Shanann Watts’ mother has spoken publicly eight years after her daughter and three grandchildren were murdered by Shanann’s former husband, Chris Watts, saying she believes he was “thinking with his” manhood rather than using his judgment.
Chris Watts is serving five consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty in 2018 to killing his pregnant wife Shanann and their two daughters, Bella and Celeste.
The family was reported missing on August 13, 2018. Within days, investigators discovered the children’s bodies inside oil tanks, while Shanann’s body was found buried in a shallow grave.
During the case, Judge Marcelo Kopcow—who presided over the proceedings—called it the “most inhumane and vicious crime” he had ever encountered.
Now, nearly eight years later, Shanann’s mother Sandra Rzucek has described the ongoing pain of living without them and the impact the murders continue to have on her family.
In an interview with In Touch Weekly, Sandra said of Chris: “He was thinking with his [manhood] – not his head! And that’s really sad, sorry to say. It’s been eight years and we’ve been through hell and back.
“Those grandchildren… they were my everything, they were my only grandchildren in the whole world.”
She also said: “We truly believe that he is the Antichrist. Period!
“No man, no gentleman would take his children’s life and disintegrate their bodies in oil and gasoline.”
The 61-year-old’s comments come as previously restricted crime scene material—photographs Chris reportedly wanted kept out of public view—has been revisited by the Daily Mail.
Among the images is a photo of a large plastic doll, covered from head to ankle with a blanket—an item Chris allegedly sent to Shanann in the days before the killings.
Sandra said: “He was foretelling her future that’s what he was doing because my granddaughters would never cover their doll’s faces, so we knew it was Chris.”
Another photo reportedly shows a blood-stained sheet believed to have been used to wrap Shanann’s body.
Sandra said: “He had her in sheets and when he threw her body in the hole, the sheet went blowing in the wind and he was too busy to get it.
“When the police sent the drone over, that’s when they found the sheet. So, there was nothing with my daughter, no blanket, no sheet.”
She added that her suffering has been compounded not only by the murders themselves, but also by relentless online commentary, saying her family has faced ongoing abuse and harassment, including “being tormented on YouTube, TikTok and everything else”.