True Crime Analysis, Breakthroughs, Insights & Discussions Hosted by Bestselling Author Nick van der Leek

The Enmity Against the Rzuceks Runs Deep – Shan’ann’s mother-in-law didn’t attend their wedding

At 1:27 in this video link, Cindy Watts says it so quickly it’s easy to miss it completely. “We didn’t attend because Shan’ann and I just couldn’t get along.” Hold on. Didn’t attend what?

Play it back and the reporter has just mentioned the couple married in 2012. So Cindy Watts didn’t attend her son’s wedding. Does the “we” refer to Ronnie and Jamie Williams [Chris Watts’ sister] as well?

That has got to hurt, though, if Chris Watts and Shan’ann’s big day was all about Shan’ann, and Chris’ family weren’t even there. Every time he sees a wedding photo, he remembers it wasn’t quite the perfect day the photos suggested it was.

The WCNC reporter says a word in response to the no-show by the Watts family at their sons wedding.

Tension.

Yes, there had to have been.

We know in the months leading up to the murders, for Father’s Day [June 17th, 2018] Shan’ann posted pictures of her father on her wedding day. What memories [and resentments] might this have triggered in Chris Watts two months before the murders?

Shan’ann also posted a picture of Ronnie Watts on Father’s Day and paid tribute to her husband for being a great dad. She even printed a special t-shirt for him to wear on Father’s Day, and took a picture of him wearing it.

Mother’s Day fell on May 12th. On that day Shan’ann posted a picture of her own mother for Mother’s Day, gave credit to her husband for getting her the perfect Mother’s Day gift, and also posted a cartoon dedicated to all the important women in her life but nothing on Cindy Watts. Now we know why.

Cindy Watts interview with WCNC.com feels genuine, especially this part of the transcript. Let’s listen:

CINDY: I don’t…see…why he’s pleading guilty. I wouldn’t. I’d fight. I’d fight…but then you ask yourself, ‘Would a normal person put…dispose of the bodies the way that he did?’ It scares me to death [speaking softly, nodding] that he could have done all of this. 

That also echoes what Chris Watts said on the porch when a reporter mentioned a search dog going into the house, and the sidewalk crawling with cops and police cruisers.

WATTS [Licks lips]: I’m so happy that they’re here. Right now doing everything they can, it-it just scares the living crap out of me knowing it’s come to this. 

For me, this revelation – enmity between Shan’ann and Cindy Watts – reminds me of two aspects in two other cases.

Firstly, in the Casey Anthony case, Caylee died the day after Father’s Day. That day had to be hugely significant in her life because the father of her own child wasn’t around, and because her own father – then and there – wasn’t exactly father of the year, in fact for the previous months he’d been threatening to divorce Cindy Anthony and that meant they all might lose the house. [Ten years later the Anthony’s are still fighting to keep their home]. This suggests Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in 2018, in the Watts home, were hugely significant milestones, particularly with a third baby on the way. We also know on June 9th, Shan’ann had a massive meltdown at Cindy Watts home, an event that occurred plumb in the middle between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

If Chris Watts had simmering resentments, then the enmity between his wife and his mother could only have turned on the heat even further.

Secondly, my impression while researching the Scott Peterson case was that the Peterson’s didn’t think that much of Laci, or Laci’s family. The Peterson’s were fairly wealthy when Scott Peterson was born, and he was spoiled and treated like a Golden Child. A similar dynamic seems to have played out in the Watts family, minus the privileged status. Chris Watts was clearly seen by his folks to be a perfect member of society, loved and liked by all [just like Scott Peterson].

If Watts started to develop first enmity, then a murderous resentment towards his wife [no one is saying he was justified, just that those feelings had to have been there], then if his own parents disliked Shan’ann [as Scott Peterson’s disliked or felt superior to Laci’s] he may have felt he could get away with it. Maybe that’s putting it too strongly: that if he did what he did they wouldn’t blame him. No, that’s not quite right either. At the very least, he may have felt they’d be inclined to forgive him given their own difficulties with Shan’ann, and certainly, Ronnie Watts has already told the media, “If he’s guilty, I can live with that.”

At 58 seconds in the clip below Cindy Watts seems to have made peace with the fact that her son killed Shan’ann:

CINDY: He did kill her uh…[chews gum]…but for the kids, no. 

Two camps appear to be forming, those who support Chris Watts [in some way], and those who side with Shan’ann [as the innocent victim]. As soon as we intuit a reason, that is a motive, the Shan’ann camp get very angry. This is because Chris Watts is a psychopath, a monster and a narcissist – nothing more. There can’t be a reason or any underlying dynamic leading to murder, nor can there be any premeditation. It’s simply an act of madness.

They’re right of course, the murder of three members of one’s nearest and dearest is an act of madness, but that’s not the whole story. There can also be a rhyme and reason to insanity, and it’s true crime’s mission to find those rhymes and reasons.

