- Oh my gosh, hi. How are you? It's so great to see you.
How are you doing today? Great. Anyways, hi. I hope you're having
a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian
and today is Monday, which means it's murder,
mystery, and makeup Monday. ♪ Sha na sha ♪ ♪ Sha na sha ♪ ♪ Sha na sha sha shanner ♪ ♪ Sha ♪ If you are new here, hi. My name is Bailey Sarian
and on Mondays I sit down and I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my
(tongue clicks) noggin and I do my makeup at the same time. If you're interested in true
crime and you like makeup, I would highly suggest you
hit that subscribe button 'cause I'm here for you on Mondays. So before we jump into today's story, we do have a sponsor. It's Audible. ♪ Audible, Audible ♪ ♪ It's Audible ♪ What's Audible you ask? Well, at Audible, you can find a large and the largest
selection of audio books. Oh, I mean, it's got a wide
variety of bestsellers, new releases, celebrity memoirs. You can learn languages, business advice, motivation, and so much more. They have this new plan
called Audible Plus, which gives you full
access to the Plus catalog, where you can listen to a huge amount of different audio books, (gasps) original entertainment, and podcasts also including ad-free versions. Beautiful. There's no limit as to how much you can listen to each month, which is great if you're an avid listener. You can find guided fitness, meditation, and even like sleep tracks so you can get some peace
of mind around here. I was doing so well. I was doing meditations
almost every morning, and then I fell off for some
reason, for some reason. Anyhow, you can download and
listen anywhere on any device. New members can also try Audible
Plus for 30 days on them. Take advantage of that little situation. Right now I've been listening to... Where's my phone? (gentle upbeat music) I've been listening to Debbie Reynolds'
"Unsinkable, a Memoir". Yes, the legendary actress and performer, Miss Debbie Reynolds. I mean, what else would I
listen to? Hello. (scoffs) It's been an interesting ride. I mean, it's about the
entertainment industry, friendships, family, hitting rock bottom, and just all around
the personal experience of classic Hollywood days from
Miss Reynolds' perspective. It's fascinating. I love it. Oh, also I've been listening to the "Scientology: Fair Game" podcast with Leah Remini and Mike Rinder. Oh, it's juicy. I am
obsessed with Scientology. They are low-key psycho. If you don't know this, you probably do. And we're judging. Mm-hm. I should do a video on Scientology. Anyways, Audible is great
for when you're cleaning, organizing, and you just
want something to listen to, going on walks. There's just always something new and tons of options to
choose from, which is nice. Every month, Audible members
get one free audio book. And if you have the Plus catalog, you get the whole shebang shaboodle with full access to
unlimited amounts of content. Don't forget, for new members, you get to experience the
Audible Plus catalog free for 30 days. If this sounds like your cup of tea, go to Audible.com/BaileySarian or text Bailey Sarian to 500-500. Again, go to Audible.com/BaileySarian or text Bailey Sarian to 500-500. A big thank you to Audible
for partnering with me on today's video. But most of all, a big
thank you to you guys, because without you, I wouldn't be here right now. And that's a fact. We're gonna talk about a very awful story. Oh my gosh. Wow. It's dramatic. Warning, today's story
contains graphic descriptions of crime scenes, adult
dialogue, and strong language. Viewer discretion is advised. If you're curious to know what I'm using, I will list it down in
the description box. But other than that, I
will stop yip yapping and get into the story. So we're gonna start with Evan Heavilin. She grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It was said that she was sweet and loving. And, you know, when you talked to Erin, she just made you feel like you were the most
important person in the room. She was an animal lover. She had a talent for taming horses that no one else came close to. And Erin's first horse was named Autumn and her whole world just seemed
to revolve around horses. It was in a barn where she met
a guy named Jonathan Corwin who would become her future husband. But when they first met, Erin, she was only in
fifth grade. (chuckles) I'm laughing just because the thought of them getting married or
something in fifth grade just made me giggle a little bit. But Jon was one year older than Erin and they became very close friends and they remained close friends. And then when they turned 16, 17, that's when Jon went to her parents and asked for permission to date her, which they approved and the two of them started
