Colo. murder suspect says wife strangled their daughters
Police say he was fired for having an affair with a co-worker
The Colorado man accused of killing his pregnant wife and two young daughters earlier this month told police that he went into a rage and strangled his wife after witnessing her attack their children during the early morning hours of Aug. 13.
Christopher Watts, 33, of Frederick was formally charged Monday with nine felony counts, including five counts of first-degree murder, in the deaths of Shanann Watts, 34, Bella Watts, 4, and Celeste Watts, 3.
After the announcement of formal charges, the Weld County district attorney’s office requested the public release of the warrantless arrest affidavit for Christopher Watts. The affidavit provides the most detail to date about the events that led to Christopher Watts’ Aug. 15 arrest. It paints a picture of a suspect who cooperated with a police search of his home but who for two days concealed details of the night of his family members’ deaths.
During the course of a two-day investigation after the disappearance of his wife and children, police learned that Christopher Watts was involved in an affair with a co-worker at Anadarko Petroleum, from which he was fired on Aug. 15, the day of his arrest. He told investigators that he and his wife had an emotional conversation during the early hours of Aug. 13 about his desire to separate.
Watts told police that he left the couple’s bedroom after talking to his wife and returned to see the baby monitor on Shanann Watts’ night stand. He told police that the video showed Bella “sprawled” out on her bed and Shanann strangling Celeste.
Watts told police that he went into a rage and strangled Shanann to death before loading the bodies of his three family members into his work truck and taking them to an oil work site. There, he said he buried his wife near two oil tanks and dumped the girls inside the tanks.
Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said during a news conference Monday he would not answer questions specific to the investigation of the case. Neither police nor Rourke’s office has addressed Watts’ claims.
On Friday, Watts’ defense attorney, James Merson, requested that Judge Marcelo Kopcow compel a forensic pathologist to take DNA swabs of the girls’ necks. Kopcow denied the motion, writing, “This court cannot order the prosecution and/or coroner how to conduct their investigation.”
Police were first called to the Watts’ house after a friend who had dropped Shanann Watts off at her home following a business trip to Arizona became concerned that Shanann was not answering her phone calls the morning of Aug. 13.
Christopher Watts let officers into his home. Once inside, officers observed that Shanann Watts’ personal effects were still in the house and that the bed in the master bedroom had been stripped of its bedding.