True Crime Case Analysis

Back to the Watts’ case and the letter Chris wrote to Cadle about the murders. In Part 12 we began to discuss the letter and left off here:

“I was numb to the entire world. I had literally taken my kids to a birthday party, played with water balloons, had an amazing time, sang songs all the way home, gave them a bath a shower, ate dinner, read bedtime stories and sang bedtime songs, and still nothing registered!!”

—Jeremy and Jennifer Lindstrom said Chris was “normal” at the party on Sunday, August 12th. He was typically on the quieter side and mellow they added. At the party Chris spoke of Shanann and him knowing the gender of the baby. They had plans of revealing the gender that coming week. Chris was watching the girls at the party as he normally did. At one point during the celebration Celeste fell off of the swing set and wanted her blankie. Chris went over to Celeste to comfort her after the fall.

In this same interview, Jennifer, disclosed that Shanann only agreed to another baby, because of how hands on Chris was as a dad. She further stated that Shanann said, “and he would always be there to help her.” It should be noted this interview was conducted before family & friends knew they were all deceased.

In one of Shanann’s Facebook live video’s, where she’s flipping through a cookbook around Christmas 2017, you can hear Chris upstairs singing with the girls who were in the bath. “Here we go Steelers here we go.” Singing songs with them seemed to be an everyday occurrence, a per usual happening. We know Chris read to Bella & Celeste every evening, and still does in his prison cell.

https://truecrimecaseanalysis.home.blog/2019/10/05/lies-truth-and-books-oh-my-part-2/ Here in this post above I listed references of comparisons between what Chris was saying in his letters and the Bible. I pointed out that this last time spent with Bella & Celeste could be similar to the Last Supper. The Last Supper was supposed to be a joyous occasion until Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray him. Whoever killed the children in the Watts family committed the ultimate betrayal. Isn’t that comparison fascinating?

Chris jumps ahead in his letter, leaving out any details of Shanann arriving home. “August 13th, morning of, I went to the girls’ room first before Shanann and I had our argument. I went to Bella’s room, then Cece’s room and used a pillow from their bed (to kill them). That’s why the cause of death was smothering.”

—Well, we’ve already discussed this a few posts ago; about Chris not clarifying whose bed the pillow came from. The girls’ cause of death was asphyxiation due to smothering. That’s correct! The problem is he makes no sense, because later he says they didn’t die on the first attempt. Let me clarify, he said, “I knew they were dead the first time.” Later he said, “they came back to life.” Why is he saying, “that is why the cause of death was smothering” if they didn’t die that time?

It should be noted that in his second confession, he actually used the word “strangled” whilst also speaking of using a blanket to kill them. Refer to pages 535-543 of the Discoveries and any of the video footage of Chris’s first confession you will see it was never actually confirmed how they died. Let me explain! Chris didn’t see what happened to Bella in his first recollection of how he saw her on the baby monitor and Shanann was already in Cece’s room. When speaking with his father he first said smothered, then strangled. His father Ronnie asked if Shanann had choked them and Chris kept talking but never answered. At the end of the confession to the detectives Chris said he wasn’t sure if it was one hand or two hands, because he came in the room from behind Shanann. Let’s play with that scenario for a second, if you have ever had an adrenaline pumping moment you know everything is a blur. You don’t think or notice much you just react. Whether it’s react and help your choking kid, or run to someone and apply pressure to a wound. Your mind goes to the matter at hand, instinctual and ‘fight or flight’ all together with adrenaline. If he ran in the room and came from behind it’s plausible he didn’t know exactly where her hands were. Especially, on a child’s sized body, the mouth and neck aren’t a large distance a part. I wrote about the possible reason in this scenario he may not have called 911 too here: https://truecrimecaseanalysis.home.blog/2019/08/22/911/

Taking that further and making this case more confusing, the affidavit just said, “strangled” when really it was never confirmed by Chris what had happened. Not the only time either where the affidavit gave false information. The affidavit also said that he saw the girls were blue on the baby monitor. He never said that! Chris did mention the monitor and he did speak of the girls being blue. He did not however, specifically say “saw blue on monitor.” Let’s discuss the girls being blue as this has been heavily debated:

On top of all this District Attorney Rourke said the most damning proof Chris killed them was the fact he said “strangled” when they were smothered. If Chris killed the kids then he knew how they died. If he knew how they died he would have said how they died exactly, if he truly wanted to push blame to Shanann and get away with murder. It actually further proves that he may not have killed the children as it doesn’t seem he knows HOW they died.