dating on Erin's 16th birthday. As their relationship blossomed and they fell in love, Erin would often write Jon
like little love poems. And from the outside looking in, it just seemed like they were this perfect, all-American couple just swept up in their fairy
tale romance, you know. Jon would go on to join the Marines. And shortly after that, the young couple got
married in November of 2012. Erin's mother, she was a little worried that like Erin would
have trouble adjusting to life as the wife of a Marine, because she knew that they
would have to move around a lot. And Erin was known to be a
little bit on the shy side. So making friends, you know, or having to make friends constantly might be a bit of a challenge for her. But for the most part, they seemed to be very happy and in love. Who really knows though, right? After all these stories, I'm like... You could be the perfect person, perfect marriage, and
there's no such thing. No such thing. Anyways, September 2013, the couple, Jon and Erin, they move to the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California. It's like out in the middle
of the desert, so hot. When they moved in, they became friends pretty quickly with the family who lived
downstairs from them. Their name was Conor and Aisling and then they had like a little baby too. And then they also had another neighbor and their name was Chris and Nicole Lee plus their six-year-old daughter Liberty and they lived like right next door. So family under them, family next door. So while the husbands were
doing their thing on base, a lot of the times the
wives, the three neighbors, Erin, Aisling, and Nicole, they would all like hang out together. They would have lunch, they would chat. And when the husbands were home, they would barbecue, have
little movie nights, you know. It was just nice to have some
friends in this new location. At first, life on the base seemed to be going fine and dandy. But soon just the normal
struggles of married life made their appearance in
Erin and Jon's relationship. Money was a big issue. And the two of them would
often argue over it, accusing one another of overspending. "Your overspend. "Why did you buy that?
Why are you buying?" You know, just, you never
have enough money, right? And there's just always
something to fight about over it. So they're bickering a lot. Soon after, Erin found
out that she was pregnant. And once that became the new focus, the money issues were just
put on the back burner and they were just excited to
start a family of their own. So Erin's excited. She wanted to be a mom. And she, of course, went to Facebook and posted on Facebook
that she was pregnant and she was like sharing it
with her friends and family back at home. You know, everyone's all excited for her. And Erin couldn't wait to be a mom. So several weeks go by after
posting the announcement on Facebook and sadly Erin
ended up miscarrying the baby. She was absolutely
devastated, heartbroken, just, I can't imagine
what that feels like. I'm, so sad. In the US, about 10 to 15 out
of every hundred pregnancies end in a miscarriage. But it doesn't make it easier knowing the statistics really. And despite there being others who have shared the experience like many women who go through the trauma of losing a baby before it's born, Erin felt very much alone. And she started to kind of
withdraw from her marriage and just her social circle. She was growing emotionally distant. Her husband said that
he really didn't know how to comfort her at all. He tried to, but he just didn't know how. And unfortunately it just
really started to drive a pretty big wedge
between the two of them. But there was someone else
who was there for Erin during these difficult times. It was her friend and neighbor, Chris Lee. So Erin at this time was 19 years old. So she's still really young and she's struggling with
the loss of her pregnancy, and her husband, again,
doesn't really know how to comfort her. Erin would strike up a conversation with 25-year-old Christopher
Lee, again, the neighbor, and Chris was one of those guys who just really loved
to make people laugh. But he had his own sadness that he seemed to be battling with. And him and Erin seemed to like really connect with that. Like Chris was dealing
with his own depression because recently he had
been denied deployment. Normally this would have
the opposite effect, but for Chris, it was
considered a heroic honor to go. So it's just something he
so greatly wanted to do. So when he was denied, it was devastating to him and he was very, very upset. So Chris had told Erin that he would play Russian
Roulette every morning to decide if he was gonna go on with his day or not. If you don't know, Russian
