Chris Watts is the killer who murdered his pregnant wife Shanann and their two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, at the family’s home in Frederick, Colorado, in August 2018. He pleaded guilty to nine felony counts that November and is serving five life sentences without parole, three of them consecutive, plus 48 additional years. He is held at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin.
Who Chris Watts Is
Watts, a former Anadarko Petroleum oil field worker, met Shanann Rzucek on Facebook in 2010 and married her in Charlotte, North Carolina, on November 3, 2012. The couple later moved to Frederick, Colorado, and bought a home for roughly $400,000. Bella was born in 2013, Celeste in 2015. By August 2018, Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant with a boy the family planned to name Nico.1NBC News. Colorado Husband Arrested for Murder of Wife, Daughters Had Financial Struggles
The family’s public image, built largely on Shanann’s Instagram and Facebook posts promoting the Le-Vel supplement brand Thrive, was of a happy, prosperous household. Behind that image was serious financial strain. In July 2015 the couple filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing $448,820 in liabilities. Their combined income had fallen from about $147,000 in 2013 to roughly $40,000 by the time of filing, and their savings accounts held less than ten dollars.2Yahoo Entertainment. Shanann and Chris Watts Claimed $448K in Liabilities
In June 2018, shortly after being promoted to field coordinator at Anadarko, Watts began an affair with a coworker, Nichol Kessinger. He told her he was separated and pursuing a divorce. While Shanann and the girls spent much of July visiting family in North Carolina, Watts spent nearly every night at Kessinger’s apartment.3Craig Daily Press. Christopher Watts Confession Update Details How He Met Mistress Nichol Kessinger
What He Did on August 13, 2018
Shanann arrived home from a work trip around 2:00 a.m. on August 13, 2018, dropped off by her friend Nickole Atkinson.4People. Chris Watts Was Planning to Separate From Wife Shanann Before Colorado Murders In the bedroom that followed, Watts and Shanann argued about his affair. He strangled her. In a February 2019 confession to CBI and FBI agents, he said he “snapped” after Shanann told him he would never see the children again.5Times-Call. CBI Releases More Info on Christopher Watts Murders
Four-year-old Bella woke while Watts was dragging her mother’s body downstairs. Celeste, three, also woke. Watts loaded both girls, along with Shanann’s body wrapped in a bedsheet, into his work truck and drove them to an Anadarko oil work site near Hudson, Colorado. There he smothered Celeste with a blanket, then smothered Bella. According to Watts, Bella asked him before he killed her, “Is the same thing gonna happen to me as Cece?”6ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com. Watts Prison Interview Transcript, February 18, 2019 He buried Shanann in a shallow grave at the site and placed each daughter’s body inside a separate crude oil storage tank.7Denver7. Chris Watts Case: Sources Say Bodies of 2 Daughters Concealed Inside Oil and Gas Tanks
How He Was Caught
By mid-morning, Nickole Atkinson couldn’t reach Shanann. She confirmed her friend had missed a doctor’s appointment, went to the Watts home, and called Chris to ask where his family was. He told her they were on a play date, though the family car and the children’s car seats were still at the house. Atkinson reported Shanann missing to police around 1:40 p.m.4People. Chris Watts Was Planning to Separate From Wife Shanann Before Colorado Murders She told investigators the children’s beds were unmade, the master bed had been stripped of its sheets, and surveillance footage showed Watts backing his truck into the garage at 5:18 a.m.8Craig Daily Press. Christopher Watts’ Neighbor’s Police Interview Details Suspicion, Eerie Feeling
The footage came from neighbor Nathaniel Trinastich’s home security camera. It showed Watts loading his truck just after 5:00 a.m., which contradicted his story that Shanann and the girls had left during the day. When Trinastich watched the video alongside Watts and officers, he noticed Watts pacing and distracted rather than studying the images. “He is not acting right,” Trinastich told police.9Oxygen. Chris Watts’ Neighbor Nate Trinastich Suspected Him From the Beginning10CBS News Colorado. Video Shows Chris Watts Nervous After Murder
On August 14, Watts gave a televised interview to Denver’s ABC affiliate pleading for the safe return of his family. The FBI joined the case the next day. Investigators confirmed the affair, and Watts failed a polygraph. He confessed to his father, then told investigators he had killed Shanann, falsely claiming she had smothered the girls first and that he had killed her in a rage. He was arrested at 11:30 p.m. on August 15.11Business Insider. Chris Watts Murder Timeline On August 16, GPS data from his Anadarko work truck led investigators to the oil site. Shanann was recovered from the shallow grave that morning; Celeste’s body was pulled from an oil tank at 3:40 p.m. and Bella’s at 5:50 p.m.12Craig Daily Press. Autopsy Reports Show Cruelty of Killings, Body Disposal in Christopher Watts Case
