How warped killer Chris Watts hid behind ‘perfect’ Insta life as he murdered wife & kids and stuffed bodies in oil tanks
TO her thousands of social media followers, mum-of-two Shanann Watts looked to have the perfect life.
Married to her hunky soulmate Chris, sharing a beautiful luxury home with their two gorgeous daughters, Bella and CeCe, and pregnant with a little boy, she shared almost every detail of her dream life online.
But it was all a facade. And when Shanann and the girls disappeared, friends, family and investigators uncovered the reality of a marriage on the rocks – all revealed by her messages and social media posts.
And the finger of suspicion pointed very firmly at one person – her husband, Chris.
Far from being the doting husband thrilled to be expecting a baby boy to complete their family, behind the scenes callous Chris Watts was having a torrid affair with a co-worker and had told Shanann he did not want the baby she was carrying.
After his family disappeared, he claimed his wife had told him she was taking the girls on a playdate. Instead, he had murdered his pregnant spouse and daughters before brutally disposing of their bodies.
Horrified detectives found that Chris had stuffed four-year-old Bella’s and three-year-old Cece’s bodies into the oil wells he worked on – pushing the girls’ corpses through holes the width of a paper plate.
In a new Channel 5 documentary about the case, The Man Who Murdered His Family: A Suburban Nightmare, retired FBI profiler Mark Safarik says: “Just the nature of trying to stuff your daughter into this little tiny hole and put her, drop her into this horrific mixture of oil and water… it’s beyond comprehension.
“It just goes against so much of the hardwiring we have as parents.”
Shanann and Chris had seemingly built an idyllic life for themselves in the middle-class suburb of Frederick, Colorado.
Chris was an oil worker, and Shanann worked as an online sales rep so she could spend more time at home with Bella and Cece.
She was a prolific poster on social media, often declaring her undying love for Chris, who seemed to be the perfect husband and father.
One of her followers, Jessica Shelton, recalls: “You really felt like you were her friend. She took photos of everything, recorded everything, and posted everything.”
Shanann’s job often involved trips away. On the morning of August 13 2018, she returned at 2am from a two-day business trip to Arizona and was captured arriving home on her doorbell camera.
But the next day was the beginning of a nightmare for her friends and family when her pal Nicole could not contact her and reported her missing.
Heather Ashley, host of the Big Mad true crime podcast, explains: “She was supposed to go to a doctor’s appointment, and she hadn’t updated her friend about this doctor’s appointment.
“She’s trying to get a hold of her, but her phone is off. The girls were gonna have their first day of school.
“You would expect to hear an update on social media like, ‘oh my gosh they were so cute, here’s a picture!’
“This was a day that you would expect all sorts of updates online from somebody who already regularly updates everyone, and there was nothing.”
Suspicious behaviour
Police went to the house to meet Nicole, who contacted Chris to tell him Shanann and the girls were missing. He said he would be home in 45 minutes but didn’t arrive until three hours later.
When they went into the house, Chris did not call out for his wife or daughters, and then Nicole spotted something suspicious – Shanann’s phone. The phone was her lifeline, and she would never leave home without it.
She had also left her handbag containing her keys and both hers and the children’s medication, and her car was still parked on the drive.
And then the police found that the sheets were off the bed in the master bedroom.
News of Shanann’s disappearance spread around the neighbourhood, and one neighbour Nate Trinastitch told police he has a security camera that covers the Watts’ family’s driveway, which may provide some clues.
As Chris, the police and the neighbour watched the footage, something odd appeared.
Mark Safarik explains: “What we see in the videotape is that about 5.17am in the morning, Chris comes out through the garage. He didn’t normally come out through the garage, why?
“The kids’ rooms were above the garage and the garage door opening up would wake the kids up because they slept very lightly. But Chris comes to the garage door, and he goes to his truck and then he backs his truck into the driveway.”
You do not know what lies in the hearts of some men. I think Chris thought he could get away with this. He just thought he was gonna be that good
Ex-FBI profiler Mark Safarik
He claimed he had pulled on to the driveway to unload some work gear. But neighbours told police he never, ever parked there and was acting very suspiciously.