Roulette is a game, quote unquote game where
you have a loaded gun, well, it's partially loaded. Usually like one of the things is loaded. And then you pull the trigger to see if it's gonna go off or not. It's the kind of behavior that you should definitely
reach out for medical help, not necessarily tell your
neighbor in a casual conversation. But, you know, Erin felt
bad for him, you know. She was very drawn to people
who were broken or hurting. So helping care for Chris, it gave her a sense of
purpose being there for him. Also just talking with
Chris really distracted her from, you know, with the
pain from losing her baby. So they both just kinda
found comfort and purpose in their friendship. It's never good when you're in a bad place and you seek out companionship other than the person that
you're in a relationship with. Like that usually doesn't
end well, you know. And I mean, here we are
on this Monday upload, so therefore I'm pretty
sure this won't end well. Great. Chris and Erin had already spent a good amount of time together
within their friend group, but with their new bond, they started hanging out more and more when like their spouses weren't around. Mm-mm. Mm-hm. Erin, she also spent
a lot of her free time volunteering at a place called
White Rock Horse Rescue, where Chris and his wife Nicole
also sponsored horses at. So Erin would spend a
lot of her time there. And Chris would end up
going over there as well, spending, you know, a little
bit of extra time with Erin at the barn without his wife around. They were becoming very close. And Erin felt like she
finally had somebody to really talk to and
someone to really express how she was feeling inside. And Chris felt the same way. Then on Sunday night in February of 2014, Chris and his wife Nicole
went over to Erin and Jon's to watch a new episode of
"The Walking Dead" together. Now, Erin, she wasn't
really into the show so much because she felt like it was
a little too violent for her so she hung out for a bit and then she headed off to her bedroom to play some video games instead. So Chris sees Erin take off and instead of hanging
out with his wife and Jon and watching the show, he gets up and he heads to the bedroom to hang out with Erin
and play video games. So Chris, he loved "The Walking Dead" so it was a little weird that he decided to not watch it. But I guess it wasn't
weird enough to catch his wife's attention because
she didn't follow him. Not that she should, but
you know what I'm saying? So Jon and Nicole are in the living room watching "The Walking
Dead" and Chris and Erin are hanging out sitting on the floor playing video games in Erin's bedroom. I guess all of a sudden,
just out of nowhere, one of them pauses the video game and Erin like kind of
glances over at Chris and I guess it must've been
kind of like a sexy glance because then they started just making out. Yeah, they just started making out in the bedroom. Mind you, very bold move to
do when your husband and wife are right in the other room watching TV. But okay, sure, do that, kiss. Great. They did. And this kiss would end
up like leading them to becoming involved in
their own love affair. So the love affair between the two became pretty hot and
heavy pretty quickly. They were sneaking around a lot and it wasn't long until
they started having more serious conversations about leaving their partners so they can be together instead. And to top it off, Chris, he would constantly tell
Erin how great she was with his baby, who was six years old. Her name was Liberty, and Erin would occasionally babysit her. And he was like, "Oh my
gosh, Liberty loves you. Like I know you're gonna
be a great stepmom." And he's saying this to Erin and Erin's all like, "Oh my God, yeah, I know. I can't wait." Like she's getting super hyped. I don't know, I just feel
like involving your kid like that's pretty messed up, but okay. Chris is all wrapped up in
his affair with Erin, right? So he's kind of checking
out from his marriage. Nicole, Chris's wife, she starts to notice how distant
her husband was becoming. And like she knew something,
something was just not right. You know? So what does she do? Checks his phone. Of course. Yeah, it's a huge invasion of privacy, but you know, if her man is cheating, she wants to know. So Nicole just waits
for her perfect moment to grab Chris's phone
and, you know, check it, read his text messages and stuff. And when she does, she sees text messages
between Chris and Erin. Mm-hm. And when she saw a text message that said, "You're so gorgeous, I
think I'm falling for you." (tongue clicks) It wasn't good. It wasn't good. I'm sure that hurt right in the stomach, uh, makes you sick, you know? So Nicole's like, "Shit, man. I knew something was up.
