Few cases have shocked the U.S. in recent decades like that of Chris Watts. Now 40, he is serving life in prison for the 2018 murders of his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.

The Disappearance and Cover-Up

When Shanann and the girls were first reported missing, Watts appeared on television pleading for their return. Behind the scenes, he was hiding a grim truth: he had strangled Shanann, suffocated the children, and disposed of their bodies at an oil site in Frederick, Colorado.

Motive and Affair

Investigators later uncovered that Watts was having an affair with coworker Nichol Kessinger and hoped to start a new life with her. His attempt to frame Shanann for the children’s deaths unraveled when he failed a lie-detector test and eventually confessed.

Sentencing

Watts avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty. He received three consecutive life sentences plus 84 years, with no chance of parole. He has been housed at Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin ever since.

Prison Life and Claims of Forgiveness

According to reports, Watts believes God has forgiven him. In letters to a pen pal, he wrote about becoming “a new man” through faith, claiming he has finally found peace.

But inside prison, former inmates say he is widely despised. “He’s the lowest of the low,” one ex-prisoner told The New York Post. Watts lives in near isolation, spending most of his time reading the Bible and writing letters, under close guard for his own safety.

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