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

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  • #1,161
I couldn't hear everything but something about the house? What does that mean?
Later in the recording, it sounds like they discuss out loud the things they were whispering about. They decide they can be discussed in public and then they discuss them out loud.

Prosecutor talks about issues that defense may demand specific types of DNA samples that the Prosecution may not have already. The Prosecution is saying they cannot go back into the house to get more samples of DNA from the house since they have finished collecting what they wanted from the house and have released it as a crime scene. The defense says they understand the situation.

The second thing is about getting specific types of DNA samples from the autopsies. I believe this was before they had recovered the children's bodies so the Prosecution were saying they couldn't agree they would provide specific samples of DNA for the bodies if they were never able to recover parts of the bodies the Defense wanted DNA samples from.

Then the defense requested 48 hours notice before autopsies were performed. The final decision on that was that the Judge told the Prosecutor to make sure the Coroner knows that request was made by the Defense and if the Coroner is going to perform the autopsies before 48 hours notice has passed, the Prosecution must give the Defense as much notice as possible.
 
  • #1,162
I’m stunned, errrr stunned. I can’t even tell you how fortunate you are, as I’m
Sure you know! Wow.

I am so far behind on this thread because I worked 12 hour shifts the last 3 days but finally just jumped ahead to try and get caught up only to read stunned' s Bundy encounter, wow!!
My obsession with true crime came from reading my Mom's copy of Ann Rules the Stranger beside me when I was in 6th grade. My Mom also had an encounter with Bundy when she was a junior at Aspen high and she and her boyfriend stopped and helped a man having car trouble when they were coming back down from a party in snow mass. My Mom and her then boyfriend are both now sure the man they helped was Bundy. Her encounter started her interest in true crime and now mine as well.
 
  • #1,163
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.“
 
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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.“

I am very interested to read the affidavit when it's unsealed.
 
  • #1,166
“Chris Watts' attorneys request for DNA samples suggest daughters were strangled
Newly released court documents in the case obtained by Denver7 suggest the two young girls may have been strangled.

The implication came in a motion filed by defense attorneys in Weld County court to compel the coroner to take DNA from the necks and throats of the remains of Bella and Celeste

In the motion, DNA expert Richard Eikelenboom concludes that DNA evidence “would remain on the necks of the decedent children.”“

Chris Watts case: Everything we know so far about the alleged murders of his wife, daughters
 
  • #1,167
“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
 
  • #1,168
but you have to assume this is a person who has just killed their wife and children. he is already calculating how he's going to dig himself out of this (as evidenced by his pre-arrest interviews).

when someone does something as heinous as this their first thoughts MUST BE to remove evidence that a crime was even committed (right??). the making of their childrens' bed may be first on that list.

Edit to add: I make these statements cuz I remember what it was like trying to hide something I did wrong (eating the chips, calling boys, etc) from my parents before they got home from work.

This is actually a subject that interests me. My hypothesis is that the first thought is to get the bodies out of the house to remove the association with himself. Anything other than that I think could be a secondary thing.

I'm also wondering if he thought taking the bodies to the oil field was a bit of genius on his behalf. It would mean that he didn't have to spend an hour or two searching for an alternative place and having to explain where he'd been during that hour or two, and he might think that no one would think to look there?

He said 'earth-shattering' which made me think 1) buried, and 2) oil fields. And if they do fracking there, then I think "earth-shattering" is almost an alternative term for fracking site? But that was before I knew he worked at one! And once I did know they were searching an oil field and saw the tanks I thought those babies would fit in one of those... But I was more concerned he might have put the bodies down some kind of hole on the site that was about to be filled in and I thought that might be why it was such a tough recovery job.

I think he thought he'd had a brainwave with the oil site. If he watches the news a bit he'd have heard of LE finding bodies in water and seen them searching forests and fields and by the side of roads. So in that sense I don't think it was a bad idea, and I'm very glad that it didn't work out for him.
 
  • #1,169
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.””
 
