A British YouTuber has been ordered to pay £40,000 in libel damages for promoting 'wholly unfounded conspiracy theories' about the murder of a woman and her two daughters in the United States. Franklin Rzucek, brother of murdered mother-of-two Shanann Watts, sued Alan Vinnicombe, originally from Devon, for libel and harassment over claims made on YouTube regarding the deaths of his sister and nieces.
Shanann Watts, 34, and her daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three, were murdered by their husband and father, Chris Watts, in Colorado in 2018. Mrs Watts was also pregnant with their third child at the time. Chris Watts later pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including murder, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Mr Rzucek's legal team previously told the High Court in London that Mr Vinnicombe, now in his 70s, had 'propagated conspiracy theories' implicating Mr Rzucek in a 'sinister, ongoing cover-up' surrounding the murders. In February last year, a judge ruled in Mr Rzucek's favour without a trial, finding Mr Vinnicombe had not complied with court rules.
On Thursday, Deputy High Court Judge Dan Squires KC awarded Mr Rzucek £40,000 in damages for the libel claim and granted an injunction preventing the YouTuber from repeating the defamatory allegations. Judge Squires stated: 'I accept that the allegations of dishonesty and harassment, repeated over a number of linked broadcasts and published, at least for some of the videos, to at least 20,000 people with a particular interest in the Watts case, are serious and have caused the claimant distress.'
However, Judge Squires noted that Mr Rzucek's 'main locus of his reputation' is in the United States, where he resides, meaning damages would not be as high as if his reputation were primarily in Britain. He added that Mr Rzucek could not receive damages or an injunction for his harassment claim as he was not in the jurisdiction at the time.
Mr Rzucek, who lives in North Carolina, took legal action over comments made on Mr Vinnicombe's 'Armchair Detective Blue' YouTube channel, which focused on 'true crime and other mysteries'. The channel had over 79,000 followers before being closed in 2023. Mr Vinnicombe, a semi-professional poker player, operated several YouTube channels that purported to 'dissect cases that have baffled the public'. Between 2018 and March 2023, he uploaded 184 videos, most focusing on the Watts murders. He also created films about the death of Nicola Bulley, a mother whose accidental drowning became the focus of widespread online conspiracy theories.
After YouTube shut down his channels, Mr Vinnicombe said he depended on the revenue they generated. Representing himself at a previous hearing, he admitted not adhering to court rules, claimed he had 'no money' to fight the legal claim, and alleged his publications were 'not a conspiracy, it's a fact'. He also said Mr Rzucek was 'a chap in America that just wants to get cash from me'.
Shanann Watts and her daughters were reported missing on 13 August 2018. Three days later, the children's bodies were found in oil tanks, and Mrs Watts was discovered buried in a shallow grave. Chris Watts initially pleaded for their safe return on local television but later confessed to strangling his pregnant wife and smothering their daughters before disposing of their bodies. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, avoiding the death penalty as part of a plea agreement requested by the victims' family.
