He Annihilated His Entire Family
Sentenced to three consecutive lifetimes in prison after Christopher Watts formulated a plan to murder not only his pregnant wife but his two young daughters. A possible motive? A desire to start a new life with his mistress.
Neither the prosecutors or relatives of his wife expected to understand how a "seemingly normal person could annihilate his entire family" and proceed to cover his tracks. About 4 months ago, on August 13, Watts portrayed himself as a victim whose wife and daughters disappeared. There was no such evidence to suggest issues within the household as Watt's social media was filled with love for his family. His neighbor also stated how the "loving" father would play with his daughters all the time in a wagon they owned. However as investigators searched the house, they were suspicious after finding the wife's wallet and keys in the house.
Soon after the disappearance was televised, a woman named Nichol Kessinger contacted local authorities after seeing Christopher Watts talk about his family. She had told investigators that she had been seeing him for a few months and was under the impression that he was finalizing his divorce.
During his hearing, investigators proved that it was him who smothered his daughters and strangled his wife without resistance. Watts had been home with his daughters while his wife was out of town for the weekend. When she returned home, he proceeded to kill her once he finished murdering his daughters.
An autopsy showed that his daughter, Bella, had a cut in her mouth suggesting she tried to fight back and bit her tongue before she died. A bruise shaped like fingers were marked on his wife's neck suggesting intense and brutal strangling.
On November 6, Christopher Watts pleaded guilty and also admitted to tampering with the bodies to avoid the death sentence. He confessed to digging a hole for his wife and stuffing his daughters into separate tanks of crude oil. For months he claimed that his wife was responsible for their daughters' deaths and "he had killed her in rage", after seeing the body of his 3-year-old, Celeste. His spiral of lies stood for weeks until investigators finally got him to admit he was the killer. During the trial, family members emphasized their devastation and confusion as to how he could do such a horrific act. He was asked if he had anything to say, he remained silent.
This was a really well written blog post Marina! I remember first hearing about his murder in the news when it first happened and seeing an interview with Christopher Watts in which he explained how distraught he was over the death of his family. Then to find out that it was actually him all along really disturbed me and I saw a clip of the families reading their speeches to him and while he did seem to show maybe the tiniest bit of remorse there was not much.
ReplyDeleteThis case reminds me a lot of Andrea Yates and Pamela Smarts as they were similar crimes committed. In Yates' trial, she was deemed insane at the time of the crime as she killed her children because she believed she was saving them from Satan and for Smart, she had her lovers friends kill her husband. I think it is unbelievable that people kill their families and especially in Watts case because he seemed like a loving father and I can't understand a reason for his actions.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a lot about this story all over the news and specifically the interview with him acting totally normal and unfazed is what really freaks me out. It seems so absurd to me that someone could kill his own pregnant wife and two beautiful daughters and I still very do not understand his motive. I wonder if he is suffering from some sort of disorder that causes him to feel lack of remorse or that caused him to murder his family. But maybe he really is just an evil human being and did this knowing the full extent of the consequences. It is crazy to think that there are people out that there that commit such horrible crimes and think they can get away with it.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about this devastating story all over the news as well. This case seems similar to the Andrea Yates or the Susan Smith case where she drowned her kids because the guy she was having an affair with didn't want kids and this case can also relate to many other cases where parents have murdered their own children. Now Im wondering if they found some sort of mental illness from him or any past mental illness that would've caused him to do this. Or maybe there is no mental illness maybe he's a psychopath or simply he could just me an evil person who just used manipulation to do this because it says he was happy and he always played with his daughter and spent time with his wife. It's really insane how people are capable of doing such horrible crimes like this and think that they can get away with it and feel no empathy.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Marina! I remember when I first heard about this terrible event. This case seems similar to the Andrea Yates case where she drowned her kids. This case can also be related to many other cases where parents have murdered their own children. I wonder if he is suffering from some sort of disorder that causes him to feel lack of remorse or that caused him to murder his family. It astonishes me how brain chemistry or any other issue can bring someone to completely lose logical thought process and commit such horrible acts.
ReplyDeleteThe approach Shannan Watts parents Sandra and Frank Rzucek took on this case for restitution is very interesting. They filed a wrongful death suit against Watts in Weld County District Court. They stated that the money would help cover funeral expenses, the loss of Shanann’s income and compensate for the family’s emotional distress due to the killings. The lawsuit would also prevent Watts from keeping any money made in the sale of the Frederick home where the family lived before the incident had occurred. Relief for the death of Shanann’s unborn child, was also requested under a Colorado law that allows a woman to sue if someone knowingly causes an unlawful termination of her pregnancy. Frank Rzucek, her father, can sue under that law as the representative for his daughter’s estate. Many articles state that Christopher Watts has no money, so to do this to him will give him a long lasting debt he will never get out of, their form of vengeance for doing such a thing to their daughter. Now not only will he be in prison for life, but be in debt that he will never be able to get out of.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very well written blog post. It covered lots of the basic information, and was very interesting. I absolutely agree that this was a horrendous act, and the fact that he tried to cover it up for so long is honestly disgusting. I believe that his time in prison is deserved without a doubt, as only a monster could do such a thing.
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