American Murder: The Family Next Door - General Discussion

[CrazyInAlabama]

There is zero point in sentencing someone to death in Colorado.   They haven't put anyone to death in many years, and never intend to.   Search "Colorado death penalty"  or "Colorado Death Row" and read about the people that have been sentenced, and will never be executed.   

I wish they could sent Watts to Supermax in Florence, it's worse than death.     It's also a federal prison, so he probably couldn't be sent there.   

[Luckylyn]

So video covers a disturbing fan page for Chris Watts.  It’s really horrible that he has fans who feel more sympathy for him than his victims.

[hiisa]

I'm only just now watching this and, well, obviously Chris is evil.  But I have two (incredibly petty) questions.

1. The friend dropped Shanann off at 2 in the morning and called the police the next day because she couldn't get ahold of her. That seems SO SOON to me. Why was she over there? How did she know Shanann didn't go to the doctors appointment? 

2. They always mimicked Shannan typing her texts to whoever, and backspacing and fixing typos. Why did they do that? They didn't do that with any of the other texts on screen. So strange. 

And finally, not a question but a peeve. Shanann seriously, seriously abused her ! button. 

[Bastet]

37 minutes ago, hiisa said:

The friend dropped Shanann off at 2 in the morning and called the police the next day because she couldn't get ahold of her. That seems SO SOON to me. Why was she over there? How did she know Shanann didn't go to the doctors appointment? 

I can't remember, but maybe she called the doctor's office to make sure she got there okay when she couldn't get ahold of her?  And as for why not hearing from her caused alarm after such a short time, I assume that's because Shanann was texting or posting every waking minute of her life -- while that would be a crazy overreaction regarding some people (for example, me), with regard to Shanann it wasn't. 

[hiisa]

4 hours ago, Bastet said:

I can't remember, but maybe she called the doctor's office to make sure she got there okay when she couldn't get ahold of her?  And as for why not hearing from her caused alarm after such a short time, I assume that's because Shanann was texting or posting every waking minute of her life -- while that would be a crazy overreaction regarding some people (for example, me), with regard to Shanann it wasn't. 

You're right. Being unreachable for a few hours is normal for normal people. I was looking at it through a normal people lense. Nooot what we're dealing with here.

[Bastet]

I think that friend's early intervention really threw a wrench in Chris's plans, and thank goodness there was that missed appointment, because I think a pregnant woman missing her OB appointment is what led the cops to get involved early rather than just saying, "Um, maybe she's simply not on her phone right now."  None of it could save the three victims, of course, but him having to scramble, and talk to the police before he'd planned to, made it easier to find out the truth and subsequently nail his murdering ass to the wall.  I hope she takes a little bit of peace from that.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The neighbor also really helped the police prove Chris was a liar. 

[Sweet-tea]

On 10/5/2020 at 8:16 AM, ThatGreyCat said:

I thought it was weird how she went on and on about how Chris saw her at her worst and took care of her when they first met and she was really sick.  It is bizarre to me to envision meeting some guy and letting him take care of me sick before we even know each other.  She gave the impression he was practically changing her bedpans and cleaning her up.  That was a red flag for me.  Who wants to be that needy? 

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This was the one difference from other similar cases I've seen, in that the murdered spouse was not presented in a saintly manner. Not that she deserved in any way to have anything bad happen to her, but Shannan was certainly not likeable. Her constant staging and filming of her life was exhausting, and she was clearly very controlling. It looked like a nightmare marriage, plus the added conflict with the in-laws. I would have been interested to know a bit more detail about how their relationship began and evolved, and what each of their familial relationships were like.

I wonder if that's one of the things that went wrong in the marriage. If her description was true, then it sounds like she was weaker and more needy at the start of their relationship. Perhaps Chris preferred that dynamic to the later one, when she wore the pants in the family. 

The immaculate house got my attention. It was so perfect it looked like a model home a realtor would show, one that had been staged. They had two little kids, but there was no sign of it. The place was flawless. Even the detectives commented on it and they've seen tons of houses.