  • #1,170
This article has a good timeline. I did not know that SW confided to a friend recently that she suspected that CW had been unfaithful.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.me...-of-infidelity-an-emotional-conversation/amp/

In the raw cut of the interview with NT and AT, AT said that Shanann had mentioned something about wondering if CW was having an affair. But she also downplayed the potential significance of that.

I'm wondering if media have another source on this suspected affair and Shanann planning to leave CW or if they're just reading too much between the lines of what they're hearing from friends like AT?
 
  • #1,171
I am soooooo unbelievably relieved that all 3 are out of there, autopsied and hopefully in close proximity again.

Also love that the defense is using an expert who has been discredited... not a wise move.


Hm, I think he is actually the right amount of coward for that. Scum like him don't want to serve time for the crimes they committed.

There have been a few that I thought were too much of a coward, too narcissistic or whatever else to kill themselves and they've surprised me and done it. Just never can predict which ones will.


Ugh. That is devastating. And she looks identical to dad. :(

I don't think she looks like Dad. I think she looks just like her maternal Uncle.


I truly believe a lot of people just never learn how to be smart with money. Sometimes it's a generational thing. If mom and dad spent their money as soon as it came in, and always had a fancy car and made minimum payments on their credit card, then that's what junior will learn.

Absolutely. My in laws were horrible with money, still are. I'm in charge of the money in our family. It just had to be that way.


Chris Watts case: Bodies found believed to be Shanann Watts and her daughters - CNN

BBM
because I don't remember seeing this statement before.

In an interview outside his house Tuesday, Chris Watts told local media that his wife arrived home from a work event in Arizona about 2 a.m. Monday. He said he left for work a few hours later -- about 5:15 a.m.

"She'd barely gotten into bed, pretty much," he said, according to CNN affiliate KMGH.

Sounds to me like he attacked her and killed her right after she got into bed.


I haven't listened to all of this yet, but this was interesting:
"Sometimes when you're in a relationship and your relationship starts to deteriorate, a child could help repair it."

That's just about the very worst relationship advice, ever.
Aside from killing your family.


I share your feelings a lot. But the same can sometimes be said for prosecutors. They may not care if someone is innocent or possibly so. We've seen that with innocence project cases where the DNA comes back exonerating them and the DA still refuses to agree to clear them or let them free or whatever.

It's horrible. When you know someone is innocent and you can't get the state to listen. It is even worse than knowing someone is guilty and not being able to prove it. It's so much worse for an innocent man to languish for a crime he didn't commit. Now that I've seen both first hand.


Along those lines, also interesting is his area of "expertise"

Max Wachtel, Ph.D. :: JurisPro Expert Witness Directory :: Colorado
"I am the author of Sociopaths & Psychopaths: A Crisis of Conscience and Empathy (2017), and The One Rule For Boys: How Empathy And Emotional Understanding Will Improve Just About Everything For Your Son (2014)."

Well I gotta agree with the guy on this point 100%. Continuum Concept is a great book too. So important that boys are given just as much empathy and love as girls.


Gosh. Not in my experience. I mean I am friends with some of my opposing counsel.

But in criminal law mostly judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys are not all buddy buddy. Especially not during a trial. It's very intense. Very grueling. No sleep. Little food.

I do primarily family law but I interned at the federal public defender. They seemed to have quite a bit of disdain for the prosecutors.

My law partner does criminal defense. He complains a lot about being treated with contempt by DA's, judges even clerks.

I do minor appearances for him and at a lower level I see defense attorneys (private and public) getting along with the state. Kind of joking around or at least being friendly in the back room where you go to discuss what's happening with the case or possible deals. But this is more minor stuff.

Once you get to the big leagues there seems to be a lot of righteousness on both sides. I've seen it at court.

In family law we all go to the same seminars with each other and the judges. That's not the case in criminal law. Defense people don't roll in the same circles at all. Their seminars are vastly different.

Trial is grim and serious. I have never ever seen or heard of a serious case being discussed informally like that. Especially with alcohol involved. I think that would be outrageous.

