The Lets Read Podcast - 87: Introducing Crime Weekly

Episode Date: December 18, 2020

Hear an exclusive clip from the new true crime podcast, Crime Weekly. Crime Weekly is a co-production from Audioboom and Main Event Media. Join hosts Derrick Levasseur and Stephanie Harlowe every Friday as they discuss all the crime headlines of the week along with cases that interest them. Crime Weekly is out now. Subscribe to Crime Weekly on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crime-weekly/id1540621732

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If you have questions or concerns about gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. From Audioboom and Main Event Media comes your next favorite true crime podcast. Crime Weekly is a brand new true crime podcast hosted by retired police detective Derek Levasseur and true crime YouTube creator Stephanie Harlow. Join Derek and Stephanie each week as they discuss all the crime headlines of the week. On top of weekly headlines, Crime Weekly will also take a deeper look into cases that have fascinated the host both personally and professionally, from the tragic Snapchat murders to the missing person case of Jennifer Dulos and the Watts family murders.

Each case will fascinate true crime fans. Derek and Stephanie will give plenty of insight and safety tips along the way. Crime Weekly is out right now and has new episodes every Friday. Just for my Let's Read podcast listeners, I have an exclusive clip to share with you. In this audio, you'll hear Stephanie and Derek share their insights on the Watts family murders and their initial reactions to the case. While you're listening to this exclusive clip, be sure to subscribe to Crime Weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was the early morning of August 13th, 2018,

when Shanann Watts approached the front door of her house in Frederick, Colorado. She had just returned home from a weekend business trip in Arizona, and before that off her feet and fall asleep in the arms of her-D. I'm Stephanie Harlow. And I'm Derek Levasseur. This week we are talking about the murders of Shanann Watts, Bella Watts, Cece Watts, and Nico Watts. As a YouTuber, I really saw this case discussed nonstop. It just seemed to hit a chord with so many people. And I really think that's because it seemed like they were the perfect family. And Chris Watts seemed like the perfect husband and father. So it made everyone incredibly sad, of course, but also uncomfortable. It made us side

eye our neighbors and friends and significant others, wondering what they might be hiding. Now, Derek, what was your feeling when you first heard about what happened to this family? I know you have two little girls. Yes, yes, I do. You can't help but think about your own daughters when you see Bella and Cece's faces. It's terrible. As a detective, all murders are tragic in some way. But for me personally, whenever children are involved, even before I had kids, it just hits a little different. And my daughters are seven and four now, so they're a little bit older, but it's definitely tough to look at Bella and Cece and see what could have been and know their lives were cut short.

Exactly, exactly. And when this first came out, my daughter, who is also Bella, was about the same age as little Bella was. So it was really tough. Now, Shanann met Chris Watts during what she referred to as a dark period in her life. She had previously been married and divorced, a relationship that took everything from her, and it left her feeling really insecure. She began feeling unwell, like she always had the flu. She had no energy. So she went to the doctors and she was diagnosed with lupus. After this, her life began to change rapidly. She quit her job of nine years and she

began to drift away from people that she'd been close to because they couldn't really understand what she was going through. They couldn't understand that she could look perfectly fine but still feel sick and horrible. Then she gets this Facebook friend request from a man she'd never met and that's where it all started. Now Derek, I remember reading about Shanann's struggles in her life and thinking to myself, this is not the best time to get into a relationship when you're at a low point, when you're vulnerable and feeling, you know, a really low level of self-esteem. Isn't this usually a risk factor for getting into a relationship with someone who might

take advantage of you or prey on that vulnerability? I mean, it really does raise a lot of red flags, right? Like Chris just came out of nowhere when he clearly knew Shanann was going through some or prey on that vulnerability? I mean, it really does raise a lot of red flags, right? Like Chris just came out of nowhere when he clearly knew Shanann was going through some things. And there's no doubt about it. Offenders usually look for individuals who are in a fragile state of mind because they're easier to manipulate.

But to me, it looks like they both might have been going through some things and it was kind of a fresh start for both of them. It doesn't sound like Chris had a ton going on either before he met Shanann. So he probably needed her just as much as she needed him. Yeah, I agree. It felt like they were both two people who were looking to fill a hole. And Chris and Shanann, they started dating and he was there for her. You know, he was there for her and he understood what was happening. He was going to her doctor's appointments with her.

