Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Murder dad Chris Watts cheats death penalty after murdering pregnant wife & two tot daughters

Episode Date: November 10, 2018

The Colorado father who pleaded for his pregnant wife and two young daughters to return after they vanished in August is now on his way to prison for life. Chris Watts admitted killing his family in exchange for not facing the death penalty. Nancy Grace looks at the case with Dr. Brian Russell, a psychologist & lawyer who also hosts Investigation Discovery's "Fatal Vows" series, private investigator Vincent Hill, author of "Playbook to a Murder," North Carolina family & divorce lawyer Kathleen Murphy, and CrimeOnline.com reporter Ellen Killoran. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. When Christopher Watts stepped into that courtroom, he had no emotion walking towards his seat. But as soon as the judge started to speak about his plea agreement, that's when he broke down and started crying. And for all nine counts that he pleaded guilty to, he was in between cries. And now, with everything that's happened, Shanann's family might be able to move forward and have some closure. You were just hearing reporting from inside the courtroom.

That was Denver 7's Tom Hoppo. You know what? Save the tears, Christopher Watts. Just save the tears. Quit in court between each guilty plea. You murdered your pregnant wife with your first boy. Okay, Nico. You murdered her and you murdered your two little girls, Bella and Celeste. Then, to hide your crime so you could go and continue your sex affair with a co-worker, you hid their bodies, the little girls' precious bodies, in crude oil containers where you worked, and you buried your loving wife who called you her hero in a shallow grave. You escaped the death penalty only because her family showed you mercy. So don't cry now. As a matter of fact, this may be a good story for you to tell over dinner. With Satan in Hell.

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories, the latest out of a Colorado courtroom. Three-time killer Christopher Watts sobs through a guilty plea. Straight out to Ellen Killoran, CrimeOnline.com, investigative reporter. Ellen, start at the beginning. What happened in court? Well, we learned just late last week that Chris Watts was due for a surprise appearance in court almost two weeks before the scheduled status hearing. We didn't know until he showed up in court

wearing a bulletproof vest that he was ready to plead guilty to killing his pregnant wife and his two daughters less than three months after they were killed and after he had denied his culpability in interviews with police. To me, I thought this was a stunning and early decision. Following up on what Ellen Kaloran just said, yes, he denied it. Who will forget his tearful plea on his back porch, begging for the kidnapper to bring home his wife and two little girls listen shenan bella

celeste if you're out there just just come back like if somebody has her just please bring her back i need to see everybody i need to see everybody again this house is not complete with without anybody here please bring her back and it wasn't like her not to answer a phone call or a text and when her friend Nicole showed up at the door I was like all right something something's up and uh I came home and it was like I walked into a ghost town like everything she wasn't here kids weren't here it was like it was just they were here and then they were gone like Shanann, Bella, and Celeste if you're out there please just come home.

You know what? It just makes my skin crawl to listen to this guy begging for his wife and children to come home when he's the one that murdered them and put their bodies in crude oil containers and in a shallow grave. You are hearing from Chris Watts begging for his family's return. He was talking to Denver 7's Thomas Hoppell. You know, it's hard for me to hear that. To Dr. Brian Russell, psychologist and lawyer, host of Investigation Discovery's hit series, Fatal Vows,

Dr. Brian, to hear him, he was about to break down in his plea for their return. And now he's crying in court as he pleads guilty to three murders. Four, if you count the unborn baby boy. I mean, his tears mean nothing to me. Yeah, absolutely. Let this be another lesson going all the way back to our discussions during the KC Anthony case about how, you know, tears, even when they're genuine, don't necessarily mean what they may appear to mean. You know, people could be genuinely upset about the fact that they're about to go to prison for the rest of their life and crying and playing it off as, you know, they're upset about missing the missing person. I actually you said if you count the unborn baby, the only thing I love about this is I absolutely count the unborn baby. And I'm very glad to hear that he is pleading guilty and being convicted of an additional murder for the unborn baby.