90 Comments

  1. Diana

    I do think that Cindy Watts may have some “mom denial” going on, but who could blame her really. I agree there are basically two camps – one pro Shan’ann and one pro Chris. I think the pro Shan’ann camp needs to remember that discussing WHY Chris killed Shan’ann is NOT justifying what he did. I would like to understand too, if he killed his kids, and I think he did, why he did it. Was it because they were an extension of Shan’ann? Was it for total freedom to have a fresh start? Was it because he was somehow saving them from something? For those who believe Shan’ann killed her kids, would it have been for one or more of the same reasons I listed for Chris? Sure gets ones mind in thinking mode!

    • nickvdl

      Yes, a lot of mom denial. I think she also said somewhere that she’ll fight for him no matter what. I think in a way the denial phase is actually over, meaning she’s had 3 months to process it, and now she’s starting to fight. I don’t think she’s fighting because she feels he’s innocent. She’s fighting because it’s her son.

      Expect a lot of aggression and animosity from the Shan’ann camp. They say it’s victim blaming, but a lot of the people who say that are also current or former MLMs and they identify very directly with her. So an attack of Shan’ann [any attack] feels like an attack of who they are, and their belief systems. For some of them they have a lot at stake in defending Shan’ann, they’re currently up to their eyeballs in their own MLM stuff, and they’re terrified of losing the gold mine they think this case has created for them.

      That said, I’m not sure I understand the camp [besides the family] who are championing the cause of Chris Watts. Other than wanting to see a trial, it’s difficult to see him other than as a very tarnished and very pathetic character.

      For my part, I’m interested in knowing more about the family dynamics, and the characters involved. Even though I’ve written three books, I feel we’ve barely scratched the surface, and I think there’s a great big pile of skeletons still stuck in the closet. I don’t think a trial is the only way of getting to those skeletons, though. But one way or another they’re coming out.

      • Kathleen

        Nick, they didn’t attend the wedding because Shann,Ann “fired” Jamie and her children from the wedding a week earlier because Jamie couldn’t get off work to attend the bridesmaids hair and nail events. No one would attend if one of their kids got thrown out of the wedding. Quite a start huh?

        • Panniers Beth

          Kathleen
          Am I to assume that you are the author of Cindy’s book?
          Well that maybe true according to Cindy however please explain the 80 bridal invitations that never got mailed in the attempts to embarrass Shanann with no one showing up.
          Her version is a very twisted version.
          Everyone that has tried to help her in the past has ended up breaking free of her because they know how narcissistic she is. They just cannot stand this woman including her own son

          • Kathleen

            Hi Beth, well to begin with. There isn’t a book. There was a stolen set of manuscript notes which are not a book, but interview notes. I am not doing a book on this, interviews are not books. Then to as far as I am aware, there was a baby shower, that Cindy and Jamie had for Shan’ann, I,ve seen pictures of it. It was a very pretty shower. Then there was a totally separate event an engagement party thrown by Shan’Ann’s maid of honor Nichole Canady, which his family had zero part of. As to whether people attend weddings when one of their children is thrown out of the wedding, I don’t know that’s a personal choice, but it would be a hard one. Cindy didn’t kill anybody. Chris Watts did. I left the project because as I have publicly stated I believe his primary targets were his children. I call him Pennywise, make of that mom de guerre what you will.
            Cheers
            Kathleen

        • Just curious

          When a person commits to being a bridesmaid, that includes showing up. Considering dates are set in advance, there was probably more to it then Jamie not getting off work. It’s probable that she really did not want to be part of the wedding party to begin with (under constant pressure from Cindy). Shannan was at the height of wedding planning which is the most stressful time, and she probably decided she couldn’t deal with Jamie’s lack of involvement. This was supposed to be a beautiful time in Shannan’s and Chris’ life. It’s a shame that his family couldn’t just roll with it for the sake of Chris.

        • Sharon

          Bullshit. Yet another Watt’s fan club rumor. Cindy said they didn’t go because she hated Shan’ann even back then, and was angry because Chris would not obey her wish for him to stop being with her. Go ahead and make up stuff. God is watching.

    • gypsy818

      Two camps? Do you hear yourself? There are two camps: pro-innocent-victims and pro-murderer. I don’t care if this man is her son. How could she be so without human empathy that Chris Watts’s mother says it’s okay if he killed Shannan? Chilling. There are no sides in this tragedy. There is right, and there is wrong. Chris Watts was done with his wife and children so he slaughtered them. I couldn’t be on his or his family’s side.

      • nickvdl

        This site isn’t in any camp except the true crime camp, which means investigate – sometimes dispassionately – what happened, and why.

      • nadya92129

        Excellent post! All anyone needs to know is that his youngest daughter died, begging for her life, and he brutally killed her anyway. Look no further than his parents, especially his gum chewing, cold mother, to learn what made him a heartless, narcissistic, arrogant psychopath.

