48 Hours: NCIS - Russian Roulette: 3

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

After investigating her social circle, NCIS agents discovered that Erin was planning to go into the desert with her neighbor Christopher Lee. But Chris claimed to barely know her. NCIS and the local sheriff's department dug deeper, and found out that Chris and Erin had been having a secret affair for months before Erin went missing.Listen early and ad-free by subscribing to 48 Hours+ on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4aEgENoSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alone in a chilly room in the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, Corporal John Corwin sat with his feet flat on the floor, back straight and sensors wrapped around his chest and abdomen. He was hooked up to a polygraph, with wires running from his fingers to the machine next to him. The first suspect when Erin went missing was her husband, John. Beth Ford Roth is a reporter

who covered Erin's disappearance. He waited 24 hours to call to say that she was missing. He said it was because watching true crime programs, he believed he had to wait 24 hours. I'm sure authorities always look at the spouse first. So the authorities called him in. Once hooked up to the polygraph machine, they tracked changes in John's heart rate and blood pressure.

48 Hours producer Paul LaRosa heard how that day went. The sheriff's deputies in the sheriff's office had a lot of questions for him. They were like, you know, tell us where she went. He didn't know. Tell us what did she have with her, a bodily gatorade. So far, John seemed to be keeping his cool. He wasn't showing the type of physiological reactions

people have when lying, the type of responses that polygraphs are known for exposing, like increased sweating, heavy breathing, and an elevated heart rate. According to NCIS analyst Ashley DeChelfin, that was enough for the Sheriff's Department to determine that John was telling the truth. When San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department conducted the polygraph examination on Jonathan Corwin,

they did not detect any deception. John had passed his polygraph examination, and that confirmed what Erin's mother, Lore, already thought. I never suspected John, never crossed my mind. The authorities floated another theory, one that seemed to come out of left field. Was it possible that Erin had been planning to leave John? Maybe there hadn't been foul play, but instead she ran away.

Erin's mother, however, didn't buy that theory at all. Remember, Laura had planned to visit for her daughter's 20th birthday. Instead, she ended up flying out after Erin disappeared. And you know, when I got to her apartment, all those ingredients for the meals that she wanted me to cook were there. She was pretty excited about mom coming and cooking her favorite meals. Erin was not planning on going anywhere. So that means someone else must have been responsible. With her husband John Corwin ruled out,

it was time for the authorities to look at the next suspect on their list. I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie Morales. This is 48 Hours NCIS. Episode 3, Russian Roulette. Natalie Morales. This is 48 Hours, NCIS. Episode three, Russian Roulette. Laura Hevelin arrived in California shortly after she found out that Erin was missing.

She knew that the chances of Erin making it out alive were not high, but still she was her mother. She had to remain hopeful. And she knew that if they did find Aaron, the very first thing she would want was her mother. Lor was staying at Aaron and John's apartment along with John's parents. The first night we all spent the night in the apartment and the sheriff's department had knocked on the door and they were going to interview us. So we all get up and they just took us individually and just, you know, pretty much asked us about our relationship

with Aaron. Despite their jurisdiction over all of San Bernardino County, the sheriff's department couldn't just walk on to the military base. That's where NCIS came into play. Together, they went door to door, taking hours to speak to everyone they needed to. Beth Ford Roth heard the details of those interactions after the fact. The sheriff's deputies went upstairs to talk to Christopher Nicole Lee. And Chris answered the door. He was very nervous. He said he was in a hurry. And the sheriff's deputy asked him,

do you know Erin Corwin? And he said, she's my neighbor, but, I mean, we're acquaintances. I know her husband, but yeah, we're not close. And he had to go somewhere. He just ended the conversation right away. Up until that point, Christopher Lee appeared to be a background figure in Erin's life.

Someone she knew loosely from babysitting his daughter or would occasionally see at the horse ranch with his wife, Nicole. But as we found out in the previous episode from NCIS Special Agent Sean Nash, Erin had told her best friend Jesse that Chris was planning some kind of surprise for Erin, a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. That in itself was not suspicious. It was a pretty normal place to visit while living on the 29 Palms military base. But was it a trip that two acquaintances would make? And without their spouses?

