and that, is to explore the heavens. >> a new field, frontally indomitable human spirit of a coloration innovation of the ifs, the worst of human nature, a battlefield, in space. >> the desert is a strange place. it's so isolated. >> somebody got lost out there. his wife had gone missing.

i never expected it to be a huge piece of a murder case. >> my heart just sunk. something that happened. >> we did know she was stranded in the present but she was -- before she meets a horrible. and >> it was a little suspicious that you waited to reported missing. >> they treated her as a suspect. >> they were laughing and carrying. on >> we started developing a bond. >> there was something big going on there. >> i had no idea what we were getting into. >> it makes me think indiana jones. >> well one wrong turn could be your last. >> this could not be happening. we didn't realize there could be a predator. >> they say if you're feeling down, it is time to saddle up

with a little love, trust, and respect. these majestic creatures can emerge as loyal and gentle companions. for both horse and rider there is nothing like it. >> she transformed into this on some horse handler, she knew what she was doing and talking about. >> if only romantic relationships for that simple. this is the story of a young woman so gentle, so vulnerable. she may have understood what makes horses tech but humans? a different beast indeed. this doesn't happen to people we know, it just doesn't. >> it was crushing. i cried for days. i still cry when i think about it. i wonder what kind of person it takes to do that. >> oak ridge, tennessee, is an unassuming place with a big story. >> capital of the world, oak ridge, tennessee. >> they call it the secret city

for its part of the manhattan project which produced the first atomic bomb. oak ridge still prides itself on being a community of putting signs an education for us. and a great place to raise a family. this is where urban grew up. >> when she was six years old she joined us as a family as a foster child -- >> this is her mom. >> she was a tiny thing. five pounds, three ounces. >> that small. >> we thought she was the sweetest little thing. our oldest girls were 16 and carried her around. >> she was like a little doll. >> they loved. her >> laurin their husband officially adopted their little doll which was three. aaron grew into a shy little girl. reserved around those she didn't know. but with the horses she cared for the east tennessee writing club, that was a different story. >> when i think of aaron and horses i think of her as a bigger cause -- she's very confident. she knows exactly what she wants and what she's going to do. >> aaron's friend, abby uche.

>> but with people, she was much meeker, much quieter, calmer. >> courses would always be aaron's first love. and as she entered 13 years, a certain young man caught her eye. his name is john corwin. >> what is it about you that could break through to erin because her mom says how shy she was and she was better with horses than people, so what is it about you? >> i guess it's my charming personality. i the have no idea. it still surprises me today. >> really? >> yes. i guess it's always able to talk to her, figure out what she was feeling. >> aaron's parents had strict rules about when she could start dating. >> we were those parents. we were the mean parents. >> john was sure to get their blessing first. >> i ended up driving to her parents house and asked if i could say their daughter. >> that's very chivalrous of you to go to the parents.

>> that's the way i was raised and you always get the parents permission before anything. >> after graduating from high school, john joined the marines. he asked aaron to marry him when she was just 18 years old with an unusual proposal. there was no champagne, but there was a cup of sprite. >> the [inaudible] i go to get a sprite, and put the ring on top and asked her to marry me. >> the ring was on the straw. did she see a broadway? >> no. i told her to look at you drank. >> what was her reaction when she finally looked down? >> she was crying tears of joy, ecstatic, screaming, yes, yes, i would love to. >> aaron's mom had heard that being a military wife comes with sacrifice. >> i'm a marine corps wife myself and i know that it can be a very lonely life for people and it's not easy. did you try to warn her? >> oh yes. >> did she listen?

>> i know mom, i know mom. you know? of course, when i was 18 i knew also. you probably couldn't tell me a whole lot. >> the couple decided to elope to las vegas and tied the knot after an annual former celebration known as the marine corps ball. >> my husband and i have had a lot of fun at marine balls, however, i never thought about getting married at one of them. why did you guys decide to get married? there >> because we were young. it was vegas. honestly, we didn't plan a lot of things. it was more like spur of the moment type deal. that's how we lived. >> john was a scientific twentynine palms marine base out in the california desert. and september 2013, aaron packed up for her move to join him. her mom saw her off at the airport. >> she's very direct, loves to be challenged. she had two layers and i'm like, when you get off that plane, you ask somebody where you need to go and you let me know as soon as you get there. >> what emotions were you

feeling letting your baby go to start her new life? >> it was scary for me. i knew that the way it was going to be harder than she ever dropped. >> like any parent, laura worried about her daughter finding her place in this new life. >> she's very shy and i did have concerns about her making friends. we felt like base housing would be safer for her because her husband was out in the field so often. >> it wasn't long before down and errin learned they were expecting a baby. >> she was very excited. i was excited for her. >> sadly, her excitement was short-lived. in early 2014, she suffered a miscarriage. >> was it hard for both of you to hear that news? >> it was very hard and i was actually in the middle of a training exercise out in the field. and i received the message over the radio. lucia called me down to his vehicle and said that your wife had just had a miscarriage and she's in the hospital.

so, it was kind of shocking and that night i drove back to the hospital and i met up with her and she was in tears. >> after she lost the baby, part of me wanted to go out there and be with her, but i felt like they would do a better job of getting through their grief if they didn't have to worry about entertaining mom. >> wanting desperately to be a mother, aaron vowed to try again. around four months later in june of that same year during a visit to the hospital for nausea, the couple got good news, aaron was pregnant again. the here you are again. how did it feel this time? >> we were happy. but we were also fearful. they're afraid that it was going to happen again. >> yeah. were you cautiously optimistic? >> yes. >> she decided to wait to surprise her mom with the news. she already had a trip planned

to visit the following month. >> we already had plans of just going for walks. we were going to go to san diego to see world in san diego zoo. but mostly spend time together. >> you both must have been really wanting, needing the strip. >> absolutely. >> in anticipation of her mother's visit, aaron told her husband she was going to scout out some good hiking locations at nearby joshua tree national park. >> she'd woken up and got dressed, give me a kiss goodbye and said, hey, i'm heading up for the day and i love you. i told her i love you too and rolled back over and went to sleep. >> a routine goodbye, or so it seemed until aaron core when vanished without a trace. coming up, what had happened to aaron? >> i called her throughout the night. >> how many times would you say you could try to call her text? or >> at least 50 times. i was just so stressed and worried. >> he said aaron's missing. he said she left yesterday morning and i haven't seen her since. >> john was concerned but he

was withdrawn. when you have a spouse who is not extremely frantic, you get a question, why aren't they super upset. we had a lot of questions for john. >> when dateline continues. ne continues over the phone or on the progressive app pretty much anywhere. even at the library. or the coffee shop. get great customer support at the park. or at this coffee shop. why would we go to a different coffee shop? mobile order for j money? -thank you. -so is one of these places gonna be my car again or...? right. even at your car. um... come on. i saw you eyeing these scones earlier. huh? huh? alright. you get it. when they're sick, they get comfortable anywhere and spread germs everywhere. alright. wherever they rest protection nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. [ melissa ] you hear about cancer. i just was afraid that i would lose my son.

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or, $1,500 total cash allowance on this silverado with a 2.7l engine. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. >> 19 year old aaron core wind couldn't wait. her mom would soon be making her first trip to see aaron and her husband john at their new home at 21 palms california at the marine base in the middle of the mojave desert. around seven in the morning, erin said goodbye to jon and told him she was coming here, to joshua tree national park to gout for hiking trails during a month's visit. john expected her home that afternoon but she didn't show. he tried her phone, no answer. did you keep? calling >> colder throughout the night? >> how many times would you say that you try to call or text? or >> at least 50 times. i was stressed and worried.