However, cops put that down to the trauma of his wife and daughters being missing, and Chris led the charge to find them, even appealing on TV for help.
Meanwhile friends and the public turned to their only outlet for clues – Shanann’s social media.
Notably, she had shared the moment she told Chris she was pregnant with their third child – and friends sensed his reaction was odd.
Shanann’s former teacher, Matt Francis, says: “You could tell when Chris came in about the announcement that he was… he had a hard time reacting like the way that I’m sure she was hoping he’d react.
“She was so excited to share with him that she was pregnant. But if you look at him, his mannerisms, there are signs that there’s a lot of frustration in the relationship for sure with him.”
Marriage cracks
The real Watts’ family life was not as social media portrayed. They were $70,000 in debt, and their homeowners’ association sued them for unpaid fees.
When detectives got access to Shanann’s phone, they discovered the couple had been spending time apart in recent weeks, with her taking the girls to spend the summer with her parents.
Instead of sending her ‘miss you’ texts, Chris’ messages to Shanann were blunt, and she even commented on social media that he was embracing his single life while they were away.
And friends started to tell cops about cracks they had seen appearing in the relationship.
Chris had lost more than 60lbs in the last year, and officers found suggestions in Shanann’s text messages that she suspected he was having an affair.
Family killers
- Phillip Austin – The Northampton man killed his wife Claire and their children – Kieren, eight and Jade, seven in July 2000. He also killed the family’s two dogs. He was given a life sentence of 20 years in prison after admitting to the murders.
- Saju Chalavalel – In December 2022, he strangled his wife Anju, and their two children Jeeva, six and Janvi, four while drunk. He said he mistakenly thought she was having an affair and lost control. He was sentenced to life with a minimum term or 40 years.
- Robert Needham – He shot and killed his wife Kelly and their daughters Ava and Lexi aged four and two at their home in West Sussex during the first Covid lockdown. He later killed himself.
- Lee Ford – He received a life sentence in 2001 after he killed his wife Lesley and his four step children – Craig, 13, Steven, 14, Anne Marie, 16, and Sarah Jane, 17. The mass murder took place in Carnkie in 2000.
- Peter Nash – After his wife Jillu began a relationship with a work colleague, Peter Nash killed her and their 12-year-old daughter Louise at their home in Great Waldingfield, Suffolk. He tried to kill himself after the murders. He was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in jail.
- Chris Benoit – In 2007, WWE wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his 43-year-old wife Nancy and suffocated his son, Daniel, seven before killing himself at their home in Georgia, US. Cops discovered the bodies after no one was able to get in touch with Benoit.
- Christian Longo – Over five days in December 2001, the bodies of his wife, son and two daughters were discovered in a water body near their family home in Newport, Oregon. After killing them, he fled to Mexico and said his name was Michael Finkel, who worked as a journalist for the New York Times. He was eventually captured and sentenced to death.
- Robert William Fisher – In April 2001, the Navy veteran was 39 when he allegedly shot his wife in the head and slit her throat. He did the same thing to their two kids Brittney, 13, and Robert Jr., ten. Cops believe he killed his wife as he thought she was leaving him. He has never been found and remains a fugitive.
Heather Ashley says: “She was talking to her friends about it, you know, at one point he’s like, ‘Oh I don’t, I don’t even want this baby,’ and she’s like, ‘What do you mean you don’t want this baby?’
“‘Like I’m fifteen weeks pregnant, like this is not the time to have this conversation. You wanted this baby, I agreed to have this baby. We are having a baby boy and now you’re saying all of a sudden you don’t even want this baby’, and that really freaked her out.”
When detectives brought Chris in for questioning, he began to open up about their troubles and admitted to a row the night before she disappeared.
But they were convinced he was hiding something more so asked if he would take a lie detector test – which he then failed miserably.
If someone scores -4 on the polygraph test, it indicates they aren’t being truthful. Chris Watts’ score was -18.
