Marital woes apparent in phone messages between Shanann and Christopher Watts ahead of brutal murders
Just months before Christopher Watts’ killed his family and dumped their bodies, his wife recorded a heartfelt video of her surprising him with news of her third pregnancy.
Shanann Watts was sporting a shirt with the words “Oops… we did it again,” when her husband arrived home the evening of May 29, according to documents obtained by CBS Denver in response to a Colorado Criminal Justice records request. Video recorded of the moment reportedly sees Watts looking confused before he realizes the implications of her tee and breaks out into a grin.
“I guess when you want to, it happens — wow,” he tells her after an embrace.
Watts killed his wife and their two daughters, Celeste and Bella, in August — a little more than two months after she surprised him with her pregnancy news in the kitchen of their home. He made a desperate plea for their safe return on local news outlets, but was arrested just days later.
He submitted to the Frederick Police for a polygraph test, during which investigators determined he was not being truthful with them. When confronted about his deception, Watts confessed to killing his wife but tried to blame her for the deaths of their children.
See more related to this story:
Watts earlier this month pleaded guilty to the nine charges he faced, including five counts of first-degree murder, two counts of murdering a child, one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. On Monday, he was sentenced to life behind bars without possibility of parole.
In the weeks after the gleeful pregnancy video was recorded, problems seem to crop up quickly — their subsequent phone exchanges a far cry from the hugging couple eager to welcome another child into the world.
Shanann Watts in July expressed her frustration with her in-laws and discussed what seemed to be enduring marital problems with Watts, according to CBS Denver.
“I try to give you space, but while you are working and living the bachelor life I’m carrying our 3rd and fighting with our two kids daily and trying to work and make money,” she texted him.
“It’s not hard texting love you and miss you. If you don’t mean it then I get it, but we need to talk. I kept looking at my phone all night and no response from you. Like seriously! We didn’t just start dating yesterday! We’ve been together for 8 years and have 2.5 kids together!”
The night of August 5, just days before she was murdered, Shanann offered a desperate plea to her husband, who at the time was reportedly having an affair with a colleague.
“I missed everything about you. I couldn’t wait to touch you, hold you, kiss you, make love to you, smell you, laugh with you,” she wrote. “I couldn’t wait to celebrate 8 years with you… If you are done, don’t love me, don’t want to work this out, not happy anymore and only staying because of the kids, I NEED you to tell me.”
She then asked whether he would stay if they didn’t have kids before firing off a text, wondering how Watts could sleep.
“I just don’t get it. You don’t fall out of love in 5 weeks,” she texted. “How can you sleep? Our marriage is crumbling in front of us and you can sleep.”
Shanann Watts was 15 weeks pregnant when her body was discovered in August on the property of one of Colorado’s largest oil and gas drillers, where her husband previously worked. The bodies of 3-year-old Bella and 4-year-old Celeste meanwhile were found submerged inside “mostly full” oil and gas tanks on the property.
