A Thanksgiving gathering suddenly turned into a deadly rampage in 2017 in a house in Virginia. Jeanett Gattis, her daughter’s boyfriend, and her daughter were brutally killed by her husband, Christopher.
Jeanett and Christopher knew each other from high school and reconnected many years later. By that time, Jeanett already had two children. The two got married and started living together in Chester, Virginia.
The couple had been married for ten years when Jeanett’s daughter and her boyfriend decided to move to Virginia. Candice Kunze was 30 at the time, while her boyfriend Andrew Buthorn was 36. Both of them were physical therapists from Oregon who relocated to Virginia.
Ep78—Thanksgiving Triple Homicide: Youth Minister & Murderer: Christopher Gattis, is available everywhere now #triplehomicide #annihilation #gunviolence #alcoholic #jealousy #rage #thanksgiving #chesterva #virginia #southernfriedtruecrime pic.twitter.com/5q8z60Rxlf
— Erica Kelley (@southfriedtruth) November 23, 2019
Candice and her partner decided to stay with her mother and stepfather while they adjusted to the move. Jeanett and Christopher did not mind having the couple around, which changed very quickly.
Christopher had always shared a good relationship with his step-daughter. He also served as the youth pastor at the Grace Lutheran Church at the time. According to a report by The Mirror, the then 59-year-old was known to be kind-hearted, generous, and well-liked by members of the community.
Weeks after his step-daughter and her partner started staying with them, Christopher started showing signs of annoyance. According to reports, he felt like the couple had long overstayed their welcome in his house. Jeanett, who caught a hint of the annoyance, tried to play the role of the peacemaker in the house.
Jeanett was often described as a sociable and kind person. She was also aware of her husband’s hot-headedness. She stood witness to her husband’s heated confrontation with a local man a few years ago.
Jeanett knew how volatile her husband’s temper was and what he was capable of, or so she thought. Just a few days before the tragedy unfolded, a fight erupted in the house. Christopher and his wife got into a heated argument over spilled wine.
The fight took place two days before Thanksgiving, in which Christopher pushed Jennet in a fit of fury. Andrew had to step in to de-escalate the situation. In the days leading up to the holiday, Christopher kept telling Candice that it was high time that she left with her partner. After the incident, he texted Andrew that he was sorry for making him step “into a bad situation.”
Jeanett had started collecting video evidence of her husband’s hysterical behavior every time a fight erupted in the house. On the evening of Thanksgiving, Christopher continued insisting that Candice and Andrew move out.
The couple was relaxing in the bathtub in the backyard when they were approached by Christopher. In the security footage that was later discovered, he can be seen walking up to them and pointing his finger at them while yelling at them.
Jeanett, who heard the exchange, rushed to the backyard while recording her husband’s erratic behavior. Christopher then went upstairs and eavesdropped on the trio talking about him. In that moment, he felt infuriated and thought that the group was belittling him.
He then proceeded to text his wife about how he was afraid of her and Candice. In the messages, he also claimed that the trio was threatening him. Later that night, as Andrew, Candice, and Jeanett sat at the table playing board games, Christopher decided that he had had enough.
He marched into the room with a .45 caliber handgun and shot at his wife first, then his step-daughter, as they both collapsed to their death. A video found on Candice’s phone, which she started recording before being shot to her death, was evidence of the horrifying killings.
Ex-Virginia youth pastor, Christopher Gattis, is sentenced 58 years in jail for killing his wife, stepdaughter and her boyfriend on Thanksgiving day https://t.co/5sHPGON5zS pic.twitter.com/H9vu2Ivz0n
— konniemoments1 (@KonnieMoments1) August 16, 2018
In the video, Andrew, who witnessed the women being killed, can be heard pleading with Christopher. He tried to tell the man how he was ready to leave and fled out of the door. He reached the garden outside before he, too, was shot dead.
Christopher was found sitting on the front porch when the authorities showed up at the scene, notified by the home’s security alarm. He claimed that the trio “came after him” to justify the murders he had committed. He also alleged that they had threatened him.
He was arrested and charged with murder. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to murdering all three. He was sentenced to 58 years in prison as well as three 100-year sentences for each murder, with 45 years suspended on each, all served concurrently, according to The Mirror. He was also charged with three years for a firearm charge.
