CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *Arrest* #15

[nmcintosh]

Sad news ...

husband of the missing Frederick family has confessed to killing them and officials believe they know where the bodies are.

Husband of missing Frederick mom of 2 detained Sources: Husband of pregnant Frederick woman detained, has confessed to killing her and 2 daughters


CO - MEDIA, MAPS & TIMELINES - NO DISCUSSION - - Shanann Watts (34, dec.), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4

Link to WS post with 3 videos of CW's interviews

Thread #1
Thread #2
Thread #3
Thread #4
Thread #5
Thread #6
Thread #7
Thread #8
Thread #9
Thread #10
Thread #11
Thread #12
Thread #13
Thread #14

I couldn’t find it anywhere, but in the Affidavit it states that Chris told LE the key pad to the garage didn’t work....was that ever confirmed anywhere?

 

[Bill Carson]

This and he had a small taste of what it is like to be a single parent with kids and didn't like it much.

Could be.

 

[MerryB]

Bear with me, please. (Sorry for the MEGO.) I want to try to explain, from my perspective only, why I think it is relevant and appropriate to discuss some things that some of you are interpreting as victim bashing.

So let's assume for the sake of this argument that SW was genuinely just as kind and sweet and good-hearted as she presents herself on SM, that she doesn't have a mean bone in her body, that she was the perfect wife and mother doing the best she could while suffering from a chronic health condition, and that she didn't have any sort of mental illness or anything like that. She is awesome, and there was no reason in the world for a rational person to dislike her, much less kill her or the children. In short, nothing that happened was her fault. Okay?

Every trial lawyer worth their salt will have a "Theory of the Case" for every case they try. A Theory of the Case is a short, concise statement explaining who did what and why. The shorter the better, the simpler the better. This statement, if true, helps the jurors interpret the individual facts and put them in a larger context.

Think of it like this: each piece of evidence is like a piece to a puzzle. We've got all these pieces, but what kind of picture are we trying to make? Is it a barn? A horse? A lion in the zoo? The Theory of the Case is like the picture on the box: when we put all these puzzle pieces together, you should end up with a picture that's on the box. The prosecution will say, we think these puzzle pieces will fit together to form the image of a cow. The defense will say that the puzzle pieces make a picture of a chicken. The jury has to decide which theory is more consistent with the evidence that they are presented through the witness stand. And once the jurors start to see a particular picture emerge ("Hey, it does sort of look like a cow"), then they will start to interpret facts (puzzle pieces) in a way that is consistent with that image ("Oh, this is not a chicken foot, it's a cow's tail!").

As I said, the Theory of the Case contains three parts: Who did What, and Why? "Who" is the defendant, "What" is the crime, and "Why" is motive. From a legal perspective, all that matters is the Who and the What. Motive is very rarely an element of a crime, and the prosecution is not required to prove why a crime was committed. But we all want to know motive because we want to make sense of why crimes happen. It is especially important in tragic cases such as this one, because most people (myself included) can't wrap their heads around Why a seemingly loving father would kill his perfect wife and beautiful children. So we badly want to try to understand some reason or motivation that explains the Why, and if we don't find that motivation, then we might start looking for other theories that would explain it better. ("It's not a cow, it's a unicorn! NOT GUILTY!")

So, the prosecution is going to need to come up with a Theory of the Case such as "He killed her because he was jealous that she was earning more money than he was." To break that down, "He (Who) killed her (What) because _____ (Why)."

To think about Why, we have to get inside the Defendant's mind and walk around. You and I know that the Wife was sincere and perfect. But Husband killed her. Why?

If the Why is that Husband was jealous because Wife was earning more than him, would that mean we were blaming Wife---("If she hadn't been so successful, he wouldn't have had to kill her. It's HER fault!"). No! That's absurd. Her being successful isn't her fault. His jealousy is his problem.

But when we try to suggest a reason why Husband hated Wife so bad and was so angry, it might sound on its face like we are blaming Wife. "He killed her because.....she wouldn't stop eating crackers in the bed!" A person might say, "Hey, you are blaming the victim here and that is against the TOS!" No, that's not what we are doing, we are providing the motive to complete the Theory of the Case.

I hope that makes sense. Sorry again for the length. I have a hard time getting my point across sometimes.