      • Sharon

        THANK YOU. Two camps. Pro-family, pro-killer. That’s it.

      • Mary

        Agree

    • Dorothy

      He killed his family because he wanted a new life with his mistress not because he disliked his wife. That had nothing to do with it. Through his own admission, he says he did it to be with Nikki. It’s that simple. There’s nothing to really uncover of why he would have killed his wife!

      • Darca

        You say that he killed his family because he wanted a new life with his mistress, not because he disliked his wife, so did he kill his wife because he liked her then? You’ve heard of divorce, right? That’s what regular folks do. They don’t usually kill their spouse if they want to move on, nor do they normally kill a spouse they “like”.

    • Christie

      I think that Chris wanted to save face. Weirdly, he thought that quietly “disposing” of his family would bring less shame than initiating a divorce -which would make him publicly look like the bad guy. If he were to get away with murder, he can still pretend to be Mr Perfect. Everyone would be so sad for him that his family were gone and so pleased that he went on to find a new woman (Vomit). He never expected to be seriously challenged because everyone liked him and Mommy thought he was perfect. Total narcissism. Especially when you consider that Cindy couldn’t be gracious enough to attend her own son’s wedding. A whole family of narcissists. Yes, I can understand that Cindy might be in denial but I cannot understand her lack of compassion for Shan’ann -even after her death, Cindy acts like her daughter-in-law deserved it. Such a terribly sad case.

    • Bella

      I think ,Chris killed his daughters because one of them saw their dead mother rolled up in their sheets. I feel like he thought he’d have better chances of getting away with it after that is if he took his kids life away too. Though I have no idea how he can sleep at night definitely didn’t end up with the mistress being in jail and all.

  2. Kaye

    If all this has been brewing since the time of their wedding and even before then, you have to wonder whether the move to Colorado was a way to get away from it all. Didn’t Shan’ann say a few times that Colorado meant a “drama-free” life?

  3. nan

    A mother not attending her son’s wedding is HUGE.

    I knew there had to be a wife vs mother prize fight going on after reading Shan’ann’s reaction to the nut incident with Chris’s mother.

    I thought it was odd. I get she had a problem and took offense to mom’s attitude toward the nut access, but to go on a Facebook rant was a bit much, imo. But I don’t live my life on Facebook and/or get my emotional validation and ego strokes online.

    I also do not think it is uncommon for a person to choose a spouse who mirrors the opposite of their personality. Chris may have felt caught in the middle and reacted by withdrawing from the field of battle, went mute, then AWOL, then the dark side.

    I, too, am interested in knowing more about the family dynamics, characters involved and MLM influence.

    • nickvdl

      Chris may have felt caught in the middle and reacted by withdrawing from the field of battle, went mute, then AWOL, then the dark side.>>>Very well put Nan.

    • Robin

      You are right Nan, Shanan should not have gone on Facebook to vent about her mother in law and the dangerous nuts incident. Next time she will not do that…oh wait, never mind she can’t correct her behavior because Chris killed her and the girls. Nuts are no longer an issue anyway. He killed 2 children and one unborn, what more do we need to know … why? He is a narcisstic twit and wanted a new life with the GF. Who cares why?? He is where he belongs and will die there. Too bad it took 4 lives, 4 innocent lives to find out what a monster he was. If only his wife had a clue he was this dangerous, she could have had a fighting chance to get away from him. She was smart and beautiful and had family, she didn’t need him. Divorce would have left them all with new lives.

    • Dot

      The Mother-in-law never saw the post about the nuts that she did on Facebook. She made that post in a private allergy support page. Cindi should never have tried to expose CeCe to nuts. I want to know why Shanann didn’t think something would go horribly wrong visiting her in-laws without Chris being there. I would never go by myself with my children to visit such a vicious woman like Cindi. She waited for that opportunity to do something so evil and ugly when nobody was around to see it. She even waited for her husband to run out of the house on an errand to expose CeCe to the nuts. I have two sons and there is nothing or anyone who could keep me from attending his wedding. Cindi is truly an evil psychotic person. She made Chris into what he is today, a monster.

    • Just curious

      No, you don’t get that she had a problem. Many people don’t understand the severity of nut allergies. A child can die from eating even the tiniest piece of nut. So, Shannan’s reaction was on point. Granted, she didn’t have to plaster it on Facebook, but that’s what people do nowadays. Cindy and Jamie teamed up to place nuts on the table. Perhaps they also didn’t think that it was that serious? I can’t imagine anyone willfully doing something that could cause the death of a child that they love. Can’t understand how they just couldn’t focus on being nice with each other for a few hours, just for the children. They lived in different States and only had to put up with each other for a little while. Why put the nuts out knowing it could set Shannan off? And the whole time Shannan is dealing with this, Chris is cuddling back home with another woman. So sad.

    • Sharon

      Wow…..I think that you, like Cindy Watts, do not understand how dangerous a nut allergy is. Yes, