A Denver criminologist has claimed that the father accused of murdering his pregnant wife and their two children did so because he wanted to start a new life with his lover.
Christopher Watts, 33, is accused of killing Shanann Watts, and their two children Celeste and Bella, aged three and four, earlier this month after their bodies were discovered at an oil field where he worked.
Police later found Watts ‘was actively involved in an affair with a co-worker’ – something he had initially denied.
Denise Mowder, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at MSU Denver, told the Denver Channel she believes that Watts may have wanted to rid himself of his family to be with her.
Denise Mowder, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at MSU Denver, said she believes that Watts may have wanted to rid himself of his family to be with her
Christopher Watts is accused of killing Shanann Watts, and their two children Celeste and Bella (pictured together)
‘I think he had a vision of another life with this other woman — carefree, no responsibilities,’ she said. ‘Two children and another on the way, that’s a big responsibility.’
She added that she was surprised it hadn’t been a murder suicide.
‘I’m pretty surprised he didn’t kill himself, too. Oftentimes, it goes in a pattern,’ said Mowder.
She said that most cases of men killing their children were triggered by rage but 30 per cent were sparked by spousal revenge, and another ten say they don’t know why.
The day before his arrest, Watts had 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’.
Mowder, who was also a prosecutor for several years, said that the fact that Watts went on the news to plead for people to try and find his ‘missing’ family after they disappeared reveals that he planned to blame an intruder, play victim and then begin his new life.
‘This whole facade he put on right after they started looking for them — that was very odd, and it makes me wonder if he wasn’t trying to find an out to be with the girlfriend,’ said Mowder. ‘Somebody else did it. I’m the poor grieving father.’
Mowder said that the fact he tried to point his finger at his wife, was typical of domestic abusers.
Watts, 33, was charged with nine felony counts – including three counts of first degree murder – on Tuesday morning
Watts had told police that he murdered Shanann because she had killed their two children. Investigators didn’t believe his story, and 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.
‘When he said she was the one strangling the children, I knew right then he was the one who strangled the children, because he can give all the details of what he said she did because he was doing it himself,’ she said.
‘It’s going to be hard on the family to hear the lies. And there’s some secrets there, I’m afraid. It’s going to be hard for the jury. It’s going to be hard for the public to really understand because there is no understanding it,’ Mowder said.
Watts was arrested last week in the slayings of his wife and their two children and the affidavit states he told his wife he wanted to separate when she returned home.
Watts was last week arrested for murdering his wife Shanann and their two young daughters
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.
‘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.
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