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May 24, 2025 12 mins
In this chilling episode of our true crime podcast, we unravel the shocking story of Chris Watts — the Colorado husband and father who murdered his pregnant wife Shanann Watts and their two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, in 2018. What drove this seemingly perfect family man to commit one of the most heartless crimes in recent history? We dive deep into the timeline of the murders, the hidden affairs, the cold confessions, and the disturbing psychology behind Watts' actions. Featuring real interrogation audio, analysis of the investigation,  and the social media trail that led to his downfall, this is a case that will haunt you long after the episode ends. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more gripping true crime stories every week. 🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's episode may have some content that is disturbing for
some listeners. Listener discretion is advice. Welcome back to another
episode of Bloodstain Backstories. I'm your host, Jays and I'm
your host Summer.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
What could possibly drive a husband and father to murder
his pregnant wife and two beautiful daughters, A family man
who to the outside world loved and adored his family.
What could be so wrong that one would have to
resort to murder? It makes no sense. There are always
answers less drastic than murdering your pregnant wife and two children.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
And this is the story of Chris Watts, his pregnant wife,
Shannon Watts, and their two children, Bella Watts, who was four,
and Slice Watts, who was three. Christopher Watts and Shannon
Rezek were booked from North Carolina. They met in twenty
ten and were married on November third, twenty and twelve.

(00:57):
The couple had two children, both daughters, Bella and Sealiste.
Shannon was fifteen weeks pregnant with their third child, a boy.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
The Watts family lived in a beautiful five bedroom home
in Colorado. They had purchased a home in twenty thirteen
in twenty fifteen, the couple declared bankruptcy. Chris worked for
Anadarko Petroleum and Shananan was a stay at home mom
who worked from worked from home selling the product called Thrive.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Shannon had taken a business trip for the company that
she worked for and returned home at approximately one forty eight
am on Monday, August thirteenth, twenty eighteen. Her friend Nicole
Atkinson drove her home. Later in the day. Nicole reported
Shannon and the girls missing when she became concerned after
Shannon missed a scheduled obgyn aployment, plus failed to return

(01:53):
Nicole's text messages. Shannon then missed a business meeting, so
Nicole went to the Watses home at around twelve ten pm.
She rang the doorbell, knocked on the door, and no
one answered. Nicole notified Chris at work and called the
Frederick Police Department.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Honestly speaking, that's a really good friend to act that quickly.
I would have just assumed, after getting home so early
in the morning, that she overslept. Mister, her appointment was
busy doing errands after being away for a few days.
Let's face it, it was only about eleven hours or so
since she had dropped. A Frederick police officer arrived to
conduct a welfare check at about one forty pm. During

(02:35):
the check, Chris gave the officer his permission to search
the house. There was no signs of Shannon or the
two girls, but the family dog was discovered unharmed. Searchers
did find Shannon's purse, which contained her keys and her
medicine in the house. Her cell phone was found between
the couch cushions, Her car, which had the girl's car seats,

(02:56):
was in the garage, and her wedding ring was found
on the bedside table.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
The FBI and Colorado Bureau of Investigation joined it on
the investigation. The next day. Chris told police that he
had no idea where his family might be and that
he had not seen his wife since five point fifteen
the previous day, when he left for work. He gave
interviews to two Denver stations outside the house, pleading for
the return of his wife and daughters. During the interviews,

(03:23):
search jogs could be heard in the background.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
On August fifteenth, twenty eighteen, the FBI joined the search
for Shannon and the girls. Chris took a polygraph test
which he failed. He then confessed to his father and
then the authorities that he had killed his wife. He
falsely claimed that he killed her because she had smothered
their two daughters. Chris went on to claim that he

(03:48):
discovered Bello's corpse and then he found Shannon in the
act of strangling Celeste. He stated that in a fit
of rage, he strangled Shannon and then disposed of their
bodies and and a dark o oil field where he worked.
Chris was arrested that day.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
When investigators showed Chris a photograph of the oil field,
he marked the locations for them. Investigators arrived there on
August sixteenth at about eleven pm. Chris had smothered his
daughters with his bare hands, and they were each found
in different oil tanks. Their bodies had been pushed to
the hatch to the top of the tanks. The lid

(04:26):
had an opening up only about eight inches in diameter.
The medical examiner said that Bella had scratches on her
buttocks when being shoved through that small opening. A tough
the blonde hair was found on the edge of one
of the hatches. Shannon's body was found buried in a
shallow grave on the property.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
On August twenty first, Chris was charged with three counts
of first degree murder and including an additional one count
her child, cited as death of a child who had
not attained twelve years of age and the defendant was
in the position of trust. He was all so charged
with the unlawful termination of a pregnancy and three counts

(05:04):
of tampering with a deceased body. Bill was said at
five million dollars, with the requirement of fifteen percent down
in order for him to be released.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
On November twenty ninth, Colorado authorities released surveillance footage which
was captured in the early morning hours of August thirteenth.
A neighbour's security camera had caught this footage. The footage
showed Chris, hours after he killed his wife, his baby
on barn and the daughters, putting a gas can in
the bed of his own truck. He then backed his
truck into the garage, and police believed that he was

(05:37):
loading the bodies into the truck of the garage to
transport them to the remote oil work site where they
would be later discovered. The footage was captured shortly after
Shannon was seen on the other footage returning home from
the business trip. This provided that Shannon and the girls
never left home like Chris claimed they did to the police.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
In the media, this case had been connected to the
crime of family annihilation, which is when an individual kills
multiple close family members in quick succession. Usually the killer
then kills himself in a murdered suicide. Many of this
type of crime occurs in August before school starts, which
delays detection and investigation. Chris claimed, you have contemplated suicide