>> hours passed, and by the next morning, john was frantic. >> john paul's and he said aaron's missing. >> she got the call back home in tennessee. >> he said she left yesterday morning and i haven't seen her since. my question was how much water did she have with her? >> you are thinking this was a hiking situation. >> this is the child that has no sense of direction. so i'm assuming she's lost. >> john reported his wife's disappearance to the local police station. san bernardino sheriff's department would soon notified. detective travis newport. >> obviously we were concerned, can we find her before something horrible, before she meets a horrible and. we don't have she's been held somewhere, we don't know if she stranded in the desert still. >> laura's phone rang again. this time it was a deputy. he had another idea about what might have happened to aaron. >> one of his first questions was, do you think she's driving home? >> to tennessee? >> yes. >> so maybe she's just left?

>> yes. and i about laughed because i know how much she hates to drive, has no sense of direction, and there's absolutely no way she would give up a trip to see world in the zoo. >> back in 29 palms, john rounded up some of his marine buddies and headed into the national park. it's a vast expanse of nearly 800,000 acres of rugged rock formations, twisted joshua trees, and desolate open desert. where summer temperatures climb well past 100 degrees. >> we literally drove around joshua tree national park all day trying to find any signs, any clues of where she might have been. >> do you see anything, any signs of her? her car, a piece of clothing, anything? -- >> nothing. >> there's a certain protocol detectives follow when investigating a missing person. start small and close to home. that inner circle of friends and family, the ones who know the person best.

so when john corwin reported that his wife aaron had disappeared, it was natural they would look at him. >> like with any investigation you start closest to the source of the missing person. so we had a lot of questions for john. >> investigators learned that one's childhood sweethearts aaron and john settled in 29 palms, things were far from perfect. >> the relationship wasn't intertwined, we knew that it was a relationship that was probably starting to dwindle. >> there was her miscarriage in early 2014. john said it was heartbreaking and aaron had trouble coping. >> she became very enclosed and depressed. would stay at home. and i'm definitely not the one that actually speaks his emotions, i've kept them bottled up my whole life. and she felt like i didn't care about her. and i did. it actually hurt me a whole lot. it really took a toll on our relationship. >> and aaron's mom, lore, knew the young married couple had

many problems. >> we gave each of our kids a stern amount of money when they got married. and they kept just behind things, and all of a sudden i think that huge chunk of money was not there. >> you struggled with finances? >> definitely, yeah. pay is not that great but we had food on the table. we just don't have any money for extracurriculars. >> was that hard for aaron? i know it was an issue with her credit card. >> yes. it was hard the. we ended up racking up debt and they took away the car. >> times were lean? >> yes, very lean. >> they were grown up problems for a couple barely out of high school. aaron shared her worries with her friend abby. >> it's just hard to transition from being on your own to being married. and sometimes, hard times is what you need. and i think that's what john was teaching her. and she didn't like it. >> detective newport and his colleague jonathan woods wondered about john's behavior when his wife didn't return home. why did he wait a whole day to call police? >> it was a little suspicious that he waited till the next

day to report her as missing. >> john said he explain to the investigators he thought that's how these things worked. >> you see these things on television and you think you can't report a person after 24 hours, i believe. that >> it made sense, maybe. but detectives noticed something. >> john was kind of withdrawn. he was concerned, but he was withdrawn. at times we wondered if it his military program. when you have a spouse who's not extremely frantic, you've got a question why aren't they super excited and why aren't they superb set? >> john had gone into the park to search for his wife, sign of a concerned husband or something else? >> obviously as an investigator, you have to wonder, is this person trying to put themselves there? is this person trying to give us a reason why they would be there where the last person was seen or possibly contacted? >> you were seriously looking at him? >> yes.

>> i did think maybe john. and i think that's normal. it doesn't make it right. but i think that it's normal human responds to think the spouse. >> but really they might have been getting ahead of themselves. aaron was missing and could well have run off on her own. there was no reason yet to believe any harm had come to her. much less that john was responsible. there were other people to talk to and a new place to explore. a sanctuary for aaron right here in the desert, one would prove to be full of clues and secrets. >> coming up -- >> they were a laughing and carrying. on >> anything flirtatious? >> giggling. i hadn't seen her act like that. it was like a kid in a candy store. i wasn't used to it so it's stuck out. >> aaron, the tsai young wife, exactly what kind of secrets which she keeping? >> anytime you have a spouse was missing and you hear there

might be some infidelity, there it's human nature, not just as an investigator, is it human being, to question whether that person might possibly be involved in the significant others missing. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues

just look around. this digital age we're living in, it's pretty unbelievable. problem is, not everyone's fully living in it. nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. home internet shouldn't be a luxury. everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. so let's go. >> when aaron corwin went the digital age is waiting.

missing after a trip to joshua tree national park, detective started out by question her

husband jon. then they widen the circle trying to learn as much as they could about her life at the marine base here in 29 palms. they discovered that aaron had been lonely when she first trip to the base. quickly bonded with other military families. >> it's kind of like melrose place and. there >> that's a perfect description of that apartment complex. >> everybody's friends, everybody's doors ten foot away from the next couple's door. >> aaron and jon grew close with their fellow marine corps neighbors, including nicole and chris lee. a couple originally from our alaska. aaron's mom, lore -- >> christened nicole, and john an error in, come together all the time. i was happy. you know, that she had this. >> erin and nicole shared a common passion for horses. >> i was excited when erin and nicole met because nicole was into horses and i knew erin needed the horses. >> nicole introduced aaron to the white court rescue ranch

and its owner isabelle. >> you're not far away from 29 palms. >> no, 45 minutes. >> is this not only a sanctuary for the animals but maybe a little bit for the rain corps wives? >> yes. >> isabelle started the ranch in 2004. >> the spouses come to the ranch when their husbands are their fiancée's or boyfriends are out in the field. they have nothing to do, most of them don't work. and they get very lonely. loneliness is probably the biggest problem that they have. >> this is where aaron had a horse. >> named cassie. >> that was very special to? her >> yes it was. the >> come here cassie. come here. your errands horse? >> she picked a horse that i would never have chosen for her. >> why? what's with the horse? >> the horse was standoffish, didn't like anybody, but i liked her. this horse was so bonded to her. and we can believe it. >> before long, aaron and jon,

chris and nicole, we're spending more and more time at the ranch together. >> we would go shooting, in the desert and should our guns. and we'd go up to the horse ranch and typical shenanigans were held, doing buggy, we would all take off while the girls were doing horse stuff. >> isabelle said when the couples were together, chris was always the life of the party. >> at the ranch, chris was very funny. he was a real soft individual when he talked about his daughters, his wife, his family. but he also had the ability to be very stern. >> the ranch was clearly an escape for chris who struggled after returning from deployment in afghanistan. >> there was something that -- you just stayed away that from that subject. >> he might have had a rough time overseas? >> yes he did. a very hard time. >> but, set isabelle, chris was a loving father to his and nicole's daughter, liberty.

aaron took to the little girl to and would help out her friends by babysitting the six year old. aaron's mom said she was always good with children. >> gentle, very gentle. the younger kids at the barn, they knew that she cared about them. >> so aaron had found her place here, surrounded by friends and horses. but isabelle said that around christmas of 2013, she started to see a connection between chris and aaron that seemed a little too close for comfort. >> they were laughing and carrying on about something on the computer. >> was there anything flirtatious about it, or was it just too close for you? >> giggly. i hadn't seen her act like that. it was like a kid ton and a candy store. i wasn't used to it so it's stuck out. >> isabelle said that she found the behavior so alarming she mentioned it to chris's wife nicole. >> i said nicole, something's wrong. i said, the way they're acting. she says, no, no there's

nothing going on. she says they connect. >> what was a bit could relate to each other about? >> she said they could relate to being sad. she said chris was sad and that when he came back from the service he was a different person and that he just wasn't himself. and erin could understand depression. she said they were just friends. >> but two months later, nicole told aaron's husband john she needed to talk to him and by then she was singing a very different tune about aaron the corwin. >> nicolette found out that chris was having an affair with aaron. i didn't actually, this was the -- i did know at the time. >> you're totally clueless. >> yes. this is a bombshell to hear this news. >> the it was a bombshell, it was earth shattering. >> but john says he still left his wife and was committed to his marriage. >> i tried my hardest to make it work.

