Warning: This article contains discussion of domestic violence which some readers may find distressing.
Disturbing new information about Chris Watts’ murder of his wife and two daughters has surfaced in letters he wrote from prison.
Watts, now 41, is serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole for the 2018 killings of his pregnant wife Shanann Watts, 34, and their daughters Bella, four, and Celeste (“Cece”), three.
The family was initially reported missing from their home that year, with Watts publicly asking for help as the search unfolded. Investigators later determined he was responsible for the murders. Authorities said Watts, who was having an affair, buried Shanann—who was pregnant with his child—in a shallow grave at a remote oil-storage site, and disposed of his daughters’ bodies in oil tanks.
The case gained renewed attention in 2020 after Netflix released the documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door.
Further details have since appeared in correspondence Watts sent from prison, which author Cheryln Cadle published in Letters from Christopher: The Tragic Confessions of the Watts Family Murders.
In the letters, Watts claimed he had been contemplating killing his family for weeks. He also described trying to smother his daughters before later strangling Shanann.
“August 13, morning of, I went to the girls’ room first, before Shanann and I had our argument,” he wrote. “I went to Bella’s room, then Cece’s room and used a pillow from their bed (to kill them). That’s why the cause of death was smothering. After I left Cece’s room, then I climbed back in bed with Shanann and our argument ensued.”
He went on to describe Shanann’s eyes as he attacked her, writing that they ‘filled with blood,’ and said black mascara ‘streamed down her face’ while he strangled her.
Watts also wrote that Bella and Cece woke up after Shanann had been killed, describing Bella as looking like she had experienced trauma and claiming her eyes were bruised.
“I realise now the girls getting up and walking around may have been God’s third attempt to stop what I was doing,” he wrote.
Separately, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation has released audio from an interview with Watts following an open records request.
During the interview, Watts told investigators he feels remorse for what he did and said he keeps photographs of his wife and children in his cell.
A Change.org petition called for the removal of those photos, but the Wisconsin Department of Corrections said in a statement: “Incarcerated inmates are permitted to possess certain identified items of property, including photographs.”
The department added that photographs containing nudity or showing gang signs or insignias are prohibited.
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