Chris Watts has been sentenced to life for murdering his family. He had been having an affair with a colleague and wanted to get rid of his family.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on August 19, 2021. It has since been updated.
Trigger warning: Violence, murder
In American popular history, murderers have gained notoriety and followers for years. For instance, Charles Manson used to have correspondence with a disciple from prison. Ted Bundy received hundreds of love letters from women while he was in prison. Similarly, a new murderer, who has received fame because of his crimes, is enjoying romantic gestures from women, while he is in prison for the rest of his life.
"Family killer" Chris Watts, a formerly married father-of-two from Colorado, is going to spend his life in prison for killing his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste. The former employee of Anadarko Petroleum had been having an affair with a co-worker Nichol Kessinger, who thought he was already separated from his wife. Instead of trying to make his marriage work or even seeking a divorce, he chose to kill his family just so he could have a clean slate.
After Netflix released a documentary, American Murder: The Family Next Door, about his crimes, the cold-blooded killer has gained the attention and interest of women. He has been receiving letters from random women who have sympathy for him.
"He got a lot of letters at first," a source who has spoken with Watts in jail told People. "Many of them are from women who thought he was handsome and felt compassion for him. He had nothing better to do, so he wrote them back. And he started having penpals. A couple of them stood out, and they've kept in contact."
Most people would be appalled at his actions but "they have compassion on him, despite what he did." Asked whether the women writing to him were troubled by what he did, the source said, "Believe it or not, no."
Chris is spending his life in jail for the murder of his wife, his two young daughters, and his unborn child. He killed Shanann on August 13, 2018, in their home and took her body and his two kids to the site where he worked. He smothered his kids and put their bodies in an oil tank. Initially, he tried to blame his wife for his children's deaths. He said that he killed his wife for murdering his children. However, he confessed later to killing all three of them.
Before Shanann died, she had shared her growing concerns about her marriage with a friend but didn't think her life was in danger. "Chris told me last night he's scared to death about this third baby. And he's happy with just Bella and Celeste and doesn't want another baby," she texted a friend, as per FOX31. The friend responded, "He's just scared. Everything will be fun once the baby comes out." However, she texted saying, "He has changed. I don't know who he is." Her friend responded, "What do you mean?" Shanann texted, "He hasn't touched me all week, kissed me, talked to me except for when I'm trying to figure out what is wrong."
Chris Watts, Colorado man who killed pregnant wife and 2 daughters, is receiving love letters, bikini photos from women as he serves life sentence in prison https://t.co/IUHIqIRYgo pic.twitter.com/mlQHwFLMhV
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 19, 2018
"I just want to cry. We've never had a problem in our relationship like this. No joke. NEVER. THIS IS TOTAL LEFT FIELD," she added. Back then, she didn't know she was going to have a boy, whom she wanted to name Nico.
Shanann was worried that he didn't love her anymore, after being together for eight years. "He said we are not compatible anymore! He refused to hug me after he said he will try to 'work' it out! Said he thought another baby would fix his feelings. Said, he refused couples counseling," Shanann had told his friend.
He was pulling away from her and eventually used violence to get away from his life. Strangely, he's getting more attention after the Netflix documentary released. He received more than 10 letters, the source told People.
"Some of the letters are angry," the source says. "A lot of them are from people of faith who want to pray for him. But then he gets letters from women who want to connect with him, you know, romantically. He responds because he doesn't have anything better to do," they said.
References:
https://people.com/crime/chris-watts-corresponding-women-from-prison-cell/
https://kdvr.com/news/problem-solvers/shanann-watts-texts-reveal-crumbling-marriage/
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by RJ Sangosti
