Man who murdered his wife and two daughters said he couldn't remember doing it
Chris Watts killed his pregnant wife before smothering his two daughters, Bella, four, and Celeste, three, in August 2018
A man who brutally murdered his pregnant wife and then heartlessly dragged her lifeless body down the stairs in front of their two young daughters claimed he had "no control over" the horrifying series of events. In a chilling moment before her death, Chris Watts' four-year-old daughter asked him a terrifying question as he covered her head with a blanket and proceeded to strangle her.
Watts, who had started an affair prior to the murders, revealed that his wife, Shanann, had confronted him about his infidelity. He confessed to telling her he no longer loved her, which resulted in Shanann threatening to keep their daughters away from him. "You're never gonna see the kids again," she warned him, back in August 2018.
Reflecting on the incident 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 added his wife did not resist or scream during the attack. Recounting the events to investigators, Watts stated his four-year-old daughter Bella walked into his room with her blanket and asked what had happened to her mum. He lied to her, saying Shanann wasn't feeling well.
Watts wrapped his wife's body in a bed sheet and tried to carry her downstairs, but lost his grip and dragged her down the steps instead. Bella saw her father pulling her mother down the stairs and started crying, asking, "What's wrong with mommy?".
Watts then parked his truck in the driveway and placed his wife's body on the floorboard of the backseat. When he entered the house again, he found three-year-old daughter Celeste awake. He said he put both girls on the back bench seat of the truck, with Bella questioning, "Is mommy okay?".
On the journey to the oil site where he was employed, the daughters fell asleep against each other. The Colorado father buried his wife's body before murdering his two daughters and dumping their remains in oil barrels, even as Bella repeatedly asked him what was wrong with her mum.
The young girl asked: "What are you doing to mommy?" A report by Colorado authorities states that Watts claims he can't remember how he responded. He recounted smothering Celeste with her blue Yankees blanket and strangling her in the backseat while Bella watched in silence.
Upon returning to his truck, Watts was confronted with a chilling question from his remaining family member, Bella, clutching her stuffed toy. She asked: "Is the same thing gonna happen to me as Cece?".
Watts recounted this harrowing moment during discussions with police at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin, where officials met with the condemned man. He later admitted to strangling Bella using the same blanket as she attempted to resist - ending with her desperate and poignant cry: "Daddy, no!" Watts claimed these words continue to torment him every time he shuts his eyes.
Having buried his wife, he left her wedding ring behind, implying she wanted to leave him, the investigative report uncovered. Initial denials of guilt found Watts feigning ignorance before the media, claiming his family had vanished mysteriously.
He told KMGH, an ABC affiliate station in Denver: "When I came home and then walked in the house, nothing. Vanished. Nothing was here." He added: "My kids are my life."
But just days later the grim reality came to light. Subjected to intense interrogation, Watts maintained that personal denial prevented him from confessing, unable to confront the grisly nature of his actions. Upon entering a guilty plea, Watts avoided capital punishment for the appalling murders.
Instead, he received three consecutive life sentences in November 2018, ensuring he will spend the remainder of his life behind bars.