A secret affair between Erin Corwin and former Twentynine Palms Marine Christopher Lee will be the focus of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered season 10 episode 35.

Christopher Lee, a former marine and neighbor of the Corwins, is currently serving jail time for strangling a pregnant Erin Corwin at Joshua Tree National Park and disposing of her body in a nearby abandoned mineshaft in an attempt to burn it to ashes. The unfortunate event that took place on June 28, 2014, following Erin's disappearance gained national attention, and it took two years of legal deliberation for Lee to be sentenced to prison.

As the official synopsis of the Dateline episode goes,

"After Erin Corwin told her husband she was scouting hiking trails in Joshua Tree National Park, she suddenly vanished -- police quickly uncovered a steamy love triangle and a mystery with a deep pool of potential suspects."

The episode on Erin Corwin's murder will be re-aired on November 4, 2023, at 9 pm EST on NBC.

Who is Erin Corwin, and what happened to her?

Erin Corwin was born Erin Heavilin in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and grew up to be a compassionate animal lover, tending to horses. Erin had been acquainted with Jon Corwin since fifth grade, and the two did not date until she turned 16 years old. As the couple tied the knot in November 2012, Jon moved on to join the Marines, resulting in the two moving out to the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California.

Erin and Jon Corwin (Image via Heavilin Family)

The Corwins grew close to other military couples, such as Conor and Aisling Malakie, who lived downstairs with their infant son Brian, and Christopher Brandon Lee and his wife Nicole, who lived with their 6-year-old daughter Liberty next door.

In her book, Secrets of a Marine’s Wife, Shanna Hogan detailed their relationship by writing,

“While their husbands were on duty, Erin, Aisling, and Nichole would stop by each other’s apartments for snacks and gossip. When Jon, Conor, and Chris were home, the couples barbecued on the grill outside their complex or watched movies and TV shows at each other’s apartments.”

After a failed pregnancy, Erin and Jon started growing apart due to differences, and this was precisely the moment Chris stepped into the picture, offering Erin quality time and the emotional support she needed at the time.

A still of Chris Lee (Image via Anchorage Police Department)

Chris and Erin spent more and more time around each other, beyond the notice of their respective partners, discussing how Erin would be a wonderful stepmother to Liberty. Around the same time, Erin discovered she was pregnant with Chris' child. After a confrontation with Nicole, the two tried to end their affair, but circumstances had them around each other again.

Erin Corwin's disappearance took place on June 28, 2014, the day she was traveling to Joshua Tree National Park. Simultaneously, Chris and Jon were also supposed to be on a hunting trip to the same place, but Jon could not make it. Following Erin's disappearance, a search party was organized, which discovered her body in an abandoned mine shaft almost two months later, terribly decomposed. Meanwhile, the Lees had left for Alaska, a place Nicole and Liberty wanted to settle down after Chris was released from duty.

A still of Nicole Lee (Image via White Rock Horse Rescue)

The investigation seemed simple, and the trial began in October 2016, which led to Chris pleading guilty to the first-degree murder of Erin Corwin. He strangled her to death using a homemade garrote and threw her body down the 250-meter-deep mine shaft. Chris Lee tried to defend himself by accusing Erin of molesting his daughter, but the jury dismissed his claim and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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