Found Deceased CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *CW GUILTY* #49

[NuttMegg]

I do wonder if the person that wrote the letter to the judge even knew if that was going to be public knowledge, and plastered all over the Internet with a response from the court?

There is a blacked out spot to the right of the judge's name, I wonder if that is another person or an address.

 

[gitana1]

THANK YOU for posting this! Kudos to Judge Kopcow.

The judge had no choice. A judge isn't just allowed to call a defendant's mother! Lol.

Why aren't these people getting some legal advice of some sort? Real legal advice, not silly "mean girl" gossipers.

 

[NuttMegg]

Yes. It's embarrassing.

I would think the Watts family could find some attorney willing to talk to them, explain the process and how they can advocate for their son, without further harming their family's reputation and without relying on gosspiy and sensationalistic podcasters for legal assistance.

They were used by the podcasters. If this case hits a conclusion the gals are stuck with reviewing Jack the Ripper and selling mugs.

 

[Jennifer17]

There is a blacked out spot to the right of the judge's name, I wonder if that is another person or an address.

I would say that that was the person who typed the letter as 'per name of person'.

 

[smucklecrumble]

I agree, I'm familiar with this too (not with my parents though, TG!), soothing, walking on eggshells......I had the same reaction, nauseated. CW's mum probably didn't like being on camera but she could have walked along side Shanann. Idk,

Not funny but made me laugh as she seems to like being on camera now with all these interviews

 

[SaguaroSpirit]

So agree! The podcasts hosts have absolutely no experience/education with this. They think they can insert themselves into this to make a name for themselves.

Oh, I'm sure they've made SEVERAL names for themselves, none of them complementary.

 

[gitana1]

Thank you, this was a written comment they made “ the degree he pled too is irrelevant because that would have been decided by a jury, it doesn’t matter what the charge is.” Umm no, if his defense could have pled it down to a lesser charge they would have, the degree is very relevant. They go on to say a plea is just an agreement, not an admission of guilt, that is also decided by a jury.

Holy smokes. Not the sharpest tools in the shed.

Yes it's an admission of guilt. If it was an Alford plea it would be different. And of course different degrees of homicide have vastly different sentencing options.

Holy smokes.

1st degree murder = Minimum is life in prison (with a chance of parole) to LWOP, and the maximum is death.

2nd degree murder = Minimum is 16 years, maximum is 48.

2nd degree murder reduced to a 3rd degree felony due to "heat of passion", (which is what the Watts family and his gullible supporters think is the case) = Minimum is 4 years in prison, maximum is 15.

Lord have mercy.

 

[MassGuy]

They were used by the podcasters. If this case hits a conclusion the gals are stuck with reviewing Jack the Ripper and selling mugs.

Exactly. There has always got to be a new twist, a new revelation, or they lose relevance.

They could have potentially kept this going for years, if not for his plea deal and forthcoming sentencing.

You just hate to see that!

 

[Nudgee]

Screenshots of the court docs for your reading pleasure...

I may have missed something while trying to catch up, but after reading these letters sent to the court on behalf of the Watts family, I have a quick question for @gitana1 (to go with all the others you get..... so Thankful for your time and guidance throughout this case). Anyway, it seems like the DA's office has been guiding SW's family through this process. Would the same be true for the PD's office with the Watts family? I'm just wondering why NOW CW's family seems so in the dark. Couldn't they have engaged themselves with the PD's office all this time with questions/guidance/assistance??? TIA

 

[tmar]

I noticed in the court filing from CW asking for limited media coverage of the sentencing, which was thankfully overruled, that they mention this case has received national coverage and attention. I just want to give a shout out to all of our international WS members on this case, proving that this case has received international coverage! I'm sure that would really anger CW to know that. He's infamous around the world.

This media coverage during sentencing is so pleasing.
Yep, even here, on the other side of the globe, we will know.
I would think, here, Websleuths will be packed, with our comments about the proceedings.
Hope there won't be any glitches, as some of us, wish to hear everything presented.
MOO.

 

[Not a Belle]

The judge had no choice. A judge isn't just allowed to call a defendant's mother! Lol.

Exactly! It read to me as if she thought she was going to schedule a parent-teacher conference for his mother.

 

[gitana1]

This just blows my mind, I know they are exhausting any avenue, throwing everything at it and hoping something sticks, but good grief, hire an attorney. I wonder if they have approached attorneys and been turned down because it is a lost cause. Usually high profile cases will draw out legal help pro bono for the exposure the lawyer will get.

Yes but at least for an hour consult with a CO criminal defense attorney who handles murder, who can explain the process. It would be worth 300-600 bucks for them.

 

[PommyMommy]

this is concerning:

Did Prosecutors Screw Up the Chris Watts Case? | Law & Crime

Did Prosecutors Screw Up the Chris Watts Case by Leaving Him Room to Wiggle Out of Guilty Plea?

• 
  MATT NAHAM NOV 14, 2018 1:38 PM

“What I do find to be unusual in this case … is that I would have required a proffer session with the defendant, where he would have sat down in order to be spared the death penalty,” Bianchi said. “He would have spilled the beans on everything, from A to Z, we would have known what the motive is, which we don’t know right now, and he would have clearly allocuted in court, got up and said this is why I did it.”

“The only way he’s going to get out of this is … a belated assertion of innocence is not a basis to withdraw a plea,” Bianchi continued. “However, his lawyers didn’t do any psychiatric examinations and the mother points this out. And that could a be huge deal here.”