It's the neighbor though. Like I trusted this girl
with babysitting our kids. We've been hanging out. We've been, I thought we were friends." So she's pissed for good reason. So first she finds Chris and then she just goes off as she should, you know? And the two just get into a
verbal argument for hours. And then, because it takes two to tango, Nicole marches right over
to Jon and Erin's place next door and tells Jon about the affair his wife was having with Chris. Oh, it's getting super messy. Lots of drama going on. And there's just a lot of bickering, fighting amongst everybody. And it's just a long night
with everybody yelling at one another, accomplishing
not much of anything, but just let it out, girl. So they're just all
fighting together. Great. And eventually Erin, she just is over it. And she's like, "You know what? I'm done. I don't need this anymore. Like I just need to get outta here." Everyone is in her house and they're just yelling at one another And that's when Erin just decides, "You know what? I'm gonna leave." And Erin goes to leave
when Nicole stops her, shoves her finger in Erin's
face, and screams at her, "If you ever have anything
else to do with my husband, I'll kill you myself." Nicole went off for good
reason, again, you know. That was her friend, someone she trusted. How dare you? I'm assuming here that Jon
was pissed off as well, but he stayed pretty quiet
about his feelings and thoughts on the whole situation. Like with the public, even later on, you barely hear from him. He was just a very quiet guy. I mean, I feel like we
should be that way, you know, so good for him. You can't be mad at it. But what I'm getting at is I don't know what his reaction was to finding out that his
wife is having an affair with the neighbor, but
I'm assuming he's upset. So after this huge blow
up, Erin and Chris, they decide, "You know what, it's best if we just call it quits. It was fun while it lasted, you know, but we need to stop and just focus on our
marriages, whatever." Well, they call it quits and a couple of weeks go by, just a couple of weeks, and, of course, the two
cannot resist one another. But they both knew that their love affair was gonna have an expiration date because Chris's service in the Marines was scheduled to end on July 4th, 2014. When his service was over, the plan was for him, his wife Nicole, and their baby to move back to Alaska. And that was approaching pretty quickly. It was literally a few weeks away. Something happens right
before their big move back to Alaska. Erin finds out that she's pregnant. But this time, instead
of being super jazzed and going to Facebook
and posting about it, she wasn't really sure how to feel. It's believed she felt this
way because she wasn't sure who the father was, her husband, Jon or her lover, Chris. I think she knew it was Chris's because she would tell
Chris that she was pregnant. And, but she couldn't say for sure. Ooh, you're in a pickle. You fucked up, you fucked up. This is a side note, but if you're going to have an affair, the least you can do is wear a condom. It's not that hard. It's not that hard. If you're gonna do it, at least be smart. You can't be making stupid choices and then make another stupid choice by not, no, no, absolutely not. If you're gonna be stupid, you gotta be smart about it. Wrap it up. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. On June 28th, 2014, Chris was supposed to go
coyote hunting with his buddy out in Joshua Tree National Park. He told his friend that he
wanted to go hunt for coyotes, but also there was a bunch
of abandoned mineshafts out there and he thought
it would be super exciting to go and explode a propane
tank in one of the mineshafts, you know, just for the hell of it. So Chris is super jazzed about
this. He's all excited to go. But his friend that was
supposed to go with him called him up last minute and had to bail. So he's all bummed. He's like, "Dammit, whatever. I'll just go by myself and blow stuff up." That's what Chris is saying. And that's what he does. He's just gonna go by
himself. That's fine. Now, it's a super
strange coincidence here, but Erin was also planning to go over to Joshua Tree that day. She told her husband Jon that she was going out to Joshua Tree to kinda like scope out
some places to take her mom when she came out to visit them. So she tells Jon goodbye, she's heading out for
the day, she leans over, she gives him a kiss. She says, "I love you." He says, "Love you" back. And then she heads out to Joshua Tree. Mind you, Joshua Tree, it's not that far from Twentynine Palms. They're kind of close. It's like just one big desert. I'm not sure what Erin
was looking for out there, but that's where she was going. So those are the stories that Chris and Erin told people, right? Chris is going out to
hunt coyotes by himself and Erin was going to look
for places to take her mom. However, turns out, the relationship between the two of them was far from over. A couple of days before
they both headed out to the desert, Chris told Erin that he had a surprise for her and asked her to meet up
with him in Joshua Tree. Erin, who again is pregnant
with her lover's baby maybe, we don't know, she was
excited because she thought that Chris was asking
her to meet out there because he was going to propose to her or maybe break the news that
he was finally ending it between his wife and
would be with Erin now, and then they could live
happily ever after, you know? So it's believed that this is
why Erin was going out there to Joshua Tree, not to spot
out places to visit her mom. She was going there to meet up with Chris. Back at home, Jon, Erin's husband, he was texting her throughout the day, but he wasn't getting
