Featured Image Credit: RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images / Netflix
Topics: Crime, US News, True crime
Emily Brown
Topics: Crime, US News, True crime
Convicted killer Chris Watts wrote chilling letters from prison in which he described the deaths of his wife and two children.
Watts pleaded guilty in 2018 to the murder of his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, in August of that year.
The case was unpacked in hit Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door.
The father initially denied knowing what happened to his family, who were last seen on 13 August, and gave interviews on television begging for their safe return.
However, just days later, the bodies of all three family members were found and Watts was arrested on three counts of first-degree murder.
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It emerged Shanann had been strangled before her body was dumped on the property of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, an oil and gas company where Watts had worked.
The couple's two daughters were located later that day, hidden in oil tanks close to their mother's body.
After he pleaded guilty, Watts was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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He has since been interviewed at length by author Cheryln Cadle, who received letters from Watts and spoke to him for her book, The Murders of Chris Watts.
In the book, Cadle included letters from Watts which detailed the moments leading up to his family members' deaths.
Watts described trying to smother his daughters before murdering his wife, saying his spouse’s 'eyes filled with blood' and her face got 'all black with streaks of mascara'.
In a letter to Cadle, he wrote: "August 13, morning of, I went to the girls' room first, before Shanann and I had our argument. I went to Bella's room, then Cece's room and used a pillow from their bed [to kill them].
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“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."
However, Watts’ horrific attempt to kill his daughters initially failed, and the two girls, aged three and four, woke up.
He continued: “After Shanann had passed, Bella and Cece woke back up. I'm not sure how they woke back up, but they did. Bella's eyes were bruised and both girls looked like they had been through trauma."
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Watts followed through with his attempts to kill his daughters, before disposing of their bodies.
In 2021, Cadle spoke to Inside Edition about interviewing Watts and described how his eyes would turn ‘black’ when she spoke about the killings.
“He just would get a different look on his face, and he talked about it so nonchalantly, like going down to get a cup of coffee,” Cadle said.