Chris Watts Trial Documents Released

FREDERICK, CO – More than 1,900 pages of documents related to the case of convicted Frederick husband Chris Watts were released Wednesday by the Weld County District Attorney's Office.

UPDATE: Chris Watts Tells Investigators How He Killed Shanann And Daughters: Report

Watts, 33, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in Weld county District Court for the murders of his 15-month pregnant wife Shanann Watts and their two daughters, Celeste, 3 and Bella, 4. Prosecutors said he strangled his wife and suffocated his daughters in the couple's Frederick home and dumped their bodies on the property of an Anadarko oil and gas facility, where he worked.

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The documents, released following an Colorado Open Records Act Request, describe how investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations questioned witnesses regarding the murder, including a Wyoming man named Trent Bolte, who came forward saying the he and Watts had a 10-month romantic relationship that he broke off when he found out Watts was married with children.

Watts had also been involved with a woman, Nichol Kessinger, who dated Watts for two months, believing him to be finalizing his divorce. Kessinger went to authorities when she heard that Watts's family was missing, the documents show.

According to the CBI, Bolte announced on Facebook that he and Watts had been romantically involved, and said Watts "was the victim of emotional and mental abuse and was stuck in loveless marriage but was so scared to leave because of Bella and Celeste."

According to the CBI, Bolte made a post to the Facebook page, “Chris Watts – Accused Killer of Shan’Ann Watts and Children.”

“Sooo…I wanted to get on here because I’ve been getting Facebook messages and phone calls from people asking me how I knew Chris, why I had relations with a married man, people trying to blackmail me and threatening to “expose” me. When I first got the call from authorities due to messages on app he had on his phone, the last thing I wanted was my name out there. But after all this shit, I’d rather me tell my side rather than someone else. I met Chris last summer. We had relations off and on from last June up until March or April. I found out he was married with kids in February. I didn’t know that when we first met. Yes, things happened on more time, then I ended it. And this stupid witch hunt trying to find his “mistress” and all the men and women he slept with is fucking ridiculous. The only thing we’re guilty of is trusting a stranger. I can only speak for myself but before this happened, I would’ve 100% told you that Chris isn’t a murderer nor a sociopath. He told me he was the victim of emotional and mental abuse and was stuck in loveless marriage but was so scared to leave because of Bella and Celeste. I can totally understand why anyone who had sexual relations with Christopher would want to stay out of the public eye. Since I got the call and I was told what happened, I haven’t slept more than an hour or two at a time at night. But like I said, the only thing I’m guilty of is trusting someone who SEEMED so kind hearted and genuine but I guess this is a life lesson. I’ll always have to live with the fact that I had a relationship with a married man who is also a murderer and a sociopath. So the people messaging on Facebook, Twitter, etc. threatening to “expose” me…do it. I have nothing to hide.
I just wanted to put his out there before someone else leaked my name. I’m sure there were multiple women and I’m probably not the only man he slept with but the whole thing is that, NONE of the people he slept with owe the public anything. So all these things about #mistresscomeforward is fucking ridiculous. You have no idea what I’m going thru, let alone anyone else he’s slept with so let’s focus on getting to the bottom of what happened between the people involved with the crime and ONLY them (or him). I’m not up for any criminal charges, neither are any of the others…”

The CBI also interviewed Bolte's mother who said her son told her Watts had given her son several monetary gifts of up to $250, one of which was used to pay for her son's "lip injections."

Read case documents here: https://assets.documentcloud.o...

Watts was arrested Aug. 15 after his daughters and pregnant wife had been missing for two days. According to an arrest affidavit, Watts claimed to police his wife had strangled the two girls after he told her he wanted a separation and that he then strangled Shanann Watts in "a rage."

He then said he took the bodies in his truck to an oil well site and buried Shanann's body near an oil drum. He told police he dumped his daughters' bodies into different oil drums on the site. Watts admitted he was having an affair with a colleague from work, the arrest affidavit said.

