CO - Shanann Watts (34, dec.), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4) - MEDIA, MAPS, TIMELINES - NO DISCUSS

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 24, 2018
Judge in Christopher Watts case orders prosecution to give autopsy to defense

The Weld County District Court judge handling the Christopher Watts case has ordered the prosecution to provide autopsy reports to Watts' defense attorneys by Tuesday after they accused the prosecution of withholding evidence.

Judge Marcelo Kopcow also denied the defense's motion for a protective order that would prohibit the Weld County Sheriff's Office from disclosing information about confidential jail visits.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 24, 2018
Suspected Family Murderer Chris Watts Doesn't Want His Jail Visitors Revealed
Judge Marcelo A. Kopcow on Monday ruled against a motion from Watts’ attorney that requested sheriff’s officials be barred “from disclosing any information” about visits to him in Colorado’s Weld County Jail.

In his decision, Kopcow — though he acknowledged the “confidentiality and loyalty” of those who work with defense attorneys is a “crucial element” in effective legal representation — nonetheless denied Watts’ request. (A copy of his decision was obtained by PEOPLE.)

It was not immediately clear why Chris’ attorney had argued for the secrecy of his jail visitors. The original motion has not been publicly released, though the judge’s ruling made mention of experts consulting with the defense.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 25, 2018
What did Chris Watts tell his father before confessing to murder? The jailhouse conversation that led Colorado dad to admit he killed his wife
It is unclear what Watts discussed with his father while he was in custody at Wade County Jail. The arrest affidavit indicates that Watts was not immediately forthcoming with authorities — for example, he initially denied an affair with a coworker that an investigation later confirmed — but the timeline suggests that discussion with his father may have prompted Watts to admit at least part of the truth.

But given that Watts has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife Shanann and his daughters Bella and Celeste, it appears that investigators didn’t buy his confession.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 25, 2018
Update: Rourke says he has not received autopsy reports in Christopher Watts case

In response to Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow’s order on Friday, Weld District Attorney Michael Rourke said he does not yet have the autopsy reports for Shanann Watts, 34, and her two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.

Rourke said his office had not received the autopsy reports, nor did it “insinuate” in its Sept. 17 motion they were completed. Rourke said the Weld County Coroner’s Office has not received the final reports from the forensic pathologist.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 25, 2018
Autopsy reports in Watts case not available, prosecution says
Rourke has requested that Weld County District Court allow the autopsy reports to be kept from the public, on the grounds that those reports will be critical pieces of evidence at trial and could taint witnesses or future jurors.

Christopher Watts' defense attorneys responded by accusing the prosecution of withholding evidence and thus violating due process of law.

The prosecution filed the motion to withhold the public documents early "in an abundance of caution," Rourke said.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 25, 2018
District attorney has not received autopsy reports for Shanann Watts, daughters
The Weld County District Attorney said his office has not received the autopsy report in the case regarding the deaths of Shanann Watts and her two daughters.

The Weld County Coroner's Office has not released the final reports from the forensic pathologist, District Attorney Michael Rourke said.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 26, 2018
Chris Watts Is Mad About How Media Portrays Him, Says Source: 'He Feels Like No One Understands Him'
Watts has known his case was a big story locally. But according to the source, it wasn’t until recently that the 33-year-old — who occasionally speaks with guards and can speak with other prisoners — learned his case had become internationally infamous.

“He’s very frustrated,” the source says. “He didn’t know that everyone knows about this case.”

Watts has said he feels the public doesn’t know the full story, the source says. “He feels like no one understands him, and nobody knows what happened,” says the source. “He thinks if they did understand, they’d realize that he’s not the monster everyone says he is.”

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 26, 2018
Shan'ann Watts' Family Is Moving Her Personal Items out of the Home Where She Was Killed
The family of Shan’ann Watts has moved her personal effects out of the Colorado home that she once shared with her husband, Chris, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The development was first reported by HLN’s Crime & Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. The show verified the details with the moving company. Banfield reports that the items will be kept in storage until the family decides what to do with them.

PEOPLE confirms that an officer from the Weld County Sheriff was at the scene to ensure that Rzucek was not disturbed while he packed the truck.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 26, 2018
Chris Watts is 'frustrated people think he is a monster' | Daily Mail Online

While Watts knew his case was big in his own Colorado town, he only recently learned from guards and fellow prisoners how much it had blown up around the world.

'He feels like no one understands him, and nobody knows what happened,' the source told People.

'He thinks if they did understand, they'd realize that he's not the monster everyone says he is.'

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 27, 2018
Colorado man accused of murdering his wife and two daughters thinks that 'no one understands him'
Chris Watts, who is charged with the murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters, is on suicide watch as he awaits trial and feels like "no one understands him," an insider told PEOPLE.

Now Watts, who is sitting in Weld County Jail in Greeley, Colorado, is on "Close Watch Protocol," or suicide watch, 23 hours a day and spends the other hour each day alone in a common room with only a communal newspaper.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 27, 2018
Judge Kopcow orders Christopher Watts to provide DNA, fingerprints to prosecution for analysis
The judge in the Frederick triple homicide case ordered Christopher Watts on Wednesday to turn over certain nontestimonial evidence to the Weld District Attorney’s Office.