>> they are you in this for life? >> that yes. >> this marriage? >> definitely. she was always trying to fix something instead of replacing it and i was trying everything i could to fix it. >> he said the entire time he and aaron reconciled and even patch things up with chris and nicole. >> this sort of hanging back out with us. >> really? >> yes. >> you are able to accept them in knowing what chris had done? >> yes. it wasn't the same that it was before but u.s. give somebody a second chance. >> or do you? aaron was now missing and the fact that she had been unfaithful to her husband just added to investigators suspicions about him. >> anytime you have a spouse is missing and you hear that there might be some infidelity they're involved, it's just human nature, not just as an investigator, but as a human being to question whether or not that person might possibly be involved in the significant others missing. >> but then detectives found

something that made the detection pull of suspects a whole lot deeper. >> coming up. >> it's not just your friendship inside and fidelity, it's full-on, they were completely involved with each other. >> stunner number one, the secret affair with the neighbor wasn't exactly over. >> how betrayed did you feel? the >> it was earth shattering. i felt like somebody just stuck a knife in my back. >> and stunned are number two? >> this baby might not even be his? that's heavy stuff for someone to deal with. >> absolutely. john realize that it was very likely not his kid. which again, that brings motive to a spouse. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues

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bernardino, california were working around the clock to figure out what had happened to 19-year-old marine wife error in corwin they soon found out that aaron had an affair and that made hers suspect that her husband, john, might have something to do with the disappearance. some of the detectives thought your behavior was strange, you weren't acting sad enough. do you get why they were thinking that? >> i understand. i'm a very reclusive kind of person, i don't show emotions at all. >> did you worry at all in the moment that they are looking at

me? >> no, i did not. >> john told detectives that his wife said the affair was over. he and aaron had reconciled and he'd even reestablished his friendship with aaron's former lover, chris lee and chris's wife, nicole. but in the first days of their investigation, detectives learned that aaron's relationship with chris seem to be going strong right up until the day she disappeared. >> it wasn't just your friendship slide in fidelity. it was full-on they were completely involved with each other. >> one of aaron's close friends back in tennessee told investigators she talked and texted with arid nearly every day. erin, the friend said, was making plans for a life with chris lee. >> aaron had expressed to this friend that she was going to get married to chris. >> the friend told investigators that chris was taking aaron on a special trip the day she disappeared and she texted her friend all about it. erin wrote, so apparently the surprise trip is super

important and i finally got him to tell me it's by the national park. aaron told her friend she didn't know what plans chris had in store. yeah, i am clueless, lol. i'm ready to know what it is! i mean, i have a couple ideas. i feel like it's big but, yeah lol we shall see. her friend responded with a series of emojis including a diamond ring, hearts, and question marks, suggesting perhaps an engagement? aaron responded, may be. and mentioned he was mysteriously playing with my ring the other night. erin added we shall see, this day cannot come quick enough! and it apparently takes two hours just to get their. a long slow drive. good talking time though! after erin went missing, that same friend spoke to john. >> she told me that aaron had supposedly gone up with chris that day. and that she was expecting that chris was supposed to propose

to her that day. >> how betrayed did you feel? >> earth shattering. i was -- i felt like someone to stop a knife down my back. i was honestly ready to struggle. chris >> but detectives soon learned something more explosive. remember, aaron had recently found out she was pregnant. she told her friend that she believed the father of her baby was her lover, chris, not her husband. >> did you think the possibility existed that he did find out that this affair had not ended like he had thought and that this law be might not even be his? that's heavy stuff for someone to deal with. >> john realized that was very likely not his kid. which again, it brings motive to the spouse. >> did you have anything to do with your wife's disappearance? >> no, i did not. everybody who knew me personally knew that there was no way i could do that. >> but john says marines on the

base who didn't know him well seemed suspicious. >> you could tell that they would look at me differently and i been trying to stay home because of it. >> were you not able to do your job than if you don't want to leave the house? >> no, at that they considered me to be mentally unstable and they took me away from everything pretty much because we had it -- every day. so i stayed home. >> but now, john wasn't the only one on detective's radar. if this fellow marine chris lee might be the father of aaron's baby and the person she was gonna meet that day, then chris to might have a motive. and an opportunity. >> did you look at both chris and john as suspects? we >> yes, absolutely. >> there was at least one possibility that aaron, naive at just 19 years old, had simply decided to run away from her troubles. whatever happened, there were

still no sign of her. that is until this woman noticed something strange. something she had never seen before. >> i don't know if someone was doing drugs and their or if somebody was just up to no good. i knew that it was not supposed to be there. >> coming up. a breakthrough new clue. >> as we were driving down the road there, i noticed a car parked off to the left-hand side of the road that wasn't there the night before. >> there were tired precious, shoe impressions. >> something happened to my daughter. i couldn't get to 29 palms quick enough. >> it must have been excruciating. >> it was. the plane could not fly fast enough. >> when dateline continues. ontinues nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. ♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes,

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experience till about their. the desert is one of those places that you grew up to find yourself and after you found yourself you really happy to leave the place behind. >> debbie pollack and her family lived just outside the marine corps base in 29 palms, california. >> it's pretty barren, it's really flat. you can see for hundreds of miles in every direction. >> it was so remote in fact that a donut craving found the nearest drive to the nearest grocery store. so in 2014, debbie and her

daughter set off. >> we're gonna go get donuts together and my daughter was all excited. >> they took the typical path into town via ranch road. >> as we were driving down the road there, i noticed a car park off to the left-hand side of the road that wasn't there the day before. >> debbie said it was extremely rare to ever see cars park near their home in this desolate stretch of desert outside the national park. a full five miles from the entrance. >> i thought it was odd because there was no reason for it to be there. there is no hiking trails near my property. there is nothing to do out there. and if you don't live out there, there is no reason for the car to be there. >> about 30 minutes later on the return drive from town, debbie said she was surprised to see the vehicle still sitting there. >> i decided to drive up behind the car and take some pictures with myself full. >> from inside her truck, she took three photos of the back of the car. >> i don't want to get out of my truck because i didn't know what was inside the car and who

had belong to. >> she had no idea at the time how important those photos would become. debbie and her daughter went home and enjoy those donuts and got on with their day. she said she thought about reporting the card to police but -- >> i think i thought my imagination was getting the better of me and somebody had probably parked it out there with good reason. >> so there it sat until two days later. monday, june 30th, her family was eating breakfast went to their surprised, they heard choppers overhead. >> i think it dawned on me that i probably should've called the police because you could tell there was something big going on there. >> someone else had called police who quickly determined the abandoned vehicle was aaron core winds. debbie's photos show it it had been there for two days since the morning aaron disappeared. what's more, next to erin's car detective just noticed tire tracks and shoe prints. >> those tire impressions