San Bernardino sheriffs were not convinced, so they brought Chris back in to get a better sense of who he was and how he had met Aaron. Details that they hadn't been able to suss out in their first quick conversation with him. He entered the sheriff's department. Chris was stocky with a round face and broad shoulders. He was somber with dark hair and matching dark brown eyes. He sat down. The interview started out slowly.

They needed to establish a rapport with him so he would be comfortable sharing information that could help them down the line. Okay, some of the follow-up questions, stuff that I need to ask you a little bit, just to kind of close up some of these gaps. They talked for a while about his childhood. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska,

with a sister and two brothers, and played high school football. It was also where up in Anchorage, Alaska, with a sister and two brothers, and played high school football. It was also where he met his wife Nicole before he became a Marine and moved to 29 Palms. He couldn't recall answers to everything they asked about though, like past trips or minor things

about his own personal life. The police tape you're about to hear is a little hard to understand. My memory is really, really bad. You know, just fighting or football and explosions. He said his memory was really bad because of football and his proximity to explosions while serving in the military. Unless he experienced something impactful,

Chris generally couldn't remember it. With that in mind, officers moved on to what Chris had been up to lately, and his future plans. He was set to be released from active duty on July 6, 2014, just a few days away. The process for being discharged had started months before this. First, Chris, like all Marines, had to take a transition readiness seminar. Then he needed to complete and submit an outbound review, get that review approved, and complete a final physical. Even with all that done, Chris and Nicole still needed to clear out their apartment and rent a U-Haul to get it all back to Alaska.

He'd had a lot going on in the last few months, and it was during this long transition period that he'd also met John and Erin. I met her. She went in before he got back. We didn't really, like, it was kind of like, hey, you're the new neighbor, what's up? Didn't really have any interaction with her

until John got back from Okinawa. They were neighbors, but he didn't actually interact with Aaron until John came back from his deployment in Japan. It was then that Chris and Nicole started hanging out with them as a couple, along with their downstairs neighbors, Connor and Ashleen Maliki. Chris was already close with Connor and would regularly go out into the desert to go coyote hunting, shoot pellets, or race their cars. There's a road back here that kind of makes a really nice racetrack.

I like to see how fast I can drive my Jeep on the cars and stuff like that. Out in the desert, Chris said he liked to see how fast he could race his Jeep. When John Corwin returned from his deployment, he became a part of their group. They talked about their jobs and being in the military, had cookouts together, and bonded over being far away from their homes with few friends and little to no familial support in California. Despite his blossoming friendships and the fact that he would soon be out of the military, Chris was struggling. He had had one six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, but he'd been back for a year and had become depressed when it became clear he would not be redeployed.

He told investigators it was easier there in Afghanistan. All you have to do is quote, wake up, stand post, call patrols, simple stuff, with no real life type responsibilities. He came home and had a difficult time adjusting to life after deployment. I mean, like, I'm most will say it was like, I didn't get anything, I was just kind of falling apart mentally. deployment. Chris said he was falling apart mentally. It was hard for him to be at home. He and his wife Nicole had gotten used to being away from each other and no longer knew how to communicate.

He said they'd argue over minor things, like whether she made dinner the right way. When she told him she thought he needed help, he didn't want to listen. There was a tension in the air. He'd be drinking. They'd occasionally blow up at each other. Beth Ford Roth recalled hearing stories about Nicole while covering the case. Nicole was not a well-liked lady in that area. She was gossipy. She had sort of a bad reputation about things

that may have happened in other housing complexes and relationships, just gossip. Melrose Place gossip, basically. In the house and relationships, just gossip, Melrose Place gossip basically. In the house and outside of the house, Nicole was not the most popular person. To many people on and around the base, she was abrasive, strict, and controlling, telling Chris what he could and could not do.

