer, and honest enough to admit that he and Erin had been having an emotional affair: CHRIS LEE: She was someone I could tell stuff I didn't want to tell anyone because she was a secret so I could tell her my secrets. Evidence pointed to foul play. In the aftermath, trouble emerged in her relationship with Jon and Erin began a relationship with Chris Lee, another Marine. A festering odor wafted from the derelict mine shaft on the edge of the remote Mojave Desert, just north of Californias Joshua Tree National Park. When Chriss wife discovered text messages between him and Erin, she exposed the affair, according to Shanna Hogans book Secrets of a Marines Wife (via the New York Post). It was hard to find a photo of Erin where she wasn't holding a cat or with her horse. Jagged rock formations loomed over the ground pockmarked with abandoned mine shaftsrelics of the California gold rush. Jonathan Corwin, the widower of homicide victim Erin Corwin, is speaking to the media for the first time since his wife went missing on June 28. It was deeper than I had ever been.. Beth Ford Roth: The prosecutor had sort of -- it looked like giant rag doll, basically a human-sized doll. The next month, Danielles body was found in a nearby river. Sean Daugherty: Erin bought into it hook, line, and sinker. Creosote bushes and gnarled Joshua trees dotted the desolate open desert. It could be a body, Norman told detectives. Lore Heavilin: I did not know that Erin was pregnant. In April of 2015, human remains were found outside a shed about 50 miles from her familys home. Wearing yellow coveralls and an orange helmet with a mask that covered his entire face, Baum was lowered into the mine until he was just feet from the corpse. That was a sign that something was wrong. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! 'Secrets Of A Marine's Wife' Is Based On The True Story Of A - Bustle Erins brutal murder would unearth a mystery much deeper and darker than any mine shaft in the Mojave. NCIS Director Andrew Traver: We have to show that if you murder a dependent spouse we will pursue you relentlessly and at some point, you will be brought to justice. The rescuer picked up the shell casing with a gloved hand and placed it in a plastic evidence bag. Once he passed the slope, Chiarabini fed the rope through his gloved hands, lowering the bucket. During closing arguments, the defense strategy became clear when Chris Lee's lawyers argued his client was guilty only of involuntary manslaughter, not first-degree murder. Along with the propane tank and gasoline smell, it became clear that someone had tried to incinerate the body and the contents of the mine. If something happened, whatever it is, we have to be honest. 'Cause you just don't know. COP: You told her that you loved her. I don't know that I would have recognized him if I was just walking down the street. Once solved, the full stories were told on Dateline episodes. Deputy D.A. With this video, our goal is to spread scientific knowledge. And Christopher Lee saw that as his in to Erin. While Erin's husband Major Jon Corwin (Evan Roderick), also a Marine was initially the prime suspect, it soon came to light that it was in fact Lee who killed her. 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 . SECOND COP: We'll get you home right now alright? Isabel Megli: He saw my propane tank and said, "Can I have this?" Detectives strongly suspected Chris Lee had killed Erin Corwin but lacked the proof to arrest him. You could see what seemed to be feet, and maybe something like a face or a head..