She had organized for a babysitter to take care of the children while the two were away on the romantic weekend, but Chris Watts had no intention of working things out. Following his confession, Watts was offered lunch. }) THIS IS TOTAL LEFT FIELD.". Soon after his arrest, he confessed to killing Shanann after failing a polygraph test. The documentarys director, Jenny Popplewell, said in an interview with Netflix that she wanted people to watch the film to understand how the narratives of the case shifted. They again watched Denver7s front porch interview with Chris Watts the day his family vanished. And it would seem that one eagle-eyed viewer of the documentary about the Chris Watts case believed that they'd spotted something strange in the background of one video clip. There are some new stories that stick with you forever and the case of Chris Watts is no exception. At the time that Christopher Watts was giving interviews to local TV stations he was fully aware of what he had done and knew that his wife and children had not mysteriously disappeared. December 30, 1999. A makeshift memorial to Shanann, Bella and Celeste Watts in Frederick, Colo., in 2018. RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post, via Associated Press. On Aug. 15, the day after his interview with Denver7, an ABC affiliate, Mr. Watts was arrested and accused of But none of those descriptions really explain what led him to commit murder. By this point he had already murdered her with his bare hands and was attempting to cover up his deed by actinginnocent and worried. Sergeant Jill Evans is a small town cop in Wales with an impressive record in her job, and a less than impressive record in her love life. I felt no remorse. His story changed dramatically. "If I never met [Kessinger] would I have ever thought our relationship was bad? Sadism, in not so many words, is revenge for humiliation by taking pleasure inflicting pain onto the humiliator. He was normal and not a monster in their eyes. As well as Googling wedding dresses and the name of Chris Watts' wife, Nichol Kessinger also searched online for Amber Frey, the infamous mistress in another murder case. ", After failing the test, Chris confessed to a version of the truth, which included him alleging that he'd only murdered his wife, Shanann Watts, after she supposedly smothered their two daughters. Shanann loved her family and browsingthrough her social media profiles, anyone would be convinced that they were the perfect family unit. hitType: 'event', Many of you have wondering if Christopher Watts revealed clues that he was deceptive. AP; Facebook. I felt like I could kill anything and be justified for doing it." She and her husband, That is until she meets: Dean. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ Why can Chris Watts show strong emotion for himself but not for others? Anyone can read what you share. As The Denver Post, with whom Kessinger gave her only press interview, later reported, "Kessinger was working in the environmental department with an Anadarko Petroleum contractor when the two met One day in the middle of June [2018], he walked into her office to introduce himself." However, McMahon claimed that she saw a darker side of Chris during the weeks they were seeing each other. He was normal, he didn't have a temper, he was just easy-going like his Dad. It would seem that Chris' behavior toward Shanann became noticeably different, as she told her friend via text, "l told him last [night], I don't feel safe with him after what he said about the baby. He knows hes starting to get pinned, Flater said. In hindsight, this normalcy appeared to be extremely chilling. When the case first began, Chris's pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste were reported missing by a close friend on August 13th, 2018. Bella witnessed the murder. But it's unknown whether the family still had money issues in 2018 when the killings occurred and if that was a factor in Watts' motive. Chris hadnt been in contact with his wife that day either and said she hadnt answered any of his calls or messages. DENVER Emotionless, unaffected and scripted. } Copyright 2023 Distractify. Once he had murdered his entire familyand disposed of them, he set the wheels in motion for what he believed would be his new life, his fresh start. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { Hosted by Kerry Godliman.Follow Stolen Hearts on Amazon Music of wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to refresh yourself on the details of the case before reading the update, head over to the original post (HERE<<). One extra, ad-free, full length episode a month Access to all past $5 bonus episodes and Pictures of her husband, 34 year old Christopher Watts, were captioned with loving and thankful words: Happy Husband Appreciation Day! My kids are my life. He told the police that afterward, he had looked at the familys baby monitor and had seen his wife strangling their younger daughter, Celeste. When the co-worker responded that they had been planning to visit the site, Chris joked, "I can go out there though. Per the Daily Mail, a man named Trent Bolte told investigators that he'd reportedly been in a ten-month long relationship with Chris, which ended in the spring of 2018, months prior to the murders. Mr. Wattss arrest the day before the grisly announcement put an end to the nearly three-day search across Frederick, a small town about 30 miles north of Denver. }); September 1st, 2016. Nothing was here. She continued, "He has changed. As Insider reported in December 2018, Shanann's mother, Sandra Rzucek, told 20/20 that Watts didn't seem worried in the slightest when his wife