Found Deceased CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *Arrest* #19

[MassGuy]

Well if you look at his old "lecture" on how to rescue a failing relationship, having a baby was on his list.

She was 15 weeks pregnant. I guess he changed his mind.

Wow. It didn’t occur to me that the idea of having a baby was to “save their relationship.” That absolutely strikes me as the logic behind it. I couldn’t make sense of why they would have another baby with their financial problems, but this would explain it for me.

 

[Layla123]

I’m inclined to agree with you. I do think that this idea to pin the crime on Shanann, came after the fact. Whether he came up with it, or someone else did, I’m not sure.

Im suspicious of the language he used, like “actively strangling”. Who says that? But I’m not sure if the confession in the affidavit is paraphrased or his actual words.

 

[MassGuy]

Im suspicious of the language he used, like “actively strangling”. Who says that? But I’m not sure if the confession in the affidavit is paraphrased or his actual words.

Yeah that sounds paraphrased as it’s a phrase that LE would use. If he said something like “I saw her strangling the kids,” paraphrasing it that way would be accurate. But I agree, most people wouldn’t say it like that, and if he did, it sounds completely contrived.

 

[Jennifer17]

Im suspicious of the language he used, like “actively strangling”. Who says that? But I’m not sure if the confession in the affidavit is paraphrased or his actual words.

Yes, it is like he rehearsed it in his head and looked for the most convincing words to say.

 

[gitana1]

How could he collect on the children if the bodies are not found? I believe the life insurance could pay after the children would be declared “dead”. But isn’t that at least seven years?

It would be very hard and take a long time. I don't think that was the motive.

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

Wow. It didn’t occur to me that the idea of having a baby was to “save their relationship.” That absolutely strikes me as the logic behind it. I couldn’t make sense of why they would have another baby with their financial problems, but this would explain it for me.

I agree. Baby 3 to “save the marriage” and while SW was planning the reveal, nursery, shopping...he’d have some “free time” for his extracurricular activities and he’d need overtime to pay for the baby...so he’d be near his AP. Well, at least the work AP.

Maybe CW is like an old guy friend of mine. It was all about the pursuit and chase of a woman, well, many women. He won! Victory! He’d tire of them after a while and move on.

 

[MassGuy]

I agree. Baby 3 to “save the marriage” and while SW was planning the reveal, nursery, shopping...he’d have some “free time” for his extracurricular activities and he’d need overtime to pay for the baby...so he’d be near his AP. Well, at least the work AP.

Maybe CW is like an old guy friend of mine. It was all about the pursuit and chase of a woman, well, many women. He won! Victory! He’d tire of them after a while and move on.

I too know people like that. It’s certainly possible that he had additional reasons behind having another child other than the marriage aspect. But on its face, I (now) understand why he wanted another child, especially when taken in conjunction with his lecture.

 

[molly1255]

I agree. Baby 3 to “save the marriage” and while SW was planning the reveal, nursery, shopping...he’d have some “free time” for his extracurricular activities and he’d need overtime to pay for the baby...so he’d be near his AP. Well, at least the work AP.

Maybe CW is like an old guy friend of mine. It was all about the pursuit and chase of a woman, well, many women. He won! Victory! He’d tire of them after a while and move on.

The old idealize, devalue and discard, JMO. I have a gg grandfather who disappeared in 1885. No one ever knew what happened to him until I figured it out.

Through DNA, I found some funky cousin matches, contacted them and found they also descend from my gg grandfather. What I learned is he had a skill set that allowed him to find a good job anywhere and this definitely helped him avoid getting caught. His thing was to marry a woman, have a child with her and when the child was one or two years old, he'd disappear. His disappearances were always because he'd met a new target, who was clueless, and then he would do the same exact thing to her. He did this at least three times that I can prove.

The best thing I can say about him is he didn't murder any of his wives and children. But he is proof that discarding wives and children is not a new thing. There is something very, very wrong with a person who has no compassion or concern for their own child, IMO.

 

[gitana1]

Signs of disorganization come into play in the very first act after the crime. No rational person plans to kill their entire family inside the home knowing the best plan they have is to dump the bodies hastily on a work property....in a work truck that presumably had GPS tracking....while carrying your cell phone....and leaving items behind that directly connect to your home.

If there had been any planning at all the dump site would've been somewhere on those desolate lands nearby and certainly not on a work-site of his employer.

Possibly. But his job is in the field. He's supposed to be there at those sites. If he went elsewhere wouldn't he be worried that GPS would show him in some desolate lands nearby where LE might search?

Maybe he never thought they would think to look into oil tanks. Maybe he planned initially to put his wife there too. But couldn't due to her weight:

"But Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!"

It was actually smart to try to conceal them where he was already supposed to be.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I think this was a bit of a mix. I think he was steaming over something while she was away. I think when she got home, things quickly escalated.

Until there is evidence to the contrary, I’m inclined to think this was initially, a crime of passion. That’s not to say there wasn’t some thought beforehand, but I’m not sure that he had already planned to kill them all, before she walked in that door.

He sure was quick to come up with the best defense ever. by saying he killed his wife after the children, there are two separate events.

Therefore the jury could be split like we are here, and whether the children were killed first or the wife was killed first. If that happens, that is concern of mine that we will end up with a split jury because they can't agree on which came first and therefore they will not charge on first-degree for all of them.

thankfully there are lesser charges, but they could run concurrent versus consecutive, and if that happens, that will be what, 4 years?

