Chris Watts murdered his entire family in August of 2018. Weeks before her slaughter his wife, Shanann Watts, wrote him love letters and texts a new Netflix documentary reveals.
The documentary, which was added to the streaming platform’s catalog on September 30, documents a devoted wife, willing to do anything for her husband, even as the couple’s marriage began to fall apart.
″I am still in shock that we are having a little boy!” Shanan wrote weeks before her death. “I am so excited and happy!″
The documentary, entitled American Murder: The Family Next Door, is a chilling look at the days leading up to the tragedy. Netflix released the above clip, an exclusive look into the last private communications between Shanann and the man who murdered her.
″I miss and love you so much,″ Shanann texted to Chris after discovering that she was pregnant. ″I am still in shock that we are having a little boy! I am so excited and happy!″
Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.
To share the happy news of her pregnancy with her husband, Shanann wore a t-shirt with “Oops … we did it again,” printed on it. She then recorded a video to capture Chris’s reaction when he returned home.
As Chris enters the home, he can be seen halting midstep and breaking into a smile. “We did it again,” he’s recorded saying.
However, the video contradicts Chris’s assertion to his mistress, Nichol Kessinger. He told her that he didn’t know about the pregnancy until his wife was reported missing. Chris told Kessinger the baby ″was not his.” Authorities have roundly discounted his claims that his wife was having her own affair.
On August 13, 2018, Chris strangled Shanann, 34, in their Colorado family home. Then he killed his daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, at his job site on an oil field.
Watts was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Two years later, he is being held at Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison, in Waupun, Wisconsin.
For 23 hours a day, Watts is on lockdown, People reports. He can leave his cell for a shower or exercise, but little else. When he is in his cell, he has little to do. He is allowed to have a Bible and family photos. He has photos of his family next to his bed.
Last November, a source told the outlet that Watts had found religion in prison, and that he reflects on his sins daily. “A day doesn’t go by — a minute doesn’t go by — where he doesn’t think about his family,” the source said. ″He’s in a hell of his own making.″
Watts declared himself a “servant of God,” writing in a letter to his mother in June 2019, ″I’m still a Dad! I’m still a son! No matter what. Now, I can add servant of God to that mix!″
The latest revelations from the Netflix documentary tragically show just how much Shannan trusted her husband.
″I will always fight for our marriage – and you!″ she wrote in a handwritten letter. ″I love you baby with all my heart.”
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What a truly horrifying crime. American Murder: The Family Next Door is currently streaming on Netflix. We look forward to seeing it and learning more about the days and weeks before the murders. This was an explosive story and we’re ready to see the director, Jenny Popplewell‘s sober look at the case.
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