appealed to be allowed back towards the vehicle, aaron's vehicle. and they were shoe impressions that appeared to walk from the driver side of aaron's vehicle to those tire impressions that came through that area. >> it appeared to detectives that aaron had driven to the spot and possibly switched into another car and gone off. >> i realized at that point we were dealing with a situation where we're being led into one direction which is the joshua tree national park whereas in fact another car several miles north of that location. i'm concerned that we haven't been working searching the right area. >> that's a daunting task. joshua tree national park is huge and now you're adding on this new area. is it like finding a needle in a haystack? the good feel like? that >> it feels like finding a needle in the thousand haystacks. >> when aaron's mom heard about the car, her mind went to the worst possible place. >> when they found her car. without her that. that's when i knew something

else had happened and i think in that point in time i. think i knew she was not with us anymore. >> you knew just for the car. >> yeah. i know my daughter. and it was just -- i couldn't get to 29 palms quick enough. >> was it like getting on a plane, you've had this revelation, the worst kind of revelation and then -- >> you have to turn your phone off. you know? you can't get any communication. until you get back on the ground. i mean, it was -- >> a must of been excruciating. >> it was, the plane could not fly fast enough. >> but detectives had to keep an open mind. they had no way to know if aaron had run away or got lost or was the victim of a crime. >> we had to bifurcate the investigation, we had to turn it into a search and rescue mission and potential homicide

investigation. our hope was to find alive and well erin corwin and the other was work another -- unfortunately, we might be looking for a deceased aaron corwin. >> whatever course the investigation, took they knew they had to check out a key piece of information. aaron had told her friend back in tennessee that she was supposed to meet up with someone the day she vanished. her neighbor and lover, chris lee. deputies first knocked on prices door the day erin was reported missing. >> christopher lee told the extent of any contact he had ever had with aaron corps wind was waving high in passing in the hallway of the pargman complex. >> apparently that wasn't true. but it wasn't necessarily incriminating either. he had every reason to downplay's relationship with aaron. nevertheless, detectives knew it was time to talk to chris lee again. >> coming up -- >> we found her car.

>> oh did? you >> yeah, it was part in that area. >> he seemed surprised that we found the car. >> did he start to tense up after this reveal? >> yes. i could see definitely him more tense and his body. >> marine corporal to sleep prepares for battle. >> your tire tracks are there as well as her tire tracks. >> i was aware that if i told you guys i saw her car, because of my previous relationship with her, you would've automatically assumed i did something. >> it was just a very unusual wild story that was telling me. >> when dateline continues. in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. and you may lose weight. adults lost up to 14 pounds. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles.

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switch today. disappeared, chris lease sat down for a formal interview. >> was he being cooperative? >> yes, he was. >> detective daniel was a part of the team investigating aaron's disappearance. he wanted to know why chris

didn't admit to police right away that he and aaron were more than just friends. >> i didn't bring up mine and aaron's thing because i didn't seem pertinent at the time. >> but now chris began to open up. he said his relationship with aaron started innocently enough. he was depressed after his 2013 tour in afghanistan. aaron was someone he could talk to. >> i confided in her, i was feeling suicidal. and you know she's like, you can't be doing that stuff. you know, it's kind of like -- she was some of the top two about stuff that i do want to talk to -- about with my wife. >> he said aaron confided in him as well. a terrible secret that she suffered physical abuse at the hands of her husband john. >> she said her husband was beating her, and choking her, and she was scared for her life. she'd say that he would choke her whenever like he would get mad. >> the way chris told it, aaron's story of john's abuse, is what brought them together. >> i just like -- being in a state i was -- i was like okay, i can fix this. and then you know, broken

pieces to fix each other. so we just kind of started developing a bond. >> chris said that bonding soon turned to love. >> when you told her that you loved her, did she tell you that she loved you? >> she did. >> okay. >> remember, police had heard from a friend of aaron's that she thought she was pregnant with chris's baby. but chris insisted the relationship had stayed pretty pg. >> and how many times did you guess? kiss >> for tops. maybe some like, hands up and down while we were kissing, but nothing real heavy. >> okay. >> nothing under clothes or anything like that. >> okay, so close never came off? >> chris said that they talked about running away together but he didn't want to risk losing his daughter liberty. >> and i told, or i'm not going to put liberty through a broken home. you know, we had bounced the idea back and forth. >> he said the affair and it abruptly when his wife nicole found out about it. chris also said that's when he learned a big part of his bonding with aaron was based on lies. >> what did she lie to you about?

>> she'd only that her husband was beating her, and that she was afraid for her life. >> he said that he never talked to aaron again after that. but detectives had those text messages between aaron and her friend back in tennessee. which seemed to show the affair was far from over. detective travis newport confronted chris. >> so no reason at all, why she would message people saying that she's planning to meet with you on saturday? >> like, she very well could've overheard me and connor talking -- >> chris adjusted aaron had overheard his plans for a trip to the desert and upset that she wasn't invited lie to her friends saying chris plan to meet her that day. >> i just don't think she ever got over the fact that we had to stop seeing each other. >> we all know cheating in the military, if that can be a dishonourable discharge. did you think that could be a possible reason you don't want to talk about it? >> yes, and is not uncommon to see military personnel deny such a relationship because they know that they could lead to repercussions. >> still, they pressed chris on

his whereabouts of the day she went missing. he told them he taken a drive to joshua tree national park to hunt coyotes. and that he shot his 22 caliber rifle 45 times that some rocks, and at one point he said he encountered another man with a gun. >> i'm not sure if the individual shot at me, or if he was just, like recreational shooting. but there was an individual out there with a handgun, and it was fired in my general direction. >> he was very descriptive about this guy and his clothing and where he was out on the ridgeline and he fired four rounds at him. >> i got lost and i came out, followed gold crown road to old dale mine road, and then followed that too the road that comes out of the national park, and came home that way. and then i got home about 3:30. >> it was just a very wild story he was telling.

the >> detective hickey tried to shake chris up with new information. >> we found her. car >> did? you >> it was parked in that area. >> okay. >> he seemed surprised that we had found the car. >> did he start to tense up after this revealed? >> yes. i could see definitely him more tense and his body. >> and then hanky tried bluffing. >> your tire tracks are there, as well as her tire tracks. and your tire tracks drove over hers showing that you met her. there but >> you did know for sure. >> i did know for sure but i had a suspicion. >> under pressure now, chris changed his story slightly. saying that while he didn't see aaron the day she disappeared, he did see her car. >> i was aware that if i told you guys i saw her car, because of my previous relationship with her, you would've automatically assumed i did something. >> that didn't ring true to hanky and his ears perked up even more when chris said this. >> did you make any other phone calls, when you are? out >> no i couldn't.

i literally like the ability to because of the area we were in. >> you heard that word. we. >> yes. that was a big deal for me. he was tell me this entire time whose by him self. >> detectives interviewed chris for nine hours and thought they had called him in numerous lies. but they didn't have proof he had committed a crime or for that matter that anything bad had even happened to aaron. so detective hanky drove chris home. >> anything telling from that car ride? >> yes, it was pretty chilly actually. some of the questions he asked me. >> like? what >> he asked me how good i was at my job and how good our detective team was. >> but did you tell? i'm really good. >> i told him we were really good. he asked me specifically how many bodies have we not found in the desert. >> that's a freaky conversation. >> yeah. >> it wouldn't be long before investigators heard another strange thing. this time from chris's wife, nicole, about something out of

isabel's course french. >> nicole told you that something was hidden in elizabeth closet. what was that? >> it was a rifle. 22 caliber rifle. >> coming up -- christie's wife -- >> extremely uncooperative, angry, just know what you would expect of somebody who's trying to assist an investigation. >> a chilling warning. >> tell aaron that if she had anything to do with her husband she killed her herself. >> that's a strong statement and now very relevant. >> yes. >> did you have to consider her as a possible suspect as well? >> of course we did. hearing a statement like that obviously just raises all kinds of red flags, really makes you wonder did this person pay somebody to harm aaron? >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues over the phone or on the progressive app pretty much anywhere. even at the library. or the coffee shop. get great customer support at the park. or at this coffee shop. why would we go to a different coffee shop?