You’re exactly right. Please don’t get discouraged. Never has critical thinking been a bad thing. To think beyond what you are told or shown to be true is how crimes are solved.

 

[ray9898]

This is a bit of a stretch, but IF he was assigned to maintain the tanks and equipment in that area, and IF he planned these murders and the location in advance, then it is possible that he might have tampered with the equipment so he would "need" to report to that location to fix something? "That tank valve has been getting stuck again. I'm going to head over there first thing Monday morning to work on it."

I really doubt he had to tell anyone anything. These are sites in remote locations that are secured by nothing more than a gate with a common key. It is likely he could go there without anyone knowing or having to ask anyone for permission.

 

[Steelhead]

Thank you for posting that. I remember that SW was Roman Catholic. Do we know what CW's faith background was?

Interestingly, I didn't see any crucifixes on the walls of the Watts home, and while she talked about being "blessed," I never heard her say or post anything that was overtly religious. Did any of you? There aren't any pictures of church activities, as I recall.

I'm not suggesting this means anything one way or the other. Maybe it seems odd to me because the last murder I was so wrapped up in was the Missy Bevers case, that occurred in a church. Speaking of Theories of the Case, that one is so perplexing because we don't know the Who or the Why.

I noticed the same thing. Actually, I initially noticed that they pretty much have nothing on the walls. Maybe SW removed things in order to stage her home.

It appears SW's family is Catholic. Not sure about CW's although in this video he sure thinks it's very important that Bella get the words correct. I looked up primrose prayer, trying to learn the origin, but couldn't find anything significant.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154950198511935

 

[cottonweaver]

I greatly admire your posts. You are very considerate and lay out your thoughts so intelligently that it seems effortless. That's a gift I wasn't given in line the day it was passed out.

Thank you for taking the time and explaining what you saw & how you feel about marketing products. It's so strange to look from the outside in or vis-a-versa.

I would like to know if you find the videos and family pictures 'creepy?
I'm not getting that vibe. I know that because of the horrifying outcome of this family, just seeing CW in family pics ... It can cause a sense of disgust, revulsion, etc. But, aside from that, do you find the family pics 'creepy' because of being so 'phony'? (not
my words, nor my belief)

Thank you for taking the time to review the video & responding!

You're far, far too kind talisman.
No I don't find them "creepy" ( Not a word I often use anyway, even when I'm scared, more American expression?)

Caveat - our major problem is we have no CW SM profiles left. As said before, we are gleaning from there, instead of where we'd like to focus - on his FBk , Instagram, Twitter etc. So we're looking for signs thru her SM, it's all we have so there's more material and more focus there than there might be.

the pix of the kids - no , not phony, they're darling kids. However some of the family pix are for marketing. (That's part of the reason that the media has latched onto it - AB on HLN continually saying- what is behind the "perfect family" murders. Obvs we all know the "perfect family" doesn't exist, except in fairytales or........advertising/marketing.)

I find some of the ones where SW talks about her husband's qualities - now - with hindsight - more worrying. You look for signs, isn't that human nature, esp on crime site? So I'm thinking as i watched: do I believe it; does Shan believe it; is she actually speaking to herself? Are these wishes she wants him to see? Some of those seem to be far less about brand promotion. ( Some times I can't see the dividing line - which films/photos are business, which pleasure? eg which are for Gran, pals etc)

I saw some vids of hols, eg one in Denver which I would not have thought twice of had there not been a crime. In hindsight the dynamic between the in-laws now seems more interesting, in view of all the many posts I've read here, from others, here about PeanutGate.

Could I feel creepy about any of the vids, posts? Potentially. I looked at the hailstone video in Colorado one - his car's in it , I suppose someone might say that was creepy/ominous, considering what happened.
The announcing of the pregnancy - I can't take that vid at face value because of what he did and because it was stagey . So yes, you could say that there's some foreboding watching that, considering that we now know pregnant women are more at risk.

So with hindsight I can see why people might find all sorts of stuff there & maybe stuff that's not there eg the covered doll FB post, I see nothing creepy about that but countless others have but different strokes for different folks.

 

[Bill Carson]

I noticed the same thing. Actually, I initially noticed that they pretty much have nothing on the walls. Maybe SW removed things in order to stage her home.

