Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - The Watts Family Murders Pt. 1

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

Chris and Shanann Watts seemed to have the picture-perfect life. But in reality, an extramarital affair, financial struggles, and conflicts with extended family were tearing the couple apart, all leading to a shocking, brutal crime that would shock the nation. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the nature of this case, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of violence and adult content. Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen. Nicole Kessinger parked in front of her boyfriend's house and hurried up the front walk. She was eager to see Chris. They'd only been together a few weeks, but Nicole already felt like she was falling in love. This was real. She grinned as Chris opened the front door and let her inside. But when she got to the living room, her heart sank. Chris told her that he'd split up with his wife, that they lived separate lives.

But looking around, Nicole saw her. signs of the other woman everywhere. When she asked Chris about it, he shrugged her off. He and his wife had agreed to separate months ago. They just hadn't finalized it yet. But as Nicole looked around at the family house, a knot twisted in her stomach. She studied the pictures on the wall. There was Chris, his wife, and their two children, looking happy, looking like a family. She glanced at Chris. He smiled at her. He had such a kind smile, sincere eyes, a guileless face. But Nicole couldn't help wondering, was Chris Watts lying to her? From the moment Chris and Shanan Watts married in 2012, they seemed to have the picture-perfect life.

Their posts on social media gave the impression of a couple madly in love, raising two adorable daughters in a beautiful home. In reality, an extramarital affair, financial struggles, and conflicts with extended family were tearing the two of them apart. I'm Vanessa Richardson, and this is Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast. You can find us here every Monday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast, and we'd love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify.

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people. While she was a student at Pinecrest High School in Aberdeen, North Carolina, she began dating a young law student, we'll call Lyle. There are few public details about their courtship, but the relationship quickly turned serious. They dated and then married not long after Shanan graduated from high school in 2002. However, Lyle said that, the couple soon grew apart. After graduating law school, Lyle became a public defender. Shanan took a store manager job at an auto maintenance and repair shop and poured herself into her work. She didn't seem to have any time or interest in maintaining their marriage. It was like she and Lyle lived two separate lives in the same home.

Lyle said that while they attended a few counseling sessions together, Shanan refused to open up. They didn't argue, but as Lyle told it, Shanan simply checked out of the relationship. Within five years, they filed for divorce. Shanan stayed busy with work after the marriage ended. She was careful about saving money, and in 2009 she used her savings to purchase land in Belmont, North Carolina.

She then built a spacious home on the property. At just 25 years old, she was doing well for herself. But around this same time, she also began to experience chronic health problems. In May of 2010, she was diagnosed with lupus, a disease that causes the immune system to attack the body's own tissue and organs. In Facebook posts, she also mentioned that she possibly had thyroid problems, fibromyalgia, migraines, celiac disease, and chogrin syndrome. Chenan later said it was the darkest point of her life. She felt scared and alone. She lost many of her friendships because she didn't have the energy to go out or socialize. But that summer,

she received a new friend request from a stranger, a 25-year-old man named Chris Watts. Christopher Lee Watts was born on May 16, 1985 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. His parents described him as a happy, friendly, soft-spoken child. Others characterized him similarly, one of his former teachers said, he was very clean-cut, very respectful, very smart. A high school friend said that Chris was the kind of guy that all the girls had crushes on. Everyone liked him. Chris's father worked as an auto mechanic, and Chris followed in his footsteps. After graduating from Pine Forest High School in 2003, he received a $1,000 scholarship to the NASCAR Technical Institute in Moresville. He hoped to someday become a NASCAR

crew chief. After graduating, Chris went on to work as a technician at a Ford dealership. Friends said he didn't have much of a social life, and he almost never approached women. He was too shy. But social media gave him an opportunity to meet new people in a casual, low-stakes setting. He came upon Shanan's Facebook profile because the two shared a distant connection. Shanan was friends with his cousin's wife. He thought she was beautiful, And on a whim, he sent her a friend request. Shanan later said that when she accepted the request, she never expected anything to come out of it.

But after exchanging a few messages, she agreed to go out on a date. For his part, Chris could tell that she wasn't impressed when they met in person. On their first date, Shanan thought he was underdressed. He wasn't taking the date seriously. But she agreed to see him again. And soon, her attitude shifted.

