Chris Watts became famous through murdering his pregnant wife and their two daughters. A New movie was made about this murders.
So let’s dig into some horrific trivia and facts about this case!
- The Watts family murders occurred on the early morning of August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado, US
- While being interviewed by police, Christopher Lee Watts admitted to killing his pregnant wife Shan’ann Cathryn Watts by strangulation
- Their daughters, four-year-old Bella, and three-year-old Celeste, died by asphyxiation due to smothering
- Watts then disposed of his daughters’ bodies in oil tanks
- He buried his wife in a shallow grave at his work-site
- He pleaded guilty on November 6, 2018, to multiple counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea deal when the death penalty was removed from sentencing
- He was sentenced to five life sentences without the possibility of parole
- Three to be served consecutively
- And two to be served concurrently
- Chris Watts was born in May 16, 1985
- Christopher Lee Watts and Shan’ann Cathryn Watts were natives of Spring Lake and Aberdeen, North Carolina, respectively
- They met in 2010
- They were married in Mecklenburg County on November 3, 2012, according to online records
- They had two daughters: Bella Marie Watts (born December 17, 2013) and Celeste Cathryn “Cece” Watts (born July 17, 2015)
- The family lived in a five-bedroom home in Frederick, Colorado, purchased in 2013
- The couple declared bankruptcy in 2015
- Chris Watts was employed by Anadarko Petroleum
- While Shan’ann was an independent representative for the multi-level marketing company Le-vel, selling a product called Thrive
- At the time of her death, she was fifteen weeks pregnant with a child which they planned to name Niko Lee Watts
- Her due date was January 31, 2019
- Shan’ann returned home from a business trip to Arizona at about 1:48 a.m. on August 13, 2018, having received a ride from friend and colleague Nickol Utoft Atkinson
- Chris was home with the children
- Later that day, Shan’ann and the two children were reported missing by Atkinson
- Who had become concerned when Shan’ann missed a scheduled OB-GYN appointment and failed to return text messages
- After Shan’ann missed a business meeting, Atkinson went to the Watts’ home at approximately 12:10 p.m
- When the doorbell and knocks went unanswered, Atkinson notified Chris and called the Frederick Police Department
- Officers arrived to conduct a welfare check at about 1:40 p.m
- Chris, who had arrived home from work, talked with the officers and discussed ways to locate his missing family
- During the welfare check, he gave the police permission to search the house, but none of the family was found
- The searchers discovered Shan’ann’s purse, phone, wedding ring, and keys inside
- Her car, which still contained the children’s car seats, was in the garage
- The FBI and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation joined the investigation the next day, August 14
- Chris gave interviews to Denver stations KMGH-TV and KUSA-TV outside his house pleading for his family’s return
- Investigators with cadaver and search dogs could be heard on the property during the interview
- Chris Watts was arrested late on August 15, 2018
- According to the arrest affidavit, Watts failed a polygraph test and subsequently confessed to murdering Shan’ann
- He asked to speak to his father before confessing
- According to the affidavit, Watts was having an affair and claimed to have asked for a separation from his wife
- During the investigation, he claimed Shan’ann had strangled the children in response to his request for separation, and in a fit of rage, he strangled her and then transported the three bodies to a remote oil-storage site where he worked
- The authorities located the bodies of Watts’ family on the property of his former employer, Anadarko Petroleum, on August 16
- Watts had been fired from his job on August 15, the day of his arrest
- The children’s bodies were found hidden in the oil tanks
- Shan’ann was buried in a shallow grave nearby
- On August 21, Watts was charged with five counts of first-degree murder
- Including an additional one count per child cited as “death of a child who had not yet attained 12 years of age and the defendant was in a position of trust”, unlawful termination of a pregnancy and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body
- The case has been connected in the media to the crime of family annihilation
- Many of these crimes occur in August, before school starts, which may delay detection and investigation
- According to former FBI profiler Candice DeLong, cases such as Chris Watts’s are rare, because “family annihilators usually commit suicide after the murders”
- An action that Watts claimed to have contemplated out of guilt for his actions
- Also, Watts had a new girlfriend, that he was very excited about, on the side
- Chris Watts pleaded guilty to the murders on November 6
- The death penalty was not put forward by the district attorney on the request of Shan’ann’s family who did not wish for any further deaths
- They were supportive of the decision to accept the plea deal
- On November 19, Watts was sentenced to five life sentences – three consecutive and two concurrent – without the possibility of parole
- He received an additional 48 years for the unlawful termination of his wife’s pregnancy and 36 years for three charges of tampering with a deceased body
- On December 3, 2018, Watts was moved to an out-of-state location due to “security concerns”
- On December 5, 2018, he arrived at the Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison, in Waupun, Wisconsin, to continue serving his life sentences
- On a December 2018 episode of the ABC News television news magazine 20/20, Shan’ann’s parents, Frank and Sandra Rzucek, were interviewed for the first time since their daughter and granddaughters’ murders
- HLN aired a special report show in December 2018 titled Family Massacre: Chris Watts Exposed in which police body cam and video recorded police interviews of Chris Watts were revealed
- In a newly released Colorado Bureau of Investigation video-recorded interview with Watts’ mistress Nichol Kessinger
- She revealed his behavioral changes in the days prior to the murders
- On a December 2018 episode of the American talk show Dr. Phil, Dr. Phil consulted with four crime experts: former prosecutor and TV journalist Nancy Grace, former FBI profiler Candice DeLong, law enforcement consultant Steve Kardian, and body language expert Susan Constantine
- The experts analyzed the motivation, secret life, and profiling of Chris Watts
- On a January 2019 episode of the talk show The Dr. Oz Show, commentary is provided on the Watts case by the neighbor who helped build the case against Watts
- He is interviewed in-studio
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