A Colorado man accused of murdering his family said he killed his pregnant wife in a rage after he saw her strangling the couple’s 3-year-old daughter on a baby monitor, court documents contend, as reported by CNN . He added the woman did it after he asked to separate from her.
Chris Watts, 33, said the couple’s other daughter Bella, 4, was already “sprawled out” and blue on the bed when he witnessed his wife attacking Celeste, according to the CNN report citing an arrest affidavit from Frederick police. Watts confessed to burying his wife, Shanann Watts, 34, near two oil tanks in which he placed his daughters’ bodies.
Watts was charged Monday with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths as well as to two additional first-degree murder charges for causing the death of a child younger than 12. The Frederick man also faces three counts of tampering with a body and a count of first-degree unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
Watts is being held without bond.
The affidavit alleges that Watts was having an affair with a co-worker, which he had denied in previous interviews. Watts reportedly said Shannan went into murderous a rage after he told her he wished to separate. Chris said he loaded all three bodies into the back seat of his work truck and took them to an oil work site where he worked, the affidavit adds.
Chris Watts was fired from Anadarko Petroleum last week after he was arrested. The man confessed to the killings after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI joined the local police investigation into their disappearance last week.
Before Watts’ confession, authorities said they spotted a bedsheet in a field near the oil tanks, which matched the pattern of several pillowcases and a top sheet recovered from the family’s kitchen trash, according to CNN.
Shanann’s father, Frank Rzucek, gave an emotional message on Monday to thank authorities for finding the bodies of his family members as well as the community for attending a candlelight vigil and expressing support.
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming to the candlelight vigil and saying all your prayers. They are gratefully appreciated — and keep the prayers coming for our family,” he said holding back tears.
