Chris Watts is behind bars for murdering his pregnant wife, Shannan Watts, and their two children, Bella and Celeste, at their home in Frederick, Colorado.
Shortly before 2 a.m. on Aug. 13, 2018, a home surveillance camera captured Shanann, 34, who was 15 weeks pregnant with a baby boy named Niko, returning to her home from a business trip to Arizona.
She was carrying a suitcase and her purse.
A white vehicle driven by her friend, Nickole Atkinson, was seen waiting by the end of the driveway. When Shanann entered her home, Atkinson drove away.
During their business trip, Shanann, who worked from home in direct marketing as a seller for Thrive, said she wasn’t feeling well, so Atkinson checked on her a few hours after dropping her off.
She called and sent a slew of text messages, but they went unanswered.
When Atkinson ascertained that she had missed her 9 a.m. doctor’s appointment, she contacted Shanann’s husband.
During their conversation, Chris told her that he and Shanann had separated, but it wasn’t precisely what Atkinson was interested in hearing.
Her only concern was the whereabouts of Shanann as well as Bella, 4, and 2-year-old Celeste.
Chris claimed that Shanann was on a playdate with one of her friends. When Atkinson drove to Shanann and Chris’ home at 2825 Saratoga Trail, she noticed Shanann’s vehicle was still in the garage with the girls’ car seats inside—something she would have never left behind.
Atkinson then called the Colorado Police Department and reported Shanann and her girls missing.
When police officers searched the Watts family home, they noticed that there was a sheet missing from the couple’s bed, and Shanann’s cell phone, purse, and medication were still in the home.
During their investigation, Chris and an officer went to a neighbor’s house to watch surveillance footage.
It showed Chris partially backing his truck into his garage at 5 a.m. that morning. He was seen loading the truck bed with several items, including a red gas container, according to Oxygen.
As they were watching the video, Chris appeared nervous, swaying back and forth, resting his hands on his head, and constantly looking at his phone.
When Chris left, the neighbor told the police officer that “he’s not acting right at all. He’s never fidgety, rocking back and forth.”
The following day, Chris gave an interview with The Denver Channel in which he pleaded for his wife and daughter’s safe return.
He said, “Shanann, Bella, Celeste: If you’re out there, just come back, like, if somebody has her, just please bring her back.”
“I need to see everybody. I need to see everybody again. This house is not complete with anybody here. Please, bring her back.”
During a six-hour interrogation at the Colorado Police Department on Aug. 15, 2018, Chris took a polygraph test, and he failed.
He then confessed to murdering his pregnant wife and children.
Chris told the FBI and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation that he had fallen out of love with his wife and was having an affair with a female co-worker.
He stated that on the morning of Aug. 13, 2018, he told his wife he wanted to end their marriage after admitting to having an affair.
Chris said Shanann became angry thereafter.
When he looked into the baby monitor sometime later, he said he saw Shanann strangling their children.
By the time he got to their bedrooms, they were dead. That’s when he said he “freaked out” and strangled Shanann to death before burying her body and dumping Bella and Celeste in oil tanks.
On Aug. 16, 2018, Frederick police found Shanann’s decomposing body in a shallow grave on the property of Anadarko Petroleum, where Chris worked as an operator.
Shanann’s fetus had been expelled from her body, and she was arrayed in a t-shirt, bra, and underwear.
The bodies of Bella and Celeste were found in separate oil tanks on the property. Bella was clad in pink pajamas, while Celeste wore a pink and black shirt, diaper, and underwear.
Radar Online reported that as Bella and Celeste were being removed from the oil tanks, their skin fell off.
Authorities transported the remains to McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colorado, where an autopsy was performed the following day.
The medical examiner determined that Shanann had been strangled to death, and Bella and Celeste had been smothered.
The autopsy report also indicated that Bella had blunt force injuries to her upper gum line and frenulum, as well as bite marks on her tongue.
According to the Denver Channel, in February 2018, Chris made another confession. He admitted to killing his daughters, Bella and Celeste, and gave harrowing details about what happened on the morning Shanann arrived home on Aug. 13, 2018.
In a jailhouse interview with the FBI, he stated that after he and Shanann had sexual intercourse, they laid in bed for a while and discussed their marriage.
It was then that he told her about his affair as well as his desire to separate because he didn’t love her anymore.
Shanann supposedly became emotional and told him that he wasn’t going to see her children anymore.
He said he sat on top of her as they continued their conversation, and moments later, he strangled her to death.
“Every time I think about it, I’m just like, ‘Did I know I was going to do that before I got on top of her?’” Watts said to the FBI.
He then wrapped her body in a sheet and dragged her downstairs while Bella looked on, asking what was wrong with her mother.
Chris put Shanann on the floorboard of his truck and placed Bella and Celeste on the bench without car seats. Then he drove 45 minutes to Anadarko Petroleum.
When he arrived at the job site, he buried Shanann’s body in a wooded area on the property and headed back to his truck.
He grabbed Celeste’s favorite blanket and smothered her to death while Bella watched.
When he returned from dumping her body in the oil tank, Bella asked if he was going to do the same to her as he did to her sister.
Chris stated that he couldn’t remember what his response was, but unfortunately, Bella suffered the same fate. She reportedly yelled, “Daddy, no!” before Chris placed the blanket over her face and smothered her.
Bella fought for her life.
Chris asserted that he could feel her head moving from side to side, trying to get air, and making grunting sounds as he blocked her airway.
He then dumped her body in a separate oil tank from her sister, and he left the scene.
He told officials he regrets killing his family, and he has since asked God for forgiveness.
Chris now sits in a Wisconsin jail cell with photos of Shanann, Celeste, and Bella.
“Right now, I’d have a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old, and more than likely, a 1-month-old son, and a beautiful wife,” he said. “And right now it’s just me.”
“I know there is a purpose for everybody. I just hope I can find mine.”