“After I left Cece’s room, then I climbed back in bed with Shanann and our argument ensued. After Shanann passed, Bella and Celeste woke back up. I am not sure how they woke back up, but they did. Bella’s eyes were bruised and both girls looked like they had been through trauma.”

—“Back up?” That’s worded as though they had woken up once prior. Remember though, later in another letter he says, he knew “they were dead the first time.” Bella’s eyes were bruised, but not Celeste’s according to Chris. If you look at pictures of Bella she always had dark circles or bags around & under her eyes. Here’s a few examples:

It would be plausible if it had been only one child that survived a smothering attempt. Both children not successfully succumbing to the smothering, and able enough to get out of bed seems far reaching. When your body doesn’t have enough oxygen, it causes hypoxemia or hypoxia. Without oxygen, your brain, liver, and other organs can be damaged in just minutes resulting in: Confusion, coughing, fast heart rate, rapid breathing, shortness of breath, slow heart rate, sweating, and wheezing. Keep in mind, the girls had history of breathing issues which would exasperate these symptoms. Nothing was noted about Bella’s eyes in the autopsy.

Chris was trained in CPR for adults, but not for children. His CPR training means he knew, regardless if it was an adult or a child, the signs of death & distress. If Chris smothered them twice, with two different objects, you would think there would have been traces of fibers. Oil was not found in the airways, which means it didn’t destroy any fibers. Find me a case where two children were smothered twice, once with a pillow, and a second time with a blanket where no fibers were found. I have looked high and low to no avail. I would even take smothered twice with the same object. In this case, he is saying two different children, two different objects, and two times smothered.

Chris’s next claim was about the Oxycodone. I have thoroughly covered the claims about the Oxy in several blog posts. If you do not recall that start at, “Where the Truth lies” blog post or read through this series from the beginning. I am not even going to go there again, except to say it didn’t happen. Chris had been asked about the Oxy and he simply gave an answer. He assumed it was being asked because the autopsy showed it however, the autopsy didn’t show it. He was asked due to the search that was deleted. If Oxy was involved at all in this story, it’s more plausible that it was Shanann who took it in place of her Imitrex. They never did find her Imitrex bottle that Monday when she went missing. Nickole Atkinson said she had it in Arizona, so it should have been easy to locate. While Oxycodone was not found in Shanann’s system, they never did do a hair analysis test.

Moving on…

“I don’t know if this was a spiritual visit, but I had a dream Cece was dancing next to the chair in my cell. When she was dancing, all of my folders started to move and I thought she was in trouble, so I said watch out, get away, watch out! Then I woke up.”

—This is not the only time Chris speaks of his deceased family members visiting him. Even in this dream he seemed to have an instinct to save Cece from a moment of trouble. Much like he did when the children were alive in various pictures and videos, you see him hovering over the girls. Sadly, I cannot say the same about Shanann. There are so many unsettling pictures where Bella & Celeste were in clear trouble and a picture was taken instead of instinctively helping the child.

I think it’s rather evident that Chris is experiencing confabulation and using the Bible to fill in the gaps. I think it’s possible that even his dreams may be a contributing factor to these tales he is telling. I would really like to see a mental health evaluation done as I do believe it would show mental suffering.

“After receiving this letter from Christopher, I had many questions, as you can imagine.”

—You think? I do too! All the wrong questions were asked, and further clarification seemed to fail. Whatever reply Chris gave was just accepted, spread throughout social media, and entered into this book, as truth.