and kids were first reported missing. At this moment in time, the motive behind the crime is unclear. He would later admit to police that he was having an extramarital affair with a co-worker, before revealing how he had disposed his wife and kids on an oil site where he had worked at for years. Im just so indebted to their trust.. "It seemed off," she said. hitType: 'event', On Aug. 15, the day after his interview with Denver7, an ABC affiliate, Mr. Watts was arrested and accused of killing his wife and daughters. As for the public reaction to the Watts murders, both Flatter and Nicoletti agreed that obsessing over the crime is unhealthy. Her daughters were also missing and she had neglected to take any important items with her such as her purse, cellphone and medication. She is currently based in Pennsylvania and loves all things antiques, cilantro, and American history. His sentence also included 48 years for the unlawful termination of Ms. Wattss pregnancy and 36 years for the disposal of the victims bodies. Chris and Shanann met in 2010 and married two years later in North Carolina. Hes so into himself, Lottie Flater said. The bodies ofthree year old Bella and four year old Celest were discovered nearby. Before her death, Shanann, who was pregnant with their third child, packed up the kids and headed back to her parents home in North Carolina. Feelings of my love for her was overcoming me. Most notably, the tragic events have been covered by Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and ABC's 20/20, and they have been adapted into a Netflix documentary called American Murder: The Family Next Door, released in September 2020. The four of them were constantly smiling in pictures and Shanann often wrote out long captions about how much she loved her husband and kids and how happy they were to have a new baby on the way. According to Nichol, Chris told her that he and his wife were in the process of divorcing, and that she frequently bad-mouthed him in front of their daughters. Then a fidgety Watts scurries out of the house, and Trinastich tells the officers he's got a funny feeling about his neighbor's behavior. When she saw him on TV and realized Shanann was pregnant with a third child she was shocked. At the time, Watts was having an affair with girlfriend Nichol Kessinger. While law enforcement did their bit scouring through each and every conversation between Chris and Shanann, mainstream publications chose to gloss over most of the investigative reports, probably fearing it would make the narrative fuzzy and confusing for their viewership. Web#chriswatts #shannanwatts #nicholkessinger #wattsbook #lenaderhally #scottreischLena's website:https://www.lenaderhally.comAmazon Under the agreement, Mr. Watts agreed to serve consecutive life sentences for each of the three deaths. Per People, District Attorney Michael Rourke revealed that Chris also spent time "searching the internet for secluded vacation spots" to take Kessinger to during their affair. Not only were they weighed down by money problems, but Shanann was convinced that her husband had been cheating on her and confided in a close friend that she had worries that he may have been unfaithful. The Tab reported that she applied for an official name change in October 2020 to further distance herself from the stranger who altered her life forever. In September of 2016, Greg Mulvihill was shot in a secluded area of Carlsbad, California. We already know that Chris Watts Googled the lyrics to the Metallica song, "Battery," after disposing of the bodies of his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and two daughters, Bella and Celeste, in large oil tanks on a site owned by his employer. Chris had every right to walk out of that room at any moment so we were trying to appease Chris, if you will. WebThese unseen confession tapes show the moment Chris Watts explains why he put the bodies of his family in oil tanks. "I went to Bella's room, then Cece's room and used a pillow from their bed [to kill them]. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of Theres not one person you can talk to that will say anything bad about this kid. Her searches included Frey's book deal, her net worth and 'did people hate Amber Frey.'" An autopsy was performed but the cause of death has not yet been released (as I write this). document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ What to Know About Christopher Watts and American Murder, https://www.nytimes.com/article/chris-watts-case.html. Another instance dramatized in the movie shows Chris and Shanann sitting in a restaurant waiting to order food. In the nearly five-hour interview, he admitted to strangling his wife after a fight in their home. }); According to The Daily Mail, Kessinger said in a police interview that "money is the biggest catalyst for this event happening," referring to the murders. Chris Watts took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty after pleading guilty to the murders including that of his unborn child. While this is far from the only bizarre thing about the Watts murders, it's definitely strange to consider that Chris decided to run some normal-seeming errands right after committing these heinous crimes. Available in the Wondery App. Shanann was buried in a shallow grave, while Bella and Celeste were left submerged inside two oil tanks at the site. On August 13, 2018, Colorado dad Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts (she was carrying their son, Nico), and their two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste. As reported by The Denver Post, Chris reportedly told Kessinger that "he was separated and at the end of divorce