any response from Erin. And by the time night rolls around, Erin is still not home and
she's not answering her calls, her texts, nothing. Super strange, very unlike her. Some time goes by and
Erin is still not home. So Jon, he files a missing
persons report with the police. They come out and they ask him questions. And at first they assumed
that maybe she got lost. So the Joshua Tree National Park, it's really big, it's flat. So it is possible she could have gone for a hike or something, and if she didn't plan correctly, it could be highly possible that she was out wandering the desert suffering from dehydration. Like there's literally not much around so that is definitely a possibility. And if that is really the case, then Erin would not last long, okay? So police, they go out to Joshua Tree and they end up finding her car abandoned, but it was nowhere near
the entrance of the park where she said she was gonna be at. So police, they start investigating all the people in Erin's life to see what they could find. As with most husbands, Jon was immediately on top
of their interest list. But after talking to
people around the base, Jon was ruled out very
quickly as a possible suspect because there were many
people who saw Jon at the base pretty much the whole day. So there was no way Jon
could have been involved with the disappearance of Erin. Then the cops start talking
to friends and neighbors and they learn not only of Chris and
Erin's not so secret affair, but also that Erin may have been pregnant. They also got word about
this special surprise Chris had planned out in the desert. So naturally police have to go find Chris and figure out what the hell was going on. So police, they don't have to look far. He is a neighbor, right? So they go to Chris and they ask him, "Hey, do you know what happened to Erin?" And Chris tells investigators that he and Erin were just
acquaintances and nothing more. He only knew Erin because
they both volunteered at the horse ranch place and that was it. Now, at this point, police
already knew about the affair, so red flags are just a-flyin'. He's lying. What's he hiding, hm? Three days go by and then Chris was brought
into the police department to be formally questioned. This is where Chris finally
admits to investigators that he was having an affair with Erin. But he swore up and down that it was only on an emotional level and they never went past kissing. Investigators were like, "So
you guys aren't having sex?" And Chris just said,
"No, we've only kissed," which was a bold faced lie. The questioning between Chris and police goes on for about three hours. And then police decide to change tactics and start a more aggressive
type of questioning. Not even questioning. It's where they just like tell you lies to get you to confess. You know what I'm talking about, right? I don't know how it's legal, but they frickin' do that
and then they trap you. But it works so... Anyways, what I'm getting at
is police are telling Chris that they knew he met
with Erin that morning she went missing and they call him out on being one of the last
people to see Erin alive, which isn't a lie, but it was kind of exaggerated because they didn't really know that. So they're saying this in hopes that Chris kinda starts talking. But Chris doesn't give
in to those questions and he tells police
that he did not see her that Saturday morning. And then cops, they push back harder, telling him that he knew she
was pregnant with his child. Chris, once again just holds his ground. Deny, deny, deny, and says, "She wasn't
pregnant with my baby. There's no way, like you're lying." So he's just lying over and over to police and they know that he's lying but Chris isn't budging. At this point, they strongly believe that Erin's case isn't
a missing persons case, but it's now a homicide investigation and Chris is at the top of their possible suspects list. 'Cause he's all sorts of
suspish, like come on. But at this point they really
don't have any evidence proving that he did anything so they can't arrest him yet. To be honest, I'm not sure
why Chris's wife Nicole wasn't high on the possible suspect list because she did threaten to kill Erin, but she wasn't, you know. And that's okay because
maybe she wasn't involved. Police are believing that
Chris is their man though, because he has a motive, a possible baby with his mistress. He didn't want Erin's
pregnancy getting out and ruining whatever was left of his already rocking marriage, right? They knew he had a rifle
that he was taking with him to go coyote hunting. And the fact that he was going
out to Joshua Tree alone, the same day Erin went missing, he may have had plenty of
time to do whatever it was he was doing, if you know what I'm saying. Plus the fact that police
knew Chris was lying to them about the affair. Honestly, all signs are
pointing to you, Chris. Sorry, you know. They just needed to actually
get him to confess though or some kind of evidence
proving that this was true. Now, investigators are worried that Chris might try and
make a run for it, you know, 'cause he hasn't been arrested yet. So they're looking for any
reason to make an arrest. So when investigators find out that Chris owned a potato gun, they were excited. Oh yes, a potato gun, yup. It's considered an explosive and illegal in the state of California. So after, you know, they
got this information, they went to find Chris because he's gonna be arrested. So my piercing just popped off mid-video. Okay, great. (chuckles) It's always falling apart. I mean, it always pops
off. It drives me nuts. Oh dammit. So police go out, locate