It appears SW's family is Catholic. Not sure about CW's although in this video he sure thinks it's very important that Bella get the words correct. I looked up primrose prayer, trying to learn the origin, but couldn't find anything significant.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154950198511935

OMG, that is SO PRECIOUS!!

WHY, CHRIS?!? WHY DID YOU DO IT???

 

[SweetPeas56]

I knew right away. He's scared witless over the sniffer dogs, slurring words, face,and neck muscles twitching, and darting eyes.

In the interview, it bothers me that he says "She barely let me - " then cuts himself off.

That was a slip. He didn't mean to let that out. It was significant, whatever it was.

She didn't "let" him do something. Or at least he FELT that she didn't.

 

[pocketaccent]

NanZDrew posted this on Thread #14 last night and I think it is something for LE to nail down: ( and thanks so much to NanzDrew for the insights into the oil & gas industry & the operational characteristics of these wells & tanks)

"When we were going to clean a tank, our techs would go and loosen the bolts beforehand and put a spray chemical to dissolve corrosion if necessary. My guess would be that he did this step ahead of time."

Ahead of time...... likely CW would have known how this works and how to do it without having to call a tech in to do it. He didn't really have a lot of time that am to fool around with rusted shut bolts on two tanks AND dig a grave.

I'd assume he would have access to all the spray chemicals, wrenches to fit the bolts, etc. This could certainly have been something he did in advance. I wonder if Anakanko's truck GPS documents him visiting this well in the week or so prior to the murders? ie: PREMEDITATION

Can gasolin be used to dissolve corrosion on the tank?
Does anybody know?
(thinking of the gas can he loaded to his truck that morning)

 

[kebdal23]

My guess is is he lied and told them Shanann put them there.

Yet somehow she wound up buried with one. Hmmmm. Even IF he lied and said that his story doesn't add up.

 

[Bill Carson]

However some of the family pix are for marketing. (That's part of the reason that the media has latched onto it - AB on HLN continually saying- what is behind the "perfect family" murders. Obvs we all know the "perfect family" doesn't exist, except in fairytales or........advertising/marketing.)

I find some of the ones where SW talks about her husband's qualities - now - with hindsight - more worrying. You look for signs, isn't that human nature, esp on crime site? So I'm thinking as i watched: do I believe it; does Shan believe it; is she actually speaking to herself? Are these wishes she wants him to see? Some of those seem to be far less about brand promotion. ( Some times I can't see the dividing line - which films/photos are business, which pleasure? eg which are for Gran, pals etc)

SBM.

The thing that is telling to me is how few pictures there are where the LeVel patches are not showing. The vast majority of pictures contain product placement.

Again, not blaming the product or the MLM or SW's (apparent) successful implementation of her marketing strategy, but it is very interesting. It makes it seem like SW was always "on."

 

[gitana1]

I wanted to bump @gitana1's most excellent post that summarizes with citations all of the evidence that tends to prove CW's guilt in this case, together with the evidence that tends to disprove CW's own "confession."

We only have a small portion of the details in this case, but as gitana1 has pointed out, what we do know is damning against CW. We can feel pretty confident that we know the Who and the What.

The only question that remains in order to form a strong Theory of the Case is the Why. And that is the question that I think all of us want to badly to understand, because we don't like to think that good, loving fathers can just snap and kill their families. We need to believe that there is order in the world.

Thank you, gitana.

The why is what people always try to figure out with family annihilators. It's the intriguing and frightening part.

But one thing that's certain to me is it is never about the family. Even those who have disabled children or whatever and "lose it". It's not about the spouse or the kids.

I've seen repeated attempts on here to slyly cast blame on Shanann for the atrocities committed by her husband. She must've been insane. Borderline. A nagging perfectionist. Controlling. A phony monster pushing her husband into insanity by making him part of the perfect charade she had created.

I find all of that disgusting, frankly. Victim shaming and blaming.

I'm not saying Shanann was perfect but certain people are looking for excuses for the murders in HER behavior when past family annihilators show it's always about them, not the actions of their families.

This is about thefamily annihilator and nothing more. Typically there tend to be two main motivators: The first is shame - they feel they are losing control of their family and/or have deep financial problems and/or secrets and lies they fear will come out. Mark Hacking who killed his wife and unborn child is a great example of this type.