“ I asked him about the Oxy. He told me first that he gave it to her twice. Once at her parents’, and second time right before he killed her. At that time, he told me that’s the reason she couldn’t fight back. Later when I questioned him about it again, he said he only gave it to her once.”

—Sigh. I know for a fact he was asked about the Oxy search by someone else that I know who writes to him. They asked months before this letter to Cadle and got a different answer than the two different stories he told Cadle. The story changed, because he didn’t give Oxy to Shanann. Two questions: Why didn’t she ask him why the story changed? Why did she not share her letters to Chris? I am sure Cadle kept a copy of her letters to him, since her goal was to write a book.

“One minute we would talk about downsizing the house and getting something more affordable in a more affordable town, then we would go back to me telling her I was going to get an apartment and move out on my own for a while.”

—This simply could not have happened. Supposedly when Shanann and Chris had their argument Chris was under the impression the girls were dead. Why would you be discussing selling the house and moving? Why would you be discussing moving out for a while? Bella and Celeste in his mind were dead.

“As she was crying, with her mascara running down her face, she told me she couldn’t make it in Colorado with three kids. Isn’t it weird I look back and what I remember so much is her face getting all black with streaks of mascara? There was no feeling coming from me as I told her I could help her, and she would make it.”

—Chris said he went to the girls’ rooms first and smothered them. Then the argument with Shanann happened. To reiterate again, at this point, in his mind the girls were dead. It doesn’t make any sense that he told her he would help her. Shanann used Younique makeup and from what I can see on her profile it appears she used Lash Boost. Younique is not cheap makeup, and nowadays most mascaras are typically waterproof. Even if it isn’t waterproof it doesn’t normally run down the face as much as it appears on the outside of the eyes. Worse, when you wipe tears away, and smudge it all over. I am not sure if she was still using the same mascara at the time of her death, but there’s no doubt, she was not wearing the cheap $2 dollar Walmart kind.

“Then she became very angry and was very upset and told me if I left her, she would not allow me to see the kids. She was used to getting her way and when she saw she wasn’t she would revert as always to anger and threats to get what she wanted. This time, though, I was not giving into her demands. That’s when my anger for her began. Years of her telling me what to do, and what not to do. Keeping me from my own family sometimes months at a time were over, keeping me in the background was over. All the weeks thinking about killing her, and now I was faced with it.”

—Let me get this straight, the children in his mind were dead, and he was angered because she threatened him once again with losing the kids and never seeing them? It triggered all his repressed anger towards her? Readers and listeners this makes no sense. Why did Cadle not push further for a better explanation?

“When she started to get drowsy, I somehow knew how to squeeze the jugular veins until it cut off blood flow to her brain, and she passed out. It was even easier than the girls. She laid there and didn’t fight back. I held the jugular for what seemed like a very long time. I watched my hands, and thought I should take them off her neck, but I couldn’t. I knew if I took my hands off of her, she would still keep me from Nikki.”

—If he stopped strangling her, she would keep him from Nikki? Nothing about the fact he killed the kids? I mean if he stopped, there would have still been the issue of dead children laying in their beds. Again, he thought they were dead! Who says the jugular? Such a strange choice in word usage, almost as if he has since read about strangulation. Was it that he somehow knew where to squeeze or was it that he happened to just grab her in the right spot close to her carotid artery? I am leaning more towards he just happened to grab the right spot. If the girls were smothered in their sleep, you know before they rose from the dead, then surely small sleeping toddlers would have been easier to kill. But, he’s trying to claim he was unsuccessful with both children. Shanann only had a 1cm bruise and nothing was broken.

It may have felt like a long time, but I don’t think it was long at all. The muscle mentioned in the autopsy is located close to carotid artery.

“They asked me why she didn’t fight back, it’s because she couldn’t fight back. Her eyes filled with blood; as she looked at me and she died. I knew she was gone when she relieved herself.”