“Maybe he did go into a rage. Maybe there’s an insanity defense or a diminished capacity defense. That takes it out of murder and makes it a non-death penalty case,” he added. “[T]hat would be the only sliver of a basis that he could withdraw this plea.”

Bianchi got his information that CW didn't have a psych evaluation from CW's mother. How does she know that if they've had one 30-minute visit and she wasn't allowed to discuss the case with CW?

I agree, I'm familiar with this too (not with my parents though, TG!), soothing, walking on eggshells......I had the same reaction, nauseated. CW's mum probably didn't like being on camera but she could have walked along side Shanann. Idk,

She didn't seem to mind the cameras yesterday.

Haaaa. Judging by her inability to grasp the fact that CW’s Constitutional rights aren’t being violated, she very well may have been unaware that this document would be published by the court.

Or she just wants attention.

I'm still lost as to what constitutional rights they think have been violated. ?
MOO

 

[stereopticons]

You've just made me think of something. The tanks are a much 'better' hiding place than the shallow grave. What if the shallow grave was plan B? If that was plan B, then what would plan A have been and why couldn't he achieve plan A?

He ought to have been aware enough of the size of the holes on the tanks and that Shanann couldn't go in one and the girls in the other ... if weight distribution was one of his concerns it would be a higher differential than putting one girl in each tank, but that could have been plan A?

It's possible that it was the reverse, that trying to dig a deeper and larger grave was too much work and he looked up and saw the tanks and figured that would be an option, but that would only work for the girls, so he had to separate the bodies.

Where was the sheet from the bed? Was it laying loose nearby or was it part of the 'grave'? Then there's the plastic bag that might have had a footprint on it.

I think once CW got to the oil site he felt he had to leave the bodies there, but his original plan might not have worked and so he decided to do it this way, and it's left the site a little bit haphazard?

@stereopticons ... how many murderers would have that much awareness of the psychology of not wanting to put the bodies together for the reason CW's father says that CW told him? It doesn't even make any logical sense as the girls were in those vile tanks and weren't even 'huddled up together' as CW said he hoped they were in his media interview. What was the real reason for three distinctly separate, though relatively close, locations? What did CW really think Shanann had done to deserve to be separated from the girls? Is he talking about in life or in death? Because if that is the truth of what he said, and the truth of what he was feeling at some point, then it carries insight if we can unravel the clues? It seems reminiscent of a family annihilator who murders to punish the victims, like when they murder the children to punish an ex-spouse.

Btw by saying a 'better' hiding place I only mean from the perspective of a murderer trying to cover up his crime, I am not suggesting that it's in any way reasonable or decent.

I don’t know...is that even really a knowledge of psychology? Maybe if he gave the girls a respectful burial that showed remorse and dumped SW somewhere, I’d believe him, but he did the opposite, so I think that statement is rubbish. JMO.

 

[gitana1]

View attachment 155584
MOO
Free Image on Pixabay - Madness, Crazy, Happiness, Mood

Lol.

 

[zea mays]

I wouldn't have posted them if they weren't official.



No, but close.

I actually have been following the group that the MRS podcasters created at the beginning - joined it before I found WS. I thought I was joining intellectual discussion. I could not have been more wrong. I have listened to just one of the Podcasts. They droned on and on for about 3 hours (a brief bit of it included a guest speaker which was one of SWs friends).

I have as well. It's pretty crazy in there.

They have pretty much NO knowledge of how the legal system actually works, yet they've amassed thousands of adoring fans. It's scary.

It truly is.

Actually the one who wrote the letter uses the same name in the podcast but she’s a peripherary member of the team.

She is. They use her first name and other nicknames on the podcasts I've listened to, but she's the only one that uses her full name on FB, afaik.

ETA: Her full name is also on their expanded media requests

It entered my mind that they might want to prove that it went through the correct channels. Basically people with no legal right are trying to interfere with the decisions of a separate, adult, entity.

Haaaa. Judging by her inability to grasp the fact that CW’s Constitutional rights aren’t being violated, she very well may have been unaware that this document would be published by the court.

Or she just wants attention.

I'm pretty sure it was a surprise that it was published in this manner. There was a post about it on FB that got taken down. I don't know who deleted it (mods or the OP) but it's gone now and I have a feeling it was the mods.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Are those 2 letters very long? Could someone summarize the main points, I don't know what the heck but I can never open those court PDFs on my PC or 3 tablets. I can open other PDFs but not from the court.

A question for the moderators.

In previous cases that I have followed, anything through governmental channels on their Facebook Etc are

excepted

from the copyright rule which we have here. But I would like to have a moderator confirm that. I have seen entire governmental documents done in their entirety without the 10% rule we have here.

Mods, is that correct that we can cut and paste governmental documents without the copyright 10% rule?

 

[gitana1]

Yes! And one would think the ACLU would be all over this case if, indeed, there was any credence to the theory he is being completely controlled by his attorneys and the jail, thereby violating his constitutional rights.

I do hope the defense and DA are crossing their t's and dotting their i's as I can see where CW could use all this to later claim he was coerced into isolation and the plea...

At the least, prominent criminal defense attorneys would be screaming LOUDLY about injustice right now. They live for constitutional rights.

 

[sun16]

So I guess we have 4 more days of this nonsense.

 

[smucklecrumble]

I don’t know...is that even really a knowledge of psychology? Maybe if he gave the girls a respectful burial that showed remorse and dumped SW somewhere, I’d believe him, but he did the opposite, so I think that statement is rubbish. JMO.

Thank you! That was my first thought with regards to his ridiculous story of events compared to how he disposed of them