What the Autopsies Showed
Forensic pathologist Michael Burson ruled all three deaths homicides by asphyxiation. Shanann, 34 and in her second trimester, died from manual strangulation, with purple-black bruising on her neck. Bella died from smothering, and her autopsy documented bite marks on her tongue, lacerations inside her mouth, and pinpoint hemorrhages on her scalp. The district attorney said those findings showed Bella had “fought for her life.” Celeste’s death was ruled likely asphyxiation by smothering; her autopsy showed no comparable signs of a struggle.13KCRA. Prosecutors: Autopsy Shows 4-Year-Old Fought for Her Life as Father Strangled Her14Times-Call. Autopsy Reports Show Shanann Watts, Daughters Were Asphyxiated
Charges, Guilty Plea, and the Death Penalty Decision
On August 21, 2018, Watts was charged with nine counts: five counts of first-degree murder (three for the killings and two additional counts because Bella and Celeste were under twelve), one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body.15Biography.com. Chris Watts Murder Timeline
Watts pleaded guilty to all nine counts in Weld County court on November 6, 2018. Under the plea, prosecutors took the death penalty off the table but dismissed no charges. Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said he was “not willing to entertain any further concessions.”16CNN. Chris Watts Murder Family Plea Deal
The choice to forgo capital punishment came at the Rzucek family’s request. Rourke traveled to North Carolina to discuss the question with them in person and reported they were “incredibly supportive and so incredibly firm in their belief that the death penalty not be sought.” He and the family also concluded that Colorado’s capital appeals delays made it unlikely a death sentence would ever be carried out.17Oxygen. Shanann Watts’ Family Didn’t Want Death Penalty for Christopher Watts, DA Says Shanann’s mother, Sandra Rzucek, said, “He made the choice to take those lives. I do not want to be in a position of making the choice to take his.”16CNN. Chris Watts Murder Family Plea Deal
The Sentence
On November 19, 2018, Judge Marcelo Kopcow sentenced Watts to three consecutive life terms without parole for the three murders, two additional concurrent life terms, 48 years for the unlawful termination of Shanann’s pregnancy, and 12 years on each of the three tampering counts.18CBS News Colorado. Chris Watts Murder Weld County Frederick Judge Kopcow called it “perhaps the most inhumane and vicious crime that I have handled out of the thousands of cases.”19Good Morning America. Chris Watts Sentenced for Killing Pregnant Wife, Young Daughters
As part of the guilty plea, Watts was advised that he was giving up certain constitutional rights, including the right to a direct appeal. Reports in 2019 indicated he was speaking with attorneys about post-conviction options, but no successful appeal or post-conviction motion has been filed.20Oxygen. Is Chris Watts Appealing His Sentence or Conviction?
What He Later Admitted
On February 18, 2019, CBI and FBI agents interviewed Watts at his Wisconsin prison. He abandoned the earlier claim that Shanann had killed the girls and admitted the full sequence: he strangled Shanann in their bedroom, then drove Bella and Celeste, alive and awake, to the oil site and smothered them one at a time. He said the story blaming Shanann was something he “just went with” during interrogation and that his attorneys had planned to use it as a defense.5Times-Call. CBI Releases More Info on Christopher Watts Murders Watts told agents he felt as if something had been “implanted” in his mind and that he had “no control,” while acknowledging his affair was a factor. He said he pleaded guilty to spare others the burden of a trial.6ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com. Watts Prison Interview Transcript, February 18, 2019
Where Chris Watts Is Now
Watts was transferred from Colorado to the Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison in Waupun, Wisconsin, in December 2018 for safety reasons. He is housed in protective custody. Guards stay close to him because many inmates view him as “the lowest of the low”; a former inmate said, “If the guards weren’t always around, everyone would take a swing at him.”21New York Post. Killer Dad Chris Watts Lives in Fear in Wisconsin Prison
Inside, Watts works as a prison custodian and attends Bible studies, keeps to himself, and avoids eye contact with other inmates. He has received two conduct reports, one in 2020 for unauthorized communication and property transfer and another in 2021 for possessing contraband and disobeying orders.22People. Chris Watts Birthday in Prison: No Special Privileges, No Visitors23People. Where Is Chris Watts Now24People. Chris Watts Is Sending Racy Letters to Women From His Prison Cell