CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *Arrest* #8

[Kellyn L Latham]

Did anyone else notice that his story is very similar to the testimony in the movie "True Story". Like is he really stupid enough to copy a movie?

If you haven't seen the movie:
True Story (2015) - IMDb
At the trial, Longo takes the stand and describes his version of the events in detail. He claims that, after an argument with his wife about their financial situation, he had come home to discover two of his children missing, one of his daughters unconscious, and his wife sobbing, saying that she put the children "in the water". Longo says that he strangled his wife to death in a blind rage. He says he thought his other daughter was dead at first, but then realized that she was still breathing and strangled her as well because she was all but dead.

 

[Deleted member 229213]

I believe when I was watching the news that day the truck was parked down the street, I'll see if I can find a clip.

Although it just dawned on me the truck was towed a couple days after she went missing. I'm not sure where he parked that first day he came flying home, blasting through red lights.

Either way, his story is full of doodoo, imo.

Night time scene of the Watts home as investigators tow the truck of Chris Watts

It (the truck) was 2-3 houses down from his.

 

[Hraefn]

I keep wondering why Shannan was buried in a shallow grave while the girls were disposed of in oil tanks. The only answer I can come up with is the girls were murdered and disposed of first. When he came back with Shannan, maybe somebody was around, he was afraid he would be seen, so he drove to a secluded area and quickly buried her, but planned to return at a later date and put her in an oil tank when no one was around. I’m guessing that a body would remain undiscovered for years an oil tank, and that was his thinking.

I'm guessing he couldn't carry Shannan up the ladder to put her in the tank and also he may have been too tired from digging the one grave to attempt to dig more. Locals have commented the ground is dense and hard. Gosh this breaks my heart.

 

[DAdvocate]

That's the way I understood it, but it might be wrong. I *think* I remember reading that she earned it for 10 months last year, meaning that she had to pay 2 out of pocket.

I know we're not meant to mention other SM sites but since this case came about I've been doing a TON of research on Thrive and MSMs in general. I joined a few forums that are "anti MLMs" and the testimonials and posts are amazing. Talk about falling down a rabbit hole.

And then yesterday a friend came over. I noticed the Thrive patch on her leg right away. Spent an hour grilling her about it. I am completely fascinated with this aspect of the case.

I can’t imagine the stress involved in having to live and provide for your family this way.

 

[PommyMommy]

Given this context, it's possible his truck was parked there because he was staying at the neighbors', right? Obviously, he wouldn't be at work and at some point he'd gone to pick up his dad at airport.

I'm not aware of whether or not NT and AT live in that neighborhood or what time he picked his father up at the airport. I thought it was earlier in the day, but I could be wrong. Anyone know?

 

[Layla123]

And she reacted.

I don’t think there was enough time to jump from finding out about an affair to strangling your kids. Plus she was pregnant. She still would have another kid to deal with. It doesn’t seem like a logical jump. I think you need to go through a few hours of anger, pain, betrayal, acceptance, etc., before you come up with a plan of action to murder your kids. The first reaction would be to want to get him to change his mind. There were only 3 hours there. There’s nothing in her history about rash emotional behavior.

 

[MrsWatson]

I believe it was said they are "given" $800 in "product" which in essence maybe frees up $800 elsewhere in the family budget they are "encouraged" to put toward leasing a Lexus??? Is this true? And is it how they all (MLMs) work?

Hopefully someone here can explain it so it's more clear to us.

YES PLEASE

 

[Deleted member 229213]

Given this context, it's possible his truck was parked there because he was staying at the neighbors', right? Obviously, he wouldn't be at work and at some point he'd gone to pick up his dad at airport.

He was staying at Nick & Amanda Thayers house. And they are not neighbors they are just friends of the Watts. This is their interview...

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[PommyMommy]

Did anyone else notice that his story is very similar to the testimony in the movie "True Story". Like is he really stupid enough to copy a movie?

If you haven't seen the movie:
True Story (2015) - IMDb
At the trial, Longo takes the stand and describes his version of the events in detail. He claims that, after an argument with his wife about their financial situation, he had come home to discover two of his children missing, one of his daughters unconscious, and his wife sobbing, saying that she put the children "in the water". Longo says that he strangled his wife to death in a blind rage. He says he thought his other daughter was dead at first, but then realized that she was still breathing and strangled her as well because she was all but dead.

Welcome to Websleuths, Kelly!

I think someone made the comparison very early on. Crazy, huh? And yes, he is that stupid IMO.

 

[mtnlites]

I keep wondering why Shannan was buried in a shallow grave while the girls were disposed of in oil tanks. The only answer I can come up with is the girls were murdered and disposed of first. When he came back with Shannan, maybe somebody was around, he was afraid he would be seen, so he drove to a secluded area and quickly buried her, but planned to return at a later date and put her in an oil tank when no one was around. I’m guessing that a body would remain undiscovered for years an oil tank, and that was his thinking.

A few people have explained this well. Dead bodies are heavy and he had to climb rather high to dispose of them in the tank. Simple answer is that Shanann was just too heavy for him to carry. (There's also a chance that the opening wasn't big enough for her.) I think he planned on putting her in there but couldn't lift her so he had to improvise.

 

[DAdvocate]

I don’t think there was enough time to jump from finding out about an affair to strangling your kids. Plus she was pregnant. She still would have another kid to deal with. It doesn’t seem like a logical jump. I think you need to go through a few hours of anger, pain, betrayal, acceptance, etc., before you come up with a plan of action to murder your kids. The first reaction would be to want to get him to change his mind. There were only 3 hours there. There’s nothing in her history about rash emotional behavior.

I would say we don’t know a lot about the mental history of both.

 

[mtnlites]

I can’t imagine the stress involved in having to live and provide for your family this way.