For their third date, the pair decided to spend the day at Myrtle Beach. However, Shanan wasn't feeling well. Her lupus was flaring up. They left early. On the drive back, Shanan laid her head in Chris's lap, trying to get comfortable. Chris remained as still as possible so that she could rest undisturbed. Shanan was touched that he let her lay on his lap for the entire two-and-a-half-hour drive. Later, speaking about the early weeks of their relationship,

she said, I rejected him. I pushed him away time and time again. But when I canceled dates last minute, because that's how life is with my health challenges, he stuck around. And he stuck around because he was the one for me. After a few months, things got serious, and the couple started talking about marriage.

Shanan decided to invite her parents and Chris's parents over for a backyard cookout. Shanan's parents were thrilled to see the couple so high. happy together, but Chris's parents didn't feel the same way. According to Shanan's mother, Chris's parents were sullen and standoffish at the barbecue. They seemed to disapprove of her daughter. Chris didn't date much and they weren't used to him having a girlfriend. His mother apparently resented him having a new woman in his life. When the two mothers were alone together, Chris's mother, Cindy, made a disparaging comment about

Shanan being divorced. Later that night, Cindy remarked that she doubted Shanan really loved her son. Shanan's mother was upset on her daughter's behalf. She later said of Cindy, I knew she was going to be a thorn in the marriage. In Shanan's case, it was clear that she found Chris's family toxic early on. She didn't like their hold over him or their hostility toward her. But Cindy defended her comments. She felt Shanan was too critical of her son. Shanan often said that Chris wasn't the kind of person she expected to fall in love with, so to Cindy, that sounded like Shanan looked down on him. Despite the tension, Chris and Shanan did their best to prevent his parents from interfering with their relationship. By April of 2011, after she and Chris had been dating for about eight months,

Shanan started looking at engagement rings online and posting favorites on her Facebook page. In August, Chris proposed at Ocean Isle Beach. The couple was eager to start a new life together, but also seemed to want some distance from Chris's parents. Around the time of their engagement, they visited some of Shanan's friends in Colorado. During the brief trip, she fell in love with the place, and before they left, she posted a Facebook status about how she hoped to be back soon. Shanan watched Chris load their suitcases into the trunk. Before getting into the car, she paused to take one last look around.

She was dreading the flight back home. In Colorado, she felt lighter. She breathed easier. Maybe it was the mountain air. Or maybe it was the chance to escape from the stresses of normal life. The trip was good for Chris, too. He could be such a homebody. He hardly ever made time to go out and meet new people.

If you asked him who his best friend was, he'd probably say his father. Shanan thought it was about time he left his comfort zone, tried new experiences, and left old things behind. After all, that was what marriage was really about. Getting a fresh start, embarking on a new adventure, just the two of them together. After the trip, Shanan desperately wanted to move to Colorado. She thought it would be good for Chris to get away from his family, whom she called possessive and controlling. Chris's mother made it clear that she disapproved of Shanan and the move. But Chris told her he didn't care.

Shanan was his family now. Within a few months, Chris was hired to work at a Ford dealership in Longmont, about 50 miles north of Denver. He moved to Colorado in early 2012, staying with Shanan's friends while they figured out a more permanent arrangement. Chenan joined her fiancée about a month later. She was able to secure a job at the same Ford dealership in the sales department. People at the dealership liked the couple. Shanan's boss Greg called her sweet as can be, but he also noticed something else. In a later interview he said that Chris was, quote, very passive, she was very aggressive with

him, bossy, do this, do that, telling him what to do, dominating the relationship. Many of the couple's other friends and family saw the same dynamic in action. Chris always seemed to follow Shanan's lead. Even Shanan admitted that Chris didn't like confrontation. Psychological researcher and clinician John M. Gottman conducted a study on 60 married couples, in which he measured the vital signs of spouses during verbal disagreements. He found that men had higher pulse rates and elevated blood pressure compared to women. He theorized that men had higher pulse rates and elevated blood pressure compared to women. He theorized that men

have a lower tolerance for marital discord because they feel physiologically overwhelmed by it. They therefore may be more likely to avoid conflict rather than address it. This can be dangerous, according to Gottman. In an interview, he said, having a conflict-free relationship does not mean having a happy one. There are conflicts that you absolutely must have, because to give in is to give up some of your personality. Chris often complied with Shanan's wishes, thinking it would.

would make life easier in the short term, he didn't realize the long-term toll it could take on his psyche. Even so, their relationship dynamic didn't give Greg any cause for concern. He said they were just an everyday American couple. Greg had no way of knowing that the couple were under an enormous amount of emotional strain. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseppatide may be able to help. Zepbound, is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5,