And Shanann said Chris knew she liked things "done a certain way." Another indication that she was controlling and possibly rigid. Imagine if he put his glass down without a coaster or left his gym shoes in the entryway, etc. I didn't find her easy to like either, but I have a built-in bias against people who post everything on SM. It drives me crazy. 

I'm late to the game and knew nothing about this case before watching this documentary. I thought it was exceptionally well done. I've watched a lot of true crime, but this one disturbed me more than most. When he was describing how he killed Shanann and those sweet little girls, I felt physically sick. I had to stop watching for awhile. I took a nap later and when I closed my eyes, I kept seeing those little girls faces and hearing their voices: "What's wrong with Cece? Daddy, no!" What was it, the day before the murders that he's on video playing with one his daughters? Then he kills their mother and puts them in the car to take them to their deaths. He is a monster. 

The neighbor was great. Chris was fidgety. And the detectives were fantastic! 

[CrazyInAlabama]

The constant posting on social media of every aspect of their life was part of the MLM company she worked for.    Anything to make it look like her life was wonderful, and it was due to the company she worked for, and boasting about how great the products were.   

A lot of their money came from Shannan's MLM company, and she worked for them, so she posted everything.    I've actually known people who posted literally everything on social media, I find it bizarre, but it's a way of life.  She also posted to show how wonderful the company's products were, and how they made her family's life better.   It was over the top, but part of the job.    

I know it usually happens that way, but the way his family victim blames the wife is despicable, and they're still doing it.    Then, trying to take everything over with the funeral, and the home was disgusting.   I'm just glad they were blocked.   Shannan's family really stood up for her, and the poor kids.    Right after the murder, his family couldn't wait to try to take the house, and get rid of everything owned by Shannan and her children (I refuse to even think they were related to their murderer).   

The true heroes in this story are Shannan's family who never stopped fighting to prevent her murderer and his despicable family from profitting from her death, and those adorable children.  They had to fight to get control of the funeral.  No one from Shannan's in-laws family even came to the funeral.    And the neighbor who demanded the police look at his camera footage, and listen to his story disproving Chris Watts' alibi, and Shannan's friends who never stopped pushing to get police to find out what happened to her.    The friends also notified police she was missing, and that screwed up Watts timeline to cover up the murder, and get her car away from the house, driven by a 'friend'.     The police who also listened to the neighbors and the friends, and that screwed up Chris Watts' cover up.   

I still wonder what the true story about his final girlfriend was, she apparently just disappeared from the area.   I'm suspecting she was relocated.    

Edited September 5, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Dr.OO7]

On 12/25/2020 at 2:54 PM, Annber03 said:

And it's always the little things, too. They're so focused on the big picture that some small detail gets ignored/forgotten, or they never consider any potential minor wrenches in their plans, or whatever. 

That's something that's always impressed me about police work--the supposedly unimportant things that tip the cops off to the fact that someone's lying to them. When the police arrived at Mark Hacking's house after he reported his wife Lori missing, one of them noticed a huge bouquet of flowers and instantly deduced that he wasn't telling the truth about their supposedly happy marriage--"There's "Honey, I was just thinking about you " flowers, and then there's "Honey, I'm sorry, I fucked up" flowers. These were "I fucked up" flowers."

(He'd been lying to her for years about attending college and being accepted into medical school, which she finally learned upon calling the school and learning that he'd never even applied. He killed her when she confronted him)

[heatherchandler]

On 9/4/2022 at 7:30 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

and get her car away from the house, driven by a 'friend'.     
 

I still wonder what the true story about his final girlfriend was, she apparently just disappeared from the area.   I'm suspecting she was relocated.    

I don’t think he would have had a friend move it, I don’t think he had any/many friends.  And the girlfriend thought he was separated, she wasn’t involved.  He didn’t even think of the car- he’s a complete idiot.

The girlfriend was relocated and given a new name.  I think this was his only girlfriend, not final.  I think he was infatuated with her.

Edited November 23, 2022 by heatherchandler

[CrazyInAlabama]

I heard a caller on Nancy Grace's show (not that long after the arrest) who said he was one of Watts' 'friends', and that man claimed he wasn't the only 'friend' of Watts.   

