In 2018, a distraught man, Chris Watts appeared on TV begging for the safe return of his wife, Shannan Watts and two daughters Bella and Celeste who had gone missing from their home in Frederick, Colorado, on August 13. Three months later, Watts would plead guilty to the murder of his wife who was pregnant at the time of her disappearance, and that of their two daughters.
In the wake of the tragedy, the pages of the life of Watts opened a leaf at a time to reveal things that could only be imagined in the movies. While there was the financial motivation that was pointed out as one of the main drives behind the murder, there was also infidelity and a lot of intrigues.
Chris Watts Parents
On May 16, 1985, Christopher Lee Watts was born to Cindy Watts and Ronnie Watts who brought him up in Fayetteville. According to Cindy and Ronnie, there was nothing unusual about their son who played sports from the age of 5 until he was 17.
Following the guilty plea of Chris after the murder of his wife and kids, his parents came out to support him claiming that his relationship with Shanann was what made him into the man that he became. They claimed that the relationship had been abusive towards him and that it got him isolated from his family.
As far as Cindy Watts was concerned, she did not see her son capable of the crime of killing his two daughters, instead, it was his wife who was capable of the crime.
Family Homicide
Sometime around 1:48 a.m. on August 13, 2018, Shanann was given a ride home after a business trip to Arizona by Nickole Utoft Atkinson who was her colleague and friend. Her two daughters were at home at the time with their father, Chris Watts.
Later that day, Shanann who was 15 weeks pregnant missed her appointment with her doctor and was not returning her calls. Nickole decided to check her friend but finds her car at home while she was nowhere to be found which was unusual.
She put a call to Chris who claimed that he left his wife at home that morning when he was off to work at around 5:15. Not buying it, she decided to call the police for a welfare check. They found her keys, phone, and purse.
The police soon issued a missing endangered alert for Shanann and her two daughters. The next day, Chris was on TV begging his family to come back home.
By the following day, Chris Watts had changed his story about what happened to his family. He kept changing the story before settling on a version claiming he returned home to find his wife strangulating their daughters and so in a moment of rage, he killed her. The body of Shanann Watts was found in a shallow grave where Chris used to work while those of Bella and Celeste were submerged in oil tanks.
Chris was charged to court for several crimes including multiple counts of first-degree murder and unlawful termination of a pregnancy. To avoid the death penalty, he went in for a plea bargain and was subsequently sentenced to life without a possibility of parole.
Mistress, Girlfriend, Affair, and Gay
Initially, Watts claimed that although he and Shanann were having some marital challenges and were on their way to separation before the incident, he was not having an affair.
Contrary to this, he had a mistress with who prosecutors believed he wanted to have a fresh start after killing his wife and children. His girlfriend, Nichol Kessinger was his colleague at an oil and gas company.
Nichol Kessinger notified the police and FBI about the affair she was having with him even before he was arrested because he lied to her that he was separated from his wife and was finalizing the divorce. More so, she believed there were other things he could also be lying about.
Another twist to the affairs Christopher watts was having came to light when a man, Trent Bolte claimed he was Watts’s gay partner for 10 months. He claimed that they met in 2017 on the dating app MeetMe. Brent, who not many took his claims seriously, said Chris assured him that he was getting divorced so that the two men could move in together.
