Found Deceased CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *Arrest* #29

[borndem]

Really telling, isn't it? The thing he will miss involves his role as a parent getting to tell them what to do. What kind of parent enjoys having to tell their kids to eat? Most parents I know dread that kind of showdown at the dinner table. It's a battle of the wills for some kids.It's as if he only saw them as objects for him to control/assert his authority over.

Those beautiful little girls were his flesh and blood. One of them even looked like him -- something to be proud of, IMO. Did he not feel anything for them?

 

[gitana1]

Does this mean that all costs of his defense will come from tax payers and that he won't have to pay any legal fees, even those of the best expert witnesses the defense wish to trot out??

Good question. His attorneys would be free but there are often limits to the budget for experts. Although I think in the casey anthony case he state paid substantially for her experts.

But I believe judge Perry absolutely thought she would be convicted and didn't want anything that could be deemed to prejudice her.

I do not know really how it works with payment of experts witnesses. I know my law partner (who works as an alternate public defender), is hampered by the inability of his clients to hire experts. Let me ask him.

 

[gitana1]

Would a hot shot lawyer want a case that seems to me, is not very winnable?

Yes.

 

[NuttMegg]

I'm now going down the path of him being foot loose and fancy free with his lover for 5 weeks straight. Then responsibility came home and SW also left him alone for a few days to watch the kiddos. That really put a damper on what he wanted to do, who he wanted to be with. He decided to take care of that once and for all. He must have been in a fantasy world thinking this was going to work!

It could have been something so insignificant yet a trigger...the older one may have overheard him talking to the AP on the phone, asked if it was Mommy, or asked "Daddy who is "_______"? IMO. He knew she would tell her mother. IMO

 

[Charlot123]

Per article, it is amazing to me that the source close to CW needs to remark that after having been arrested and in jail for a little while, he is depressed and despondent, with the gravity of it all sinking in, according to the source. If they wanted us to believe CW's story, he would have been this way from the very beginning...when the children who were his life were murdered almost in front of him and he went nuts and killed their mother and his unborn child. They just need to follow this article up with any of the CW media interviews. Where was the despondency and grief???

For a while, I was thinking, why does not he confess already? It could get him off the death row. While Colorado is different from my state, mentality-wise, we are voting the same, so honestly, the more he cooperates, the better.

Then it hit me. For sone reason, he supposes that there is not much tying him up to the daughters' murders, and he thinks that an argument between spouses ending up in murder is judged differently than murders of the kids.

The problem is, CW's "cleaning after himself" does not leaves any shred of doubt in my mind that he killed the daughters. Frankly, I don't know who could believe him.

Good luck to the prosecuting attorney. The sooner CW understand that his story about the daughters' murders is not believable, the better.

 

[gitana1]

Pardon my ignorance, but if a big shot defense attorney did show up, would they need to be versed in CO law? I mean a famous attorney like Thomas Mesereau or Gloria Allred et al (trying to name some high profile attorneys!!) who practice law in CA may not be able to defend someone in CO based on state law? Sorry if this is a silly question.

They associate in. So they would have local counsel to assist.

Basics of litigating a murder case are the same everywhere in the US. The local rules and procedure is what differs. But these people would have no problems figuring it out.

 

[nwmouse]

Good question. His attorneys would be free but there are often limits to the budget for experts. Although I think in the casey anthony case he state paid substantially for her experts.

But I believe judge Perry absolutely thought she would be convicted and didn't want anything that could be deemed to prejudice her.

I do not know really how it works with payment of experts witnesses. I know my law partner (who works as an alternate public defender), is hampered by the inability of his clients to hire experts. Let me ask him.

Thanks so much gitana! I recall the Jodi Arias trial cost a large amount, IIRC due to expert witnesses etc.
According to reuters it cost taxpayers over $3 million.
Jodi Arias trial to cost Arizona taxpayers more than $3.2 million: officials | Reuters
Edited to say that I hope this link is allowed since its reuters and msm.

 

[nwmouse]

They associate in. So they would have local counsel to assist.

Basics of litigating a murder case are the same everywhere in the US. The local rules and procedure is what differs. But these people would have no problems figuring it out.

Ah, thank you so much for clarifying.