Because to me, that life is no less valuable than the lives of the three and four year old. The only thing I don't understand about this is why he even really wants to avoid the death penalty. You're going to spend the rest of your life in a box. Why do you even want to stay here for another 50 years? Let me ask you about that. To Ellen Kalorum with CrimeOnline.com, where you can find this and every other crime and justice story. I know he pled guilty to murdering his pregnant wife and their two children, Bella and Celeste. Did he plead guilty

to the death of baby Nico? He pleaded guilty to all of the counts against him, including the death of the unborn child. You know, I just can't hear this enough. Listening to him

begging for their return. Listen to this. Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you're out there, just come back. If somebody has her, just please bring her back. I need to see everybody. I need to see everybody again. This house is not complete without anybody here. Please bring her back.

And it wasn't like her not to answer a phone call or a text and when her friend Nicole showed up at the door I was like all right something something's up and uh I came home and it was like I walked into a ghost town like everything she wasn't here kids weren't here it was like it was just they were here and then they were gone like shenan bell and celeste if you're out there please just come home you're hearing chris watts begging for the return of his family but only he knew they were already dead kathleen murphy it's so uh there's so many layers to this his wife had just gotten a very important job. She had to travel a lot. And part of it was keeping up the pretense of a luxurious lifestyle to basically enlist other people to join the company. And I think that rubbed him the wrong way, that she was making it on her own. And when you looked

at them from the outside looking in, they lived this perfect, beautiful life. Kathleen Murphy, when I hear him begging for their return, the same way he teared up in court, it just makes my skin crawl. He's lying. He's lying so horribly about his dead wife. Nancy, when I practice as a divorce attorney, I see this a lot where people are putting out a false image. And I wish people would just realize it is okay to be broke. It is okay to be mediocre. It is okay to leave your spouse. And as I say, he, it doesn't surprise me that he pled guilty in criminal court. He didn't want a trial. The purpose of this murder in the first place was he wanted to avoid all of this coming

out in family court. He doesn't want it to come out in criminal court either. Christopher Watts pleading guilty to murder in court as he sobs for himself. My daddy is a hero. He helps me grow up strong. He helps me, um, snuggle too. He reads me books. He ties my shoes. If you're a hero, blue and blue, my daddy, daddy, it love you. You are hearing Chris Watts' four-year-old daughter, Bella, in the backseat of the family car singing a hero song to her dad. That was just a couple of months before he murdered Bella, her sister Celeste, his wife

Shanann, who was pregnant with their first son, Nico. In the last hours, in a surprise move, Watts pleads guilty to nine charges, including three first-degree murders, the murder of his wife, his daughter Bella, his daughter Celeste, and he pleads guilty to unlawful termination of a pregnancy. Now, in exchange for this plea, he will not face the death penalty. And that is according to what Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke tells us. Now, what do we know about why Ellen Kaloran, CrimeOnline.com, why the state decided to spare him the death penalty and let him plead guilty? Well, Nancy, what we know is that Shanon's family was involved at some level with this decision. They were in court on Tuesday, and they had been in conversation with the district attorney

and Chris Watts' defense team. They are going to be spared a murder trial in which Chris Watts would likely try and tell more and more and more lies and just continue the trauma of what they're experiencing. So we know that at a certain point, Chris Watts' own attorneys told him, you don't have a case here. You don't have an argument here. You're going to jail for the rest of your life. And that's the best case scenario for you. Take a listen to what happened inside the courtroom. The decision was made about four days ago.

Christopher Watts showed up in court today wearing a bulletproof vest. Shanann Watts' family was also there to hear Watts plead guilty to all nine counts against him. I think that there was a combination of relief, extraordinary sadness that we ever had to have that conversation in the first place. And I can only say that I hope there is a sense of closure. Everything about Chris Watts' story he told us in an interview in August is all thrown out. Did you guys get into an argument before? It wasn't like an argument. We had an emotional conversation, but I'll leave it at that.