But maybe in some states, especially in smaller towns, maybe that stuff happens.

Not in a small town here, however it really depends on the lawyers. My boss actually wants to campaign for his current opposing counsel who is running for office. He's so impressed with the opposing counsel's integrity and desire for justice on the current case. It's in sharp contrast to another case we have where the opposing counsel doesn't care that the guy is innocent.


Why is the defense lawyer in CW’s house? I’ve never heard of such a thing. He’s a defense lawyer, not an investigator. I guess if he’s there with police he could be...what? Making sure protocol is followed?

Please tell me what I’m missing!!!

I work for a defense lawyer who literally does not have an investigator, or a secretary, or a paralegal. Until I started there he didn't have any employees. He prefers to do most everything himself. He goes to crime scenes, he goes to houses, he goes to look at pictures, he talks to witnesses.

He does this so that when he's questioning a witness about say a certain room in a house. If the witness gets something wrong, he's been in that room and will notice that discrepancy. He takes his responsibility very seriously and only takes cases he believes in.


Gosh you guys should see her brother's Facebook right now. Such anguish. It's killing me.

Absolutely brutal. Bella looked just like him. OMG.


I think it’s human nature to hope that if we figure out what caused it we can spot the next one before he or she kills. Then we feel like we have some control.

Also people want there to be warning signs; otherwise it could happen to any of us at any time.

Absolutely true. Think of all the things that we have figured out in the last 100 years. The progress that has been made. Maybe one day we will be able to see these things coming.


Not everybody has grandparents willing to take care of young kids. Anyhow, that's my guess why: he wanted freedom to do whatever he liked, which you can not have as a father of multiple children.

It's true, my kids do not have grandparents who could have raised them. However, Bella, Cece and Nico most certainly did. They had grandparents and an uncle who would have dropped everything at a moments notice to rescue them if needed. There is no doubt in my mind.


Early childhood intervention. Early on services, better training for CPS workers, teachers, school admin to recognize risk factors and signs of childhood trauma exposure. Training on how to best interact with children, how important it is to show children empathy and love, how important ones role could be in a child's life who otherwise may not have the nurture and attachment at home. Tailoring parenting classes and services to provide parents with risk factors of furthering the cycle of abuse or trauma. The intervention comes much earlier than waiting for a killer to seek treatment.

Absolutely, all of this is huge. Continuum Concept. So much research about how important that first 3 years of life is to the eventual adult the child becomes. There is SO much that could be taught about this!


He confessed. He then said “I put the bodies here”, thus the immediate area was searched. How do you walk that back?

Ask Crystal McDowell's husband? There are other's I'm not remembering right now. Honestly I'm not convinced he admitted he killed them. I still think he may have spun it that he didn't kill them, or not the kids at least... he just hid the bodies.


I often joke about my husband having no game. It just means that he has no idea how to flirt or pick up women. I had to do the pursuing in the beginning because he was cluless and awkward.

Same here. It's also a common statement that our roles are more reversed. He's more the woman in our relationship. Sounds weird but it's true. He's more the stereotypes you think of with women and I'm just not.


If CW was out of jail for 30 seconds, I’m pretty sure shannan’s brother would literally take him out in a heartbeat.

I agree. No doubt in my mind. I'm a little worried about whether he will be okay going to court actually.


Ok but if you think he was smart enough to do that, he would have been smart enough to not have the doors deadbolted from the inside, his truck backed up to the garage that morning, or all shannans belongings still in the house. Ya know?

I think he killed the girls before 11pm Sunday night. So he had a few hours to clean up, stage things, load them in the truck. I think by the time he killed Shanann, cleaned up and got her body in the truck, he had to get to work. I don't think he had time to stage the scene.

I think that was his initial plan but her flight being delayed ruined it. I think he intended to come home for lunch after not hearing from Shanann to stage the scene and discover them gone. Maybe ransack the place or something. Nicole screwed it all up. She is the hero in this situation.


