In the early hours of August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado, Christopher Lee Watts (born May 16, 1985)[1] murdered his pregnant wife Shanann (34) by strangulation, and their two children Bella (4) and Celeste (3) by suffocation.

He buried Shanann in a shallow grave near an oil-storage facility, and dumped his children's bodies into crude oil tanks.

Watts initially maintained his innocence in his family's disappearance, but was arrested on August 15, after confessing in an interview with detectives to murdering Shanann.

On November 6, 2018, Watts pleaded guilty to multiple counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea deal when the death penalty (which was later abolished in Colorado in 2020) was removed from sentencing.

[6] Christopher was employed by Anadarko Petroleum, while Shanann worked from home, selling a product called "Thrive", for a multi-level marketing company named "Le-Vel".

[6][7] At approximately 1:48 a.m. on Monday, August 13, 2018, Shanann, returning from a business trip to Arizona, was driven home by her friend and colleague Nickole Utoft Atkinson.

[citation needed] A Frederick police officer arrived to conduct a welfare check at about 1:40 p.m.[11] During the welfare check, Christopher gave the police officer permission to search the house,[12] where the family dog was discovered unharmed, but no sign of Shanann or the girls were found.

[25] Bella and Celeste's bodies had each been pushed through a hatch at the top of a different oil tank, with the lid being 8 inches (20 centimetres) in diameter.

[citation needed] On November 29, Colorado authorities released surveillance footage captured in the early morning hours of August 13 on a neighbor's security camera, which showed Chris, hours after he killed his wife and daughters, loading a gas can into the bed of his pickup truck, and then backing the vehicle into his garage.

[36] On December 5, he arrived at Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison in Waupun, Wisconsin, to continue serving his life sentences.

In a recorded interview released by the CBI with Christopher's girlfriend, Nichol Kessinger revealed his behavioral changes in the days prior to the murders.

[41][42] On a December 2018 episode of the American talk show Dr. Phil, Phil McGraw spoke with four analysts: former prosecutor and TV journalist Nancy Grace, former FBI profiler Candice DeLong, law enforcement consultant Steve Kardian, and body language expert Susan Constantine.

In multiple letters, Watts explained that he had planned the murder for several weeks and that the oxycontin found in Shanann's system was given to her by him, hoping to end her pregnancy because he believed that would make it easier for him to be with his girlfriend.

[45] On December 7, 2019, Oxygen released a one-hour documentary about the case as the first episode of series three of their television program Criminal Confessions.

[3] The documentary features archival footage including home videos, social media posts, text messages, and law enforcement recordings.