But it's, I just want them back. I just want them to come back. And if they're not safe right now, that's what's tearing me apart. You're hearing our friend at Denver 7, Tom Huppow, and he was reporting inside the courtroom describing what happened as Chris Watts pled guilty closure Dr. Brian Russell you're not only a lawyer but a psychologist host

of ID's fatal vow series for a murder victim's family there's no such thing as closure it never ends that follows you the rest of your life. It affects every single thing you do from that point on your career decisions, where you live, how you raise your children. Everything is affected by that crime. There is no closure. It never ends. Well, that's right. I don't really like these kinds of psychobabble words like closure and codependent and toxic people and these things. But I understand what people mean when they say people do like there to be finality, at least to the legal process. I think it's absolutely, you know, it's paralyzing to people's lives when, remember, like when Natalie Holloway went missing and the body was never found. And I felt so horrible for her mother because I just feel like you're just in this sort of state of paralysis when there's

no finality. But you're absolutely right. Even when there's finality to the legal process and somebody is held accountable for what they've done to your loved one, you never get over it. It's not as if that brings your loved one back or brings you to a point where you're not going to think about it anymore. You just you get on with life without the person, unfortunately, and you try to make it as best as it can be. But you're absolutely right. You never get over it. But why no death penalty? At first I was stunned, but then I learned the answer. Take a listen. He's facing five life sentences for the murder of his wife and two daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. He even pleaded guilty to unlawful termination of a pregnancy of their unborn son, Nico. Sandy said it very, very

poignantly to me. She said he made the choice to take those lives. I do not want to be in a position of making the choice to take his. Out of respect for Shanann's family, we didn't approach them for comment. Obviously the tragedy that sits before us today is the loss of four beautiful lives. And no matter what happens today, no matter what happens at a sentencing hearing down the road, we can't get them back. You know, when he referred to Sandy, you're hearing the district attorney refer to Sandy

saying that he, Chris Watts, took her daughter's life. She did not want to make that same decision. That was obviously Shanann's mother. Take a listen to what the Colorado District Attorney Michael Roark tells us. Mr. Watts entered a plea of guilty to all nine counts in the original complaint and information. Those counts include murder in the first degree after deliberation as to Shanann Watts, murder in the first degree as to Bella Watts, murder in the first degree as deliberation as to Shanann Watts murder in the first degree as to Bella Watts murder in the first degree as to Celeste Watts unlawful termination of a pregnancy as it relates to Nico Watts and three

counts of unlawful tampering with a deceased human body. There was a sentencing agreement that calls for the defendant to be sentenced to the Department of Corrections for the remainder to be sentenced to the Department of Corrections for the remainder of his natural life as to counts 1, 2, and 3. All of those sentences will run consecutively to one another. There's also an agreement that whatever sentence the court imposes as to count 6 will also run consecutively to counts 1 through 3. The remainder of the sentencing will be left to the discretion of the court.

That sentencing will occur November 19th at 10 o'clock in the morning. That makes a big difference to Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina lawyer. If sentences run consecutively or concurrently, concurrently means all at one time at the same time. Consecutive means one life sentence after the next life sentence after the next life sentence. So it's very important that this district attorney had the wherewithal to think to have the sentences run consecutively. I couldn't be happier. I could not be happier. This guy will never see the light of day. And if you look through the Internet and you see the postings of Mr. Average Joe, everybody believes that he'll probably be murdered in prison because of what he did to these beautiful children.

Well, you know, some people can only hope for that. We always hear, oh, this will happen to him in prison. Sadly, that hardly ever happens. I can only think of two off the top of my head where it happened. There was Jeffrey Dahmer, who was killed behind bars. And then there was a priest, and he happened to meet up with a guy he molested behind bars, and he was murdered. Ouch. Whitey Bulger. Oh, yeah, then there's Bulger, which just happened.

But those three are really the only three I can think of. There may be more where there's, quote, in your jurisdiction. One of the things that I would love to hear more of them saying is we need legislatures across this country to get rid of concurrent sentencing. And the reason is because it's basically giving you two-fers and three-fers and four-fers. You know, commit three crimes, pay the price of one. You assault three people and you get convicted of all three assaults, but then the sentences run concurrently. So basically you pay the price for one assault. That's insane. You do the crime, you pay the price.

