Review of Secrets of a Marine’s Wife: A True Story of Marriage, Obsession, and Murder by Shanna Hogan
Rating *****
Marrying too young, adultery, and murder, are the elements behind the tragic short life of Erin Corwin. The book starts with the search and recovery of a body. The author then retraces the steps that led investigators to that exact spot.
Erin was only eighteen when she married the first boy she had ever dated, Jon Cowin. They married soon after Jon completed basic training for the marines. Erin was an animal lover who had a way with horses. She met Chris Lee at a horse stable. He was there because his wife thought it would help him overcome his depression. Chris and his wife, Nicole, were also neighbors. Like Jon, Chris was a marine.
Erin and Chris started spending more time together. They texted. They expressed affection for each other. Eventually, they began an affair. Erin soon lost interest in her new marriage and turned her focus on Chris.
When Chris’s wife Nicole found out about the affair, Chris agreed to end it. But they were neighbors, and the affair continued. It all came to a head when Erin learned that she was pregnant and that Chris was most likely the father.
Who killed Erin? Was it Jon after learning about the pregnancy? Was it Chris who already had a daughter and a wife and didn’t need the complication? Or was it someone else? This is a case where the circumstantial evidence points clearly and definitively in only one direction.
Erin’s story has been covered by 48 Hours as well as a Lifetime movie.