Your pregnant wife returns home from a business trip in the early hours of the morning. You’re happy to see her, your daughters are happy she’s home, and when you leave to go to work, everything is as it should be. That is until you get a call, your wife never showed up for an appointment, and isn’t answering the door. She’s gone, and so are your daughters. This was a reality for Colorado resident, Chris Watts on August 12, 2018 .
To the outside world, Christopher (33) and Shanann Watts (34) had a great life. They had a beautiful home in Frederick Colorado, two sweet little girls, Bella (4), and Celeste (3), and a new baby on the way, who they called “Nico.”
Neighbors have said, “I didn’t see anything negative in their relationship,” and, “They seemed like very quiet people and very nice, cordial people. My wife would also say how much she admired [Chris] for the attention that he paid to those young ‘uns.”
But as we all know, outside appearances can be deceiving.
On the day of their disappearance, Shanann Watts returned home from a business trip, dropped off by a friend at about 2am. Christ Watts reportedly left for work at 5:15am, leaving Shanann and the girls home. “I called her 3 times, texted her about three times just to say, you know, what’s going on. Like after I called her and texted her once it was like, maybe she was just busy, she had just gotten back, you know. Like everybody’s probable calling her from her trip you know. She just got back from Arizona and I figured she was just busy…,” Chris said.
At around 12:10pm, Shanann’s friend, Nicole showed up at the house, looking for her as she had missed an appointment, but she didn’t answer the door. She immediately called Chris, and then the police. Once both the police, and Chris arrived, Chris let the officers into their home, where they discovered Shanann’s purse, keys, and phone still in the home, as well as her suitcase at the bottom of the stairs. Heading upstairs, they found that the couple’s bed had been stripped of its sheets and blankets, but saw (and reported) no signs of foul play. It was like she and the girls had just vanished.
The next day, Chris spoke openly in an interview with Thomas Hoppough, from Denver7 News. “I mean right now I don’t even want to just like throw anything out there, like I hope that she’s somewhere safe right now and with the kids, but I mean could she have van…could she have just taken off, I don’t know, but if someone has her and they’re not safe I’ll want them back now. Like, that’s, that, that’s what’s in my head is like, if they’re safe right now, they’re gonna come back, but if they’re not safe right now that’s the not knowing part, like if they’re not safe. Last night I was, I had every light in the house on, I was hoping that I would just get just ran over by the kids running in the door and just like barrel rushing me, but it didn’t happen and it was just a traumatic night trying to be here.
“I mean, er, I mean my kids are my life. I mean those smiles light up my life. And it’s like, I mean last night, like during like at like you know when they usually eat dinner, it was just like I miss them. Like, I mean I miss the telling them like you got to eat that, like or you’re not going to get your dessert, or just, like you’re not going to get your snack, after, you know (laughs). I miss that, like I miss them cuddled up on their couches, they have like a Minnie Mouse couch and a Sofia couch that like they cuddle up on or watch you know Bubble Guppies or something and it was just like you know, I miss, I was (sigh), it was tearing me apart last night and I needed that, I needed that last night and for them, for nobody to be here last night and to go into their rooms and not, and know that I wasn’t going to turn their rain machines on and know that I wasn’t going to turn their monitor on and know I wasn’t going to kiss them to bed tonight it was, (sigh) it was, I, I, that’s why last night was just horrible. I couldn’t do it, I just, (laugh), I want everybody just to come home. Like, wherever they’re at, just come home. That’s what I want.
“Shanann, Bella, Celeste: If you’re out there, just come back. Like if somebody has her, just bring her back. I need to see everybody. … This house is not complete without anybody here. Please bring ‘em back,” he said.
In an interview with police, Nicole Atkinson, said she immediately knew something was wrong. “I knew [Chris Watts] had something to do with it the day I was at his house with him, but I didn’t want to think that,” she told ABC News. “Anyone in their right mind will start piecing things together and think something had happened, but you don’t want to go there. You want to believe the best in people.”
She then let police know that Chris and Shanann had been having marital problems for several weeks prior to the disappearance. Nicole reported that Shanann had told her that Chris was not acting like himself during a recent trip to North Carolina. “She texted me and said she was going to need a friend now more than ever when she got back,” she said. “He wasn’t being the loving Chris that he normally was. He wasn’t touching or hugging or doing stuff like that. And he wasn’t being as attentive to the girls as he normally is.”
A new interview with Chris discovered that it was true – he and Shanann had been having marital problems, and they had been discussing “marital separation” that morning before he left work work, the day she and the girls went missing. He stated that it was a civil conversation, and not an argument, although it was emotional.
