Chris Watts has been arrested after allegedly confessing to killing his wife and two daughters. AP The case of a missing pregnant woman in Colorado…
Chris Watts has been arrested after allegedly confessing to killing his wife and two daughters. AP
The case of a missing pregnant woman in Colorado and her two young daughters has taken a tragic turn.
Late Wednesday, law enforcement officials announced that Shanann Watts’s husband, Chris, had confessed to murdering his wife and their two daughters — 3-year-old Celeste and 4-year-old Bella.
The 33-year-old was booked into the Weld County jail early Thursday morning on three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of tampering with evidence, according to The Denver Channel. No bond has been set.
Shanann Watts and her two kids, 4-year-old Bella (top right) and 3-year-old Celeste (bottom right), were reported missing on Monday. Colorado Bureau of Investigation
While authorities have not yet located the remains of the 15-weeks-pregnant mother and her two children, they say Chris has agreed to lead them to the bodies, CBS Denver reported.
No further details have been released, but law enforcement officials plan to speak more about the case at a press conference later Thursday morning.
Shanann’s family provided a statement to CBS Denver following the sad news.
“It is with deep hurt, confusion and anger to confirm our beautiful cousin Shanann Watts, her unborn child, and her two angelic daughters, Bella (4), Celeste (3) were viciously murdered by husband Chris Watts; who confessed to the killings. Please keep Shanann’s parents and brother in your prayers,” the statement reads.
A friend reported Shanann and her two daughters missing on Monday afternoon after she hadn’t heard from the woman.
Chris Watts spoke to reporters after his wife went missing and said that they had an “emotional conversation” the night before she disappeared. The Denver Channel
Police went to Shanann’s house but she and the kids weren’t there. More troubling was the fact that she left behind her keys, cellphone, purse, and medications for the children.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued a missing/endangered alert for the three on Tuesday because of medical concerns with the missing children.
In a Facebook post late Wednesday, a man identifying himself as Shanann’s brother cursed Chris for killing his “one and only sibling.”
“That piece of s— may he rot in hell. He killed my Pregnant sister and my two nieces. Her husband Chris watts admitted to murdering my family,” Frankie Rzucek wrote, adding that he learned that his sister was pregnant with a baby boy she planed to name “Nico.”
Chris Watts has allegedly agreed to lead investigators to his wife and daughters’ remains. The Denver Channel
Chris Watts spoke to reporters after his wife and daughters went missing and admitted to having an “emotional” conversation with his wife the night before she disappeared.
“It wasn’t like an argument, we had an emotional conversation, but I’ll leave it at that…. I just want them back. I just want them to come back. And if they’re not safe right now, that’s what’s tearing me apart,” he told The Denver Channel.
He also told 9News that the disappearance of his family had been traumatic to him.
“I’m just hoping right now that she’s somewhere safe,” he said. “Like, this house is not the same. Last night was traumatic. Last night was — I can’t really stay in this house again with nobody here.”
In that interview, he spoke lovingly of his two kids.
“Celeste. She’s just a bottle of energy,” he said. “She’s — I call her ‘rampage’ because she’s got two speeds: go or she’s sleeping. Bella — she’s the more calm, cautious, mothering type and she’s more like me — she’s more calm.”
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