He had pretended to have a degree and to have gotten into a wonderful college. He faked it all. His wife was preparing to move, packing and trying to obtain student housing when she discovered that the university had no record of him being enrolled. She was murdered soon after that shameful discovery.

The second is a desire to be free from the constraints of family life. Many of these annihilators also have secret affairs. Or just want to be free from their families. Chris Vaughan is a great example of this type.

Another creep who slaughtered his innocent family and tried to blame it on his wife, he had researched living in the Canadian Wilderness and had travelled there numerous times to find a place to live. He was having multiple affairs. He just wanted out.
https://www.lifedeathprizes.com/real-life-crime/youre-judge-shot-family-day-10045

Some annihilators are a combination- like Neil Entwhistle.

But none of this can ever be explained by the behaviors or personalities of the victims. It is always about the failures of character and soul of the perps. They are typically either isolated, deeply insecure loners who can't cope well with life and with stressors like financial issues or spouses who become independent and perhaps leave them and/or they're sociopathic narcissists for whom life is all about themselves and their needs, rather than their precious family's needs.

That's the "why". We are dealing with extremely twisted individuals who destroy innocent, unsuspecting and thus, very vulnerable family members.

We need to examine these monsters more closely rather than trying to justify or excuse their evil deeds by examining the behaviors of their victims.

 

[Bluefield]

Shan'ann strikes me as someone who would keep a journal.

Fingers crossed.

 

[kebdal23]

This is about thefamily annihilator and nothing more. Typically there tend to be two main motivators: The first is shame - they feel they are losing control of their family and/or have deep financial problems and/or secrets and lies they fear will come out. Mark Hacking who killed his wife and unborn child is a great example of this type.

Could this be it? He felt shame over her finding out he had male sexual partners and ended up killing them all because of it? JMO, actually not even my real opinion - just speculating.

 

[Coolmomof4]

Here is my theory only, because CW is so intent that they pull DNA from the girls necks, I believe he used something with SW DNA to (its so hard to say) strangle the girls. I believe that it was necessary for the girls to be killed because that was initially his defense for killing SW ( Saw her killing them and reacted accordingly). I think either something didn't go according to plan or he spooked and decided a MP story would be easier to get away with. Of course this is all JMO

Unless CW is sticking to this story with his defense team. If that's the case then it makes sense they would be demanding the DNA swabs. At that point, CW would look stupid if he backtracked.

 

[sun16]

Modern civilization, innovation, technology, etc. aside, I find it very odd and troubling (from a basic personality and decision-making perspective) that so many people these days find it no big deal at all to post so may detailed photos and videos of themselves and their underage children for the entire world to see. Just think about all the ramifications.

 

[BabyButterfly]

OMG, that is SO PRECIOUS!!

WHY, CHRIS?!? WHY DID YOU DO IT???

I have been very good about not clicking on videos or pictures of SW or the kids. This one I clicked on. Now, I'm ugly crying all over again. That SOB!

 

[Bill Carson]

They are typically either isolated, deeply insecure loners who can't cope well with life and with stressors like financial issues or spouses who become independent and perhaps leave them . . .

SBM

You have described him very, very well right there, IMO.

 

[Jennifer17]

Could this be it? He felt shame over her finding out he had male sexual partners and ended up killing them all because of it? JMO, actually not even my real opinion - just speculating.

I think that that could be considered, but I really think that he just wanted to be rid of them all with no ongoing relationship, no shared custody and no child support.

 

[Bluefield]

That is very interesting. Very. The fight in the driveway had to have occured back in June, before SW left for NC.

And at least one neighbor saw the fight, then the immediate makeup, and concluded that they were putting on a show. The perfect family show.

Interesting.

MOO

I don't know that one fight in a driveway is very significant.. And while she says it all took place in 30 seconds, we don't know if the fight started earlier in the house and was wrapping up when the neighbour claims she saw them in the driveway.

 

[sun16]

Just the climb alone rules out panic for me.

Ever since I saw the picture of the tanks, I've been haunted by the idea of climbing all of those stairs.

Twice.

Carrying your babies.

There are so many things about this case that I struggle with, but the amount of time it had to take for him to climb those stairs takes the cake... it makes me nauseous to think about it.

Completely agree. I don’t know if anyone else does this, you try to play this over and over in your mind, and it’s just obscene and something out of a very tough movie. I do the same thing with what happened in the house between 1:48am and 5:30am.