When asked if he was having an affair, Chris denied it.
Background checks were conducted and court records relating to Shanann and Chris were pulled, showing that the couple had previously filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, in July 2015. The couple had listed liabilities in excess of $400,000. They also discovered a civil claim filed in July of 2018 by the Wyndham Hill Master Association, their homeowners association, with a court date set for August 24.
Amanda Thayer, a friend of the Watts’ told Denver7 News, “We spoke to Chris on Monday. He mentioned putting the house up for sale; him and Shanann had spoke about doing that.”
Still no leads on where Shanann, Bella, or Celeste might be, investigators pressed harder. They discovered Chris was having an affair.
Nichol Kessinger, 30, met Chris Watts at work. They saw each other four to five times a week, and started a physical relationship in early July. Chris told her he was in the middle of getting a mutual divorce, and at the end of July, he went to North Carolina with his family. It was then, that he called to tell Nichol that his divorce from Shanann was final, and he would need help finding an apartment for himself and his daughters.
Nichol spent two hours searching for wedding dresses in the days before Shanann and the girls went missing. She also searched the phrase, “Man I’m having affair with says he will leave his wife.”
When Nichol learned of the disappearance of Shanann and the girls, she felt that something was off. She said that when she spoke to Chris, he seemed casual about their absence, and didn’t show any emotion. Reading news reports, she realized that he was still married, and his wife was fifteen weeks pregnant., and that he had been lying to her for the duration of their entire (2 month) relationship. She immediately became suspicious. “I thought, ‘If he was able to lie to me and hide something that big, what else was he lying about?’” she told The Denver Post.
Nichol began questioning Chris. His demeanor remained calm as he assured her he would never hurt his family, before trying to change the subject. “It seemed off,” she said. “It got to a point that he was telling me so many lies that I eventually told him that I did not want to speak to him again until his family was found.”
Nichol called the Weld County Sheriff’s office on August 15 to tell them all she knew. She met with FBI investigators the following day. “I just wanted to help,” she said. “With a pregnant woman and two children missing, I was going to do anything that I could.”
Christopher Watts was arrested that night.
During questioning, police informed Chris that they knew about his affair with a co-worker. It was then that Chris allegedly said he would “tell the truth.”
Chris told investigators that after he told Shanann he wanted to separate, he saw her strangling their daughters on a baby monitor. According to the arrest affidavit, “Chris said he went into a rage and ultimately strangled Shanann to death.” The affidavit then says, “Chris said he loaded all three bodies onto the back seat of his work truck and took them to an oil site.”
He was shown an aerial photo of the oil site, and Chris was able to identify the three places where their bodies could be found. The next day, authorities recovered the body of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste. Shanann was found in a shallow grave on land owned by Anadarko Petroleum Company, where Chris had worked up until his arrest (when he was officially fired). They later found the bodies of Bella and Celeste submerged in an oil tank, also on the property.
Autopsy reports concluded that all three victims died of asphyxiation. While the two girls were smothered, Shanann had been strangled. Shanann was found in a purple T-shirt and underwear. She had patterned abrasions on her neck and the left side of her face when her body was found. The coroner noted that Shanann had been in the second trimester of pregnancy at the time of her death.
Bella’s report indicates she had a pink pajama-type top with images of hearts and butterflies and underwear on when her body was found. The coroner found blunt force trauma on Bella’s jaw and lacerations and contusions in her mouth. Her left shoulder was discolored, and teeth impressions and superficial bite marks were found on the surface of her tongue, which indicated that Bella fought for her life.
Celeste was found in a pink and black T-shirt, wearing a diaper and underwear. Unlike her sister, she had no visible injuries.
Christopher Watts was charged with three counts of first-degree murder after deliberation, two counts of first-degree murder – victim under 12/position of trust, one count of first-degree unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. He waived his right to a preliminary trial, and accepted a plea deal. The deal said that the prosecution would not seek the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea.
He pled guilty.
Watts was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the killings, plus two more life sentences to be served concurrently. He received 12 years each for three counts of tampering with a deceased body, as well as 48 years for unlawful termination of a pregnancy for the death of his unborn child. Chris Watts is currently serving his sentences in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, where he was sent for safety concerns. He is receiving numerous love letters every day.
As for Nichole Kessinger, she has been placed in witness protection, and moved hundreds of miles away from home, as she has received countless death threats since the sentencing of Chris Watts.
Next up: Another horrendous case from Colorado. Austin Sigg and the Murder of Jessica Ridgway
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