The only person who claimed she didn't know Watts was married was the girlfriend, but that was after the murder.   She had a clear motive to lie about that, especially if she was going to help him get rid of the murdered wife's car.   I've never heard of a witness in a quickly solved murder being relocated like this case.  

The real friends of the murdered wife calling police, and demanding action, and the neighbor's surveillance film, and observations were instrumental in getting the seach started immediately, so Watts' couldn't complete the cover story of the wife running away with the kids. 

[Dr.OO7]

On 9/4/2022 at 8:30 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

know it usually happens that way, but the way his family victim blames the wife is despicable, and they're still doing it.    Then, trying to take everything over with the funeral, and the home was disgusting.   I'm just glad they were blocked.   Shannan's family really stood up for her, and the poor kids.    Right after the murder, his family couldn't wait to try to take the house, and get rid of everything owned by Shannan and her children (I refuse to even think they were related to their murderer).   

Well, then, you should "enjoy" the case of the disappearance of Bonnie Haim, where it was stunningly HER family denouncing her as a tramp who ran off and abandoned her husband and son and HIS family insisting that he murdered the poor woman. 21 years later, her remains were found in their backyard and he was charged and eventually convicted of their murder.

Cases like this always seem to bring out the worst in people. I can understand not wanting to believe your loved one is a murderer, but the lengths people go to to convince themselves of this, to the point of relentlessly denouncing the victim, is downright horrifying.

[Dr.OO7]

On 10/6/2020 at 3:55 PM, EdnasEdibles said:

It IS interesting though to see a documentary where the victim isn't painted as an angel. I think Dateline falls into this trap a lot with their episodes where when they discuss the victim the have quotes like "She loved life. She lit up every room she went into and everyone loved her" and honestly, that's not realistic

What I especially hate about when Dateline does that is that once the victim turns up dead, all of a sudden it's revealed that all of his/her people thought that their spouse was a bitch/jerk, and the very same perfect love story they've been touting for the past five minutes is now riddled with flaws--"He/She was controlling/cheating/spending too much/too cheap!", etc.

[Dr.OO7]

On 10/1/2020 at 11:59 AM, EdnasEdibles said:

And since he had a real job and she sold MLM crap, he would have had to pay her child support and probably also alimony. In their sociopathic heads they think "I could just start fresh with someone else" and not have 3 years of legal fighting with expensive lawyer bills and then partial custody where you have to see the other person every week for the rest of your life (or at least until the kids are 18 and considering there was a child inside of her, that's a good amount of time ahead). Plus, then he's the jerk for leaving a pregnant lady when otherwise he gets to be someone they feel bad for

That's exactly it.

It never occurs to these guys that all that is still better than going to jail for the rest of your life.

[Dr.OO7]

On 10/5/2020 at 11:29 AM, Scarlett45 said:

It’s dumb as shit to think you could murder your wife IN THE HOUSE, and then kill your daughters, and get away with it! Not even arrange to kill her in public where someone else may have killed her. Like a mugging or something. 

And the cops will figure that out too--there was a crime show episode about a couple attacked while out walking with their daughter. The wife was killed, the husband injured. The daughter was mercifully unharmed, physically, at least.

When the cops questioned him, it didn't take but two seconds for him to feebly blurt out "It was an accident". Yeah, he "accidentally" arranged for a hitman to kill his wife and shoot him to look like a mugging gone wrong. Nevermind that the guy never made any attempt at taking their wallets, the very first thing that would make the cops suspicious.

[Dr.OO7]

On 12/25/2020 at 3:55 PM, Annber03 said:

Mmhm. And even when they are trying to get rid of the body, it's amazing (and kind of amusing, in a really dark way) how so many criminals don't realize just how hard it is to do that. Dead weight is tough to move around. Same with cleaning up crime scenes-blood is not an easy stain to get out. 

I was watching an episode of "American Detective" the other night and Kenda stated, "People get emotional when they kill. They don't think clearly." He was referring to the fact that a young woman's killer had dumped her body in the middle of a public park, it somehow never occuring to him that her body would rapidly be found.

And that applies to Chris as well. Did he really think the cops would think it was just sheer coincidence that his wife and daughters bodies were dumped at his WORKPLACE? If that isn't a blatant declaration of "I did it", I don't know what is.