GUILTY CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *CW LWOP* #72

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@BeanieBod said:
View attachment 215985
As a follow up to this post, this hearing on 11/22 is scheduled for 3 hours...
Snipped by me

I don't think "Len" on the docket means hearing length and/or 3 hours. I believe this notation is for courtroom location but I will try to confirm with the court public information officer.

No idea what transpired at the 11/22/19 hearing but my guess is the hearing was continued until the residence sells. MOO
 

Thanks, from your link

"Criminal Confessions will return for its third season on Oxygen on Saturday, Dec. 7 with a special 90-minute episode featuring the lead investigators on the Chris Watts case."
 
Please pardon if this is the 15th time this has been posted :)

Chris Watts murders turned into Lifetime movie set to air in January
A North Carolina native who killed his pregnant wife and two daughters last year will now be the focus of a new Lifetime movie.

[ALSO READ: Chris Watts case: A year after brutal murders, scars linger for loved ones, cops]

Chris Watts killed his wife Shanann and their daughters, 3-year-old Celeste and 4-year-old Bella, in Colorado in August 2018.

He pleaded guilty in November 2018 to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to five life terms, including three to be served consecutively, plus 85 years.
[...]
Lifetime confirmed the movie will premiere Jan. 25 at 8 p.m.

[ALSO READ: Petition seeks to remove Chris Watts' family photos from cell]
Click to expand...
CHRIS WATTS LIFETIME MOVIE: Chris Watts murders turned into Lifetime movie; set to air in January
 
Christopher Watts agrees to pay $6 million to parents of Shanann Watts in wrongful death lawsuit

Nov 25, 2019

Christopher Watts agreed to pay $6 million to the parents of Shanann Watts, his pregnant wife whom he murdered in their Frederick home last year, though the family likely will never see any of the money. bbm

A judge ordered last week that Watts pay the $6 million to Frank and Sandy Rzucek, marking the end of the civil case. The couple filed the lawsuit last year on the same day that Watts pleaded guilty to killing his family, including two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, and dumping the three bodies on a Weld County oil site.

The figure includes $1 million for each of the deaths and $3 million for emotional pain. The amount owed will grow at an 8 percent annual interest rate.

[...]

The Rzuceks declined to comment on the finding through their Greeley attorney, Steven Lambert. The attorney previously said the family filed the lawsuit to collect any money Watts might have and to keep him from profiting from the murders should he ever decide to write a book or sell the rights to his story. Watts is serving a life sentence in the Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.

Watts never fought the civil lawsuit and on Nov. 5 agreed to the $6 million finding. bbm

ETA:
It's well documented that the Watts owned few assets out right, and I believe the civil lawsuit was more a formality.

While the federal "Son of Sam" statute adopted by the majority of the States was written to prohibit defendants from profiting from their crime, the law has not been without challenges.

Colorado is one of the States that had to repeal it's statute and replace it with another one. It seems to me that securing a civil judgement is required to for the statute to be effective and/or foolproof.

MOO
 
Christopher Watts agrees to pay $6 million to parents of Shanann Watts in wrongful death lawsuit

Nov 25, 2019

Christopher Watts agreed to pay $6 million to the parents of Shanann Watts, his pregnant wife whom he murdered in their Frederick home last year, though the family likely will never see any of the money. bbm

A judge ordered last week that Watts pay the $6 million to Frank and Sandy Rzucek, marking the end of the civil case. The couple filed the lawsuit last year on the same day that Watts pleaded guilty to killing his family, including two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, and dumping the three bodies on a Weld County oil site.

The figure includes $1 million for each of the deaths and $3 million for emotional pain. The amount owed will grow at an 8 percent annual interest rate.

[...]

The Rzuceks declined to comment on the finding through their Greeley attorney, Steven Lambert. The attorney previously said the family filed the lawsuit to collect any money Watts might have and to keep him from profiting from the murders should he ever decide to write a book or sell the rights to his story. Watts is serving a life sentence in the Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.

Watts never fought the civil lawsuit and on Nov. 5 agreed to the $6 million finding. bbm

ETA:
It's well documented that the Watts owned few assets out right, and I believe the civil lawsuit was more a formality.

While the federal "Son of Sam" statute adopted by the majority of the States was written to prohibit defendants from profiting from their crime, the law has not been without challenges.

Colorado is one of the States that had to repeal it's statute and replace it with another one. It seems to me that securing a civil judgement is required to for the statute to be effective and/or foolproof.

