Found Deceased CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *Arrest* #29

[MassGuy]

I meant to ask you this earlier on. In the family annihilator cases you've seen that are similar (attractive middle class couple, no major red flags or DV, possible pregnancy or small children, husband having affairs, etc) have you noticed the same level of vitriol towards the wife/victim, or is this case unusual and unique because of SW's strong social media presence?

I'm not sure if it is that there's more to pick apart and analyze in this particular case, or if it is the male/female dynamic you posted about so eloquently earlier.

In regards to cases involving family annihilators, this one is unique for two big reasons:

1. The suspect is literally blaming his victim for the crimes.

2. The prolific Facebook activity of SW.

When there is social media to pore over in a murder case, it is never this extensive. In fact, SW’s social media content is off the charts. When you have as many videos as she had, there are bound to be things that are captured, that rub people the wrong way.

People who are perhaps unfamiliar with with cases like this, don’t realize just how common they are, and can’t fathom that a husband and father could do this to his wife and children.

People who don’t follow murder cases in general (atleast closely), don’t realize that the scenario put forth by CW (specifically his coverup), simply Does Not Happen in real life.

For this reason, they are perhaps open to the idea that SW could have done what CW claims.

When they look at her Facebook videos, they see things that concern them, and this furthers their belief.

And the hate grows.

Of course, CW’s actions were not that of a man who had killed his wife for killing their kids. They were the actions of a man who killed them all.

SW deserves none of this, nor does her family.

 

[Allabouttrial]

I raised two girls and that’s weird behavior. Sexual abuse? Nothing would surprise me at this point.

I'm curious what makes you think this could have been the case?

 

[dixiegirl1035]

In light of the new "bag" that was found, that's an interesting observation. I do recall seeing that family airport photo, and it can be found on SW's fb post.

As for the Southwest Airlines bag that is being carried by CW, it appears to match a bag shown here in a Southwest company blog post. It's not clear from the article what material the bag is made of, but the company states it's a reusable car seat/stroller bag which can be purchased as an alternative to plastic bags.

If CW/SW travelled quite frequently on Southwest, they could have purchased the bag and taken it home to be re-used. It's possible it could have been in the house that night.

JMO.

Edited for clarity.

And all this time I was thinking the non-porous bag was merely a large heavy duty plastic bag, but this makes more sense to carry a body in.

That being said, my original thought was the sheet and the plastic bag flew out of the back of the truck, but these bags I don't think would fly out of a truck bed as easily as a plastic bag and a sheet. I just can't figure out how he would have left such a large nylon or polyester bag at the scene. Unless it flew out of the bed of his truck. I guess we'll know in a couple of years.

 

[Deleted member 230544]

I might as well ask now, what exactly is “snark”?

short form for snarky

 

[Bill Carson]

YESSSS... Jose Biaz's team did so. They hired a team of internet people who dropped little nuggets here and there, including at WS, according to some members. There was even a weird moment during the live feed, where one of the defense team had the WS site up on their laptop during a recess, to see what peeps were saying...

You are comparing professional public defenders who work for the State of Colorado to a narcissistic rookie attorney who had ethical problems so severe that he was denied admission to the bar for eight years after law school, and who was only trying to make a name for himself at the expense of his client.

I find it highly inappropriate that so many here are so eager to accuse the Office of the Public Defender of unethical behavior without a shred of evidence beyond a hunch. What is this based on? The fact that women seem to hate SW? We've never observed the fact that women are judgmental of other women? That's not breaking news or anything.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

The charges that we now have were made before the autopsy. I would bet that there is plenty of evidence that we are not privy to.

You think there’s plenty of evidence regarding what’s being implied in the video of the girls playing on the slash pad?

 

[Deleted member 230544]

Weird?? I think very odd and a bit disturbing.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155484713411935

@maeleemae, are you referencing the daughter and the shooting water stream?

 

[Charlot123]

I think all arguments and accusations of character assassination come from the fact that there is a certain dichotomy between the SW as she comes across on her videos, when she is alive, and horrendous, scary, tragic death of her and the kids.

I might admit - watching her videos, I was sometimes thinking, "good teaching material about how not to do family videos". SW comes across as sometimes naive, and sometimes there is too much of her. But I see nothing in them that might warrant such an assault.

OK, CW fell out of love with her and found another woman. But - all this drama is happening in XXI century, in CO, a liberal state. In CO, where divorce is not a problem, and contraception, if you feel trapped in a loveless marriage, is readily available. Likewise, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or preference won't fly. And, first consultation with the attorney might even be free.

So no matter what people say about SW, it does not minimize CW's guilt at all. He had options.

 

[Allabouttrial]

In regards to cases involving family annihilators, this one is unique for two big reasons:

1. The suspect is literally blaming his victim for the crimes.

2. The prolific Facebook activity of SW.

When there is social media to pore over in a family annihilator case, it is never this extensive. In fact, SW’s social media content is off the charts. When you have as many videos as she had, there are bound to be things that are captured, that rub people the wrong way.

People who are perhaps unfamiliar with with cases like this, don’t realize just how common they are.