Prosecutors didn't believe him and charged him with the deaths of all three family members.

Watts told police his wife was missing after the couple discussed a separation.

The arrest affidavit said police were alerted by a friend of Shanann Watts that she had missed a 10 a.m. doctor's appointment on Monday, Aug. 13. The friend had dropped Shanann off at home after driving her home from the airport around 2 a.m. The friend told police she called Christopher Watts to check on his wife, since she feared Shanann might have been having a medical emergency.

A police officer came to the house and called Christopher Watts, to ask for the passcode to their home security system. Watts came home instead and allowed the officer into the house, the affidavit said. The officer searched the house, but found no signs of the mother or her daughters. Christopher Watts told the officer that he and his wife had discussed marital separation around 5 a.m. and "informed her he wanted to initiate the separation." He told the officer it was a "civil conversation and they were not arguing, but were emotional."

Officers found Shannon's keys, purse and medication on a table and found her cell phone shoved between two cushions on a couch. Watts originally told police he had loaded up his truck with work tools around 5:27 a.m. and left for for work. The truck leaving the home was recorded by the neighbor's surveillance camera.

Over the next two days, police initiated a neighborhood canvas and asked for the help of the FBI and Colorado Bureau of Investigations. While conducting interviews, police found out that Christopher Watts had been having an affair with a work colleague, the affidavit said. The affidavit did not name the individual with whom he was allegedly involved.

Watts was arrested Aug. 15 and his father spoke to him while he was in custody. At that point, "Chris said he would tell the truth after speaking to his dad," the affidavit said. Watts then told police again he had told Shanann he wanted a separation, but then "walked downstairs for a moment and returned to his bedroom..." Watts told police that he looked at the image on the video baby monitor on Shanann's nightstand and "observed Bella 'sprawled' out on her bed and blue, and Shanann actively strangling Celeste." He told police he strangled his wife after he "went into a rage."

He then told police he loaded all three bodies into the backseat of his work truck and took them to an oil work site, where he told police he buried Shanann near two oil tanks and dumped the girls' bodies inside the oil tanks, the affidavit said.

Investigators went to the oil field called CERVI 319 and, with Anadarko permission, used a drone to search the property. They found a bed sheet matching those found in the Watts home and evidence of disturbed dirt, the affidavit said.

Watts gave multiple television interviews pleading for the safe return of his family. Friends told news reporters that Christopher Watts had stayed at their home after his wife disappeared. Amanda Thayer said Shanann had confided to her that she feared her husband was cheating.

On Aug. 14 and 15, before being taken into custody, Christopher Watts gave interviews with multiple news stations. He said Shanann and his daughters had disappeared with his wife leaving her purse and keys on the table.

"I walked in the house and nothing. Just vanished. She wasn't here, the kids weren't here," he told Denver7. Watts claimed he and his wife had "an emotional conversation, I'll leave it at that."

The Watts family had undergone financial difficulties, and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2015.

The family had moved to Colorado from Moore County, North Carolina, according to television reports. Chris Watts was remembered by a retired former high school teacher as "the smartest student in the class" with "a photographic memory."

Public records showed the family had financial difficulties, including a bankruptcy in 2015, when the couple reported they were $448,000 in debt. Shanann had been previously married and had used the name Shanann King. The couple owned a house in Belmont, west of Charlotte, which Shanann had bought in 2009. The couple were married in North Carolina in 2012. According to the Denver Post, the new owner, Byron Falls said the Watts's were in a hurry to sell and left all the furniture behind.

The couple lived in Broomfield for a year, then in 2013 bought a newly constructed five-bedroom, 4,177 sq. ft. home at 2825 Saratoga Trail for $399,000.

They were also sued by their homeowner association, Wyndham Hill Master Association Inc., in July, 2018.

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Image: Christopher Watts, booking photo via Weld County Sheriff