MOO
Better that they got the civil judgement than not, but it’s only a moral victory if that. Though well worth it if that’s what was required so CW couldn’t profit. I just wish the civil defendant list included his rotten mother.

If CW was at all remorseful he’d demand that Letters to Christopher author (and anyone else like her) pay a hefty percent of every dollar they earn from the horror to the Rzucek family. But he hasn’t. Any talk of him being “sorry” is just spin. Anyone publicizing he’s sorry is just perpetuating the spin and ought to be ashamed of themselves. Or have their head examined. Or both. IMO
 
I don't know about anyone else but it seems too soon for all these tv movies. I can't imagine grieving these murders when it's rehashed over and over and over. I wish the producers and cable networks would donate their profits instead of capitalizing on four innocent lives lost. How they live with themselves, I don't understand.

I'm glad the Rzuceks got the judgement against CW and hope that it serves whatever legal restrictions against CW there could possibly be.

Too bad they couldn't get a binding agreement that neither CW or his evil family will ever utter another word about his crimes or the beautiful family he annihilated.
 
I don't know about anyone else but it seems too soon for all these tv movies. I can't imagine grieving these murders when it's rehashed over and over and over. I wish the producers and cable networks would donate their profits instead of capitalizing on four innocent lives lost. How they live with themselves, I don't understand.

I'm glad the Rzuceks got the judgement against CW and hope that it serves whatever legal restrictions against CW there could possibly be.

Too bad they couldn't get a binding agreement that neither CW or his evil family will ever utter another word about his crimes or the beautiful family he annihilated.
Does anyone know if Lifetime has to get permission from family members or victims before a movie is made about the crime? TIA.
 
What does "Frederick" refer to in this thread's title?

And can someone edit the title to include Nico Watts? He may have been an unborn child but he lost his life all the same. He deserves to be remembered along with the rest of the family.
 
What does "Frederick" refer to in this thread's title?

And can someone edit the title to include Nico Watts? He may have been an unborn child but he lost his life all the same. He deserves to be remembered along with the rest of the family.
Frederick is the name of the town where the Watt's lived and where the initial missing person's case was filed.

When the thread title was created, we didn't know Nico's name but if you want to request a mod to add it now (a very nice idea, btw :) ), click on the "Report" button at the bottom of your post. MOO
 
Frederick is the name of the town where the Watt's lived and where the initial missing person's case was filed.

When the thread title was created, we didn't know Nico's name but if you want to request a mod to add it now (a very nice idea, btw :) ), click on the "Report" button at the bottom of your post. MOO
Thanks heaps @PommyMommy

Appreciate you answering my questions :)
 
Oxygen
November 25 at 7:30 PM ·
For the first time, lead investigators at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation are speaking out about the Watts case.

If you want to get tons of episode exclusives, like early access to the first act of the special, make sure you're signed up for Oxygen's Detective's Den:

https://www.oxygen.com/detectives-den
 
Thank You. That is what I thought also.
In this case they contacted the family not for permission but because they wanted interviews. The family declined the interviews but couldn’t do anything to stop the movie from being made.

In cases like this the pitch often is “Look, this movie is going to be made without you. We want to interview you to make sure we’re being accurate.”. If they request preview and/or approval rights family and other “witnesses” are told No, we can’t give you the right to preview/approve the end result. If it were up to me we would, but we can’t”.

What they really mean IMO based on what I’ve seen is we want as many new juicy details as possible and maybe will air part of your interview to add credibility or pull at heartstrings. But at the end of the day we’ll pick and choose what information we use and how we use it. We’re going to tell the story we want to tell, not a story that’s necessarily accurate.
 
In this case they contacted the family not for permission but because they wanted interviews. The family declined the interviews but couldn’t do anything to stop the movie from being made.

In cases like this the pitch often is “Look, this movie is going to be made without you. We want to interview you to make sure we’re being accurate.”. If they request preview and/or approval rights family and other “witnesses” are told No, we can’t give you the right to preview/approve the end result. If it were up to me we would, but we can’t”.

What they really mean IMO based on what I’ve seen is we want as many new juicy details as possible and maybe will air part of your interview to add credibility or pull at heartstrings. But at the end of the day we’ll pick and choose what information we use and how we use it. We’re going to tell the story we want to tell, not a story that’s necessarily accurate.
Makes sense. Thank you.
 
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