According to multiple people in Erin's life, her spouse John was also controlling. Of her spending and her ability to get a job. When she bought a puppy to keep herself company, he made her get rid of it. The greatest solace she could find was at Isabel Meggley's horse ranch. But even when she was alone and away from John, she still didn't feel free. She felt like she was being controlled. That's 48 Hours producer Paul LaRosa.

They had two cars, but one car broke down. They only had one car. So sometimes Erin was by herself without a car on this isolated military base. So it meant a lot to Erin that Chris Lee would sometimes drive her along with Nicole to the horse ranch. And as they got to know each other better in the context of the neighborhood and the stable, they realized just how much they had in common. Back in the interrogation room, Chris had finally started sharing information that was useful to the authorities. He had a lot to say about Aaron and John's relationship, some that was frankly shocking

even to investigators. He said Aaron was unhappy, that she was scared of John. To Chris it sounded like a cry for help, one that he could do something about. And in the process, maybe she could help him too. Chris said they were both distractions for each other. Aaron had met someone who was passionate about her interests, who understood how trapped she felt, and Chris had someone to nurture him, to take care of him.

He told police something else that revealed just how close to the edge he'd been. I was playing Russian roulette three, four times a week. I was not caring about anything. Chris told the sheriff's deputies that he was playing Russian roulette multiple times a week. He told them that he had stopped caring about anything, including whether he lived or died. But talking to Aaron, commiserating and playing video games together,

gave him something to care about, something to live for. Over time, you know, we started getting closer to having longer conversations. It wasn't difficult for producer Paul LaRosa to piece together how those longer conversations turned into something more. It starts as an emotional affair, right? I mean, Aaron's depressed, Chris is depressed, they confide in each other, they bond over

their love of horses. He was in a lot of ways what John was not. He was more emotional. He had more character, he had more personality. He was the polar opposite of John, her husband. But like many emotional affairs, it didn't just stop there. They had kissed multiple times at Aaron's place. They had now connected on an emotional and physical level that Aaron was missing with John. Chris had started writing poetry for her. He sent loving texts. He told her they were perfect together.

Just like Paul LaRosa, Beth Ford Roth could also understand exactly how this affair came to be. Having been a 19-year-old girl myself, you fall in love like there's no tomorrow. And I believe that Chris said all of the right things that Erin needed to hear. He was a poet or a self-proclaimed poet, and he wrote love poetry to Erin. I don't know any 19-year-old girl who

wouldn't be impressed with that, especially if she feels like her husband is not emotionally there for her at this critical time. Soon, instead of Russian roulette, Chris was getting his thrills from Erin. He'd have an argument with Nicole and immediately text Aaron. She was an escape from the real world, where he could make believe that he was in a happy place. He could confide anything and everything in her. You know, because she was a secret, so I could tell her my secrets. Because she was a secret, Chris could tell her all of his own secrets. At this point, Aaron Corwin and Christopher Lee were having a full-blown affair, mentally

and physically, and had been for months. They were able to keep it hidden at first. But then, Beth says, things got a little precarious for everyone. So it was Valentine's Day of 2014, and the military families all sort of got together, the little military Melrose place got together to watch a movie, Moulin Rouge. They met at the Malakies' downstairs apartment. At some point, the party broke up. John went back upstairs. Aisling Malakie, who had a six-month-old baby,

went to her room to put the baby to bed. Chris and Erin stayed. That's when Ashlyn came back out to fix a bottle for the baby. And saw that Christopher Lee and Erin Corwin were still there on the couch together, and she saw them kissing. Chris and Erin had gotten so wrapped up in each other that they had actually kissed out in the open in their neighbor's apartment. They may have been living in a fantasy world, but unfortunately,

the consequences of their actions were about to get very real. So after Christopher got up and left Aisling's apartment, Aisling went over to Erin, who was still on the couch, and confronted her and said, I saw you kissing. What are you doing? You can't do this. And Erin told Aisling that they weren't kissing,