@gitana... how do they decide concurrent versus consecutive?

 

[ray9898]

Possibly. But his job is in the field. He's supposed to be there at those sites. If he went elsewhere wouldn't he be worried that GPS would show him in some desolate lands nearby where LE might search?

Maybe he never thought they would think to look into oil tanks. Maybe he planned initially to put his wife there too. But couldn't due to her weight:

"But Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!"

It was actually smart to try to conceal them where he was already supposed to be.

....but I don't think he was scheduled to be at that site because the reports I read said he told LE his day started at a completely different location. He had to know that would raise a flag especially since the abnormal hour would stand out. Plus if he was cognizant over the GPS trail he had to know it would lead them right to the disposal site.

 

[MerryB]

I don't think SW's family has given any media interviews and I believe if they ever do, it will be after there is resolution for this case. JMO

I've not seen any verification for any of the items you referenced except for #4. In the media interview AT did with her husband after CW's arrest, AT stated SW told her she wondered if CW was having an affair, but that he had no game.

Wondering if he had “no game,” how he actively, relentlessly, and successfully pursued her (per SW)?

 

[BingoBongo]

my bold ^

Wish Yeager would specify these: ..."“There are very clear personality connections between Chris (Watts) and Scott Peterson" because he doesn't appear to do that in the link. He draws similarities between their criminal actions & events in the cover-up.

Indeed DY only once describes a personality attribute ( charisma) and it's one he says they don't share;"Dale Yeager says Mr Watts presents as a less charismatic version of Scott Peterson."

I had a look at the stats for US infidelity- they seem to vary according to the survey. Roughly it seems 1/3 of spouses cheat. Just cause I personally find it abhorrent, I wouldn't dream of going about saying that (my bold) as inevitably I would be insulting a large % of people I meet.

( These stats will be similar in the UK, I expect)
Infidelity Statistics 2017: Why, When, and How People Stray

I'm not sure this Yeager is as he says he is. Cannot find any real links to his qualification, and the ones he lists on his blog sound...almost made up, or at least, without any real merit/status/qualifications. Googling him brings up some interesting comments in another crime-type blog. Some sites list him as "Dr." and yet I can find no validation for that. And his Linkedin profile is, a bit, made-up of high sounding attributes that don't appear to amount to much.

Not saying his summation of Watts is wrong, but I have serious doubts of his standing in the field of forensics.

 

[MassGuy]

He sure was quick to come up with the best defense ever. by saying he killed his wife after the children, there are two separate events.

Therefore the jury could be split like we are here, and whether the children were killed first or the wife was killed first. If that happens, that is concern of mine that we will end up with a split jury because they can't agree on which came first and therefore they will not charge on first-degree for all of them.

thankfully there are lesser charges, but they could run concurrent versus consecutive, and if that happens, that will be what, 4 years?

@gitana... how do they decide concurrent versus consecutive?

People are emotional (rightly so) when it comes to crimes against children. The jury will be no different here, and it will bode very badly for the defense of C.W. I can’t imagine that any jury would buy his insane tale of Shanann doing his. He’s going to get atleast two first degree murder convictions for the children, if not for Shanann as well.

 

[MerryB]

Being tied down to a life he came to resent? Being chained to a wife who he felt overshadowed him?

Or maybe it was just desperation and desire to be free of responsibility and financial problems.

A sociopath, for example, doesn't have to feel rage to systematically strangle and dispose of his family.

He seemed quite in control and cool, calm and collected the very day after he supposedly erupted in a rage so powerful that he massacred his family.

By all accounts he was that way hours after as well. No one has reported seeing him nervous or out of sorts or upset in any way. He calmly called Nickole to ask what was going on and calmly spoke to LE, family and friends that whole day, apparently.

He seemed VERY nervous in his TV interviews IMO. In fact, his body language was a dead giveaway.

 

[sun16]

If there had been any planning at all the dump site would've been somewhere on those desolate lands nearby and certainly not on a work-site of his employer.

I guess I’m wondering then, what was the plan going to be (in re: to disposing of the bodies), if SW’s flight got home on time, and he killed them all? Where was he going to take the bodies, and when—still Monday I assume, maybe in the midnight to 5am hours?

 

[MerryB]

Is it a fact that they were “trying?”

No.

 

[MerryB]

Signs of disorganization come into play in the very first act after the crime. No rational person plans to kill their entire family inside the home knowing the best plan they have is to dump the bodies hastily on a work property....in a work truck that presumably had GPS tracking....while carrying your cell phone....and leaving items behind that directly connect to your home.

If there had been any planning at all the dump site would've been somewhere on those desolate lands nearby and certainly not on a work-site of his employer.

Agree.

 

[molly1255]

Wondering if he had “no game,” how he actively, relentlessly, and successfully pursued her (per SW)?

In the interview, I recall AT explaining that SW had to do everything.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I think it’s possible that SW and CW got into a fight, and SW said something that absolutely infuriated him, and he lost it and strangled her. Then afterwards, realizing that he’d just committed murder, he came up with a plan to turn it on her to make it her fault. But People Mag said they have his phone, his texts, and his Internet searches, it was premeditated, so I’d rather believe that!

I think it would be expected that they have his phone, his text and his internet searches. also, with a high-profile case, I would expect you would be on suicide watch.