A few statements from Mrs. Watts in the extended interview that caught my attention for various reasons:
The reporter did ask Mrs W. if CW played sports - so that is what prompted her to talk about CW’s love of sports and what sports he played and from what years, etc.
I can understand why she feels that there was nothing that could have predicted how this could have ever happened. Although she says she “never in a million years could have seen anything like this happening to him.” (As opposed to “by him.”)
“She [SW] always said a lot of things about Chris, in front of me, that I didn’t like." [Such as] "He looks like a skater boy.”
When the reporter asked about SW’s pregnancy and if CW was excited:
“No. I don’t think he was. I think it was a shock.”
When her husband called to say SW and the girls were missing, she said:
“I thought - I don’t believe it. I didn’t believe they were missing. I believe that she was going to punish Chris. She was just going to punish him, take the girls, and just punish him.” and “I was not worried. I just thought Shanann had run off. With the girls.”
When CW called his parents:
Mrs. W. asked, “Do you want us to come down now?”
CW said, “Tell Dad I need him. Tell Dad I need him to come down.”
Mrs W. said, “What about me?”
CW said, “No mom, just stay.”
Mrs W. said CW picked up his father from the airport and they drove to the police station and CW didn’t say anything to him. (That sounded believable imo.)
It does sound like she has tried hard to look back and see if there were any signs she should have picked up on. And that she is still not seeing any, other than he was quiet and somewhat socially awkward. I felt sympathy for her. I (imo) don’t think he showed signs or that it’s her fault. And in recent years, she said she only saw them about twice a year. SW left the girls in his care that weekend. She didn’t feel the girls were in danger.
She sounds really, really stuck on the fact that CW told his father he didn’t do this and then the next thing they knew, he was taking a plea. It seems like that is supporting her magical thinking that maybe he didn’t do this. She so has a need to hear from him that he did what he is pleading to. I think she would believe it if he told her directly. (Justify it by what had triggered it, but believe it.)
His public defender said they could talk to CW after sentencing, but she is afraid that will be too late if he tells them after the fact that he took a plea but “really” didn’t do it.
I feel for her when I see how much she’s struggling to accept this. She truly needs this spelled out to her by CW that this is the truth. Otherwise, she is grasping to the hope that she doesn’t have to believe this. “Because he told his dad he didn’t do it.” She is stuck on that.
She also said that the public defenders told her they don't know what happened - only CW knows what happened. Based on that, she wants to conclude that what he said in the affidavit has to be the true story. But she does concede that they told her they would defend him if he wanted to go forward, but he didn’t want to go forward.
Her comments about SW sound bitter and spiteful, but I do sympathize for how conflicted she feels about her son pleading guilty to these crimes. It's like as long as she only has to think it's a "plea" - a concession he made in order to avoid the death penalty, she's in denial that he is admitting that he is guilty. She also doesn’t grasp that parents of adults don’t get to meddle in a criminal case and participate in his strategy talks.
Everything IMO.
