I am having trouble believing Chris Watts when he says it was a rage killing. Chris Watts said in the audio that he rarely got mad and angry. Chris Watts admits he was a passive individual who was comfortable going with the flow and not upsetting Shanann by disagreeing with her. While he admits Shanann was never violent, he says she had her mom’s temper and was social. Chris was the quiet introvert that was desperate to please rather than engage in confrontation. However, he lacks empathy on a dangerous level.
I think Chris Watts is incapable of empathy. Personally, I honestly think his lack of empathy could be pathological. I think Chris Watts planned their murders. I think he enjoyed feeling respected by NK, enjoyed NK wanting to have sex with him all the time, and liked that NK made him feel “like himself” and “in control”. He says NK allowed him to make decisions and choose.
To be blunt, Chris was a big baby his entire life. He followed Mommy, was compliant in allowing Mommy make all of his decisions, and was more comfortable letting Shanann make all of his decisions instead of “getting her mad”by telling her “No”. NK made Chris feel like a “grown up” and being an individual who lacks empathy, he decided he liked his life with NK better and believed he could outsmart LE by throwing his family away as if they were disposable because to Chris, everyone except for himself is disposable. Agent Coder asks him about "As a family man, were you attempting to 'go with them'?" in regards to murdering the children and committing suicide but Chris stumbles around it and says "I feel I didn't deserve to live" but IMO it's another lie.
Chris Watts is a proven liar. Chris also cares about how people perceive him. He doesn't want his employers to know he's a bad guy because "they think I'm a good guy". Chris would rather avoid problems than say "No" and make someone mad. Chris did not want the case to go to trial and "make it worse" and was embarrassed "all of Shanann's Thrive friends knew". He apologized to Agent Coder for lying to him. Given this, I think Chris believes it looks "better" for the public to think it was rage killing than: a monster who brutally annihilated his pregnant wife and little children in order to live with a mistress. Chris wanted to be the victim and say "Shanann left with the kids and ran away." Chris wanted to be the victim and say "Shanann did it". Now, Chris wants to be the victim who was bullied by Shanann and bullied by CO prison inmates.