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

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AUGUST 17, 2018
Friends, Neighbors To Gather To Remember Pregnant Mother, Girls Murdered

“For all of us to start grieving because even if you didn’t know them, this is hard,” Trippy explained.

Neighbors say the vigil is a way for those who knew the family, and even those who didn’t to honor Shanann, Celeste and Bella.

“For me, it’s saying im sorry it happened to you. Im really sorry it happened to you,” Trippy said, teary eyed. “You didn’t deserve it; your daughters didn’t deserve this.”
 
AUGUST 17, 2018
The scent of death: Police dogs and the Chris Watts investigation

If a K-9 alerted its handler to the scent of death, Hribar said it might have been easier for detectives to convince Watts to confess.

It's not known if that happened in this case because the arrest affidavit remains sealed and even when it's unsealed, those details might not be released.
 
AUGUST 17, 2018
Colorado girls' bodies were submerged in crude oil 4 days

Prosecutors will ask a court to unseal the affidavit for Watts' arrest after filing formal charges, which are due by mid- afternoon on Monday, said Krista Henery, a spokeswoman for district attorney Michael Rourke.

Family and friends of Shanann Watts are left searching for answers, trying to reconcile Watts' cheery Facebook posts about her daughters, her pregnancy and her love for her husband with the pending charges.
 
Hundreds pack vigil for Watts family

“At the vigil, the focus was on the family and how people loved them and will miss them.“

———-

Chris Watts case: Everything we know so far about the alleged murders of his wife, daughters

“The affidavit for his arrest, which was sealed Wednesday night as the police investigation continues, could be unsealed Monday if charges are filed, officials said Thursday. The unsealed affidavit would likely provide more details about what police know that led them to arrest Watts in the deaths of his family.“
 
“On Thursday evening, several high-ranking sources told Denver7's Jennifer Kovaleski that the bodies of the two young girls were found inside oil and gas tanks that "were mostly full." The high ranking sources told Kovaleski they believe Watts placed the bodies of 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste in the oil and gas tanks in order to conceal the smell from passersby.“

Chris Watts case: Everything we know so far about the alleged murders of his wife, daughters
 
“There are 38 states that have fetal homicide laws on the books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, thought Colorado is not one of them. However, Colorado does have several criminal statutes that apply specifically to crimes committed against pregnant women. Perhaps chief among them is the state’s “unlawful termination of a pregnancy” statute, which is a class 3 felony.

“Under both Colorado statute as it’s interpreted by the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado case law, unless a child is born alive and is then killed after living independently from the mother, it’s virtually impossible to bring a homicide charge,” former Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett told Denver7 in an interview Thursday.

He said that it seems extremely unlikely a fourth murder charge would be filed should prosecutors go that route.

“I don’t know the fact patterns of the case, but it will be virtually impossible to file a murder charge in connection with the death of the unborn child,” Garnett said. “Colorado requires that the child live outside of the mother’s womb independently and then be killed as a result of something that occurs then.”

But he said that the prosecutor overseeing the Watts case, Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke, is an “excellent” DA and that he believes that it’s possible that unlawful termination of a pregnancy charges are brought against Chris Watts.

“The reality is a district attorney doesn’t charge a case based on public outcry, he charges it based on what the evidence is and what the law is,” Garnett said.“

Chris Watts case: Everything we know so far about the alleged murders of his wife, daughters
 
Documents: Defense filing suggests Watts girls were strangled

In one of the motions, Merson suggested that time was critical, writing, “The autopsies for this case are scheduled to begin in 20 minutes.”

“That motion was filed at 9:55 a.m. Friday.

In an attachment to the motion, Merson included an e-mail in which Eikelenboom expressed his “expert opinion that DNA evidence would remain on the necks of the decedent children in spite of the fact that the remains were in oil for four days.””
 
““In my opinion the presence of oil will not destroy the DNA,” Eikelenboom said, according to the defense’s motion asking that the specific DNA samples be taken.

A Weld County District judge denied the requests.“

Snip

“The Weld County Coroner’s Office completed autopsies on the three bodies Friday and confirmed that they were those of the mother and the girls.“

Frederick girls may have been strangled to death, defense motion suggests
 
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AUGUST 18, 2018
Colorado dad's lawyer seeks DNA samples from daughters' bodies, but judge rejects forensics expert: report

The defense attorney filed a motion Friday requesting that DNA samples be taken from the recovered bodies of Shanann Watts, and daughters Bella and Celeste Watts. But a Weld County District judge dismissed the motion, citing concerns about the credibility of the forensic expert consulted by the attorney, the Denver Post reported.

But according to the Post, Eikelenboom admitted during a 2016 sexual assault trial that he had no experience with DNA extraction or analysis and a Denver District Court judge subsequently barred Eikelenboom from testifying as an expert witness.
 
AUGUST 17, 2018
Report: Security video shows Watts loading bags into pickup

It is reported that video from a neighbor's security camera shows Watts backed his pickup truck into the garage at 5 am on Monday, filling the back of the truck with several large bags and a gas can. Also, that police say they have a confession and now they have the evidence.
 
Chris Watts and Scott Peterson: The terrifying similarities in two murder cases that captivated America
Yeager said that he believes Chris probably thought he would be able to get away with his alleged crimes because his ego is so inflated. He said: "His ability to lie is very clear. He is a manipulator. And for manipulators, their ego is so high, they see the people that are holding them back as objects they can dispose of. From that interview, you can tell he has convinced himself this is good for him and it’s very Machiavellian in that regard."
Click to expand...
 
margarita25 said:
““In my opinion the presence of oil will not destroy the DNA,” Eikelenboom said, according to the defense’s motion asking that the specific DNA samples be taken.

A Weld County District judge denied the requests.“

Snip

“The Weld County Coroner’s Office completed autopsies on the three bodies Friday and confirmed that they were those of the mother and the girls.“

Frederick girls may have been strangled to death, defense motion suggests
Click to expand...
Bumping this...the judge denied the request.
 
Man Accused of Slaying Pregnant Wife & Kids Is 'Scott Peterson, Just Less Charismatic': Profiler
“He has an incredibly large ego,” says Dale Yeager, a criminal analyst and forensic profiler who is unconnected with the case. “He was very convincing in front of the camera, which means he really comes off as sociopathic. That doesn’t mean he is mentally ill, just that he has a personality defect.”
Man Accused of Slaying Pregnant Wife & Kids Is 'Scott Peterson, Just Less Charismatic': Profiler
 
AUGUST 18, 2018
Pregnant Colorado mom Shannan Watts was buried in shallow grave in oil field, court documents reveal | Daily Mail Online

In Friday's filing, defense lawyer Megan Ring wrote that she wants to make sure DNA from the little girls’ bodies is maintained and she has not been able to ascertain whether the prosecution is taking steps to do so.

‘It does not seem clear that the coroner, pathologist, or anyone working on behalf of the prosecution team in autopsy plan to take swabs of the necks of the two decedent children,’ she said in a two-page filing to a court in Weld County, Colorado.

She specifically asked for ‘several swabs of the neck’ to be taken, along with control swabs on other parts of the girls’ bodies. She said without a defense expert taking the swabs that evidence could be ‘lost forever.’

Ring asked that DNA expert Richard Eikelenboom be allowed to do the testing, saying that he believed that DNA would remain on the necks of the girls ‘in spite of the fact that the remains were in oil for four days’ - revealing for the first time that the bodies were hidden on Monday.
 
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