Chris, and they arrest him. But Chris isn't in jail long. So Chris lawyers up and he
makes bail pretty quickly. But because of this, it gives police the ability to tell him not to leave town so he can't go to Alaska like
he was planning, you know. That's what they fear. So meanwhile, the police are
searching every square inch of Joshua Tree looking for Erin. They end up covering
like 1200 square miles and they even have six different
law enforcement agencies and hundreds of volunteers
covering the ground, helping look for her. So the searching goes on for weeks and police can't seem to
find a single trace of Erin. Now, keep it in mind, it's summer. Joshua Tree is in the
desert of California, and it's hot as balls out there. I'm talking like 120 degrees, you know? So these poor search parties, they are sweaty, exhausted,
and trying their best to just not get dehydrated. Anyway, so after two months of looking. authorities, they make the
very difficult decision that Saturday, August 16th, 2014, would be their final day
of searching for Erin. Just nothing, just no sign. As luck would have it, the woman running the rescue horse ranch where Erin and Chris volunteered at, she came across some photos,
some very unusual photos, that Chris had taken. I guess like a week
before Erin disappeared, Chris had gone around
and taking some photos of some abandoned mines. Now, this was concerning. And this woman, she turned
in the photos to police who then brought it to a
local cave and mine expert who was able to determine where exactly these photos were taken. Okay, a break, you know. So the search and rescue team, they head to these abandoned mineshafts in a remote area of the High Desert near Joshua Tree National Park and just right outside of the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base where Erin's husband was stationed. The crew goes to one mineshaft where they lower a
camera down into the mine and that's where they find Erin's body laying hidden 140 feet at the bottom of this abandoned mineshaft. Yeah. Jeez. So the investigation at the crime scene was able to give some insight
into what happened to Erin. They see that wrapped around her neck was a homemade garrote, a fancy word for a weapon that's handheld and made
of chain, rope, wire, or fishing line and is
used to strangle a person. Yeah, that is a fancy word. She was strangled, okay? So this leads investigators to conclude that Erin was strangled to death before she was dropped
down into this mineshaft. At the bottom of the mineshaft, they find other pieces of evidence. Police found rifle shots around the body and a propane tank tied to her. Now, this was suggesting to police that the killer attempted to burn her body by shooting the propane tank. But luckily this person
had a bad shot, I guess, because it wasn't successful. They also found a little
like homemade torch made up of a Marine Corp
shirt wrapped around a stick, which it was sent to be tested for DNA and ta da, guess what? Chris's DNA all over it. But if that wasn't enough, there was one other piece of evidence at the bottom of that mineshaft that confirmed Chris's involvement. There was a Sprite bottle
with a cap still on it and they sent it away to be tested for DNA and it came back with two
different people's DNA on it. Erin and Chris's. Mm-hm! This was like the hardcore evidence that cops needed to finally arrest Chris and charge him with first degree murder and a special charge of lying in wait, Which I had never heard of. But when they go to arrest him, Chris is nowhere to be found. Nay nay. He was gone, vanished, poof. You think he's gonna stick
around? Of course not. Oh, get this though. Erin's body was sent off to the coroners and when the report came back, it was confirmed that Erin was actually not pregnant. Now, nobody really knows like the when the what, the
where, the how of all of it. But many thought that maybe
Erin was lying to Chris in hopes that he would
stay in the relationship or just stay with her in general. Am I saying this is the case? No, but it was mentioned. Does this mean she deserved any of this? No, absolutely not. It's just unfortunate to
think that maybe this lie might have accelerated the
whole situation, you know. Like that sucks. And maybe she actually thought
she was pregnant though. So after some searching, police are able to locate Chris. Chris, his wife Nicole,
and their daughter Liberty had indeed moved to Alaska
as they originally planned. Now, Chris was told to stay put, but he obviously didn't give a rat's ass. "Bye," you know. Fuck that guy. Anyway, they head up to Alaska and they are able to arrest Chris. And when they search his car, the cops discover more evidence confirming that they
indeed have the right guy. When they're searching
Chris's phone and computer, they find Google searches
on how to dispose of a body. And in his car they found the garrote. I hope I'm, I'm probably not saying that. Garrote, like the one that was found wrapped around Erin's neck. Again, just really sealing the deal that Chris was indeed involved. No ifs, ands, or buts. Mm, no! This is a side note, but I couldn't help but
think this this whole time. Have you ever noticed that
the new age killer's name is usually Chris and there always seems
to be a Nicole close by. Can you think of some other cases where that may be the case? Because I most certainly
can. I'm just kidding. But like I noticed that
because Chris and Nicole, remember like Chris Watts
and his lover, Nichol. I don't know, just I don't
think it means anything, but I couldn't help,
but notice, that's all. Anyways, so he's arrested, sitting in jail, waiting for trial. Trial begins and the
prosecution shows their evidence supporting their belief