You pay, you do three assaults, you pay for one, you pay for the second one, you pay for the third one. Is to me the only obvious and logical way that it ought to work. Take a listen to four-year-old Bella singing to her dad before he murdered her. My daddy is a hero. He helps me grow up strong. He helps me snuggle too. He reads me books. He ties my shoes. If you're a hero, blue and blue, my daddy, daddy, I love you. Mr. Wren and I flew out to North Carolina about three weeks ago and spent quite a bit of time with the Rusick family talking about the state of the death penalty in Colorado, the realities of the death penalty.

We explained to them the extraordinary delays that currently exist in the state of Colorado as a result of, in part part the actions of our current governor. We discussed the fact that an individual by the name of Nathan Dunlap was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 and it's still alive today. Um, we discussed all of the possible consequences, delays, penalties, time frames, and I hope I'm saying this accurately. I know they'll correct me if I am wrong, but they were very strongly in favor of a resolution in this case short of the death penalty. You are hearing the Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke

speaking about Chris Watts' guilty pleas. He traveled, Rourke, all the way to North Carolina from Colorado to speak to Shanann's parents and brother and explain to them how long it would take to actually implement the death penalty. The family made the decision to go for life behind bars versus the death penalty. about this plea, which was a big surprise to the public. I was shocked that the state was not going forward with the death penalty in such a heinous case. Chris Watts murdered his wife, Shanann, pregnant with their first boy, Nico, and his two little daughters, Celeste and Bella. He then put the girls' bodies in crude oil containers, where he at an oil company and buried his wife, Shanann, in a shallow grave so he could carry on his sex affair with a co-worker. Then made a tearful plea to the public about, please come home.

Wah, wah. Not impressed. Then he choked up and snotted all over everybody in court, pleading guilty to the murders. Now, what a juxtaposition. Listen to Shanann's Facebook video she had just posted telling her daughters she was going to have a new baby. Guess what, girls? Mommy has a baby in her belly. A baby! Are you guys excited?

Yeah! Yes? Are you really excited? Oh my goodness. Come give me a hug. Oh! Oh! I love you, girl.

I got the baby a hug. You want to give the baby a hug? I love you, girl. I got the baby a hug. You want to give the baby a hug? I love you, Bella. And it just breaks my heart hearing the little children's voices laughing. Now, listen to that in stark contrast to Shanann telling her husband, Chris Watts, she's pregnant. Sweet as a... I like that shirt. Really?

Really. That's awesome. So pink means... That's just a test. I know. It's just the pink is going to be girls? I don't know. Just a test. That's just a test. I know. It's just that pink is going to be girls? I don't know. Just a test.

That's awesome. Guess when you want to, it happens. That's awesome, he says. He knows he's having a sex affair with his co-worker right then and talking about leaving his wife. You mean it's a girl? Because he already had two girls. Well, we know now it was Nico, a baby boy. But comparing the differences in their reactions to a new baby on the way. Joining me in addition to Dr. Brian Russell from ID's Fatal Vows, Kathleen

Murphy, North Carolina, family lawyer, Ellen Kaloran, investigative reporter with CrimeOnline.com is Vincent Hill, cop turned PI, author of Playbook to a Murder. Vincent, you know, almost immediately the cops smelled a rat. How did they find the bodies? Well, Nancy, I think everybody from the beginning smelled the rat. I mean, he started out with, we had an emotional conversation, but it's not an argument. Well, isn't an argument an emotional conversation, right? Because emotions are involved. So I think that's what tipped investigators off that this guy may be involved. And to find out that he had put the bodies of his little girls in crude oil, that's just heartbreaking, even for seasoned investigators, Nancy. I'm sure that's something they were not expecting.

