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Culture > News

The Story and Confession of Chris Watts

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at GCU chapter.

In the morning of August 13, 2018, Chris Watts decided to end the life of his pregnant wife, Shanann Cathryn, and his two beloved daughters, Bella and Celeste. The gruesome case has finally reached an end since Chris has now pleaded guilty and released his confession to the police. Although several wonder what his initial motives, there is now some new insight of the story of Chris Watt’s and what occurred on that night.

Confused and distraught, Chris had no idea as to why he decided to kill his family. In the 5-hour confession that was released, Chris describes how he didn’t feel like himself. He couldn’t understand what he was thinking, let alone what he was saying. Leading up to the killings, he did not know what would happen next. He had strangled his wife, Shannon and dumped her body in the back of his truck. He later on took his four-year old, Bella, and three- year old, Celeste, to his work to dispose their mother’s body. Once he arrived at the oil site, he suffocated both girls and buried the three bodies with no remorse afterwards. Arriving back home, he had laid his wife’s ring on the kitchen table to make it seem she wanted a divorce and thrown away a therapy book to make it seem like they had marriage issues.

The police soon became involved and began to question Chris who was reluctant to answer. He had initially blamed his wife for the disappearance of his children and pleaded for the recovery of his kids. The police brought him in as a suspect and when given a polygraph test, he had failed on all accounts of questioning. This proved him guilty of the murder of his then pregnant wife and two children. So, you might wonder, why did he confess in the end?

Truth be told, Chris could not bear for the case to be prolonged any longer. He had confessed to his attorneys that he had done the killings and pleaded guilty. He wanted to end the lies that had surfaced about the case. When asked why he blamed his wife initially, he confessed that the police had influenced him. Since they brought the idea up first, he ran with the lie until he decided to speak the truth. However, through the confessions and pleading guilty, Chris had become closer to God. He now sits in his jailhouse with pictures of his wife and children reading bible verses and talking to them as if they were still alive today. He regrets the events that occurred, but he has learned to move on and find his own purpose in life. Does this mean he’s clean and free of justification for the killings? I do not believe so. Chris must receive mental treatment for allowing himself to kill his own family for no reason. This proves that even your own mind can be your worst enemy.

Hi, my name is Daisy and I am a senior at GCU. You can always find me drinking coffee and enjoying hanging out with friends! In the midst of all this, I also dedicate my time doing school work and working at a dental office.