that Chris lured Erin into the desert and killed her to hide the affair that was
still going on between them, but not only that, the fact
that Erin was pregnant as well. One of the witnesses they put on the stand was the owner of the rescue horse ranch. Remember the woman who
turned in the pictures that helped them find Erin? Yeah, so she went on record
saying that she spoke to Nicole, Chris's wife, right
after Erin went missing, and that Nicole seemed
super uptight, I guess. Whatever that means. Nicole ended telling this woman that she had wished Erin was dead and she wouldn't care if Erin was dead. Not a good look, Nicole, you know? And then Nicole said
something super suspish. She's like, "If there's
no body, there's no case." We knew Nicole was pissed but was she pissed off enough to actually follow
through with that threat? I don't know. You know, like, I think a lot of times when you're really angry, you say something like,
"Oh my God, I would, I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill her." Whatever, like, cause you're mad, but you don't actually mean it. And then in cases like this, could you imagine if you said that and then that person actually died and you're like, "Oh shit." Like, you know? So maybe that's the case. But no! Anyways. So the ranch owner also told the court about how Chris and she
were having some small talk. I wish I could talk. I can't even talk. Where Chris went on to tell her that he had done some exploring around and found a certain mineshaft
that nobody would find. He's telling this to the
owner of the horse place. And then he was all super
casual and asked her like, "Hey, can I borrow your propane tank? I wanna use it to play some games." For some reason, the owner, she
didn't think anything of it. And she gave him a propane tank. Is that a thing? Don't try that. Please don't try that. It sounds very dangerous,
fires. We don't need it. The prosecution also
brings in a criminalist who testifies that the firing pin markings on a .22 caliber bullet casing, which was found near the same mine where Erin's body was found, it matched the rifle that Chris
had left back at the ranch. It's really not looking
good for you, Chris. But then on November 4th, 2016, the trial takes an unexpected turn. While Chris is on the stand, the prosecutor asked
Chris if he was the person who strangled Erin. And it was like a bomb
went off in the courtroom. Kaboomi, you know. Chris replied with three little words that just turned this
whole case upside down. Those three words you ask? Well, it was a confession. Well he said, "Yes I am." Those were the three words. "Yes I am" the one who strangled her. So great, but this threw everybody off. Like why is he all of a sudden confessing? What's the game plan with
this move you're doing, sir? So Chris goes on to tell the court that he indeed strangled
Erin in a fit of rage. But now that he had time to calm down and really think about his actions, he wanted to come clean
and do the right thing. Just wanna be the good guy. He told the court that
at first he was afraid to tell the truth, but also
in the back of his mind, he was thinking that he could
possibly get away with it. He admitted to still being
very angry at the time so he didn't want anyone to find her. But then he went on to say
that he's no longer afraid to tell the truth and that he
wanted to let everyone know what he did and would accept the punishment that they gave him. Which sounds like, okay, great, you know. But hold on. 'Cause he's got a little
plan up his sleeve. So Chris calmly tells the Superior Court what went down the night Erin died. Chris said that he took
Erin out to the desert near Joshua Tree National
Park for a surprise. Instead of a romantic surprise proposal like Erin thought was happening, they ended up outside a mine
where they start to argue. Chris explains that he told Erin that he was moving to Alaska and that their relationship was over. Erin was super upset. She was like, "I still love you. I wanna be with you. I
could go to Alaska with you. I just want to be a part of
you and your child's life" begging him to stay. And Chris says that this makes
him very mad for some reason and yells at her like, "Leave my daughter out of this. This is my daughter." Just like getting super angry that she mentioned his daughter. And for some reason, her mentioning caring about his daughter just really triggered
something deep in him. So Chris is super pissed
and he's screaming at Erin. And then out of nowhere, out of the blue, he asked Erin if she had
been molesting his daughter. Wait, what? Really? He thinks she was molesting his kid? This is what he's telling
the court mind you. But then it gets worse. He says that Erin admits to it. I'm gonna take a little pause here and say that in my personal opinion, I believe that Chris was lying because he wanted to give a valid reason as to why he got so angry
and strangled/murdered her. I am sure you're thinking the same thing, but I just wanted to make that clear. So Chris is telling the court that Erin was actually molesting her and everyone was just supposed
to believe it I guess. There, no proof. He just says it. Chris goes on to tell
the court that one night after Nicole had given their baby a bath, she noticed that the
little girl's lower area was red and irritated. Earlier that day, Erin had
been babysitting the kid. So Chris said that the more he
thought about the situation, the more the gears were
turning in his head. So at the mine, he confronted her and was like, "Did you touch my daughter? Did you molest my daughter?" And Chris said that's when Erin confessed to molesting his daughter. And he was just shocked.