People who don’t follow murder cases in general (atleast closely), don’t realize that the scenario put forth by CW (specifically his coverup), simply Does Not Happen in real life.

For this reason, they are perhaps open to the idea that SW could have done what CW claims.

When they look at her Facebook videos, they see things that concern them, and this furthers their belief.

And the hate grows.

Of course, CW’s actions were not that of a man who had killed his wife for killing their kids. They were the actions of a man who killed them all.

I agree in all the trials and cases I've followed I've never seen this amount of digital footprint and who knows how much more there is to recover off phones, computers etc.!

 

[Jennifer17]

short form for snarky

Grammatically, snark is the noun, and snarky is the adjective.

 

[Waterdog]

Weird?? I think very odd and a bit disturbing.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155484713411935

Not the slightest bit unusual in that I’ve seen kids do this from 18mo - 8 yrs old, lol, from all different walks of life, every summer for nearly 2 decades.

 

[MassGuy]

I agree in all the trials and cases I've followed I've never seen this amount of digital footprint and who knows how much more there is to recover off phones, computers etc.!

I agree. And I think this case will be solidified by CW’s computer and cell data.

 

[gitana1]

You think they are so unethical that they would intentionally violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, risking a disciplinary sanction and the possible loss of their meal ticket? Hmmm.....

No. They wouldn't be risking a darn thing. And yes, it is my opinion that it is very likely the public defender's office is acting unethically when it comes to spreading vicious nasty gossip or insinuations about Shanann, or more probably encouraging others to do so.

This is my suspicion.

But it's not like they would type a letter instructing people to lie. It would be much more subtle. First just listen to him or his family bash Shanann. Then, "It's terrible. The public has already condemned Chris. I wish the public could know the truth."

And suddenly we see posts on FB about needing to tell the "truth" about Shanann.

I can also see staff members intentionally posting things. Yup. I firmly believe such tactics occur in these high profile cases.

 

[Jennifer17]

You think there’s plenty of evidence regarding what’s being implied in the video of the girls playing on the slash pad?

No, actually I don't.

 

[maeleemae]

I have never heard or read a single description of the John List case that does not go into great detail about what a horrible shrew his wife was.

John List’s wife falsely claimed she was pregnant to get him to marry her. Her health was progressively getting worse due to the fact she was an alcoholic and also had tertiary syphllis which she got from her first husband but never told John. She became a paranoid recluse. She also ridiculed him publicly by comparing his sexual skills unfavorably with those of her first husband.

 

[maeleemae]

There’s nothing that’s alluding to this in the court documents and no evidence supporting that claim.
JMO

I’m pondering, that’s all.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

WWF perhaps, but not high school Greco-Roman wrestling. I could be wrong, but I perceive the latter wrestlers, like Olympic champion Rulon Gardner, as quiet and unassuming.

Edit grammar

In the du Pont murder case, like Mark and Dave Schultz? They were quiet and unassuming, nothing like WWF.

 

[katydid23]

There's no evidence that the defense attorneys are planting rumors or character assasinations in SM as suggested.

If you google defense attorneys and social media, you can see that there has been a meeting of the minds :

THE GUIDE:
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR LAWYERS

Social Media Guide for Law Firms and Lawyers
5. PLAN YOUR CONTENT, SET A POLICY

This sounds rather formal – but it needn’t necessarily be. What you really need to define is what the constraints are on what you are allowed to say in public. Take a moment to think about it, and you’ll find that mostly this is common sense.

Plan what you are going to talk about. Think why it might be interesting to your target audience. Think why they might want to share it. Effective use of social media means creating content that is provocative. That is, it provokes a reaction in the readers such that they want to share it with their friends or engage with you on the topic.

The worst thing you can do is sit on the fence. It’s better to have a strong opinion and be prepared to defend it.

6. HAVE A ROUTINE
For social media to be effective you need to have a routine. Plan what effort you can commit to it and keep to it. Maybe it’s just an hour a day. Schedule some time for that, plan the routine tasks that you will do – e.g. deleting spam, and responding to comments. Be sure to plan the time for creating new content.

7. GET EVERYONE IN YOUR LAW FIRM INVOLVED
One of the challenges of social media can be getting it to scale. The answer can be found in making it a little bit of everyone’s job. Encourage everyone to get online and do their bit. Encourage your fellow lawyers to connect with clients and prospects, and ask them to re-tweet and re-post your good news stories to their followers.

 

[MollyDDD]

To illustrate with a sentence, "I often feel like firing off a snarky comment here on WS, particularly late at night, but I generally just bite my tongue and write, "Respectfully, I disagree..." (LOL hope this sentence, which may or may not be true, is helpful)

Everyone has been very helpful defining “snarky”
to me. Thank you all very much.

 

[Alethea]

You think they are so unethical that they would intentionally violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, risking a disciplinary sanction and the possible loss of their meal ticket? Hmmm.....

How would it be unethical to encourage defense supporters to vocally defend the defendant if they wanted to? How is it any different than prosecutors inviting victim's families to press conferences to make a statement? It's theatrics, sure, but I don't see any ethical issues.