Chris Watts is serving five consecutive life sentences for killing his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and the couple’s two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, in August 2018. The high-profile murder case that stunned the country continues to generate questions eight years later.
The Colorado father pleaded guilty to the killings on November 6, 2018, avoiding a trial. In the years since, Watts’ parents, Cindy Watts and Ronnie Watts, have begun speaking publicly about their son, sharing a letter he wrote to his late wife and daughters and insisting that he could not have killed the girls despite his guilty plea.
Here’s what to know about the crime, the plea and the family’s recent claims.
Chris Watts Killed His Pregnant Wife and 2 Daughters in August 2018
Shanann, Bella and Celeste went missing in August 2018, and their bodies were found three days later. Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant with the couple’s third baby, a son they planned to name Nico, at the time she was killed.
Chris quickly became a suspect and was arrested soon after. It was then revealed he was having an affair with a coworker at the time of the killings.
Rather than go to trial, Chris pleaded guilty on November 6, 2018. He was sentenced to serve five consecutive life sentences in prison.
Chris Watts Wrote a Letter to Shanann Watts and Their Daughters
Nearly two years after the murders, Chris asked his parents to read a letter at the graves of Shanann, Bella and Celeste. In October 2026, Cindy and Ronnie shared the letter, dated January 10, 2020, with the Daily Mail.
Addressed to Shanann on what would have been her 36th birthday, the letter opens: “Hey boo! Happy Birthday! Thirty-six years young today. This is the first time of year when I could always say you’re ‘two’ years older than me. You didn’t like that too much, but I liked messing with you.”
Chris continued: “There’s so much I wish I could say to you and make up for what I did to our family. No one needed to go through this. You and our babies had a long life ahead of them and deserved to see that life.”
He went on to try to distance himself from the killings, writing that “the man you married isn’t the man who turned his back on his family” and that the man who killed his family “was an aberration brought on by an evil outside source.” Watts added, “You know the husband and dad I am and would testify to that today.”
He described imagining his family watching over him. “I look outside my window and wonder what we would be doing and then I get this overwhelming feeling you’re looking at me with our babies saying, ‘We love you!’” he wrote. “All of you are a blessing to my life and your memory lives in my soul every waking moment. I close my eyes and imagine the light of God shining across your cheeks and radiant smiles beaming down from Heaven when you look down upon us.”
Chris said the “love you felt down here won’t compare to the love you feel up there – God’s love – and I’ve dedicated the rest of my time on this earth to showing the love He has shown me.”
He closed by writing, “Cheer me on as I walk the path God is putting in front of me. I love you all to the moon and back!”
Cindy Watts Insists Her Son Didn’t Kill His Daughters
Cindy also told The Daily Mail that she does not believe her son killed Bella and Celeste.
“Christopher is a good person, I know him,” Cindy said. “Nobody in his past or even now, who meets him in prison, can find anything bad to say.”
She added that “there’s no way he’d kill his girls.”
Cindy said her son chose to avoid a trial because he didn’t “want to put [his] family through that.” Still, she wished the case had been heard in court.
“I would’ve liked to see a defense for my son, and one that would allow him to say out loud, ‘I killed Shanann but not my girls,’” she said.
When Chris first confessed, he told police he killed Shanann because she told him she had killed the girls. Cindy said that theory “makes the most sense” to her.
“I’m not saying he shouldn’t be in jail,” she said. “He killed his wife, but why the girls? There’s no way he could put the girls in that eight-inch hole… It’s not how he is, it’s just not.”
Ronnie Watts and Jamie Watts Are Still Searching for Answers
Ronnie said he sees inconsistencies in his son’s second confession, when Chris admitted to killing his daughters. While Ronnie said he will not deny that his son is a killer, he said he is most interested in knowing whether Chris acted alone or had an accomplice.
Ronnie also questioned why Chris took a plea deal when his attorneys could have presented evidence to reveal what actually happened to Shanann and their daughters in court.
Chris’ sister, Jamie, is also still searching for answers.
“You’re left with no real answers, or mental health answers or something, you know,” Jamie said. “Because a normal guy that’s never been in trouble before in his life loses his mind one night and annihilates his whole family. No, it doesn’t make sense to me. None of it makes sense.”
Chris Watts Has a New Girlfriend, Lizzie Henderson
Eight years after murdering his family, Chris has moved on with a new girlfriend, Lizzie Henderson. The pair met while he was in prison, and the relationship is reportedly so serious that Henderson relocated from Ohio to Wisconsin to be closer to him.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
