What Happened to the Watts Family? Revisiting the 2018 Murder Case and Why Chris Watts Said He Had ‘No Control’ By Emily Blackwood

Chris Watts seemed to have it all: a happy marriage, two young daughters and a baby boy on the way. 

But in August 2018, the Colorado oil field operator murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their children, 4-year-old Bella Watts and 3-year-old Celeste Watts, before dumping their bodies at a remote oil site where he worked.

Though he pleaded for his family’s safe return while speaking to the press, investigators soon uncovered a web of lies, including his affair with a co-worker and the couple’s mounting marital strain. Within 48 hours of their disappearance, Chris confessed, first trying to pin the girls’ deaths on Shanann before admitting he had killed all three.

In November 2018, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Here’s a closer look at what happened to the Watts family, from the couple’s first meeting to the chilling details of the crime and its aftermath.

How did Chris and Shanann meet?

In 2010, a mutual contact sent Shanann a Facebook prompt that suggested she add Chris as a friend. She deleted it, but accepted Chris’ friend request two months later, after she was diagnosed with lupus and amid one of the “darkest times” in her life.

“I was in a really, really, really bad place, and I got a friend request from Chris on Facebook,” Shanann, who lived in North Carolina at the time, said in a May 2018 Facebook Live video. “I was like, Oh, what the heck, I’m never going to meet him. Accept.”

She went on to say that “one thing led to another,” and they eventually got married and moved to Colorado together in 2012, per The Denver Post. There, they had two children: Bella, born in December 2013, and Celeste, born in July 2015.

In the Facebook clip, the 34-year-old mother described Chris as “the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Were there warning signs before Chris killed his family?

Though the Watts appeared to be happy, a family friend told PEOPLE in August 2018 that Chris and Shanann had been having “marital problems.” They also faced financial issues in the past — filing for bankruptcy in 2015 — but had seemingly returned to stability at the time of the murders.

Brian Spence, a contractor who worked with Chris for several years, told PEOPLE in October 2022 that he witnessed the Colorado father change over the summer of 2018.

“I watched him get more and more unhappy with his life,” Spence said. “He went from being a friendly guy to being withdrawn and angry. I saw him lose his temper over little workplace annoyances. He had an irritable side with the contractors. He could be combative.”

The couple spent most of that apart, with Shanann and her daughter traveling to North Carolina for six weeks. In early August, days before her murder, she went on a trip to Arizona for the health supplements company she was a part of.

What happened when Shanann was reported missing?

Shanann, Celeste and Bella were reported missing by a friend, Nickole Atkinson, at 1:40 p.m. on Aug 13, 2018, approximately 12 hours after Atkinson had given Shanann a ride home from the airport. 

Chris later told an ABC News affiliate that he’d had an “emotional conversation” with his wife before her disappearance, but offered no further details.

In an August 2018 interview with ABC News, Atkinson said that when she called Chris about her friend’s whereabouts, he mentioned they had planned to separate — something Shanann had never shared with her.

“She very much loved her family and wanted to be a family,” Atkinson told the outlet. 

At the time of her disappearance, Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant with a boy she had planned to name Niko.

How were Shanann, Celeste and Bella found?

Though Chris denied having any knowledge of his family’s whereabouts, he eventually confessed to their murders two days after they were reported missing. The oil field operator then told Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials that he asked Shanann for a separation, hours after she returned home from the airport.

Chris then claimed that she had killed their two daughters out of revenge, causing him to go into a “rage” and strangle her. He then concealed their bodies at an oil work site. However, the evidence did not match his version of events, and eventually, Chris admitted the whole truth, telling investigators that after Shanann returned home from her trip, they fought.

During the argument, he confessed to having an affair and said he didn’t love her anymore. When she threatened to leave him and take the children, he jumped on top of Shanann in their bed and strangled her.

“I didn’t want to do this, but I did it,” Chris can be heard saying in an audio recording of his confession. “I don’t even want to say it felt like I had to, 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.”

After killing Shanann, he loaded her body into the bed of his truck and drove with their girls to a remote oil field where he buried her in a shallow grave. Chris then smothered Celeste and Bella and placed their bodies in oil tanks.

Police found their remains on Aug. 17, 2018.

Why did Chris kill his family?

After Shanann and the girls disappeared, investigators discovered that Chris was having an affair with a co-worker named Nichol Kessinger. She told The Denver Post in November 2018 that she believed he was finalizing a mutual divorce.

According to Kessinger, the affair started in early July, and they saw each other multiple times a week. Days before the triple homicide, Chris allegedly told her that his divorce was final and he needed help finding an apartment to share with his daughters.

“He made me believe that he was doing all of the things that a rational man and good father would do,” she told the outlet.

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Kessinger only learned that Chris was still married when she read the news of his family’s disappearance. When she confronted him about it, she said he denied hurting his family but “seemed off.”

Shanann was reportedly suspicious of Chris’ behavior before her murder. One of her friends, Amanda Thayer, told CBS News in August 2018 that the mother of two had wondered if her husband “could be cheating.”

What was Chris charged with?

Two days after Shanann, Bella and Celeste were reported missing, Chris was arrested and charged with three counts of murder in the first degree and three counts of tampering with physical evidence.

He was later charged with two counts of first-degree murder of a child under the age of 12 by someone who is in a “position of trust” over them, and one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy in the first degree.

In November 2018, Chris pleaded guilty to the nine charges in exchange for being spared a possible death sentence, per The New York Times. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

At his sentencing hearing, prosecutor Michael Rourke said Chris’ motive for murder was “simple,” and that he “had a desire for a fresh start, to begin a new relationship with a new love.” 

“None of this answers the question of why, however,” he said. “If [Chris] was this unhappy and wanted a new start, get a divorce. You don’t annihilate your family and throw them away like garbage.”

Where is Chris now?

After his sentencing, Chris was transferred from Colorado to a maximum-security prison in Waupun, Wis., for security purposes, according to KKTV. He’s remained at that facility since 2018.

The convicted murderer has received two conduct reports throughout his sentencing and spends his days working as a custodian. A source told PEOPLE in November 2022 that Chris also corresponds with “a lot of women” who “think he’s handsome and misunderstood.” 

“He’s got nothing else to do,” said the source. “So he feeds his ego in that way. Because he’s not popular at all in prison. He’s in protective custody. The only outlet he has is with these letters.”

Has Shanann’s family spoken out about Chris?

During his sentencing hearing, Shanann’s parents, Frank and Sandra Rzucek, told Chris that they “loved him like a son” and couldn’t fathom why he would murder their daughter and grandchildren. 

“Shanann put a crown on your head, but unfortunately, the day that you took their life, God removed that crown,” Sandra said. “We trusted you, your faithful wife trusted you, your children adored you, and they also trusted you … I have no idea who gave you the right to take their lives, but I know God and his mighty angels were there in that moment to bring them home to paradise.”

In a December 2018 interview with 20/20, the couple said Shanann was confident, resolute and “full of life.” And when it came to her kids, she would do whatever it took to make sure they “had everything they ever needed.” 

“She would do anything for her children,” Frank said. “She just loved her children, and she wanted them to have everything growing up.”