Convicted killer Chris Watts brutally murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters
Warning: Article contains details some readers may find upsetting
Convicted murderer Chris Watts described his plans to end the lives of his pregnant wife and two daughters in a series of sickening letters from prison.
Chris is currently serving three consecutive life sentences for this killing of his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their two daughters, Bella, four, and Celeste, three in 2018.
Commonly known as the Watts family murders, the case gripped the world in 2018 when it was revealed that oil field operator Chris had killed his entire family and pretended that they had simply gone missing.
Chris would make several appearances on national television pleading for information about his missing family, before it was later revealed that he had ended their lives. He would later admit to their killings in order to avoid facing the death penalty for his actions.
The horrifying story would later go on to be the subject of a harrowing Netflix documentary titled American Murder: The Family Next Door, which revealed that Chris had somehow managed to attract a series of dedicated female penpals, many of whom believed him to be innocent.
True crime author Cheryln Cadle would later be inspired to write a book on the Watts’ story and contacted the 39-year-old.
The pair would go on to exchange a series of letters while Chris was incarcerated at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin, in the US, in which he made a series of chilling admissions about the murders.
Chris revealed he had been ‘thinking about killing’ his wife Shannan for weeks – partly due to an affair he was having with a co-worker – and he also admitted to secretly giving her OxyContin in an attempt to end her pregnancy.
Cheryln later published a book, The Murders of Chris Watts, in 2020, where she included Chris’ letters detailing his failed initial attempt to kill his daughters.
He tried to smother his children before murdering his wife, describing how his spouse’s ‘eyes filled with blood’ and her face got ‘all black with streaks of mascara’.
Chris Watts on trial for the killings of Shanann, Bella and Celeste. (RJ Sangosti – Pool/Getty Images)
In a letter to Cheryln, he wrote: “August 13, morning of, I went to the girls’ room first, before Shanann and I had our argument. I went to Bella’s room, then Cece’s room and used a pillow from their bed [to kill them].
“That’s why the cause of death was smothering. After I left Cece’s room, then I climbed back in bed with Shanann and our argument ensued.”
Chris’ horrific attempt to kill his daughters had failed and the two girls, Bella, who was aged four, and Celeste, aged three, woke up.
He continued: “After Shannan had passed, Bella and Cece woke back up. I’m not sure how they woke back up, but they did. Bella’s eyes were bruised and both girls looked like they had been through trauma.”
He buried Shannan in a shallow grave close to an oil-storage facility and put his children’s bodies into crude oil tanks.
The Watts family. (Netflix)
After exchanging letters with Chris at length, Cheryln went to visit him behind bars, which she called ‘surreal’.
In 2021, Cheryln spoke to Inside Edition about the shocking details she learned about the case, explaining how his eyes would turn ‘black’ when she spoke about the killings.
“At times, when he would talk about the murders, his eyes would turn so black. He just would get a different look on his face, and he talked about it so nonchalantly, like going down to get a cup of coffee,” Cheryln said.
“He talked about it so nonchalantly, like going down to get a cup of coffee.”