He was, you know, seeing her at her worst. So he deserved her at her best. The old Marilyn Monroe quote. And they end up moving from North Carolina to Colorado after taking a trip there and falling in love with the state, which I totally get because it is absolutely breathtaking there. But I have noticed that there's been a lot of infamous true crime cases that have come out of Colorado. You got JonBenet Ramsey, Gannon Stouck, Suzanne Morphew, who's still missing. The list really goes on. What do you think is going on over there?

Is there something in the water? Is it the elevation? No, no. Colorado is beautiful. I love Colorado. I've only been there once. I went there for a case on season one of Breaking Homicide. It's an incredible place. But unfortunately, regardless of how beautiful a

place may be, there's evil everywhere. That is true. That's true. But with this case, I'd really like to focus on the investigation, right? Especially after seeing the Netflix documentary, American Murder, The Family Next Door, which had a lot of footage I had not previously seen. And I kept looking at Chris during this footage that was in the documentary. And I was wondering if he just looked suspicious to me because I already knew what he did. Or, you know, if an actual law enforcement official on this case would have felt the same way. And luckily, you have experience in this, so I get to pick your brain. Lucky you.

Yes, I watched the special as well. Very interesting. I do see how knowing what happened could definitely make you look at Chris through a different lens and say, you know, look, of course he's guilty. But for police, a case like this is a slippery slope. Obviously, it's running through the back of their minds that he could be involved, but you don't want to be perceived as insensitive to a guy who may have just lost his pregnant wife and two daughters. But there were definitely some indicators that he was being deceptive. And I think police picked up on that right away.

I'm sure we'll dive into that a little bit more later. Yes, we will. We will dive into that a little bit later. But what kind of triggered this whole investigation to happen was Shanann's friend, Nicole Atkinson, had dropped her off at her house a little before 2 a.m. on the 13th of August after the business trip. And the next morning, Nicole began texting and calling Shanann, you know, just to see how she's feeling, to check in. But Shanann wasn't answering these calls and texts. And knowing that Shanann was pregnant and had some health issues, also knowing that Shanann was somebody who needed her phone to work from. You know, Shanann did thrive and she was on social media a lot, so she always

had her phone on her. Nicole became very worried and called the police to request a welfare check. During this 911 call, Nicole had mentioned that she'd been with Shanann over the weekend and that Shanann had been extremely distraught. So initially, if you get a call like this, are you automatically going to assume something is wrong or is there more of a feeling of, you know, let's just get over there and make sure she's fine so we can set our friend's mind at ease? If I'm being honest, I think it's more of the latter for sure. I mean, these types of call happen way more than you think. So yes, you want to check it out, but usually it turns out that there's a reasonable explanation. That said, you can't be complacent, you want to check it out, but usually it turns out that there's a reasonable

explanation. That said, you can't be complacent and you have to take every situation seriously until the matter is resolved. So the police arrive and they meet Nicole and her son who are waiting outside of Shanann's house. They contact Shanann's husband, Chris, who says he'll be right there, but they have to wait for him to enter the house. And they say this in the footage. You know, I think the police officer said at one point to Nicole, like you can go inside, but I can't go inside. Can you explain this to me a little more? Why the law enforcement officials would have to wait for the homeowner when checking on another inhabitant in the house who's not responding to calls or texts? Like it always just makes me nervous. Somebody could be in there, you know, having a seizure or, you know, not being able to breathe and they're just kind of standing out there. What's the deal with that? Yep. No,

I get this question a lot. Every homeowner has an expectation of privacy. And in order for a police office to enter your home, there needs to be consent from the owner, a warrant signed by a judge or exigent circumstances like the ones you just mentioned. If we're going to enter because we fear that there could be harm to someone inside or someone's in a medical situation, or if we feel that the failure to enter could lead to the destruction of evidence, that's another reason. For example, I ran into a house in 2017. There was a fire and I wanted to get the family out. I didn't ask for their permission. I went in because of the circumstances that were presented. But that's an extreme circumstance.

But in this case, the cop did the right thing. You want to do it by the book. Let's say he went into the house without consent and finds Shanann's ring or something of value as far as evidence is concerned. All of that could be ruled inadmissible in court due to an illegal search and seizure under the fruits of poisons tree doctrine. So you really want to be careful because although you may think you're doing the right thing in the moment, if you go in there and you find something that happens to be the smoking gun, it could all be for nothing when it finally goes to trial. I completely understand that. I would hate to have that job because you have to make a decision. You know, do I go in and, you know, possibly ruin a crime scene or mess something up?

Or do I wait out here and hope that nothing's actually wrong inside? We will be releasing episodes every Friday. So subscribe to Crime Weekly on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.