On August 15, Chris Watts was arrested for the murders of his pregnant wife and two young daughters at their home in Denver.
As Dearly previously reported, prior to his arrest, Watts led authorities and the media to believe he didn’t know where his family was. Even making a plea for their safe return on national television.
Posted by Shanann Watts on Saturday, July 16, 2016
His story quickly fell apart when the bodies of his wife, 34-year-old Shan’ann Watts, and their two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, were found near oil tanks where he worked.
In time, Watts changed his story, allegedly telling investigators that he killed Shan’ann in a fit of rage after watching her strangle one of their daughters as the other one laid still on the bed via a baby monitor.
Watts claimed his wife took their daughters’ lives because he had asked her for a divorce.
And for the last nearly three months, it was reported that Watts was sticking to that story. However, all of that changed on Tuesday, November 6.
According to People, Watts has pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, unborn son, and two young daughters.
By pleading guilty to the murders, the 33-year-old avoids facing the death penalty. Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said following the guilty plea:
“What I can tell you most affirmatively today, by what happened in the courtroom, is the spotlight that he tried to shine on Shan’ann falsely, incorrectly … has been corrected.
The spotlight shines directly where it belongs: on him.”
The nine charges he pleaded guilty to are five counts of first-degree murder, one count of unlawful termination of pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a dead body.
This is the man accused of killing his pregnant wife and two young girls. Chris Watts will be in court this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/teySUXn1Mx
— Deborah Takahara (@debtakahara) August 16, 2018
As NBC News reports, two of the five counts of first-degree murder are because prosecutors “brought two murder charges for each of the girls’ deaths”:
The second of which cited the death of a child who “had not yet attained twelve years of age and the defendant was in a position of trust.”
Rourke also said that authorities have a “partial motive” for why Watts would take the lives of his family.
However, that will not be discussed until after Watts’ sentencing on November 19. On that day, he will likely be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.