Christopher Waide pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his former high school friend Lea Chali Porter in exchange for a 48-year prison sentence. Prosecutors offered Waide a plea deal because they didn’t want to go to trial without evidence — Porter’s body has never been found. Waide contends he put Porter’s body in a dumpster outside his apartment building — but the dumpster has been taken to a landfill since. A 45-day search of the landfill associated with the dumpster did not provide any evidence.
Waide received the maximum sentence for second degree murder and received a six-year sentence for sexual exploitation. He also pleaded guilty to the possession of more than 20 child porn videos found on his computer. Waide will be eligible for parole after serving at least 36 of his 48-year sentence – in 2051. ABC 20/20 will air its investigative report on the murder of Lea Porter on Friday, October 21 at 10pm.