that Chris was whispering something to her. He was trying to comfort her. Aisling that they weren't kissing, that Chris was whispering something to her. He was trying to comfort her. Aisling knew what she saw. It's kind of hard to mistake passionate kissing with whispering. It put Aisling in an incredibly awkward position. She and her husband, Connor, were friends with both the Lees and the Corwins. They saw each other in the apartment complex every day, and now Aisling couldn't make eye contact with any of them. She didn't know why Erin wasn't being honest with her because the two had shared a pretty meaningful friendship, and Erin basically left,

and that was kind of the end of their friendship. Weeks went by, and when it became clear that neither Aaron nor Chris was going to own up to what they did, Aisling could no longer keep quiet. Aisling said that she told Nicole and John, and that's how the spouses found out. After that, Chris said Nicole went through his phone. Nicole and John, and that's how the spouses found out.

After that, Chris said Nicole went through his phone. She found their texts, came into the bedroom, and threw the phone at his head. Things grew increasingly tense within their small bubble. The friendships they once shared were no longer. To make amends, Aaron and Chris promised to put an end to their affair. But Nicole had already made up her mind about Aaron. Amiable interactions turned into stony silence. Trust that had previously formed while Aaron babysat the Lee's daughter went out the window. Nicole went so far as to try to ban Erin

from one of the only places where she had the freedom to be herself, Isabelle Megley's horse ranch. Nicole came to me and told me that Erin wasn't allowed at the ranch anymore. She has done some unforgivable acts and that she told her she couldn't come here. Nicole's anger towards Aaron was so dynamic, the words she said I couldn't repeat.

She said, I wouldn't care if she died. She said she was unspeakable, what she's done, but never would she say what she did. Despite his own tense relationship with Erin, John seemed more understanding of her indiscretion and wanted to work together to leave it in the past. According to Beth Ford Roth, Erin told John that the affair was over. They went to couples counseling.

John was under the impression that things were improving. They were trying to have a child. And John believed that things were going in the right direction. Aaron's mother, Lore, knew that Aaron and John were young and naive, but she believed their relationship was solid. When she came out to California after her daughter was reported missing, she was shocked to find out about the affair that Aaron had been carrying on. She'd had no idea. That information, it seemed, was reserved for Jesse,

Erin's best friend in Tennessee. Erin definitely confided in Jesse in a different way than she confided with me. I know now that Erin had shared about her affair with Chris to Jesse. that Erin had shared about her affair with Chris to Jesse. I feel like she knew what she was doing was not right and that I would probably try to talk her out of what she was doing, whereas Jesse

was going to be more accepting. For Sean Nash, the NCIS special agent who interviewed Jesse, this was far from the first time he'd seen something like this play out. While I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, there was a lot of 18, 19, 20-year-old Marines living aboard the base. We had seen a lot of young Marines

get married before they deployed. And then they would leave their spouse for a long period of time. There were a lot of instances where the spouses would be cheating on their deployed husbands or wives and one of the common themes is the spouse left behind is lonely and will reach out for other people for companionship. It's important to understand just how high the stakes are for committing adultery while in the military. Not necessarily for Aaron, but for Chris. NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. has seen what happens to military members who engage in extramarital affairs.

To have an extramarital affair is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Someone that is found guilty of it will be subject to military criminal prosecution. Adultery falls within NCIS's jurisdiction to investigate. While it's not a criminal offense for civilians, the military doesn't take kindly to cheating. It can even lead to a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and up to one year of confinement in a military brig. That may seem extreme and old-fashioned, but the Uniform Code of Military Justice exists to ensure professionalism and discipline within the military. A core component of this code is the rule that any action that could discredit the armed forces can be prosecuted from adultery to bigamy, even writing bad checks. It's a catch-all intended to, quote,

maintain the military's moral fabric. It's as serious as it sounds, and everyone within the armed forces is aware of it. So there's a very good reason why Chris may have first lied about the extent of his relationship with Aaron. A dishonorable discharge would put his entire future at stake, likely revoking his access to VA benefits,

unemployment, and federal student loans, and severely limiting any post-military career opportunities. It would follow him for the rest of his life. And as someone whose discharge from the military was fast approaching, admitting to an affair wasn't something Chris could afford. And all of this in response to an affair that only lasted a few months. After all, Erin and Chris ended things after their spouses found out. But according to Jessie, that's not actually what happened.