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going to scout hiking locations in joshua tree national park, but, there was still no sign of her. so, detectives turn their attention back here. the horse rescue ranch, see review hold so many secrets. >> john kressley, aaron core when, they were all tied to that ranch. >> you conducted a search of the whole ranch? >> yes. >> looking, possibly, for a body on the ranch? >> not just a body, but any piece of evidence we could. anything leaking anybody to aaron's disappearance. >> i said, she is not here. but, they said they needed to follow every lead that, they thought, might be possible. so, that is what they did. >> detectives knew one thing they were looking for. nicole told them she had stashed a rifle in isabelle's bedroom closet. >> no idea it was there? >> no idea. >> a 22 caliber rifle that christa told detectives he took with him to the park, the day erin went missing. >> i was disturbed.

i can't imagine somebody hiding something in the house. i started to get to more angry at chris, and nicole. now, i am part of it, and i didn't even know i was part of it. >> no, i'm a vote don't. >> it is the day that aaron disappeared is to receive a text from a call saying she, and chris, would have a ranch that day because she will stick. the next morning, chris, and nicole, we're back at the ranch. by then, it was a call that should be missing. >> i kind of blew it off, and i find her. >> isabelle noticed, things were tense between chris, and nicole that. nicole had nothing to say about her missing friend. >> nicole was telling me, aaron's, probably, hiding out somewhere. to make chris's life miserable. >>. she setting us up, trying to hurt our family, aaron is doing this to get even.

she is trying to get sympathy. >> chris was about to be discharged from the marines, and planned move back to alaska. elizabeth had lent their suv to move some of their belongings. detectives searched the suv, and found a potato launcher, like this one. a sort of home made can, and shooting chunks of potato, or other small objects. >> if you don't know, that is a weapon. i said, i had no idea it was even in my car. >> a weapon, as it happens, that is illegal in california. detectives, already, suspicious of chris, and now, used to that potato launcher to get leverage on him. >> he was arrested here. >> this patio, we are sitting on? >> they would handcuff the chair. >> they're charged? possession of a destructive device. chris had already spoken to detectives that length. but, now that he was under arrest, isabelle notice that he seemed to be getting nervous,

and started to say some odd things. >> she was a very concerned that he would get his story confused. it is an in control of the facts as much, as she was. >> detectives had already noticed, nicole didn't seem interested in helping find her friend aaron. >> extremely uncooperative, angry, the and now what you'd expect of someone who's trying to assist in an vesta geisha. >> isabelle told, i'm chris, and nicole, had searched the internet for some specific information. >> they researched how to dispose of a body, a dead body. she had said, we have watched enough of those csi movies to no, no body, no case. >> remember, it was nicole who told john about the affair. according to isabelle she said

she then confronted iran. >> it was important for her to tell errin, if she ever had anything to do with her husband, she would kill her herself. >> given that aaron has disappeared, and it is now very relevant. did you have to consider her as a possible suspect as well? >> of course. hearing a statement like that, obviously, it raises all kinds of red flags. >> nicole e. had an alibi. detectives learned, she was at home with her child, the day and disappeared. but, even if she wasn't out in the desert that day, investigators believed that she still could've played a role in arranging aaron's disappearance. >> really, it makes you wonder, if this person pay somebody to harm aaron? >> aaron's mom had suspicions of her own. those initial days, following errands disappearance, they stated erin and john's apartment from the base. >> i went for a walk, i came back, and nicole is sitting on

their walkway. if looks could kill. >> towards you? >> towards me. >> it must have been an odd moment. >> i guess, for some reason, it did not surprise me. >> instead of shrinking, the suspect pool seemed to grow. but, still, there was no proof that any crime even occurred, except, maybe, possession of a potato gun. chris bailed out on july 5th, 2014. one week after erin disappeared. two days later he was, officially, discharged from the marines. the lees, returning to alaska. >> people were having a fit because they let him go to alaska. >> meanwhile, to tech division, san bernardino, continue to hunt for clues as to where aaron might be found. and, they learned something that would launch them on a massive, treacherous, search in the desert. >> coming up -- danger in the heart of the desert. >> it makes me think of indiana

jones. >> what would investigators find? when dateline continues. when dateline continues.

just look around. this digital age we're living in, it's pretty unbelievable. problem is, not everyone's fully living in it. nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. home internet shouldn't be a luxury. everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. so let's go. >> was aaron corwin still alive, the digital age is waiting.

somewhere, in the desert? or, was she the victim of foul play? >> this is a huge operation, trying to find aaron court when. >> yes. we had hundreds of surgeries, from four different counties. >> but, with such enormous area to cover, the search dragged on. the withering desert heat, the odds of finding erin alive, dwindled. her parents had long ago in tennessee. >> it was. >> was there any part of you that felt like, of course, it is reasonable? or did you feel guilt? what if they find her tonight, or tomorrow? >> the investigation showed it narrowed one way, and cleared aaron's husband one-way, with

any connection of their appearance. cell phone, and computer records, show john was on the base the entire time went missing. this also concluded that chris was lying, and claimed that john had been abusive. >> over the period of the investigation, john was interviewed multiple times. john submitted to a polygraph test. easily, 20 hours total, we have spoken to john. >> did he pass a polygraph? >> yes. >> i knew what was true, and i gave them my honest answers and, i never lied to them. the light shined through. but chris lee had lied to them, and seemed interested in how to dispose of a body. and, isabelle told them, he had taken a trip to a desert with a friend, the week before erin disappeared. >> we found a lot, and i found this one. >> no one will ever find. >> detectives believed, it was all adding up. chris killed aaron, and then

dumped her body in a mine shaft. so, they decided to start searching. but here is the problem. the mojave desert is pockmarked with hundreds of mine shafts. detectives knew, they needed help. >> the search and rescue folks explained, there was a guy who knew a lot about the desert. knew a lot about the caves. would be a great resource to us. >> this is the man we are talking about. cave dug, to his pals. as much desert rat, as the gold miners who used to roam the mojave, a century ago. instead of a pickaxe, and a mule, he is outfitted with a gps, and a homer. >> i've been down every single one of these minds, including the one we're in front of right now. i know how deep they are, i know what is inside. >> when they were having the lead, billings was hanging off a rope, catching rats. by the time he could hold a rope, he was traveling the world, and exploring the

