A chilling video from 2012 shows killer dad Christopher Watts saying infidelity with a colleague might be one of the reasons behind a breakdown in a marriage.
The father admits in the footage he often spoke about upcoming sports games and blurted out hurtful things to his significant other when they were trying to resolve issues in their relationship.
The Colorado man has been charged with killing his wife and two children and dumping their bodies at an oil field where he worked.
The taped a video presentation six years ago about saving or abandoning relationships has emerged after an affidavit revealed he was having an affair with a colleague.
A YouTube video posted in April 2012 shows Watts, 33, giving a PowerPoint presentation for a course he was taking that he titled ‘Communication Speech, Relationship Deterioration and Repair’.
Christopher Watts (pictured) admits he often spoke about upcoming sports games and blurted out hurtful things to his significant other in a video presentation from April 2012
He goes into explaining why a relationship might break down and what to do to resolve the issues.
Watts was arrested last week in the slayings of his wife, Shanann Watts, and their two children Celeste and Bella, ages three and four and the affidavit states he told his wife he wanted to separate when she returned home.
During his talk to a group of at least five people, Watts sites Blumstein and Schwartz, who teach that when a relationship breaks up, it’s generally the more attractive one that leaves.
The accused tells those watching that it’s something ‘I agree with somewhat and disagree with’.
Sharing details of his own relationship he suggests seeing the situation as your partner does during disagreements, ‘making sure they feel wanted and know that you’re there,’ he smirks when explaining that talking about an upcoming baseball or football game is not appropriate. ‘As I sometimes do,’ he swiftly moves on.
Warning that keeping things bottled up may ‘later come back to bite you’ when a partner appears to have moved on from the argument but is actual feeling hostile, he nervously giggles again after advising not to blurt things out you might regret: ‘Think about it. When it comes to your mind, it might be wrong. I do that too.’
Investigators believe Watts allegedly killed his family at home and then drove their bodies to a property owned by the company he worked for, Anadarko Petroleum
Watts was last week arrested for murdering his wife Shanann and their two young daughters
Watts can be seen fiddling with his hands constantly throughout the clip that’s just short of 10 minutes.
The video shows him discussing not having anything in common anymore, a partner who ‘gets on your nerves’ and ‘putting more into the relationship than you are getting out’.
He tells listeners that moral obligation or having children may keep a couple together but it’s not always effective.
‘Sometimes people when their relationship starts to dissolve, repair is not an option. They want to get away and start new,’ Watts adds.
Shanann suffered from lupus and was pregnant with their third child. According to co-worker Nickole Utoft Atkinson, she was feeling unwell during their business trip to Arizona.
Watts, 33, was charged with nine felony counts – including three counts of first degree murder – on Tuesday morning
‘A double joy is a shared joy and a double sorrow is not a shared sorrow,’ he ends the presentation to a round of applause.
He has not entered a plea to murder and other felony charges and faces the death penalty if found guilty.
Detectives believe Watts killed his children first and then killed his 15-week pregnant wife.
They charged him with nine felony counts – including three counts of first-degree murder, two of murdering children in his trust, one of terminating a pregnancy and three of tampering with bodies.
The day before his arrest, Watts pleaded for his family’s safe return saying in an on-camera interview: ‘I just want people to know that I want my family back. I want them safe and I want them here’.
During his court appearance on Tuesday, Watts hung his head and stayed silent. Shanann’s father, Frank Rzucek, wept silently but uncontrollably as the charges were read.
Since the bodies were found, well-wishers have left toys, dozens of flowers, candles and balloons in the front yard of the $400,000 house on Saratoga Trail in Frederick that the couple bought in 2013.
Mourners are seen Sunday at the family home where police say the murders were committed