Chris Watts Killed Wife After She Threatened to Divorce Him, Take Kids Because of His Affair
Chris and Shanann Watts had a fight about his affair the night of her death, according to Steven Lambert, a lawyer for the Watts family
By
KAREN MIZOGUCHI
March 04, 2019 06:00 PM
Shanann Watts had known about her husband Chris’ affair prior to her death.
A lawyer for the Watts family, Steven Lambert, spoke with Dr. Phil McGraw in a
pre-recorded interview during which Lambert shared new details of the murder of the pregnant Colorado mom and her daughters Bella, 4, and 3-year-old Celeste.
In a clip of the interview obtained exclusively by PEOPLE, Lambert, who is
representing Shanann’s family in a wrongful death suit against Watts, recalls a fight between Chris and Shanann.
“In that fight, [Chris] essentially confessed to having an affair, that he wanted a divorce, that it was pretty much over between them,” Lambert tells McGraw. “[Shanann] said something to the effect of, ‘Well, you’re not going to see the kids again.’ As a consequence of that conversation, he strangled her to death.”
Lambert also reveals that Chris and Shanann’s eldest child witnessed their mother’s murder.
“Bella walked in and asked, ‘What are you doing with mommy?'” Lambert says.
After killing Shanann, Watts then smothered his two daughters. He then loaded their bodies into his truck and hid them on an oil work site where they were found three days later. [bbm]
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A Feb. 18 statement to PEOPLE from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation says that authorities “interviewed Christopher Watts for the purpose of developing further insight into the case. Watts provided investigators with additional information about the murders of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste during the interview.”
PEOPLE’s call to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to confirm Lambert’s account was not immediately returned.
A spokesperson for the Weld County District Attorney’s Office tells PEOPLE the office is not releasing any more information on the case.