underworld, but the mojave is his home. detective newport, and billings, all started talking. a relationship, quickly, formed. >> every day, doug and i would talk on the phone. he would send to be photographs, aerial images, satellite images, and say, check out these mine shafts. here is more than i have located. >> just getting to a mine shaft can be an ordeal, as we discovered. billings took us to one of the high priority search areas, but the road got so rugged, and treacherous, we were forced to leave behind rsv. along with two members of the crew. and, carry on in billings. >> this is hard to get around. this is, at times, white-knuckle driving. i have to admit, you look straight down, you don't want to make one wrong little turn. >> one wrong turn can be your last turn. >> this is one of the minds that was searched? >> billings, and the other volunteers, checked off one dangerous mine shaft after the next. >> it's all clear, and the next

thing we do is we toss it a little bit of rocks, and loosen quietly for a rattlesnake. that's our general protocol. in this part of the desert, they love to hide in these minds to get out of the sun. you can see the temperature drop. and, as we are walking here -- >> that could be scary if you drop down. >> exactly, this could be a false floor here, we'll stay on the side. >> it makes me think of indiana jones. the unknown trap, almost. >> i have seen that. in real life. >> we would send this down. >> these are the most dangerous shafts to search. vertical once, going straight down, into a crumbling a bit. >> originally, we were dropping mine chef, who are physically going down the shaft. ropes, repel in, check it, clear it, move on. but, it became feasible, with the amount of minds we had to search. >> so, they outfitted buckets with cameras. it sped up the process, to be sure. but, with hundreds of minds to

explore, the search dragged on for days. then weeks. detectives are often side by side, hundreds of searchers looking for aaron. >> we were digging holes, we were searching, and i was wearing t-shirts, and jeans, going into mine shafts. we were doing everything we could to help. >> yet, there was no sign of aaron corwin, anywhere. no clothing, no footprints, no nothing. then, detectives caught a break. then, detrick that chris took to look at knives? turns out, chris friend had taken pictures. detectives obtained the photos, and seven weeks into the search, showed them to cave doug. >> without skipping a beat, it's almost immediately from the photograph. it is plotting with the topper graphical map. >> showing us here, it immediately recognize the tower, and showed the shaft going down the shaft, and recognize that. firstly, it showed me the

cabin. the next was the mind we were standing next to. >> they bet on buildings memory, and focus their efforts here, around what is known as the rows of peru mine. >> around the rows of peru mine, are hundreds of other abandoned mines, like this one. and the one of them could've been a potential burial site. >> investigators had high hopes that they were, finally, targeting the right area. but, after an exhaustive, and expensive search, lasting for weeks, and weeks, they decided, this was at. saturday, august 16th, 2014, the last day of the search. >> we thought we had one more shot. >> in the early evening, they headed for the very last mine on their list. >> and, as night falls out there, you don't want anyone out there, still. so, we began to collect our thoughts, and decide, any minute, we need to call the search. >> a member of the san bernardino cave rescue team, a

doctor, in fact, came upon this mine, and right away, noticed a strange smell. >> it was the stench of gasoline. there was also a shell casing, resting near the mouth of the mine. the searchers, lowering a bucket cam. >> we received a phone call from one of the satellite phones that was out there, with the search team, and they could be, what appeared to be, a leg, or some sort of body part, down at the bottom of the mine shaft. >> that is unbelievable. that this search was minutes away from being called off, after weeks, and weeks, and you found something. >> it was unbelievable. >> a full exploration of the mine would need to wait until daybreak. >> detective hank, called me at roughly nine or 10:00 that night. it is the motive of the huge shift. >> did you sleep that night? >> i don't know. >> coming up --

>> i had no idea what we were getting into. do i want to put my life in danger? >> journey to the bottom of the mine. when dateline continues. dateline continues. oh, will you pause it real quick? (mumbles) just sold the car to carvana. k, hit play please. what? when did you do that? i just did it the other day. all i had to do was enter the vin or license plate, answer a couple questions, and got a real offer in seconds. then, they just picked up the car and paid me right on the spot. i can finally quit my job and become an actor. nah, you're right. sell your car at carvana dot com today. >> a massive search effort,

that once spread across 2000 square miles of desert, now focused on a single four by six foot hole. >> no idea what i was getting

into. >> paul anastasia, and brenton bomb, with the san bernardino fire departments elite urban search and rescue teams. >> i was found that they found a body, approximately 140 feet, in a mineshaft. >> but, there was problems. >> they were gasoline fumes. >> they picked up images of a gas can, and propane tank, which were venting thumbs into the shaft. that is why anastasia, and bomb, what were called. they're trying to work inside of tight spaces, while using sophisticated breathing equipment. the two, regularly, risk their lives to rescue people, and danger, but in this case, taking a grave risk to cover a dead body, and it gave them pause. >> it's a risk versus gain. do i want to put my life in danger? >> after talking it over, and knowing how important their recovery efforts could be to solving aaron's disappearance, they agreed to go.

>> mom, who is admittedly claustrophobic, got the short straw, and was first in the hole. >> i started descending down. >> how deep were you going in? >> about 100, hundred 40 feet, a lot deeper than i've ever been. >> what are you seeing as you're on your way down? how tight is it? >> it was eerie. rock collapsing. snakes. >> yes, lots of snakes. >> and the heat. it was 110 degrees topside, maybe about 90 degrees downside. still, working in that environment, it's a limited amount of effectiveness, they are fatigued. >> what did you see? >> a sprite bottle, a rope, a tire, a propane tank, some plastic jugs. a lot of rock, and rock debris. >> and then, he saw it. a human body. >> that looks like something out of a horror movie. i hate to say it that way, but

to repel down, and to see a decomposing body. >> you can see a lot of death in this line of work. overtime, you developed this method where you ignore your motions for a little while, and focus on the task you need to do. then, you face up to your emotions later. >> bomb first took photos, was suspended above the grisly crime scene. then, methodically, said about gathering evidence, and sending it to the surface. >> the original plan was for me to do the whole operation, but i had been down there for 45 minutes, and was fatigued. so, captain made a decision to rotate us out. >> how did you feel when you finally got out of a mine? >> i took my mask off, and i was hit with the small all of a sudden. what i have been immersed in, and didn't smell in the shaft, and i started dry heaving. >> then, it was anastasia's concerns. his consignment? get the body. >> i would be lying if i said was excited about going into that mine shaft. i had never put a body in a bag. >> once in a minute, anastasia

realized, retrieving the body will store harder than expected. >> i did a little assessment with my flashlight, and i realized, that was a false bottom. i got a bit more concerned with rocks going down, and knocking that false bottom. >> i had no idea how deep the shaft was. >> suspended in mid air, anastasia voice the body in the bag of how disturbing the false bottom on which it rested. once that was done, you found something else. >> in the corner of the mine. >> had it been lit? >> it didn't look like it had been, no. it looked like it was brand new, like someone had just made it. >> ever so carefully, anastasia made his way back up the mine shaft, with that torch, and the body. back on the surface, detectives made a positive i.d.. after eight weeks of searching, and that they have decided is

their last, they had finally found aaron cohen. >> all these hours we had worked, they were thinking, and deep down inside it is just having to be and, having that confirmed. just overwhelming emotion. >> a few minutes before midnight, the phone rings again. it wakes us up. it is detective down, and says her. it is like this really can't be happening to us. so, you know, not our child. >> the cause of aaron's death? blunt force head injury, and apparently, strangulation. especially with a more sinister tool. >> it is what is known as a garage. i wasn't familiar with it at the time, but it is fast. it's a pair accord, with two

rebar handles, and it circled her neck. >> they said that nicoli once told her, nobody, no case. now, detectives finally had the body, and soon, they have an arrest warrant. the charge? murder. coming up. >> ladies and gentlemen, at its core, it is a very simple case. >> an accused killer on trial. when dateline continues. when dateline continues. n nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. ♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan, i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now, i'm managing my diabetes better, and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7.

