19 hours Ago By Emilia Randall
Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife and dragged her lifeless body down the stairs in front of his two young daughters, before shoving the children in the back of a van in a series of events he claimed he had "no control over." Seconds before her death his four-year-old daughter asked him a horrifying question as her dad put a blanket over her head and strangled her. Watts, who had begun an affair prior to the murders, said his wife, Shanann, had confronted him saying she knew about the other woman .
He admitted to telling her he no longer loved her, which led to Shannan threatening to keep their daughters away from him. "You're never gonna see the kids again," she warned him, in August 2018. Speaking later, Watts said: "Every time I think about it, I'm just like, did I know I was going to do that before I got on top of her? It just felt like there was already something in my mind that was implanted that I was gonna do it and when I woke up that morning it was gonna happen and I had no control over it.
" He said that his wife did not resist or scream. Watts recounted the events to investigators, stating his four-year-old daughter Bella walked into his room with her blanket and asked what had happened to her mom. He said he told her Shanann wasn't feeling well.
Watts then wrapped his wife's body face-down in a bed sheet and attempted to carry her downstairs, but lost his grip and ended up dragging her down the stairs instead. Bella witnessed her father pulling her mother down the stairs and began to cry, asking: "What's wrong with mommy?". Afterwards, Watts backed his truck into the driveway and placed his wife's body on the floorboard in the backseat.
Upon re-entering the house, he found his three-year-old daughter Celeste awake. Watts told investigators he placed both girls in the back of the truck on the bench seat, with Bella asking, "Is mommy okay?". During the drive to the oil site where he had worked, the daughters dozed off, laying in each other's laps.
The Colorado man buried his wife's body, before killing his two daughters and leaving their bodies in oil barrels after Bella repeatedly asked her dad what was wrong with her mom. The girl said: "What are you doing to mommy?" According to a report released by Colorado authorities, he claims he has no recollection of how he responded. Watts recounted covering Celeste with her blue Yankees blanket before strangling her in the backseat, as Bella watched silently.
When Watts returned to the truck, for his last remaining member of family, Bella, who had her stuffed animal with her, asked him: “Is the same thing gonna happen to me as Cece?". He revealed her devastating final question to police during a meeting between law enforcement officials and the convicted murderer at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin. He confessed to suffocating Bella with the same blanket, noting that she tried to fight back.
Bella's final, heartbreaking plea was "Daddy, no!" - words that Watts claims haunt him every time he closes his eyes. After burying his wife he deliberately left her wedding ring behind to suggest she wanted a divorce, the report said. He initially denied any wrongdoing, lying to reporters that his family was missing.
Speaking to ABC Denver affiliate KMGH, he said: "When I came home and then walked in the house, nothing. Vanished. Nothing was here.
" He added: "My kids are my life." He would be arrested just days later when his family's bodies were discovered. During harsh questioning, Watts claimed that he couldn't bring himself to confess because he hadn't come to terms with the horrific acts himself.
As he pleaded guilty, Watts did not face the death penalty for the shocking triple murder. He was sentenced to life without parole in November 2018. DAILY NEWSLETTER: Sign up here to get the latest news and updates from the Mirror US straight to your inbox with our FREE newsletter.
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