Imagine if CW had thrown all her stuff in a hole somewhere, unlocked the back door, and ruffled everyone’s beds like they slept in them. It would truly look like Shannan and the kids were taken. Interesting...

I think that was absolutely his plan.


<modsnip - removed quoted post and direct response to it>

Here's a thought. If you are going to sedate them in order to kill them, why not give them so much it actually does the job for you. I can't imagine a person sedating someone so they can then strangle them. Strangling is up close and personal. Giving a kid something to drink and they never wake up sure sounds more "humane" then choking the life out of them.

I agree it is crazy that we we hope one form of murder took place rather then another. I guess it is because the visual of the other is too horrific to imagine.

There have been cases where the attempt has been made to overdose the child on meds. It either wasn't fast enough, the child wouldn't take enough, the parent didn't give enough, or for whatever reason it didn't work... so another method such as suffocation was used.
 
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  • #1,172
  • #1,173
Welcome to WS Aurora1.

Your post above ^^^^ on a sociopath is so true. It is unbelievable to realize they have no sympathy, empathy, guilt, or concern as to how their actions affect others. It is like there are no consequences for what they do. They are habitual liars also.

Unfortunately, I was married to one too. I am glad you and your son moved away. Hope you both are doing well and life with “him” did not make a big impact on your son’s development.
Thank you 1&2&3. I am sorry you had to experience a sociopathic relationship too. I hope you were able to get away safely as well.
My son is now 14. He has some issues because when we lived close to his dad, the only time he ever spent with his son was when he needed to use him for something. Like impressing his latest victim by pretending what a great dad he is or if he knew his parents thought he wasn't visiting his son enough, he would see him just long enough to video chat with them and have our son sitting next to him. He saw him less than once a month and perpetually lied to him about things. He has been much happier since we moved away and he has my uncles and his grandads for good role models. Luckily, he expresses empathy and has been very compassionate from a young age. That made him the perfect pawn for his sociopathic dad, but we left that behind and he is a great kid.

Didn't mean to get off topic with my post, but I just want to try and explain why I think it's so hard for us to understand a sociopath like CW seems to be.
 
  • #1,174
I’m thinking whoever interrogated him was really good at applying the pressure. So good that it didn’t take him long to buckle.
 
  • #1,175
How did SWs friend know she missed her dr appt?
What time was dr appt. ?

I read that friend came over to home around noon and found them “missing.” What prompted that assumption?

I’m trying to read all posts and can’t keep up. I apologize for asking questions I’m sure have been addressed.
 
  • #1,176
Of course I could be wrong;

Looking at the ingredients of the Thrive patch I don’t think any of the ingredients had any major side effects for the user.

For reference the ingredients are:

  • ForsLean
  • Green coffee bean extract
  • Garcinia Cambogia
  • CoQ10
  • White willow bark
  • Cosmoperine
Side effects of the Thrive patch:

  • Itchy skin
  • Hot flashes
  • Skin irritation
  • Muscle cramping
  • Headaches
  • Stomach upset
  • Anxiety
  • Irregular heart rate
  • Skin discoloration
 
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  • #1,179
Qmfr:

“Chris Watts' attorneys request for DNA samples suggest daughters were strangled
Newly released court documents in the case obtained by Denver7 suggest the two young girls may have been strangled.

The implication came in a motion filed by defense attorneys in Weld County court to compel the coroner to take DNA from the necks and throats of the remains of Bella and Celeste

In the motion, DNA expert Richard Eikelenboom concludes that DNA evidence “would remain on the necks of the decedent children.”“

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

The judge denied this motion:

““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
 
  • #1,180
I can’t get her singing “My Daddy is my Hero” out of my head. :(

I’m thinking Shanann knew he killed them right before he killed her. Often the kids are killed bc the dad wants to hurt the mom (again a main danger with familial abductions)...If she was going to leave him...between child support, maybe the thought of someone else raising his kids...maybe he figured he was going to lose custody any way. Just trying to get inside this monster’s head. Not easy to understand at all how someone could do something like this...
 
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