Chris Watts, now a confessed and convicted murderer, admitted to strangling his pregnant wife Shanann to death in August 2018. He also admitted to murdering their two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3. Following this, the father-of-two reported them missing on August 13 of that year, per the New York Times. Three days later, authorities found the victims’ bodies on the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation property.
The outlet stated that police arrested Chris on August 14. But he tried to pin the blame on Shanann, alleging that she strangled their daughters. He claimed to have strangled his pregnant wife only after she murdered the girls, but pleaded guilty to nine criminal counts. Prosecutors offered him a plea deal, and he received five life sentences without parole. The convicted killer only confessed to the murders while he was in jail.
Chris Watts case: Where is the confessed murderer now?
According to Parade, Christopher “Chris” Watts is serving his sentence at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. His sentences include three consecutive and two concurrent life terms for the murders of his pregnant wife and two daughters. He received an additional 48 years for unlawful termination of a pregnancy and 36 years for tampering with their corpses.
The outlet reported that Chris only confessed to the murders in February 2019, while he was already in prison. He told investigators that on the night of the murders, he told Shanann Watts of his intentions to separate because of his affair with then-girlfriend Nichol Kessinger. The convicted murderer claimed they got into an argument, and Shanann threatened to take their daughters away. After this, he strangled the pregnant mother to death.
People Magazine reported that Chris claimed he took their two daughters, still alive, as well as Shanann’s body wrapped in a blanket, to the oil plant where he once worked. After reaching there, he smothered the three-year-old Celeste with a blanket in the backseat of the truck and dumped her body in a nearby field. The father returned and smothered four-year-old Bella the same way as she screamed, “Daddy, no!” After murdering the girls, he buried his pregnant wife’s body.
Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door chronicles the horrific murders and the investigation into Chris Watts.
