Chris Watts
Triple murderer Chris Watts showed no remorse when his sentence was announced
FOR MOST, THE LOGICAL WAY TO end an unhappy marriage would be to file for divorce. Father-of-two Chris Watts, he chose a different way out – by murdering his pregnant wife of six years and then killing their two daughters. Prosecutor Michael Rourke revealed that Watts’ motive was simple: “He had a desire for a fresh start, to begin a new relationship with a new love.”
The 33-year-old was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences with an extra 84 years over the triple murder of Shan’ann Watts, 34, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, inside their Colorado home on Aug. 13. Details released during court proceedings reveal Watts strangled his wife, who was 15 weeks pregnant at the time, before smothering to death their young children. In handing down the sentence, Judge Marcelo Kopcow told the court nothing less would be appropriate.
“This is perhaps the most inhumane and vicious crime that I have handled out of the thousands of cases I have seen.”
The trio had been reported missing on Aug. 13 before a deceivingly heartbroken Watts appeared on national TV the next day pleading for them to come home. In reality, he had been preparing to start his new life with Nichol Kessinger, 30, a colleague who he had been having an affair with. Kessinger revealed in an affidavit that Watts had convinced her he was in the midst of getting a divorce. “He made me believe that he was doing all of the things that a rational man and good father would do.”
Watts managed to avoid the death penalty due to a guilty plea and at the request of the deceased’s family. His brother-in-law Frankie Rzucek said in his statement: “We begged the district attorney to spare your life. Because we believe no-one has the right to take the life of another, even someone like you.”
In a heart-wrenching video online, Shan’ann’s father, Frank Rzucek, said in the courtroom: “I trusted you to take care of them, not kill them.”•