The Horrific Crime Of Chris Watt- The Man Who Wiped Out His Family

Christopher Lee Watts murdered his pregnant wife Shanann  and their two daughters Bella (4) and Celeste (3) by strangulation in the early hours of August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado.

He placed his children's bodies into crude oil tanks after burying Shanann in a shallow grave near an oil-storage plant. Watts initially claimed innocence in his family's disappearance, but was arrested on August 15 after confessing to murdering Shanann in a police interrogation.

The Beginning

Bella Marie Watts born December 17, 2013 and Celeste Cathryn "CeCe" Watts were the couple's two daughters July 17, 2015. Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant with a boy called Nico at the time of her death.

The Watts family lived at 2825 Saratoga Trail in Frederick, Colorado, a five-bedroom home they bought in 2013. Christopher worked for Anadarko Petroleum, and Shanann worked from home.

The Family Turns Sour

Shanann was taken home from a work trip to Arizona by her friend and colleague Nickole Utoft Atkinson at approximately 1:48 a.m. on Monday, August 13, 2018. Watts was at home with their girls that weekend.

Later that day, Atkinson reported Shanann and the girls missing after Shanann missed a scheduled obstetrics and gynecology visit and failed to reply her text messages. Atkinson went to the Watts house at 12:10 p.m.

Atkinson alerted Christopher, who was at work, then called the Frederick Police Department after the doorbell and knocks went unanswered.

At around 1:40 pm, a Frederick police officer showed up to perform a welfare check. The family dog was discovered unharmed during the welfare check, but Shanann and the daughters were nowhere to be seen. Christopher allowed the police officer to search the house during the welfare check.

The children's medication and Shanann's purse, which contained her keys, were found by the searchers. Later, in the family home, her phone was discovered hidden between the couch cushions. The daughters' car seats were still in her car, which was parked in the garage. On the nightstand was Shanann's wedding ring.

The following day, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the FBI joined the investigations. At first, Watts admitted to the police that he had no idea where his family might be and that he hadn't seen his wife since he went for work at 5:15 the previous morning. Outside the house, he gave interviews to the Denver television stations KMGH-TV and KUSA-TV, appealing for the return of his wife and daughters. During the conversation, there were sounds of investigators on the site with search dogs.

Arrest, Trial, and Sentencing

Watts was detained on August 15 of 2918. He failed a polygraph test and then admitted to killing Shanann, according to the arrest affidavit and video from a security camera in the interview space.

He told investigators that Shanann had killed the daughters in a fit of rage after she refused his request for a divorce, and he had then killed her and taken the corpses to a remote oil storage facility that his firm, Anadarko Petroleum, had leased.

He claimed during the investigation that Shanann had strangled the daughters in response to his desire for their separation, and that he had then strangled her out of wrath before taking the remains to a remote oil storage site that had been leased by him.

On August 16, the authorities discovered the Watts family's dead on the oil storage facility, which is situated about three miles north of Roggen. While Shanann was interred nearby in a little burial, the bodies of the girls were discovered in crude oil storage tanks. by the Anadarko Petroleum, his employer.

On August 21, Watts was charged of three counts of first-degree murder, along with three counts of tampering with a dead person's body, unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and one additional count per child for "death of a child who had not yet attained the age of 12 and the defendant was in a position of trust."

On November 19, he was sentenced to five life sentences—three consecutive and two concurrent—without the possibility of parole. He received an additional 48 years for the unlawful termination of Shanann's pregnancy and 36 years for three charges of tampering with a deceased body. His sentence began immediately