Chris Watts, the Colorado man convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters, has described the killings in graphic detail in letters written from prison. The letters, addressed to author Cheryln Cadle, reveal that Watts attempted to kill his daughters twice and that his children briefly regained consciousness after the initial attack.
According to the letters, Watts first tried to smother his daughters Bella, four, and Cece, three, using pillows from their beds. He then argued with his wife Shanann, 34, before killing her. Watts wrote that after Shanann's death, Bella and Cece woke up and followed him around the house as he dealt with their mother's body. He later killed them at a different location, where he disposed of their bodies in crude oil barrels.
Watts described the moment he realised his daughters had survived the initial attempt, saying: 'After Shannan had passed, Bella and Cece woke back up. I'm not sure how they woke back up, but they did.' He added that Bella 'is the only one that put up a fight' as 'she knew I was killing her'.
The convicted killer also revealed that he had been 'thinking about killing' his wife for weeks before the murders. He buried Shanann at a remote work site approximately 40 miles from their home. Watts noted that she appeared to have given birth post-mortem, but he left her face down out of anger.
Watts initially claimed the killings were spontaneous but later admitted they were premeditated. The case gained widespread attention following the Netflix documentary 'American Murder: The Family Next Door'. Watts is serving multiple life sentences at Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.