The evidence the district attorney’s office requested includes DNA swabs of Watts’ saliva, finger and palm prints, digital photographs of Watts’ right and left hands, a Polaroid photograph of the defendant, and the collection of inked footprints of Watts’ left and right feet.

 

[Gardener1850]

Ashleigh Banfield video clip discussing the size of the openings of the oil tanks:
Ashleigh Banfield

Full transcript of the show: CNN.com - Transcripts

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 28, 2018
Accused Triple Murderer Chris Watts Will Have to Give Up DNA & Fingerprints for Evidence Testing
Colorado father Chris Watts, accused of murdering his pregnant wife and their two young daughters, has been ordered to give up cheek swabs and copies of his handprints and footprints as well as photographs of his hands to assist prosecutors in testing evidence, PEOPLE confirms.

In siding with the prosecution, Marcelo A. Kopcow noted that he had previously found probable cause in order to allow Chris’ arrest for murder.

Kopcow described the requested procedures as “minimal intrusions” on Chris that would help establish “complete and accurate forensic testing and analysis.” Such benefits — to prosecutors as well as, possibly, the defense — were clearly compelling, he found.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEPT 27, 2018

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=329890524437521

We dig deeper into the oil tanks Chris Watts allegedly dumped his two daughters in. An LSU petroleum engineering professor explains how he thinks Chris could have placed his kids into these tanks.

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 2, 2018
Autopsy reports for Chris Watts' wife Shanann and daughters Bella and Celeste complete | Daily Mail Online
The autopsy reports for Shanann Watts and her two daughters have been completed and handed over to the man charged with their murders.

A court document filed on Monday in Weld County District Court revealed that the prosecution was 'in receipt of the autopsy reports of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste Watts' and ' have provided said documentation to the Defendant, via the discovery process.'

The reports took almost two months to complete, with the girls and their mother believed to have been killed on August 12 or 13 by their father and husband.

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 2, 2018
Autopsy reports for Shanann Watts, daughters are complete, in hands of prosecutors and defense
The autopsy reports for Shanann Watts and her daughters, Bella and Celeste, are complete and in the possession of Weld County prosecutors, according to a notice filed with the Weld County District Court on Monday.

The notice from District Attorney Michael Rourke says that prosecutors have also provided the reports to Chris Watts’ public defenders as part of the discovery process, according to the filing.

 

[Seattle1]

Autopsy reports for Shanann Watts, daughters are complete, in hands of prosecutors and defense
Reports still under seal per judge's order
2 October 2018

The notice from District Attorney Michael Rourke says that prosecutors have also provided the reports to Chris Watts’ public defenders as part of the discovery process, according to the filing.

READ: Chris Watts case: Everything we know so far

But the autopsy reports for Shanann and her daughters remain sealed by a judge’s order. Rourke and his office previously asked the judge in the case to keep the autopsy reports sealed until Chris Watts’ trial is underway—a request that was granted mid-September.
Autopsy reports for Shanann Watts, daughters are complete, in hands of prosecutors and defense

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 2, 2018
Shan'ann Watts Had No Will When She Was Killed. Could Her Husband Inherit Her Estate?
Shan’ann Watts, the pregnant Colorado mom killed in August along with her two young daughters, died without a will — possibly setting the stage for a battle over what she left behind.

Under the section where Rzucek listed other relatives, he indicated that Watts had no living descendants — but she is survived by her husband of nearly six years, 33-year-old Chris Watts, who allegedly murdered her and their kids.

According to the court records, Chris was served a copy of the probate petition. He remains behind bars in the Weld County Jail.

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 3, 2018
Autopsy Reports Complete After Colorado Father Allegedly Killed Wife, Two Daughters
The autopsy reports for Shanann, Bella, and Celeste have been completed, according to an Oct. 1 notice by the Weld District Attorney’s Office. The notice was filed in accordance with a judge’s order made last week that the office should alert the court when the autopsies were completed.

The reports remain sealed pending a hearing, which has not yet been scheduled, but copies of the report were given to Watts’ attorneys and prosecutors.

Rourke said in his request that disclosing the coroner’s observations in the autopsies “could result in tainting witnesses” in the high-profile case and could also impact the future juror pool.

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 4, 2018
Shanann Watts’ father appointed representative of her estate
Shanann did not leave a will. But on Thursday in a Weld County Court telephone hearing, Shannan’s father requested that he be appointed as the personal representative of her estate. That means he will collect all of her assets, but it doesn’t mean he’ll automatically receive them. “Once that estate is collected and he’s figured out whether she owed any money or needs to pay any taxes – after that then he’ll distribute to who is entitled to receive it.

If Watts is found guilty, Shanann’s father may use a state statute to block him from receiving her possessions. “He will try and prevent Mr. Watts from getting the property under Colorado Slayer’s Statute which says you can’t benefit from someone you are guilty of causing the death of,” McKenzie said.

The couple’s Fredrick home is valued at more than $400,000 and is only in Christopher Watts’ name. During the telephone hearing, Watts did not object to the appointing of his father-in-law as the representative.