10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zephound contains tersepetide and should not be used with other terseptide-containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepbound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with

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soft lightly lined cups for a natural shape, and no wire comfort that lasts all day. All over smooth, all-day comfort, vanity fair lingerie. Find yours at Target today. In early 2012, 26-year-old Christopher Watts and 28-year-old Shannan Rusek were newly engaged and had just moved to Frederick, Colorado. but before their life together could truly begin, they had to travel back to North Carolina for their wedding. On November 3rd, 2012,

Shanan and Chris got married at a double-tree hotel. They danced the night away among friends and family. Only one thing was missing, Chris's parents. His family refused to attend. They were angry that Chris and Shanan had moved to Colorado. They felt Shanan had taken Chris away from them. Chris's mother explained, We didn't attend because Shanan and I just couldn't get along.

Shanan tried not to let it bother her. The couple had enough on their minds. They had just purchased land on Saratoga Trail in Colorado and had plans drawn up to build a new home there. While they waited on the construction, they got some more big news. On April 16, 2013, Shanan discovered that she was pregnant.

She was ecstatic. She'd worried her health problems might make it difficult to conceive. Now it was like all her dreams were coming true. A month later, Chris and Shanan's home was complete, and they were able to move in. With a brand new house and a baby on the way, they seemed to be living the American dream. And like many millennial couples, they were quick to share it all on social media. Shanan even started a blog to document her pregnancy. She called it Journey of Bella Marie, named for her unborn daughter.

One recurring theme in Shanan's posts was how much she loved shopping for the baby. By the time she was halfway through her pregnancy, she had a closet full of clothes for her daughter. She often took pictures of her new purchases, along with captions like, Can't Help Myself. What these pictures didn't show was that Chris and Shanan were falling into serious debt. They were putting thousands of dollars on credit cards. in addition to their brand new mortgage. At some point, Shanan also went back to school for nursing.

She didn't complete the program, but still took on student debt for the course load. Their monetary woes put their marriage at risk. Their money problems may have been particularly hard on Chris, because he didn't feel like he had any control over them. Shanan didn't trust him with the family finances. At one point, he sold his truck for less money than he owed on it. Shanan was furious. From then on, she handled all the financial decisions. He later said that he didn't even deposit his own paycheck. He handed it directly to her. Perhaps to remedy the situation and help pay the bills, Shanan took a nighttime job at the call center of a children's hospital. She also began selling handbags on the side through a direct sales company. Still, Shanan and Chris struggled to stay afloat, and they'd soon have to ask. add the expense of a new baby.

On December 17, 2013, the couple's first daughter, Bella, was born. In the months following her birth, Shanan's Facebook page showed typical, loving parents, delighted to welcome their first child. She posted dozens of wholesome pictures of the family going to baseball games, taking trips to the lake, picking pumpkins for Halloween. But again, social media didn't tell the whole story. In the fall of 2014, less than a year after giving birth, Shanan became pregnant again. The pregnancy was physically difficult for her.

Her mother recalled that Shanan experienced severe back pain, chest pains, and exhaustion. But her health wasn't the couple's only source of stress. Their financial situation hadn't improved either. They knew they needed to increase their income to offset their debt, so Chris set out to look for a better-paying job. In January of 2015, he was hired as a field coordinator at Anadarko Petroleum. His salary increased. However, the new job still wasn't enough to help them recover.

That summer, the couple filed for bankruptcy. Their filings showed that expenses for their mortgage and car payments exceeded $4,000 a month. The documents also showed that they had $9.50. cents in their savings account and about $860 in checking. A few weeks after they filed for bankruptcy, their second daughter, Cece, was born. Stress piled onto the family. At one point, Shanan's parents left North Carolina and moved to Colorado to help. They lived there for about 15 months while Chris and Shanan slowly tried to climb out of debt.

In January 2016, Shanan began selling vitamin supplements. through a direct sales company. She was evidently successful as she soon quit her other jobs. Shanan used social media to market her products and to recruit new sales reps. She posted scores of videos to Facebook on a daily basis, touting both the health benefits of the products and the advantages of joining the company. For Shanan, her family was part of her brand. She raved about how working from home as a sales rep allowed her to spend more time with her children. And she she used Chris to advertise the products themselves, pointing out that he had lost weight using the supplements. Chris could see his wife was a talented saleswoman and recruiter. He later said,

she could sell everything you're wearing back to you. However, Chris didn't enjoy participating in Shanan's online sales pitches. He said, those videos were not me. I just did it to support her. He added, I just hated being out for everybody to see. Still, Chris did enjoy some of the perks Shanan got through her new work. She reportedly won several bonus vacations for meeting sales targets. Chris accompanied Shanan on trips and company retreats to San Diego, New Orleans, Toronto, Las Vegas, and Punta Kana in the Dominican Republic. Shanan documented the trips heavily on social media.