Beth Fortroth recounted the full story. She's the only one who knew that that relationship was still ongoing. Aaron's spouse John and Chris's spouse Nicole both had found out about the affair and everyone believed it was over, but it wasn't. And from there, things only got more complicated. Not only had they continued their affair in secret, but Special Agent Sean Nash in Tennessee had uncovered another shocking piece of information.

Jessica had told us that Erin was three months pregnant and that the baby might've been Christopher Lee's. Erin was three months pregnant and that the baby might've been Christopher Lee's. Erin was pregnant again. I did not know that Erin was pregnant. Her mother learned about this pregnancy for the first time when she arrived at the Corwin's Place in California. John knew about the pregnancy. They found out on Father's Day

and they told his dad on Father's Day that she was pregnant. Despite knowing about her pregnancy for two weeks, Erin hadn't told her mother anything. She'd been open about her first pregnancy and miscarriage. So why not this one? Erin's lack of communication with her mother left everyone with questions. What else had she been holding back? And depending how far along she was, whose baby was it? With John and his family, Aaron had acted like the baby was his. But with Jesse, Aaron was adamant that the baby was actually Chris Lee's.

At the prospect of having Chris's baby, Erin seemed excited and hopeful. Happily Ever After with John didn't seem to be in the cards. He was too cold, too controlling, too uninterested in her hobbies. But Chris, Chris made her excited. Chris gave her purpose. According to Beth... Chris, he made her feel like she was the reason he was alive. She was his reason for living. Maybe Chris could be her happily ever after. Police even found information on Erin's laptop

about apartments in Alaska. She'd been seriously thinking about their future together. So Erin texted her friend Jesse in Tennessee that Chris was very excited about it, that he wanted to tell everyone. He wanted to tell Erin's mother. It was going to be this big announcement that Aaron was pregnant, they were in love, and they were going to move to Alaska together because Chris was getting ready to leave the Marines. And that's what Aaron thought was happening. And that's what she conveyed to her friend, Jesse.

Now, Chris and Aaron's upcoming surprise trip to Joshua Tree made much more sense. It was a perfect place to be alone together, something that was hard to come by in their apartment complex, where they were constantly under watchful eyes. Erin seemed thoroughly convinced that both of them were in it for the long haul.

That much was clear to analyst Ashley DeChelfin. It seemed that Erin was in love with Chris early because she was willing to take that next step with him in her life. And I don't believe personally that she would have done that if she didn't really care about him. NCIS agents were now convinced that Erin was in love with Chris. She was serious about their future. But the question remained, was Chris also in it for the long haul?

Or did he have other plans? On the next episode of 48 Hours NCIS, what else was Chris Lee hiding? We're going to find Erin. Right now the Marine Corps base is helping us. They're gathering as many soldiers as they possibly can. What else was Chris Lee hiding? We're going to find Erin. Right now the Marine Corps base is helping us. They are gathering as many soldiers as they possibly can to go out and start checking all these areas.

We're going to find her. From CBS News and CBS Studios, this is 48 Hours, NCIS. Original reporting by 48 Hours producer Paul LaRosa. 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 Tigard, CBS Studios senior vice president, Rob Luchow, and Paramount audio vice president, Megan Marcus. Our podcast was written and produced by Jay Venables,

Isabelle Kirby McGowan, Kara Shillen, Max Johnston, Megan Nadalsky and Ian Enright. Additional reporting and recording by Isabelle Kirby McGowan, Jay Venables, and Megan Nadalski. Our executive producers are Megan Nadalski and Ian Enright. Theme and music by Epidemic Sound. Original music from Goat Rodeo with additional music from Paramount. Final mix by Rebecca Seidel. Ian Enright is our fact checker. Our production manager is Megan Nadalski. 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 liked 48 Hours NCIS, check out the rest of our 48 Hours podcast by by searching 48 hours on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for listening.