Yeah, that sounds totally stressful to me as well. I'm an author and my husband manages the business side of my writing. It's like any small business-you have good months and bad months. It can be feast or famine and I imagine that selling Thrive was the same way.

 

[ethoma12002]

I'm sure the police interrogation put unbearable pressure on him. They let him know that his story didn't add up, that they knew he was lying, that they knew he had killed his family, and then they guilted him into telling where the bodies were. "You are just going to let your sweet daughters lie in a ditch somewhere? Tell us where they are. I'll tell the judge you cooperated with the investigation."

Also, the affidavit indicated that they already found the blanket due to a fly-over before questioning him. So they probably already knew they were in that tank.

 

[Amandaaa]

Added to the (long) list of things that stand out to me:

If you’re going to take a sheet to transport/wrap a body, the top sheet is the easiest to grab. If the bottom sheet was used, I would expect there to be a specific reason for that (body was already on the sheet, or the sheet was in the linen closet and was the first thing available). I *believe* the matching top sheet and pillow cases were found in the trash...which (to me) means the fitted sheet was with the body.



It’s also interesting - this case is a prime example of “reasonable minds may differ”, where different people draw very different conclusions based upon the same facts.

I didn’t think twice about the doll covered up with the twister sheet... my kids would easily have done something like that when they were younger.

Same with the 6 week visit to NC... we have had many summers where my kids visited family for extended periods of time. They used to stay in Sweden with their grandmother for 6 weeks - I would stay for 2 or 3, but if I’d had a more flexible job I would have stayed for much longer. Not because I was trying to get away from something at home - simply because when I traveled with little kids, getting there (and paying for the tickets) was such a process that we just stayed as long as we could. My husband would sometimes come with us for a week or two - but sometimes not. Unfortunately, work schedules and demands don’t always allow for that luxury.

 

[MrsWatson]

That's the way I understood it, but it might be wrong. I *think* I remember reading that she earned it for 10 months last year, meaning that she had to pay 2 out of pocket.

I know we're not meant to mention other SM sites but since this case came about I've been doing a TON of research on Thrive and MSMs in general. I joined a few forums that are "anti MLMs" and the testimonials and posts are amazing. Talk about falling down a rabbit hole.

And then yesterday a friend came over. I noticed the Thrive patch on her leg right away. Spent an hour grilling her about it. I am completely fascinated with this aspect of the case.

Me too. We have former friends who went down a MLM path. I was a bookkeeper for umpteen years and I can never figure out the pay structures. Very mysterious and not at all straightforward.

 

[bluesneakers]

That's the way I understood it, but it might be wrong. I *think* I remember reading that she earned it for 10 months last year, meaning that she had to pay 2 out of pocket.

I know we're not meant to mention other SM sites but since this case came about I've been doing a TON of research on Thrive and MSMs in general. I joined a few forums that are "anti MLMs" and the testimonials and posts are amazing. Talk about falling down a rabbit hole.

And then yesterday a friend came over. I noticed the Thrive patch on her leg right away. Spent an hour grilling her about it. I am completely fascinated with this aspect of the case.

They make it confusing and enticing on purpose. It sounds so easy, but we've all seen people get sucked into MLMs and they take over their lives and/or they go broke selling crap. When she posted about being blocked and unfriended I 100% believed her. The people who shill this stuff force their friends to block them, avoid them, ignore them.

In real life too. I stopped visiting a friend who sold jewelry. Every event at her house (potluck, movie night, birthdays) was just another chance for her to pressure us to buy her crap.

 

[Layla123]

A few people have explained this well. Dead bodies are heavy and he had to climb rather high to dispose of them in the tank. Simple answer is that Shanann was just too heavy for him to carry. (There's also a chance that the opening wasn't big enough for her.) I think he planned on putting her in there but couldn't lift her so he had to improvise.

But a shallow grave? Plus, wouldn’t he be worried about the decomposition odor? It doesn’t seem consistent to me.

 

[Satchie]

Did anyone else notice that his story is very similar to the testimony in the movie "True Story". Like is he really stupid enough to copy a movie?

If you haven't seen the movie:
True Story (2015) - IMDb
At the trial, Longo takes the stand and describes his version of the events in detail. He claims that, after an argument with his wife about their financial situation, he had come home to discover two of his children missing, one of his daughters unconscious, and his wife sobbing, saying that she put the children "in the water". Longo says that he strangled his wife to death in a blind rage. He says he thought his other daughter was dead at first, but then realized that she was still breathing and strangled her as well because she was all but dead.

Totally possible he remembered that.

I remembered Longo the other day as having killed his children but not himself (like most family annihilators seem to do). But I didn't know that was his defense.

Since Longo is on Death Row, it's not so great an excuse, but maybe this was grasping at straws.

 

[Deleted member 229213]

I don’t think there was enough time to jump from finding out about an affair to strangling your kids. Plus she was pregnant. She still would have another kid to deal with. It doesn’t seem like a logical jump. I think you need to go through a few hours of anger, pain, betrayal, acceptance, etc., before you come up with a plan of action to murder your kids. The first reaction would be to want to get him to change his mind. There were only 3 hours there. There’s nothing in her history about rash emotional behavior.

Plus she has lupus and fibromyalgia and is in her first trimester (I threw up all the time in my first trimester and was miserable) and she was travelling and on a delayed flight in a airtube filled of germs (IE Airplane)...I am certain she felt like poo and was exhausted. I highly doubt she was in the mood to kill her kids because her jackhole of a hubby has been throwing his peep around town. JMO.

 

[PommyMommy]

But a shallow grave? Plus, wouldn’t he be worried about the decomposition odor? It doesn’t seem consistent to me.

What other options do you think he may have had at that point when he had already driven almost an hour with at least one dead body, possibly three, and had to be at work that morning?