She raved, It's amazing that my husband and I have created more memories in the last two years than we did in the previous eight. My mood is so much better and we're having fun. According to social media, the Watts family was living a comfortable, even luxurious life. But again, it's difficult to discern the reality. In a 2013 study, researchers from the University of Missouri, Columbia, surveyed 205 Facebook users and found that a high level of Facebook usage is associated with negative relationship outcomes

and an increase in Facebook-related conflict. A more extensive 2017 survey published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that high levels of Facebook use correlates to diminished well-being. Frequent users self-reported a reduction in physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction. For Shanan, Facebook was essential to her employment. She had to maintain a certain online persona in order to be successful at her sales. job, but this meant that she couldn't always be honest about what was really going on. She didn't publicly talk about money or the couple's bankruptcy. Instead, she mostly stayed focused on her current

success. Still, she did occasionally post about other stresses in her life. Both the Watts's young daughters experienced chronic health issues. They had asthma, allergies, and frequent ear infections and respiratory infections. Cece reportedly had surgery on her esophagus to correct a medical issue that caused breathing problems. The medical bills accumulated as the couple brought the girls to various specialists. As the debt piled up once again,

another monthly bill was added to their expenses in 2017. That year, three-year-old Bella began attending a private preschool. Around the same time, Shanan reportedly underwent surgery, to repair a degenerative disc in her neck. An old friend, Christina, came to live with the family for two months during Shannan's recovery. While staying with them, Christina noticed that the family lived beyond their means. Shanan seemed anxious about money and worried about buying enough food while Christina was there. But even with these worries, Christina thought that Shannan and Chris had a great marriage.

She later described it as a model relationship. She wasn't the only one. Shanan's father, Franklin, said that he never saw any problems between the couple. They were great parents. They seemed happy. Shanan thought so, too. Shanan panned her phone's camera across the room until she landed on Chris, playing with the kids. She couldn't help but smile.

She had to admit, sometimes when she asked him to appear on camera, he seemed stiff and uncomfortable. She wished he could just relax. But it was different when he was playing with the girls. She didn't have to tell him to act natural. He was just himself. They loved him so much. They were lucky to have him. Shanan kept the camera running.

She wanted to revel in every moment of their joy. Whatever their struggles, they were a family. They were in this together. Nothing could ever change that. By the end of 2017, Shanan and Chris had been married for more than five years. She told her friends they were just as in love as ever. She never suspected that Chris felt any differently. But in just a few short months, everything would change. Chris was pulling away from Shanan. He'd taken an interest in another woman. This episode is brought to you by

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their family was complete yet. At the end of May, Shanan revealed that she was pregnant for the third time. She posted a video online in which she surprised Chris with the news. Chris grinned when he heard, but some viewers later noted that he didn't seem overjoyed. When he saw the pregnancy test, he said mildly, I guess when you want to, it happens. It may be that Chris's mind was already on something else. Someone else. Early that summer, Chris had gotten to know a new woman at his work,

30-year-old Nicole Kessinger. Nicole and Chris didn't cross paths very often. Most of the time he did on-site work at oil wells while she worked in the company's main office. But one day in May of 2018, Chris went to the office to retrieve some equipment. He ran into Nicole and they had a long conversation. From then on, they got into the habit of chatting each morning when Chris stopped by the office before leaving for the oil wells. Nicole said that when she first met Chris, he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

Chris later said he was getting it resized since he had recently lost weight. but he didn't mention he was married. Not at first. When he finally did bring up Shanan, he said they were in a bad place, and on the verge of separating, Nicole believed him. In late June, Chris asked Nicole if she wanted to see him outside of work.

They agreed to meet for a walk in a park near Nicole's home. Chris was normally quiet and introverted, but he felt comfortable around Nicole. She was easy to talk to, and they shared a lot of interests, like cars and physical fitness. Best of all, he never had to walk on eggshells or worry about making her angry. She thought he seemed sweet and kind. If he wasn't still married, he'd be perfect.

