I think I am probably the only person that thinks he had a decent plan. I don't think anyone would have found the children's bodies, not in time anyway. I think he thought he had plenty of time to do the clean up work. He put a lot of thought into it. The problem he had was NA. He either didn't know about the doctor appointment or he forgot about it. He thought people would just believe him and forget about his family. I doubt he ever thought the police would come full force. He didn't have a back up plan and apparently his mind doesn't work that way. Having the front and back door chained hurt. I'm sure Shanann chained the front door when she got home. Since he didn't go out that way, he missed it. So although, I believe he planned it, nothing worked out the way he thought it would and he couldn't adapt. And he couldn't fake/pretend he cared they were gone.