A FATHER’S CONFESSION
WHEN: AUGUST 13, 2018 WHERE: COLORADO, UNITED STATES
Oil field operator Christopher Lee Watts initially cooperated with the police when his 15-week pregnant wife, Shanann, and two daughters, Bella and Celeste, went missing in August 2018. He even spoke to a local television reporter, pleading for their return. “Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you’re out there, just come back, like if somebody has her, just please bring her back,”
Watts implored.
However, this interview raised suspicions amongst the police, leading them to request that Watts undergo a polygraph test. He failed the lie detector examination. Two days later, police confirmed their suspicions: Watts had strangled his pregnant wife to death and smothered his two children. Shanann was buried in a shallow grave near an oil storage facility, while the children were disposed of in crude oil tanks.
It emerged that prior to the killings, Watts had discussed divorce with his wife and was having an affair with a co-worker. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole, incarcerated in a maximum-security facility in Wisconsin.
Watts claimed to have found new faith in prison, stating that he reads scriptures to his family’s photos every night. It was during this period that he started sharing the details of the final moments of his family.
On the morning of the killings, Shanann confronted him about his infidelity, which he denied before declaring their marriage over. Shanann responded by telling him that he would never see the children again, prompting him to strangle her in their bed. He then wrapped Shanann’s body and placed it in the backseat of his truck. Their daughters witnessed this and began crying; he placed them both in the backseat as well. He smothered Celeste first, and Bella, softly asking, “Is the same thing gonna happen to me as Cece?”, uttered her last words, “Daddy, no!”
The case not only shocked Shanann’s family but also thousands of followers on social media. In her posts, she appeared to be living a happy married life with her husband and loving daughters, professing their affection for their father.