Meanwhile, Shanan noticed that Chris seemed eager to spend more time at work. On June 20th, she told a friend that Chris had missed her first sonogram appointment, but she might have been too excited about the baby to read her. anything into it. She was also planning for an upcoming trip. She'd decided to take an extended summer vacation to see her and Chris's families in North Carolina. She and the kids were going to be gone for six weeks. Since Chris had to work, he would remain home in Colorado for most of the excursion. He planned to join them for their last week of vacation. On June 27th, Shanan, Bella, and Cece flew east to North Carolina.

Chris was on his own, and he was ready to take advantage of it. He went to visit Nicole at her house, and the two had sex. Nicole later said that she felt bad about dating a man before his divorce was complete. She claimed that she even encouraged him to give his marriage another try. But Chris said he wasn't interested in that, and suddenly he began opening up about his marriage. He told her that everything seemed good on the surface. he and Shanan rarely fought.

Throughout their relationship, he'd mostly gone along with whatever Shanan wanted. But apparently he'd been holding onto some resentments. He'd been burying his emotions and keeping up a faux happy front. But in front of Nicole, he led out his true feelings. Chris said that the perfect life his wife presented on social media was just a facade. He said she was too bossy and controlling, that she didn't actually care about him, or his interests, but only cared about appearances, that she'd destroyed their finances with her

need to have a big house full of expensive things. She wanted people to think they had it all. He didn't want any of it. He shared grievance after grievance. From Chris's rantings, it was clear that his marriage was unsalvageable, so she kept seeing him. Chris's complaints about Chanan are in line with the way many cheaters rationalize their infidelity. Researcher Benjamin Warwick conducted a study at Adelphi University, seeking to understand how people see themselves after cheating on their spouses. He found that adulterers blamed their spouses more often than they blamed themselves and that they underestimated the emotional impact of their infidelity. Chris had been stewing in his own repressed emotions for so long, he may have seen himself as the true victim when he cheated on

Shanan. At the time, he certainly didn't show any signs of wanting to call off the affair. On July 4th, Chris invited Nicole over to the house. Nicole later said she didn't feel very comfortable there. On the walls, she saw pictures of Shanan and the kids. Nicole suddenly felt like she was intruding on someone else's life. But Chris insisted that his marriage was done. So she again believed him. After Nicole hung out with Chris at his house that day, they went to a baseball game together. Over the next two weeks, while the rest of the family was in North Carolina, Chris and Nicole met for movie dates, talked on the phone, and traveled to Boulder together to visit the Shelby Mustang Museum. All the while, Chris was having regular FaceTime chats with Shepard.

Shanan and the girls. They seemed to be enjoying their trip, at first. They'd planned to spend each weekday with Shanan's family and weekends with Chris's. They were initially happy with this arrangement, but in the second week, old tensions with Chris's family reignited. Around July 8th, Shanan was enjoying a quiet moment as Bella and Cece played with their cousins outside her in-law's house. They went inside, and Shanan followed them to the kitchen, where she claimed,

Cindy was giving the children ice cream, which contained nuts. Cindy later said it didn't contain any nuts, but had been made in a factory where cross-contamination might have occurred. Regardless, Shanan explained to Chris's family that the girls had a deadly tree nut allergy and asked them to put the ice cream away. Chris's family reacted with hostility. They apparently thought Shanan was overreacting or exaggerating the girls' allergies. Shanan insisted that Bella and Cece couldn't be in the same house as any nut products. Cindy countered that it was unfair to deny the rest of the family the treat, even if the girls were allergic. It turned into a heated argument. Furious, Shanan immediately left the house with

Bella and Cece. She later texted Chris that he needed to talk to his family and to stand up for her on the children. Chris agreed to speak to them, but Shanan continued to fume about the confrontation. She complained about the incident on Facebook, and Chris's mother responded by blocking Shanan. On July 15th, Shanan and her parents held a party for Cece's third birthday, but Chris's family refused to attend. Shanan was hurt. Making matters worse, while she stressed about her in-laws, she started to see troubling changes in her husband. That second week of July, Shanan noticed that Chris wasn't answering her calls or returning her texts as frequently as she wanted him to. Chris seemed distracted.

