A Timeline Of Chris And Shanann Watts' Marriage
There hasn't been a crime as chilling and tragic as the murder of Shanann Watts and her daughters in a long time. Over the summer of 2018, Chris Watts changed. He went from being a loving husband excited to welcome a new baby to his family to a man cheating on his wife to a man who murdered his wife and daughters and dumped them in an oil field. How did things change so quickly? We may never know, but amateur sleuths may want to look at a timeline of their marriage for clues.
Chris and Shanann were from small towns in North Carolina. They met in 2010 through mutual friends and married in November 2012. The Watts family eventually settled in Frederick, Colorado in a five-bedroom home they bought in 2013. Even though the family had issues before their tragic end — they filed for bankruptcy in 2015 — friends and neighbors called them the "perfect" family, per The Coloradan.
After all, it's not hard to see why people thought that. In November 2017, Shanann posted a video to her Facebook page to celebrate their anniversary. "7 years ago I️ fell in love with you, 5 years ago I️ married my best friend, my soul mate, I️ married you!!" she captioned. "Chris these have been the best years of my life! Our love just grows strong everyday!"
At the time of Shanann's death, they had two young daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. A 34-year-old Shanann was also 15 weeks pregnant with a boy they planned on naming Nico.
Beneath the surface, trouble was brewing
Shanann Watts worked for a multi-level marketing company while Chris Watts was employed by Anadarko Petroleum (though he was fired on the day of his arrest) per The Coloradan. According to their bankruptcy documents, they made a combined $100,000 and had a mortgage payment of $3,000 per month on their $400,000 home.
In June 2018, Shanann told her husband she was pregnant with their third child. That same month Shanann and her daughters flew to North Carolina for six weeks to visit family, per Pop Sugar. Meanwhile, Chris began his affair with Nichol Kessinger, a woman he worked with, telling her he was separated. In July, Chris flew to North Carolina to meet up with his family. He and Shanann began to fight.
On August 9, Shanann left for a work trip to Arizona and returned the morning of August 13. Chris told Shanann he wanted a divorce a few hours later. They argued and he strangled her. He then loaded his daughters into his truck along with their mother's body. He smothered his daughters to death, buried his wife in a shallow grave, dumped his daughters' bodies in an oil tank, then he went to work as if nothing happened.
Chris Watts is serving five life sentences plus 48 years in prison without the possibility of parole. He is also reportedly back in touch with Kessinger, who changed her name after the murders, per Daily Mail.