CHRIS Watts murdered his family on August 13, 2018, including his wife who was pregnant at the time.
The murderer is featured in Channel 5’s show A Suburban Nightmare, which airs on October 2, 2024, and details Chris’ cold-blooded crime. Here’s everything you need to know.
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Who was Chris Watts?
Christopher Lee Watts is from North Carolina and married his wife Shanann Cathryn Rzucek in November 2012, after meeting two years earlier.
The couple shared two daughters named, Bella, age 4, and Celeste, age 3.
They moved to a five-bedroom house in Colorado in 2013, before the family declared bankruptcy in 2015.
Christopher was employed by Anadarko Petroleum, while his wife sold Le-vel Thrive skincare and supplements from their marital home.
When did Chris Watts’s family disappear?
On August 13, 2018, at around 01:48am, Shanann was driven home by her friend, Nickole Utoft Atkinson, after returning from a business trip.
Her husband stayed home with their daughters.
Shanann and her daughters were later reported missing by Nickole, as Shanann missed her gynecology appointment on that same day.
When Shanann missed a business meeting, Nickole phoned the police and told Chris that his wife was missing.
A police officer conducted a welfare check at the house and found Shanann’s bag which contained her keys and medication.
Her car was found in the garage, which had their daughters’ car seats inside, and her wedding ring was left behind.
Meanwhile, Christopher gave interviews calling for the return of his family.
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Who is Chris having an affair with?
Chris had been having an affair with Nichol Kessinger since July 2018.
Nichol believed that Watts was separated from his wife and was finalising his divorce proceedings.
She was confused when she received a chilling text from Chris at 3:45pm on the day that his family disappeared.
The message said that Chris’ family were “gone”, which left Nichol worried.
Nichol was horrified to discover that Chris was actually still married and that journalists were now asking her questions about Chris’ connection to his family’s murder.
When was Chris Watts arrested?
The FBI conducted a polygraph test which Chris failed.
Later, he told his father Ronnie that he had murdered his wife, but said he did this because she had killed their daughters.
Chris then admitted that he hid their bodies at the oil field where he worked.
The father of two was then arrested, while the police found the bodies of his family a day later on August 16.
Shanann was buried in a shallow grave, where Bella and Celeste (Chris’ daughters) were found in crude oil storage tanks.
It was also revealed that Chris had smothered his daughters and was solely responsible for the murders.
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What was Chris Watts’ sentence?
Chris pleaded guilty to the murder of his family on November 6, 2018, but was spared the death penalty since Shanann’s family didn’t want more death.
The killer was sentenced to five life sentenceswithout the possibility of parole.
He also received 48 years in prison for the unlawful termination of Shanann’s pregnancy and 36 additional years for tampering with a deceased body.
Where is Chris Watts now?
Chris is continuing to serve his life sentence in prison.
In December 2018, Chris was moved to an out-of-state location due to security concerns. He serves his sentence at Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison in Wisconsin.