He was. On July 18th, Chris began hiding erotic pictures of Nicole on his phone. He stored them in a decoy app that looks like a real calculator, but is used to hide photos and videos in a discreet folder. All the while, Chris and Nicole continued to go on dinner. dates and outings. They met daily at Nicole's apartment for sex. It was clear that their relationship wasn't just a fling. The affair was becoming serious. On July 28th, the pair took an overnight camping trip together to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. On the trip, Nicole recorded a video of herself to Chris saying, thank you so much for coming out here with me, Christopher. I am having a wonderful time.

you mean a lot to me, and I'm glad you're having a blast. While they were on their getaway, Chris didn't respond to Shanan's calls at all. She texted him angrily that she hadn't heard from him in 48 hours. Chris apologized and told her he would see her soon. For over a month, he'd enjoyed the bachelor life with his new girlfriend, but it was about to come to an end. On July 31st, he flew out to North Carolina, to join Shanan and the kids.

On his first night there, Chris Shanan and the children had dinner together at the restaurant of a family friend. The friend later said, if there was trouble in paradise for them, they did a wonderful job hiding it. I did not get any negative vibes about him or from Shanan or the girls in relation to him. But while she kept up a positive front, inwardly, Shanan was more convinced than ever that something was wrong with Chris. At one point on August 3rd, they had an argument by text. She wrote, From the day I left, you never said I missed you before I said it. Something changed when I

left. You may be happier alone, and that's fine. You can be alone. They were still fighting days later. On August 6th, Chris told her that he was afraid to have a third child. He wasn't sure he wanted another baby. He was also angry at Shanan about the rift between her and his family. He felt she was making him choose between them. Most of all, he just wasn't sure he and Shanan were compatible anymore. Shenan told a friend that she was devastated. She texted, we've never had a problem in our relationship like this. No joke. Never. This is total left field. Sitting on the bathroom floor of her parents' house, Shanan couldn't stop crying. She almost felt like she was a child again, crying and helpless.

But this was even worse. She wasn't a child. She was a grown woman, pregnant with two kids and a husband who was no longer in love with her. How had this happened? She thought she'd done everything right, the house, the man, the life? They'd been swimming along for eight years, weathering all of their challenges, only for it all to fall apart so suddenly. There had to be an explanation. People didn't just suddenly fall out of love.

Chris must be hiding something. Shanan suspected that much, but dreaded finding out what it was. On August 7, 2018, the family returned home to Colorado. Shanan and Chris were still at odds. She apparently suspected the truth. She asked him if he was having an affair, but he answered, no. The following day, she told a friend, We're supposed to go to an ultrasound tonight and he doesn't want the baby.

He'd abort if I said it was okay. In a bittersweet text exchange on August 9th, Shanan sent Chris an ultrasound picture. They were having a boy. They intended to name him Nico Lee Watts. That same day, Chris deleted his Facebook page. Shanan asked Chris why he'd done it, but he didn't respond. When his father texted the same question, Chris cheerfully replied,

Liberated myself. Throughout the day, Shanan told her friends about her marriage and the possibility of a divorce, but said she hoped it wouldn't come to that. She even Googled options for couples therapy. Unfortunately, the next day, Shanan had to travel for work. On August 10th, Shanan left Chris and the children for the weekend to attend a company training session in Scottsdale, Arizona.

As soon as she was gone, Chris scheduled a babysitter to come the following night. He wanted to take Nicole out on a date. The next day, Chris told Shanan he was going to a baseball game with Tick. tickets he'd won from work. In reality, he met Nicole for dinner. That night, while Shanan was out with other sales reps, she received an alert about a $60 charge on their credit card from Chris's date. She called Chris to ask about it, and he said he'd gone out to eat after the game. But Shanan was suspicious. She wondered what he could have eaten that could have cost so much. She even Googled the menu of the restaurant to see the prices and work out the math. She

asked him to save his receipt so they could write the meal off, but likely she just wanted to confirm her suspicions. Chris was having an affair. Shanan wasn't sure what to do. She was set to return home the following day. She finally had to accept that her picture-perfect marriage was a lie. It was time to confront reality. Once she and Chris were face-to-face, they would have it out once and for all. Thanks for listening to Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast. We're here with a new episode every Monday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast,

and we'd love to hear from you, so if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Amongst the many sources we used, we found the book, My Daddy is a Hero, how Chris Watts went from family man to family killer by Lena Durholy, extremely helpful to our research.

Stay safe out there. Serial Killers is a Spotify podcast. This episode was written by Christina Pammy's with writing assistance by Abigail Cannon, fact-checked by Cheyenne Lopez, researched by Mickey Taylor and Chelsea Wood, and sound designed by Alex Button. Our head of programming is Julian Borrow.

Our head of production is Nick Johnson and Spencer Howard. is our post-production supervisor. I'm your host, Vanessa Richardson. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcast this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast crime beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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