The harrowing 2018 killings of the Watts family, including pregnant mother Shanann Watts and her two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, occurred in Frederick, Colorado, and serve as the heart-wrenching focus of the Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door. The case was not overly violent. What shocked viewers the most was that the killer, Shanann’s spouse and the girls’ father, Christopher Watts, originally portrayed himself as a man whose thoughts mainly revolved around being a good family man.
The Case and Initial Deception:
The nightmare began in August of 2018 when Christopher Watts reported his wife and daughters as missing. He made a televised appeal for their safe return, appearing heartbroken and asserting that he had no knowledge of their whereabouts. However, this facade quickly disintegrated during police questioning.
In November of 2018, the disturbing truth came to light: Christopher Watts, a resident of Colorado, had taken the lives of his pregnant wife and two daughters. He subsequently concealed their bodies on the premises of Anadarko Petroleum, an oil field near their suburban residence where he was employed. Shanann’s remains were located in a shallow grave and the bodies of 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste were found stuffed inside separate oil tanks.
This chilling tale of what seemed to be the ideal American family fascinated prime-time news and ignited public interest in true crime. The aftermath included televised documentaries and interviews on Dr. Phil, as well as a dramatized movie produced by Lifetime that offered a haunting and reflective view on the tragic events, with the endorsement of the victims’ family.
The Suspect and Confession:
The accused, Christopher Lee Watts, initially tried to uphold his innocence, asserting that he was unaware of his family’s location. However, the police investigation quickly uncovered Watts’s affair with a coworker, a significant motive that unraveled his false narrative.
Confronted with substantial evidence, Watts ultimately confessed to the murders, although his initial account was also untrue. He initially claimed that he killed Shanann out of rage after she hurt the children. Following further interrogation, he eventually confessed to strangling Shanann during an argument regarding their relationship and then smothered the children to cover up his actions, allowing him to start anew with his mistress. This inconsistent story only fueled the media chaos.
On November 19, 2018, Christopher Watts received his formal sentence in Weld County, Colorado. “To escape the death penalty, he had previously entered a guilty plea to all charges”, says Kenya Law. The judge imposed a harsh sentence:
Five consecutive life sentences (one for each murder and two additional for the girls’ fatalities) without the possibility of parole, in addition to “an extra 48 years for the unlawful termination of a pregnancy. (Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant with a boy they intended to name Nico.) And, finally, “36 years for three counts of tampering with a deceased human body”, according to NBC News. Watts is currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison outside of Colorado, having been transferred for his safety and due to the high-profile nature of his case.
Potential Motives and Additional Admissions:
Initially, the main motive seemed to stem from Watts’s wish to leave his marriage and begin a new life with his replacement girlfriend, Nichol Kessinger, who allegedly was unaware of his murderous intentions. However, Watts later shared even more chilling details.
In a series of letters made public in June of 2021 by Inside Edition, Watts revealed further confessions to a correspondence partner. In these letters, he alarmingly stated that he had been mulling over the murders for several weeks before the actual event. He confessed to introducing Oxycontin into Shanann’s system to provoke a miscarriage, as he thought this would facilitate his departure from her to be with his girlfriend. “He acknowledged that he attempted to suffocate his children while they slept in their beds on the night of August 12, 2018, but was thwarted when Bella awoke and got out of bed.”
These letters offered a disturbing glimpse into the premeditated cruelty behind the heinous acts, starkly contrasting with his earlier assertions of a crime motivated by passion.
The Lasting Reflection:
Worldwide people continue to grapple with the unimaginable tragedy of the Watts family. The killings are extensively examined and documented in American Murder: The Family Next Door. The documentary provides a compelling, non-sensationalized perspective on the devastation wrought by domestic homicide.
Sources Cited:
trends/chris-watts-murder-home-remains-in-purgatory/ (Trapasso, 2021)
https://people.com/crime/chris-watts-triggered-netflix-documentary-feels-shame/ (Helling, 2020)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/movies/american-murder-the-family-next-door-review.html (Qureshi, 2020)
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/watts-family-murders (Kennedy, n.d.)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/19/us/colorado-chris-watts-sentencing McLaughlin & Murray, 2018)
