Mind of A Murderer: Chris Watts

August 13th, 2018

Chris Watts leaves his home is Frederick, Colorado for work in the early hours of the morning to go spend a normal day at Anadarko Petroleum as an oil field operator.

At 1:40 P.M. that same day, Nickole Atkinson drives over to the Watts family home to find no signs of activity in the empty house, and calls the police to do a welfare check on her best friend - Shanann Watts, the wife of Christopher Lee Watts. Not only was Nickole concerned that her friend wasn't answering her phone or going live and posting on her social media accounts like usual, but Shanann was also 15 weeks pregnant, and had an OBGYN appointment she never made it to.

It was later revealed through text messages between Nickole Atkinson and Chris Watts that he told her Shanann had taken the girls - Bella, 4 and Cece, 3 - to a friends house, but wouldn't tell him where. Another friend of Shanann's named Cassie, also texted Chris before the police were called, and he actually urged both of Shanann's friends to not call the police. The two friends continued to text Chris regarding their concerns about Shanann, her health, and her whereabouts. Chris then texted Cassie to let him know he was heading home.

Frederick Police arrived at 2825 Saratoga trail shortly after they received the 911 phone call, and made contact with Nickole who was waiting outside the house. Chris Watts arrived minutes later. He led police and Nickole into his home where Shanann as well as their children were no where to be found. However, her car, cell phone, keys, and wallet remained. This was a huge indicator to police that something was not right.

Police interviewed neighbors to get security footage of the night before. One neighbor's camera revealed Chris backing his truck up into the garage for a moment before taking off for work around 5:15 A.M. This was something that was deemed as unusual by neighbors, however Chris claimed he was just loading tools into the bed of his work truck.

Noted by police was Chris' body language throughout all of these conversations. He showed little to no emotion or concern for his wife or children. He glanced anxiously around him and sweat profusely when being talked to.

August 14th, 2018

An Endangered Missing Persons report as well as an Amber Alert were issued. Chris Watts went on live television to plead for his family's return.

K9 dogs were brought in to search the Watts home in the investigation of the disappearance of pregnant 33 year-old Shanann, 4 year-old Bella, and 3 year-old Celeste.

August 15th, 2018

Police received a phone call from 30 year-old Nichol Kessinger, a fellow co-worker of Watts, claiming to be his mistress.

An interview was set up between investigators and Nichol, where they learned that Nichol had met Chris at work in the beginning of June. Kessinger claimed she and Chris began spending time outside of work shortly after and eventually became sexually and emotionally intimate.

Nichol told investigators that she was under the impression Chris and his wife were in the midst of a divorce, and already separated despite living under the same roof. She stated Chris never told her that Shanann was pregnant with a boy that she'd already named Nico Lee.

Nichol claimed she told Chris not to contact her anymore, and that although she didn't officially end the affair, she considered it to be over.

At the same time, Chris was in a different interrogation room where he failed a polygraph test regarding the disappearance of his family. Chris then confessed to killing his pregnant wife, however claiming to have done it because she smothered their daughters.

Chris pointed investigators to where the bodies were and was then arrested.

August 16th, 2018

Police were able to locate the bodies of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste Watts located at the oil field Chris Watts was employed at.

Chris also had a hearing that day to get bond and was denied.

August 21st, 2018

Chris was charged with a total of 9 charges which included 6 counts of first degree murder, one for each of his family members plus an extra two, and three counts of tampering with a body.

Chris has been in prison for almost 4 years now, and resides in Dodge Correctional Facility located in Waupun, Wisconsin. He has since admitted to being the one to murder his daughters. His confession included how his affair with Nichol started when Shanann went to North Carolina with the girls for 6 weeks to visit family in June. Over the 6 weeks, Chris and Nichol were going to restaurants, bars, her apartment, and even his house. Chris flew out to North Carolina weeks before the murders to be with his family for the rest of their vacation, and texts between Shanann and close friends revealed that she felt very distant from Chris and could sense something was not right.

According to his confession, in the early hours of August 13th, Shanann arrived home from a business trip to Arizona and went upstairs to bed. Chris woke her up when he was getting ready for work and told her about the affair. Shanann told him he was never going to see his kids again and Chris strangled her. He then smothered his daughters in their beds but they were not dead yet, he loaded Shanann and both girls into his work truck and drove to his worksite where no one was. He smother his daughters one by one, and shoved them into two different oil tanks. Then, he buried Shanann in a shallow grave a few-hundred feet away where her body had expelled the fetus of her unborn child.

Chris Watts will be in prison for the rest of his life.