You know, it doesn't take long to figure out, to ferret out evidence of an affair. And as every defense attorney will argue, an affair does not make you a murderer. But how many times in domestic murders is one of the parties having an affair? To Ellen Killorn with CrimeOnline.com, what have we learned about, let's just say, his... Oh, gosh, exciting's not the right word, his very busy social life. Well, Nancy, you're right.

It does appear that he was very, very busy. Law enforcement has confirmed at least one ongoing affair with a co-worker that was happening at the very same time that his wife and children were murdered. But we've also heard from two other people who claimed to have had a sexual affair with Chris Watts in the year or two before his murders. And it sounds like if those people are telling the truth, he was having multiple affairs at the same time. You know, Ellen Kaloran, investigative reporter, he cried and snotted the whole way through his guilty plea. Is it true that he never once met the eyes of Shanann's family? That is what we're hearing.

And Nancy, I think that he was crying for himself. What does that say to you, to Dr. Brian Russell? It's still all about him. I mean, why could he just get a divorce? Why was it all about him having a new lifestyle? Well, this is the number one reason why people end up on my show on Fatal Vows, because they're having an affair or they they've had an affair or they get caught having an affair. And it actually shows it actually compounds the lesson into just how how extreme the selfishness is at the core of the sociopath. When you really think about, well, why didn't they?

Obviously, they knew that was an option. But then what would have happened? Then he would have been divorced. He would have had three kids to support off living in another. He would have had to fund two households, be paying child support. God forbid he would have had to have the kids maybe with him some of the time, which would away as if they were, you know, useless pieces of trash. And that's literally how he disposed of them, throwing them into oil tanks so that he could ostensibly move on with his sex affair, as you said.

You're right. I mean, it's hard for most of us to imagine that kind of selfishness. You know, how many times did this guy change his story, Ellen Killoran? First it was, we had an emotional discussion and then she went missing. Where is she? Come home. Then it was, once the bodies were found at his workplace out in an oil field, he changed his story to what? His wife killed the girls after he told her he was

leaving. Then he killed her in a rage. How often did his story change? Ellen, what were his stories? In the span of just a few days, he changed his story multiple times. He played the part initially and very unconvincingly of a husband and father who was missing his family and begging them to come home. Within the week, he had admitted that he had killed his pregnant wife after the so-called emotional conversation. And then he tried to blame her for the deaths of his little girls. He said that he saw her strangling one of the little girls while another one lay limp on a bed nearby looking blue and that he flew into a rage claiming to be in the defense of his daughters. But he never called 911. He never did anything to defend

them because he's responsible for their deaths. Guess what, girls? Mommy has a baby in her belly. Are you guys excited? Yes. Are you really excited? Oh my goodness goodness come give me a hug oh oh i love you i got the baby you want to give the baby a hug i love you bella and i can only say that i hope there is a sense of closure um i know that that will never be fully realized because obviously the tragedy that sits before us today is the loss of four beautiful lives. And no matter what happens today, no matter what happens at a sentencing hearing down the road, we can't get them back. Sandy said it very, very poignantly to me. She said he made the choice to take those lives.

I do not want to be in a position of making the choice to take his. And so that's about as firmly as she could have said it to me. And that was very compelling to all of us as we were talking about how to proceed on this case. We talked a lot about whether we would require him to come forward and give us what we believe to be complete, accurate and truthful statement. I think all of those who were involved never truly believed that he would give us an accurate statement. What I can tell you most affirmatively today by what happened in the courtroom is the spotlight that he tried to

shine on Shanann falsely, incorrectly, and frankly, a flat-out lie has been corrected. The spotlight shines directly where it belongs, on him. You are hearing the Colorado District Attorney Michael Rourke speaking out about Christopher Watts's guilty plea in court. The family of those related to Shanann Watts, the friends of Shanann Watts, distraught while her husband Christopher Watts pleads guilty and cries for himself the entire way through it. You know, to Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family lawyer, this is what you live and breathe. Family controversy, you know, usually not ending in murders. But this one all over an affair is so rare that someone not only kills their spouse, but their children too. Well, I believe that there was a trifecta of things going wrong. He's clearly a narcissist.