He then admitted he had been lying – and said he had been having an affair with 29-year-old co-worker Nichol Kessinger.
But cops already knew that as she had already been in touch with them.
With Chris on the ropes and unravelling, detectives tried a new tactic. They suggested that maybe Shanann had discovered the affair, harmed the girls and then he had killed her.
Chris ran with this story, claiming Shanann had smothered the girls – he had killed her, and then disposed of all the bodies.
She was so excited to share with him that she was pregnant. But if you look at him, his mannerisms, there are signs that there’s a lot of frustration
Shanann's ex-teacher
Mark Safarik says: “For most family annihilators, it is an event that is thought out, it’s planned, it’s organised, it’s done if not days, weeks in advance.
“I think in this five-week period where Shanann and the girls go to visit her parents in North Carolina is what solidifies this in Chris’ mind, this is what’s gotta happen because he’s spending all of his time with Nichol and it’s like this is the relationship I want.”
Clinical psychologist Rebecca Osei adds: “He did not break down until he was actually confessing, which begs the question of who he was crying for.
“Was it for his children and his wife because he felt guilty or sad that he wouldn’t see them, or was it for himself, knowing that he was now going to jail?
“Knowing that now this version of himself was the real version everybody would know. Knowing that the fantasy and the fairytale was now over.”
Truth comes out
Even as he was taken into custody and charged with the murders of his wife and children, Chris Watts still refused to accept responsibility for his daughter’s deaths.
He only agreed to plead guilty on all charges to escape the death penalty.
In November 2018, Chris Watts received five life sentences without the possibility of parole plus an additional 84 years for the unlawful termination of a pregnancy and tampering with deceased bodies.
But four months after his conviction, he decided to meet with investigators again – and this time, he revealed the whole truth.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
He had been out on a date with his mistress on the Saturday night and made the big mistake of using his bank card which was joint with Shanann – making her suspicious.
But a few nights later he got into bed with Shanann and they had sex. He told detectives: “But when I woke up later on in the morning, I pretty much told her I didn’t think it was going to work anymore. And she was like, ‘What happened? What was last night?’
“She was like, ‘I knew there was somebody else. I knew there was somebody else.’ I couldn’t just say, ‘Yes, there is somebody else.’ But then she’s like, ‘You’e never going to see your kids again. You’re never going to see them again. Get off me.’”
It was then that Chris snapped and strangled Shanann to death. When daughter Bella came in the room and asked what was wrong with mummy, he then came up with a drastic and evil plan.
He put the two girls in the back of his truck, with their mother’s body on the floor and drove the 45 minutes to the oilfield.
He smothered CeCe first with her own blanket, then did the same to her sister Bella. He told detectives: “She said, ‘What happened to CeCe?’ Every time I close my eyes, I start to see her saying, ‘Daddy, no,’ and that was it. I hear that every day.”
He then buried Shanann’s body and dumped the girls’ into an oil tank.
Chillingly, despite his confession, the monster received fan mail from warped admirers in the weeks after he was first incarcerated.
Mark Safarik says: “Family annihilators, are very rare type of killer and thank God. Because you can’t predict men like this! Even the family members would say, ‘He could never hurt me. He could never hurt our kids.’
“You do not know what lies in the hearts of some men. If you study familicide and men that commit these types of crimes, most of the time, there’s suicide, but I think Chris thought he could get away with this. He just thought he was gonna be that good.”
Clinical psychologist Rebecca Osei says the social media depiction of their so-called ‘perfect’ life may have played a part in the murders.
“I mean as far as social media was concerned, he was an ideal husband essentially,” she says. “So, you know, for him to have come forward with, ‘I’m having an affair and I’m leaving you,’ or even just, ‘I’m leaving you, we’re getting a divorce, period.’
“It’s certainly a big swing from the perfect family that, you know, he had basically been a part of the presenting to the world for a number of years at that point.
“We don’t know how that may have played into his ultimate decision to kill his children and his wife instead of simply leaving.”