proceedings," with his mistress saying that she "believed" she was dating a soon-to-be divorced man with which there would be nothing wrong. reporters on a platform technologically tailored to meet the needs of the modern reader. [*] A lawyer for Shananns family said that Chris murdered Shanann during an argument after he asked for a divorce. We've been together 8 years and have 2.5 kids together.". When the user enters a secret passcode the application reveals its true purpose, a concealed storage device for photographs, videos, contacts, even a private browser. Cadle released a book about their letters titled Letters From Christopher in October 2019. He deserves a life sentence for each and every act on top of one another, Mr. Rourke said. We put that question to a pair of Colorados most respected police psychology experts, Lottie Flater and John Nicoletti. This is all about him. As NBC News would later report, a police body camera captured Watts nervously explaining his actions from the day before, claiming the packages were tools and a lunch box for his work on oil rigs. He said he then murdered Shanann and disposed of all three bodies. Instead, they were made by a deceitful, cowardly, angry but also perhaps also humiliated husband. It was already late, and Chris had to leave for work around 5am, but the pair continued having what Christopher described as an emotional conversation until it was time for him to leave. }); Just days before Christopher Watts was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters, his parents claimed he was actually the one being abused in the relationship. They personify them, and then use empathy. Per the discovery documents released by the Weld County District Attorney's Office, "Watts had a 'secret calculator' application uploaded to his personal phone. As for Christopher Watts, he is now serving three life sentences without the possibility of parole at a state prison in Wisconsin. Her final Instagram post was one of joy and happiness: You know what I love about waking up everydayIts a brand new day to have a fresh start, to be better than I was yesterday, To help someone feel better and happier, to make someone smile and laugh! she wrote. I now feel like Aaron and Justin are a part of my social circle lol. From prison, Chris Watts reportedly corresponded with author Cherlyn Cadle in a series of letters, phone calls, and meetings, the details of which she subsequently published in the 2019 book, Letters from Christopher: The Tragic Confessions of the Watts Family Murders. I need to see everybody, I need to see everybody again. They argued that he was trying to use his dead wife as a scapegoat for the murders of his children because she was not there to defend herself and there was no evidence to back up his claims. We wanted him to know, You know your father wants to know what the truth is, he flew across the country to support you and hes not going to stop supporting you just because you tell him what happened. NEVER. I don't know who he is," Shanann wrote. hitType: 'event', It become apparent he was receiving assorted nude images of Kessinger which he then stashed in that application to prevent Shanann from ever seeing them.". That November, Mr. Watts pleaded guilty to nine criminal counts in a deal with prosecutors, who agreed not to pursue the death penalty. But despite Chris' violent actions, he seemed to have the support of his parents. For some reason Mr. Watts lied and told them that he left later. Chris Watts' case is pretty much infamous at this point, after he pleaded guilty to the murders of his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste. Dont forget to follow Generation Why on FB [X] , Instagram [X] and Twitter [X]. Chris spends his days in prison communicating with his many pen pals. It was imperative for her to have the blessing of Ms. Wattss family, the Rzuceks, to make the film, Ms. Popplewell said. Though Mr. Watts initially insisted that he had not killed his children, he said he had dumped their bodies in oil tanks and had buried his wife nearby. They already knew the gender of their third child, a boy, who they planned to call Nico. She killed the kids. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. ", Indeed, the fact that Kessinger reportedly Googled Chris' wife's name in September 2017 seemingly contradicts her own version of events. I just want to cry. He was in sports since he was 5 years old until he was 17 years old, she continued. Its difficult to imagine the level of devastation and heartbreak one must feel having their entire family so suddenly ripped away. The couple's marriage was also affected by financial problems, according to Distractify. https://wondery.app.link/generationwhy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. However, as theDaily Mail reported, "Despite the logical explanation, a few people insisted that the home is haunted. https://wondery.app.link/generationwhy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. While Chris and Shanann Watts appeared to have a perfect marriage to onlookers, their relationship suddenly changed in the weeks leading up to the murders. eventAction: 'click_ads' Chris Watts lies and ever-evolving story give both Flater and Nicoletti a very clear picture of who he is and why he saw murder as the best way to get what he wants. ga('ads.send', { Anyone would be convinced that they were made by a deceitful, cowardly, angry but also perhaps also husband. Have the support of his calls or messages angry but also perhaps also husband. Was shot in a secluded area of Carlsbad, California movie shows Chris and sitting! 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