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jude, it's all because of them. - you can make a difference. please become a st. jude partner in hope right now. when they're sick, they get comfortable anywhere and spread germs everywhere. wherever they rest protection nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. >> ladies and gentlemen, at its core, this is a simple case. >> october 2016, after aaron cohen's death, a jury gathered in the san bernardino courtroom, the person on trial? chris lee. it was the trial of first degree murder. the prosecutor, sean dougherty.

>> they point to the one person, and one person who prepared, planned, studied and, executed the murder before. >> it is out there, connecting him with the mine shaft, and it is their particular mind that tied them to the crime. and for him to not have done it, it probably be the unluckiest man ever. >> the prosecutor used to friends and family of the leaves, on the core, winds delay at the case against chris. several people who knew chris, including this fellow marine, testified that he has shown a lot of interest in how to dispose of a body. >> they did mention the benefits of hiding a body, and that you wouldn't be able to see the outline of a body. >> former downstairs neighbor, and one time friend, ashley malaki, also took the stand. >> there is many times, prior to june 28th that were, talking

about. >> more than i can count. >> ashley also told the jury about chris's wife, nichols, odd, and cold response, when she heard that aaron was missing. >> i had called nicole, and said, where is your husband? there's people looking for him. aaron is missing. she replied with, i don't care what happened to that little -- she laughed at me, and told me to mind my business. and then i hung up on her. >> ashling's husband is saying that around 6:00, the morning that aaron disappeared. and then, over the back of it, you know something. >> i saw a white propane cylinder. >> what propane cylinder? >> correct. >> for a barbecue? >> yes. >> connor said, the propane tank he saw in the jeep, it looked like the one recovered from the mine. >> i asked him, why was it in their? what was he planning on doing with it? >> what was the defendants

response? >> he was going to blow up a mine shaft. >> isabelle, from the horse ranch, told the jury that she, she also, recognized the take pulled out from the mine. she said that chris would borrow it from her, the day before that aaron disappeared. >> i asked, was he going to have a barbecue? >> what was his response? >> he said, no, he was going to use it to play games. >> did the defendant ever return with anything? >> no. >> a detective woods testified that a search of the suv that chris was driving at the time of his arrest yielded another piece of evidence. >> this is the garage that was located underneath the front passenger seat. >> i have only seen one in my life, and it was the one wrapped around her neck. and, for the second time, in the same week, i saw the second one. >> there was another link to chris. that shell casing, found near the mouth of the mine shaft. it matched chris's rifle. the jury, also, got to hear from aaron's confidant, back in

tennessee. jessica trenton was her close friend, and secret keeper. she's the one who told the detectives everything she knew about aaron's affair with chris. >> did she tell you how she felt about christopher. >> he made it out that she loved him more than her husband. >> jessica said, aaron had a plans for a future with chris. >> it is seeming to divorce or her husband, but rather, that a divorce would come, and she was hoping to be able to stay with him. >> she said, chris told aaron, he had a special trip planned for her, the weekend she disappeared. >> she said, he was going to surprise her with a trip to the desert. >> how did she sound. what was your feelings on it? >> she was excited to get to spend time with him. >> jessica also testified by a text that she got from aaron. my mother comes in a week, i'm excited. jessica responded, are you

going to tell her? >> what did you mean when you sent that text, are you going to tell her? >> that she was pregnant. >> erin texted back, we'll, chris wanted to tell everyone next week. on june 28th, jessica spoke to her friend for the last time. at 17 a m, california time, erin called jessica back in tennessee. >> she said that she was getting ready, and about to leave the apartment to, go meet chris, to have their special bait. >> did you ever spot? >> i was excited for her. i wanted her to be happy. >> did you guys make plans, or talk about her going there? >> she was supposed to call, and let me know how it went. >> did you ever get that phone call? >> no. >> do you think she was planning to start this new life with him? with the baby?

>> it seems so. it seems so. it was hard to hear that. i think one of the harder things is to go, shoes going through that, and did not share it. >> it makes me wonder the, level of his manipulation. >> because, obviously, he was leading her on. >> but, perhaps, the most damning evidence came from this dna expert, who analyzed the items pulled out of the mine shaft, where aaron's body was recovered. >> in this case, i chose to go with more testing. >> remember the homemade torch? it consisted of a piece of wood, with a green t-shirt wrapped around one and. on the shirts collar, dna. >> this particular case, we have a major dna profile. it is with christopher lee. there is also dna amount in the mouth of the spray bottle, found in the mine. >> i found a mixture of two individuals. christopher brandton lee, and

erin corwin. >> aaron, and chris, appeared it had been sharing a spray to that day. the same drink that her husband had one she used to propose marriage. >> i believe that christopher lee took aaron out to the desert to kill her that day, because she was a hurdle between him, and the rest of his life. by the end of this investigation, we realized, christopher lee did not care about anybody but himself. >> the prosecution said that chris took aaron out to the mine, strangled her with the garage, and dropped her in. he may have intended to use the propane tank, and torched, a blowup of mine, and conceal her body, although, apparently, he did not follow through. their conclusion? it was a carefully planned, cold blooded, murder. the evidence seemed overwhelming. now, it was the defense's turn, and jurist were in for a surprise. chris lee was about to testify, and no one was prepared for the

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>> chris lee, a husband, father, and decorated marine, would be the first, and only witness, in his defense. his attorney, david, took chris through his version of events. >> i could not live with myself if i kept this secret on a longer. >> by june 2014, chris was preparing to leave the marines. he told the jury, he knew it was time to end his relationship with aaron. >> did you have any plans after leaving the core? >> yes. me, nicole, and liberty, were planning on moving back up to alaska. >> had you told erin this?

>> i did. >> chris said, he had planned a hunting trip, and that he invited to run all along, so they could talk. >> was just going to be you and erin? >> no, it wasn't. >> chris had asked to friends to join him, including his neighbor, connor. >> why were you inviting all of these other friends of yours, if you needed to talk to aaron? >> because i didn't want to have lengthy conversations. i wanted to be able to hang out with my friends, and actually do hunting, in the case the conversation got too deep, or we came to a point where i was uncomfortable. >> but chris said, by the morning of june 28th, he found out his friends have bailed, so he, and aaron, had set out for the park, just the two of them. chris had a propane tank, and, he said, they wanted to blow off some steam. literally. >> you told erin that you are going, to actually, try to blow it up? >> on the way there. do you remember what her reaction was? >> she was not happy.