He was clearly engaged in significant misbehavior. And then third, he just didn't want to own the reality of it all coming to a head. I see this all the time, Nancy, social media, all the time. I can get on my soapbox about this, but people need to get off of social media and live their real life. To Ellen Kalora and CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, what role did finances play? Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family lawyer, said basically a trifecta of family problems erupted into murder. What about finances? Well, as Kathleen said, it's obvious that Chris Watts was a narcissist. And in the last couple of years of Shanon Watts' life, she started to become very financially independent and financially powerful on her own.

She was making around $80,000 a year, which is a very good salary for that part of Colorado. And we know that Chris Watts' salary actually declined over the years. We don't know why. So there was a point where she was surpassing her husband. I'll tell you why. Because he was philandering too much and not focusing on his family and his job. He was too busy out having affairs. That's just one observation, Ellen. I think that's a very good observation, and we know that that is exactly what was going on.

So Chris Watts was not providing for his family. He was only providing for himself. You know, to Vincent Hill, private investigator, former cop, author of Playbook to a Murder, now creator of Fall of a Titan podcast, Vincent, listen to this. The district attorney says, quote, I don't know how I could have sat in Sandy, that's Shanann's mom, kitchen and asked her to commit the next yeah, you might get the death sentence, but it will probably, very likely, never be imposed. That's hard, Vincent Hill. Yeah, that's a hard conversation, Nancy. In Colorado, they do have a very lax death penalty, if you will.

But I got to give it to the family, to Shanann's family, to say, hey, we don't want the death penalty, if you will. But I got to give it to the family, to Shanann's family to say, hey, we don't want the death penalty. That takes a lot of strength, even in what they lost, Nancy, that takes a lot of strength to say, we're not even seeking the death penalty. We want this guy to spend the rest of his life in prison. So that's a testament to the type of people Shanann's family is. You know, to Kathleen Murphy, I don't know what this means, Kathleen. I'm not a shrink. I'm just a trial lawyer and a mom. But to murder your wife, your pregnant wife, your two baby girls, ages three and four,

and then try to put the blame on your wife claiming she murdered the little girls and that she saw through the nanny cam, she was strangling them, and then you ran in in a rage and killed her? You know, what level of deception and cruelty and evil is that that you would not only kill your wife with your bare hands

and your two little children and then try to blame her. She's the bad person while you're the one screwing around. Number one, Nancy, I cannot even conceive of it. I can't conceive of it. But number two, I cannot conceive of the pain her parents and her brother must have felt when that information came out of that jerk's mouth. Unfathomable. Here's the very latest in the Chris Watts murder trial. Here's Denver 7 Thomas Hoppo. When Christopher Watts stepped into that courtroom, He had no emotion walking towards his seat. But as soon as the judge started to speak about his plea agreement, that's when he broke down and started crying.

And for all nine counts that he pleaded guilty to, he was in between cries. And now, with everything that's happened, Shanann's family might be able to move forward and have some closure. Move forward and have closure. I don't know about that. You know, sometimes we trial lawyers think we've seen it all. And then comes along Christopher Watts. I don't know what malice was in his heart and in his mind,

but I know this, it was all about him and the life he wanted to lead. His wife and little children are dead. He will serve the rest of his life behind bars unless through some legal wrangling, like in Charles Manson when the death penalty was declared unconstitutional and he got life and then he was possibly up for parole. You never know what's going to happen. My only comfort is that Shanann gave her children the happiest life possible. I'm signing off, friend. But I want you to hear the joy in little Bella's voice.

Guess what, girls? Mommy has a baby in her belly. A baby! Are you guys excited? Yeah! Yes? Are you really excited? Oh, my goodness.

Come give me a hug. Oh! Oh. I love you, girl. I got the baby a hug. You want to give the baby a hug? I love you, Bella. Nancy got the baby a hug. You want to give the baby a hug? I love you, Mella. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off.

Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.