 

[Alethea]

Pardon my ignorance, but if a big shot defense attorney did show up, would they need to be versed in CO law? I mean a famous attorney like Thomas Mesereau or Gloria Allred et al (trying to name some high profile attorneys!!) who practice law in CA may not be able to defend someone in CO based on state law? Sorry if this is a silly question.

An out of state attorney would have to petition to appear "pro hac vice" (for this case only) in the court. A local Colorado lawyer would sponsor the application and they are usually approved as a formality. Each state has its own rules like how many times you can apply, etc.

 

[britelite]

Yes.

Gitana1 do you have an opinion as to why one hasn't take s this case up yet? Do you think one will? Sorry if you've answered this and I missed it.

 

[Yvettea]

So The mother knew and was plannjing to leave him but he killed them all because a daughter now knew?

 

[nwmouse]

An out of state attorney would have to petition to appear "pro hac vice" (for this case only) in the court. A local Colorado lawyer would sponsor the application and they are usually approved as a formality. Each state has its own rules like how many times you can apply, etc.

Thank you for explaining! We're lucky to have experts here to give us input.

 

[MassGuy]

I'm now going down the path of him loving being foot loose and fancy free with his lover for 5 weeks straight. Then responsibility came home and SW also left him alone for a few days to watch the kiddos. That really put a damper on what he wanted to do, who he wanted to be with. He decided to take care of that once and for all. He must have been in a fantasy world thinking this was going to work!

Yes. I think it’s entirely possible that the marriage was in trouble. That lengthy vacation to NC, and the freedom that CW felt during that period, could have sprouted the seeds that were already planted in his mind.

He may have wanted to be free, and saw an opportunity to achieve just that, albeit in a hideous way.

 

[britelite]

Btw.... @gitana1 thank you for your contributions to this thread.

 

[SeesSeas]

The rules are broken every single day. Overzealous attorneys get disbarred all the time.

I respectfully disagree with you. Relatively few attorneys are disbarred. There are approximately 40,000 attorneys in Colorado. There were only 41 disbarments from 2013 to 2015.

@Bill Carson

Respectfully, my post was about: 1) attorneys violating the rules of professional conduct; and 2) the disbarment of overzealous attorneys.

I am not licensed in Colorado. My opinions stem from the two states I am licensed to practice law in; and my extensive reading of the model ABA RPC and the Rules as they are applied in the states I practice in. Hope this clarifies things for you.

Chiming in after looking at news and stats, which indicates that very few attorneys are disbarred.
Disbarred lawyers face career, personal hurdles
Published 10:51 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2014
According to the American Bar Association, 1,046 lawyers were disbarred nationally in 2011, or about 0.08% of the roughly 1.27 million practicing lawyers.

2016 ABA survey:
https://www.americanbar.org/content...nsibility/2016_sold_chart 3b.authcheckdam.pdf
My state, FL, is listed as having the most disbarred.

 

[Yvettea]

Does anyone have any clues or intuitions into how the prosecution will connect CW to the actual murders?

 

[kkdj]

Yes. I think it’s entirely possible that the marriage was in trouble. That lengthy vacation to NC, and the freedom that CW felt during that period, could have sprouted the seeds that were already planted in his mind.

He may have wanted to be free, and saw an opportunity to achieve just that, albeit in a hideous way.

That's the part that makes him so odd! Who the heck kills their own family in order to be with a relatively new lover? Who in their right mind???? Something if so off here! He must be a sociopath or something.

 

[nwmouse]

Does anyone have any clues or intuitions into how the prosecution will connect CW to the actual murders?

He's admitted to killing Shannann and his unborn son already. I'm sure the prosecution will have more than enough forensic evidence to link him to Cece and baby Bella as well.

 

[Layla123]

I absolutely agree. The autopsy will likely determine how they died, and anything other than strangulation, will put a nail in his coffin. I think it’s far more likely that he is telling the truth here, vs the alternative.

He knows how they all were killed, he did it. But he wants everyone to think that he was a witness to Shanann doing it, and in order to be believed, he would have to tell the truth on that one.

 

[nwmouse]

That's the part that makes him so odd! Who the heck kills their own family in order to be with a relatively new lover? Who in their right mind???? Something if so off here! He must be a sociopath or something.

ITA, and it boggles my mind. Look at Scott Peterson, Jeffrey MacDonald and Chris Coleman. Child/wife killers who wanted to be free to "play the field" so to speak. Adding a MOO for TOS.