Netflix’s terrifying documentary about Chris Watts omitted five crucial details.
Watts, 35, killed his two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, on August 13, 2018, after strangling his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, to death.
The father of three initially presented himself as a desperate husband trying to find his family.
“Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you’re out there, just come back,” he told Denver7 in an interview on August 14. “Just bring her back if you have her. I must see everyone.
However, Watts was taken into custody a day later and subsequently admitted to the murders. He entered a guilty plea to nine charges, including unlawful pregnancy termination and murder. In Wisconsin, he is presently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
A documentary based on the horrifying case, American Murder: The Family Next Door, was made available on the streaming service in 2020.
The horrific atrocities committed by the family annihilator were covered, but the documentary omitted five things.
1. Shanann and Watts’ parents’ relationship was deteriorating.
Shannan was very distant from Watts’ family in the months before her murder. Despite Celeste’s severe nut allergy, she felt that her mother, Cindy Watts, put her in danger by serving her ice cream with peanut chips, according to the Daily Mail.
In an angry message to her husband, she said, “You should call your dad and tell him you did not appreciate your mom putting your daughter at risk today.” “She is evil and will put your daughter’s life in danger to irritate me.”
As a result of the growing tension, Watts’ parents completely missed Celeste’s birthday celebration and blocked Shanann on Facebook. They hadn’t even gone to the wedding of their son.
2. Nichol Kessinger’s marriage fixation
Although Watts’ affair with coworker Nichol Kessinger was confirmed by the documentary, it did not disclose the depth of their relationship.
Nine days prior to the killings, on August 4, 2018, Kessinger spent more than two hours browsing wedding gowns on Google. According to Business Insider, she also looked through articles about “marrying your mistress.”
Kessinger later filed to change her name in Jefferson County, Colorado, after learning that Watts had deceived her.
3. Prior to the killings, Watts allegedly had other affairs.
Records indicate Watts had relationships with a number of people in addition to Kessinger. After meeting Watts on Tinder, Amanda McMahon claimed to have had a one-night stand with him in March 2018. Regarding the encounter, she described it as “getting really fast and aggressive.”
extreme In 2018, Watts was accused of having a 10-month affair with a male escort named Trent Bolte. According to The Mirror, Bolte’s mother backed up the allegation, saying her son “was seeing” him long before the “horrible crime” occurred.
Watts denied any involvement, but authorities questioned Bolte’s story. He admitted to investigators that he had never dated a man.
4. A prison visitor visited Watts more than thirty times.
Watts reportedly had a consistent prison visitor even after his conviction. A woman named Anna Nowak was authorized to see Watts and made 31 visits between March and December 2019, per a January 6, 2020, “Inmate Visitation History” document.
She was once turned away after going over the allotted number of visits for one day, even though she visited nearly every week.
5. Shanann continued to attempt to keep their marriage intact.
Shanann had not given up on her husband, even though their relationship was failing. Just before she passed away, she was actively organizing a romantic retreat for the two of them.
According to the Daily Mail, she had made childcare arrangements for Bella and Celeste and looked for travel bargains on Groupon. Although the documentary alluded to marital problems, it did not go into great detail about Shanann’s attempts to patch things up.
“What’s shocking most to me is the disconnect between the appearance and the reality,” said legal analyst Joey Jackson during a Dr. Oz episode, summarizing the profound discrepancy between appearances and reality.
It’s simply amazing, he said, “to think about how you can portray that in such a vile way when you look at a family so in love.” “It serves as a reminder that, despite what you may see on social media, something might be wrong.”
Millions were shocked by American Murder, but Watts’ real story is even more complicated and dark than the movie depicted.