—Chris is claiming he knew Shanann was gone, because she relieved herself. What did he look for in the girls to say, “they died the first time.” Clearly he was looking for a sign with Shanann, or so he claims. There was no petechia noted in Shanann’s autopsy. No portions of the autopsies have been hidden as it is public record. Here is what was noted about Shanann’s eyes during autopsy:

Did Shanann relieve herself? A question I have always wondered what the answer is. The sheets found in the home on the floor of the master bedroom were inspected by several law enforcement officers. You can see several detectives pick it up at different times, and looking it over with a flashlight. It was noted that nothing was found. If she had relieved herself on the sheet they should have at least been able to smell it. That evening Chris cleaned up and threw those same sheets in the trash knowing cops were coming back the next day. He later claimed he did it because she relieved herself on those sheets. Chris had told Nichol that he was washing the girls sheets Monday night rather than throwing them away too. If Shanann had relieved herself why not wash those sheets too? Knowing the cops were coming back the next day, rather than tossing them where they were easy to locate in the kitchen trashcan. It was after the sheets were exposed to the contents of the trashcan that they noticed what appears to be maybe eye shadow on the pillow cases. It was Shanann’s bed after all, and doesn’t necessarily mean the makeup was from that evening.

In the possible scenario that the first confession was right, and if Shanann relieved herself, was it on Celeste’s bed as he claimed? Is this why he washed the girls’ sheets? If he was cleaning up Celeste’s room, did he clean Bella’s room too out of habit? It’s plausible. The evidence leads me to believe Shanann did not die in their bed. I am not sure where she died, but it’s of course possible.

Dear readers and listeners,

Stopping there for now and I want to discuss confabulation that I mentioned in Part 12, and in this post. I think it may explain what is happening with Chris. I am not a doctor nor have I evaluated him, but going off the contents of this book, confabulation seems to make more sense than his letters.

Confabulation is the spontaneous or provoked use of inaccurate information to fill in memory gaps. It is distinctly different from lying because there is no intent to deceive. Confabulation can be found in healthy individuals as well as individuals with serious cognitive or psychiatric disorders. The issue plays an important role in mental health and forensic/criminal justice settings.

Confabulation is creating false information to fill in the memory gaps. It is something that occurs when a person does not know the answer to the question, but responds by offering an answer to it with no intention to deceive the one asking the question. For example, when asked specific details about a robbery, someone might inaccurately say that the assailant had a red car. Instead of admitting uncertainty, the victim fills in the gaps of her or his memory by providing false information. The person believes it to be true and does not realize or believe that they have poor memories. Further, the person typically has no knowledge that contradicts his or her statements. In this example, the person believes that they did see a red car. No additional information in the their memory contradicts their belief. They report what they believe is accurate. Alternatively, the person does not realize that she or he does not realize they simply don’t know if there was a red car.

Chris spent a great deal of time in solitary confinement when in Colorado. There are endless studies to date of the effects of living in those conditions. There are an equal number of studies showing the damage that is done to the brain in the day in and day out conditions of prison life. With his head in a bible consuming his brain it’s no wonder his tales sound like additions to the Bible in the year 2019. I don’t think we will be getting any real accounts that match the evidence from Chris. At least not anytime soon, but if he ever regains his true memory, who would even believe him? Here’s just one link on solitary confinement: https://mashable.com/2016/01/26/solitary-confinement-effects/

A man sitting in his prison cell writing the words, “I remember us all in elf outfits last year. Everyone was so excited. Your mommy and me loved every second of it.” Except the reality was :

Sure they eventually got a few decent pictures, but the kids excited? Loved every second? Negative memories are turning into positive ones on top of confabulation, and false memories.

“Connect the negatives to the positives and when you do that life becomes brighter.” —Shanann Watts

Like we’ve discussed at the end of Part 12 : https://truecrimecaseanalysis.home.blog/2019/11/19/letters-from-true-crime-case-analysis-part-12/

Once again, it seems Chris and Shanann had something in common after parting by death. Instead of connecting the negative to positives, Chris is turning the negatives into positives.

I’ll be back soon…

Part 14 available here: https://truecrimecaseanalysis.home.blog/2019/12/10/letters-from-true-crime-case-analysis-part-14/