she thought it was stupid, and on safe. she thought that this trip would be about us talking, and i told her, it was but, i wanted to do this too. >> when they arrived, chris began unloading his supplies. >> i took the tires out of my jeep and, i tossed them down the mine shaft. >> what was erin doing during this time? >> she was sitting in the g, but listening to music. she didn't want to be near any of this. >> so what did you do next to blow the mind? >> i went to the job to go up by torture, and i had not doused in gasoline. >> feeling frustrated, chris said he returned to his jeep. >> we had a conversation -- >> about? what >> about plans. about how she wanted to come to alaska. wanted to be part of my life, they told her, i didn't want that. i told her i decided that, they

you can't be part of liberties life, and she said, she loved liberty. i told her, it's not your choice, not your daughter, you don't get to love, hershey's mine. >> what were you thinking at that moment? >> i was thinking, there is no reason for aaron to love her. she's not hers, she had no emotional attachment. >> then, chris said, he remembered something else. a story that would be central to his defense, and what stood on this courtroom. he said he recalled something his wife had shown him one night, when she was giving liberty a path. science, chris said, that nicole believe, showed sexual abuse. >> she thought, maybe aaron had molested liberty, because she was not comfortable with the way she was around her. and she had been watching her. >> what was your reaction to that? >> i felt so safe in my little community, i didn't think it

was possible. >> now, as they talked at the mine, he said, aaron seemed to attached to liberty. >> when aaron told me she loved liberty, and wanted to be with her, and something turned up here in my head. i said, why do you care about liberty so much? why do you want to be part of her life? aaron told me, i just love her. i stood up, i stopped her, and i said, did you touch liberty? and she reeled back a bit, and started stirring up her words, and said, you know, i, i, and i stopped hurricane. i yelled this time and i said, did you molest my daughter? she said, yes. and that was the last thing i heard her say. >> an explosive allegation against the victim. >> did you worry that that could turn off the jury? >> absolutely.

but, it was what chris insisted was the truth. >> aaron's husband said, it simply wasn't possible. >> she was nurturing. caring. never did anything elusive, or crude, or harmful. so, i know that's a persevere in, and never even heard of aaron. >> so, for detectives -- >> i personally felt disgusted. from all of the people who knew erin eight, we didn't even think that this is an angle that christopher ali would play. this came out a left field. >> chris said he was hearing what he appeared to be a confession from air and that caused the horrible events he now recounted in chilling detail. >> i stumbled back, and i sat on the edge of my jeep, and i caught myself with my hands. in my right hand, i felt the metal from the cowrote. it set me off. i just felt so much hate, so

much range. i grabbed it, i stood up, i came up behind her, and i put it around her neck. training took over, i turned around, and i started to pull. nothing would have stopped me from doing what i was doing. i told myself, what i was doing this, never again. i wasn't going to let anybody hurt my daughter again. i let her into my daughter's life, and it was my fault that my daughter was hurt. i just kept choking her. it is five minutes, and it felt like forever. i just kept choking her. so, in that anger, that feeling of discussed, and hate, i can't let go and i can't drop down. >> christopher lead, describing for the jury, how he had killed aaron corwin. >> after a few minutes, i

realized what had happened. i knew i killed her. so, the corrode was still around her neck, i grabbed it, and i dragged her to the edge of the mine shaft. >> the story that accounted for physical evidence, and portrayed the killing as a crime of passion, done by an outrage father. now, the prosecution took over, and shock to courtroom all over again. >> coming up -- >> the heart stopping moment. >> stop right there, right? you didn't stop. right? when. >> nothing would've stopped me at this point. >> the fate of marine corporal chris lee. when dateline continues. when dateline continues.

>> chris lee, shocking the courtroom, telling the jury, he did kill aaron corwin, but it was not premeditated.

instead, he said, he snapped, when he claimed that aaron confessed to him that she had been molesting his daughter. now, prosecutor, sean dougherty, prosecuted chris, confronting him on the allegations against aaron. >> these accusations from your wife, right? >> yes. >> so you didn't think to call the police? >> no. >> michael, immediately picked up and call the police? >> no. >> so, you are still having sex with the woman who your wife thought it was in secret, right? >> the prosecution's mission, to show that they could not believe chris because he lied, climbing to not know where aaron was, through all eight weeks she was missing. >> people live for a reason. it was important that i pointed out he, lied to protect himself. >> you have a choice to tell the truth, right? >> i did. >> you and mary had a motive. >> yes. >> did she had people who loved her? >> yes. >> you know a lot of these people. >> yes i did. >> you made a decision to hold them hostage, right?

>> yes. >> perhaps the biggest moment in court, came when the prosecutor found a striking way to demonstrate how chris had killed aaron. >> so, for the record, what you did is you put it around the neck, you twisted around, and you turn your back. so actually back to back with her. >> yes. >> you testified earlier, you pulled really hard. >> you could've stop there, right? >> no. >> you couldn't? >> no. >> you made a decision to kill her. >> yes. >> and you are going to follow through with that decision? >> yes. >> my goal was to show the jury how long it takes to kill somebody like that. to show them the brutality of what was done. it's one thing to say, as he did it on direct i, didn't strangle her, i pushed her on the whole. it's another thing for him to show us what he did. i think the jury was entitled to see that. it was heavy. it was one of the heavier moments i've had in court. >> that's about ten seconds in. >> you could've stopped. right? >> no.

>> 20 seconds, and you could've stopped. >> no. >> why not? >> nothing would've stopped me at this point. i was too angry. >> i saw the reaction of the jurors. he was pained. their expressions were pained. >> we are about 30 seconds in, you're still going. >> yes sir. >> that's about a minute. still doing it? >> yes sir. >> and your testimony is, you couldn't have stopped? you couldn't of let go of those handles? >> no. >> minute 20, and still nothing. >> no. >> okay. that's enough. can you let go now? >> yes sir. >> then you threw down on mine shaft. >> yes, i did. >> like a piece of trash. >> i threw her down the mine shaft, yes. >> like a piece of trash. right? >> it's not a question? >> yes. >> yes. >> they heard a confession from

chris lee. was involuntary manslaughter, killing carried out in the heat of passion? or, was a premeditated murder? the prosecutor made his final appeal to the jury. >> you think the defendant testified there expression? ladies and gentlemen, if you do, for your sake, the defendant shows no remorse. he didn't care. he did not care when search and rescue, homicide, and fire departments or putting their life at risk to look for her. he didn't care that he was holding her mother hostage. he didn't care one bit until it came time to talk to you. the people who will decide what crime he will face. >> defense attorney, david asked the jury to consider this case as a tragic crime of passion, not one of premeditated murder. >> mr. lee was provoked. only you can decide whether that provocation was justified,

a lesser included. not to justify the killing, because it was not justified. but, was it murder? was it deliberate? willful, premeditated, lying in wait murder? or, was it a tragic killing? that should not have happened? >> the jurors pondered the questions for just one hour and a half. then, they reached a verdict. >> we, the jury, find the defendant, christopher lee, guilty of first degree murder. the defendant intentionally killed the victim by means of lying and wait. >> christopher ali was convicted on all counts. you will spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole. it >> what was a moment like for you?

that was pretty final at that point. guilty. >> it was like taking a breath of fresh air. >> although john corwin still feels the lasting pain of regret. >> i still wish i could've been there for her more. i tried my hardest, but it wasn't enough. >> aaron was a kid. she had her whole life ahead of them. he just didn't know, and in my opinion, she was dealing with the devil. >> chris's wife nicole told detectives, there is nothing to do with disappearance, and had not been charged with any crime. >> and it has a dormant? close >> not every door husband. >> but for the door on chris lee, aaron's mom says, is closed. she breathed easier knowing it. >> every time there is a hearing, your emotional scab is ripped off. and, to know that i'm not going out to deal with that? >> laura finds comfort here, out in the joshua tree desert. with caved a, where they

created this. in the desolate place for aaron's life was cut short, a garden now grows in her memory. >> when you look at that desert garden, what are you thinking? >> it's beautiful. just like my girl. it's a peaceful place. i have a piece it can't be explained. they had to decide to be bitter, and angry. history had taken enough for me. if i am bitter, and angry, i am not giving him that.