(06:23):
out of the guilt of his actions.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Chris's lawyer did an interview with doctor phil where he
claimed that Chris confessed to the killing of Shannon after
they had an argument regarding a divorce. Bella walked in
during the murder and Chris told her that Shannon was sick.
He loaded Shannon's body and the girls without their car
seats and in the back of his work truck. He
later smothered the girls one after the other.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Authorities learned that Chris was having an affair with Nicole Kessinger,
who worked at the same company he did.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
Let this be a valuable lesson to all that the
truth always eventually comes out. After the truth comes in
out chances are the women wouldn't want you anyways after
you killed your family.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Nicole told authorities that she was under the assumption that
Chris was going through an amicable divorce.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
They always say they're going through divorce. If they cannot
show you the divorce papers that insist on meeting their acts.
If they do not allow you to do that, then
don't let the door hits you in the ass on
the way out.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Chris pleading guilty to the murders on November sixth, Shannon's
family requested that the death penalty not be put forward
as they did not wish for any further deaths. They
supported him in his decision to accept the plea deal.
On November nineteenth, Chris was sentenced to five life sentences,
three consecutive and two concurrent, without the possibility of parole.

(07:44):
He also received an additional forty eight years for unlawful
termination of Shannon's pregnancy and thirty six years for three
charges of tampering with the deceased body. His sentence began immediately.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
On December third, tween, Chris was moved out of the
state location due to security concerns. He was moved to
Dodge Correctional Institute in Wisconsin to continue serving his sentences.
On March seven, twenty nineteen, a video of Chris's full confession,
which had provided to the investigators in February, was made public.
In the video, he told investigators that all the night

(08:20):
of the murders, he jumped on Shannon in bed after
he told her that he didn't love her anymore. He
claimed that she threatened to leave him and take the children.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
What do you expect that she would say, oh, let's
have a party.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
Of course, she.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Said she was going to leave him and take the kids.
I mean, you tell her you don't love her anymore.
I mean, what do you expect. Chris then drove the
forty five minutes to the remote oil field with Jannon's
corpse in the bed of the truck and the girl
still alive in the backseat. He claimed he murdered Celeste
and then bury Shannon in a shallow grave. After he
buried Shannon, he jumps the lest body in an oil field,

(08:54):
and he returned to smell Bella. Bella begged for her life.
She screamed, Daddy no, and that was the last words
she spoke.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
I hope every time that he closes his eyes, he
hears that little girl's voice saying, Daddy, no, me too.
Chris's life in jail is not very stimulating. He gets
out of hisself for an hour a day for showers
and exercise. He has allowed the Bible, but not much more.
Chris has spent a lot of time thinking since he

(09:24):
has so much free time, and he says he wished
they had done things differently.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Like what not murdering his entire family an unborn child.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
He is sad that everyone is hurting. A source who
speaks regularly with Chris said that Chris is ostracized by
inmates and guard. No one wants anything to do with
him socially. He's on the lowest tier of the entire prison.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Can you blame them? Who wants to associate with that monster?

Speaker 1 (09:49):
He is in protective custody because of being around it
with other inmates woul put him in real danger. He
is probably the most hated man in prison because he
killed children.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
In nineteen Chris agreed to pay six million dollars to
Shannon's parents, but it is unlikely they will ever see
any of that money. They filed a suit to prevent
Chris from from profiting from the deaths should he decide
to write a book or sell the rights to a
sword story. The figure includes one million for each of

(10:19):
the deaths and three million for emotional pain. The amount
owed will grow at an eight percent interest rate each year.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Now about the Watsons family home. The Watts purchased their
home in May twenty thirteen for just under four hundred
thousand dollars. The house has a three car garage with
an open floor plan, a chef's kitchen and granite countertops
and double oven. The huge family room has a cozy
gas fireplace, as does the primary suite, which also features

(10:50):
a trae ceiling, large bedrooms, walking closet, and folding table.
The home is pre wired for surround sound and had
a new roof putting in two thousand and thirteen. Outside,
there is a covered front court and back deck. The
family would live in this home for five years.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
After the murders, the house was put in foreclosure. The
house did not sell on to foreclosure, so the bank
took it off a foreclosure, which transferred the ownership back
to Chris Watts. Shannon's parents put a lien on the
house to stop Chris from being able to profit from
the sale, and the homeowner's association put a lien on
the house for a few thousand for the back association fees.

(11:30):
When the house was sold the first time, Shannon's parents
received an undisclosed amount after all fees were paid. Well,
at least they got some of their money back that
he owes them. Since the murders, the home has been
sold two times. First, in twenty twenty two, it sold
for six hundred thousand to a buyer who had it
for less than two years. It was put back on

(11:51):
the market in April twenty twenty four with the elevator
price of seven hundred and seventy five thousand. The price
was cut several times before dropping to six hundred and
ninety nine thousand. It finally sold on October seventeenth, nineteen
twenty four, for six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There
was also a life insurance policy on Shannon and the

(12:13):
two girls through Chris's job. Shannon's parents received three hundred
and seventy five thousand dollars from that. Shannon's brother took
the family dog and now has him.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
Thank you for tuning in to bloodstained backstories. Don't forget
to follow us on social media to stay updated, share
your thoughts, and connect with fellow true crime enthusiasts. You
can catch us anywhere. You listen to your favorite podcast
on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your go to platform. Make
sure that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.

(12:44):
Join us next week as we uncover another chilling case.
Until then, stay safe and stay curious.
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