He was so shocked. He was just shocked and angry and in that moment he made
the decision to kill her. He's still trying. He is still trying to get out of this. Chris told the court that he
was controlled by the anger and he then went on to
say that it was something he never wanted to experience again. Chris told the court, he then
approached Erin from behind and he strangled her for
at least five minutes. And when he released his hold, she fell to the ground. And then after 30 seconds of searching for any signs of life, Chris was confident that she was dead. He then dragged her body to the mineshaft and pushed Erin into it head first. So during Chris's testimony, his attorney briefly questioned him with the sole purpose of emphasizing that Erin's death was not premeditated. But the district attorney
was focusing on Chris's lies he told to investigators and
not admitting responsibility until he was in court and
in front of an audience. So the DA accused Chris
of wanting the attention and making Erin's death about him. He also accuses Chris of spinning a story about this molestation of his daughter as a way to get sympathy from the jury, which he's hoping it would
give him like a lesser charge, maybe involuntary manslaughter. But nay nay, Chris. No one believed you. The jury saw right through your dumb ass and it only took them about 15 minutes to come back with a verdict. He was convicted of first degree murder. And on Tuesday, November 29th, 2016, he was sentenced to life
in prison without parole. Buh bye. At Chris's sentencing
hearing, Erin's mother, she read a statement to the court about how she couldn't
understand why anyone would think murder was okay. She said, if Chris wanted
to get rid of his problems, all he had to do was move to
Alaska and change his number. Like why did you have to kill her? Jon, remember the husband, Erin's husband, he gave little statements
and interviews and stuff. There was one interview
he gave where he said that he hated like the
actions that Chris chose, but he had to forgive him because if he still held onto that hatred, it was just gonna pull him down, which is like really big of him. He's so quiet. I hope he's okay. I'm sure that had to be fricking hard. He hasn't given many interviews
or made any statements and he's just all around
a pretty quiet guy, and that's probably for the better. Hope he's doing all right. During all of this, Nicole, Chris's wife, she stayed out of the public eye and wasn't there for Chris's sentencing. At Chris's sentencing,
he did address the court. He confessed to killing his
girlfriend to save humanity. God. But he did apologize to
Erin's friends and family for the hurt and pain
that he had caused them saying that he didn't want to kill Erin and he didn't plan on it. But weirdly, even after
confessing and being found guilty, he still continued to
stick with the same story. He still has been saying
that this is what happened. Christopher Lee is now 31 and he's incarcerated at the
California Institution for Men, a state prison located in
Chino, San Bernardino County. As per his sentencing, the ex-Marine will spend the rest of his
natural life behind bars. Good. Honestly like this is tragic. I feel like you hear
stories like all the time on "20/20", "Dateline", all that stuff, where it's like somebody cheats, things get messy, then
somebody gets murdered. But with this one, like Chris,
he was very dramatic, okay? The fact that he put her in a mineshaft, the propane tank, like come on! There's something loose in his head. So I'm glad he got caught
because that's terrifying. I don't care what you have to say, if someone cheats or whatever, they don't deserve to die. So if I see comments like that, I'm gonna shut it down and
tell you to shut the fuck up, roundhouse kick you to the face. Because look, yes, she
had an affair, whatever, but no one deserves to die over an affair. So just, it never fails. I
always see comments like that. Like, "Well, she deserved it." No she didn't. I wish this had like a
happier ending, right? This whole case is just super horrible. Not only does this guy
kill his girlfriend, quote unquote, girlfriend, with his baby, but he then accuses her
of being a child molester, knowing that she can't
stand up for herself. How dare you? That's very Jodi Arias of
you, freaking terrible human. I hope you rot! Goodbye. You won't be missed, Chris. Anyways, I would love to hear your guys' thoughts down below. I mean, what can we say really? Anyhoo, I hope you have a
wonderful rest of your day today. You make good choices. Let me know down in the comment section who you want me to talk about next time.
(dramatic rock music) But other than that, I'll be seeing you guys later. Bye.
Yep this was talked about like crazy amongst marine corps wives. We all tried to help but obviously to no avail
Finally!!!! Missed MMM!!!