Man who murdered his pregnant wife, 2 daughters sentenced
Chris Watts of Frederick, Colorado confessed to killing his pregnant wife Shanann and two young daughters Bella and Celeste; Alicia Acuna reports.
Grim details in the case of a Colorado man who killed his pregnant wife and two young children emerged this week courtesy of a nearly 2,000-page case file released by the Weld County District Attorney’s Office.
The file, obtained by The Denver Post, was released just days after Chris Watts was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murders.
Shanann Watts’ mother instantly suspected that her son-in-law participated in the disappearances of her daughter and granddaughters. Sandra Rzucek called law enforcement one day after the family was reported missing, telling police that he was acting bizarrely and that she was suspicious.
“She stated that Christopher is acting, ‘Weird,’ and out of the ordinary. She said that Christopher is telling people, ‘He has to go to work,’ and that just doesn’t seem right. She felt that he is going out to pour oil on the bodies to dispose of them somewhere,” a Frederick Police Department supplemental report stated, according to The Post.
Watts, who strangled his wife and smothered his daughters, ages 3 and 4, deposited their bodies in August in a Weld County oil field. He was having an extramarital affair at the time of the murders, providing a possible motive.
Text messages in the documents released detailed a crumbling marriage prior to Shanann’s disappearance.
“Chris told me last night he’s scared to death about this third baby and he’s happy with just Bella and Celeste and doesn’t want another baby,” Shanann texted a friend. "He said we're not compatible anymore. He refused to hug me after he said he will try to 'work it out.'"
A gender reveal party planned for their unborn son was also reportedly scrapped, with Shanann telling a friend that Chris “said he had a lot of time to think” about their relationship.
Shanann Watts was 15 weeks pregnant when her body was found on the property of an oil driller where her husband once worked. The bodies of their daughters were discovered in oil and gas tanks nearby.
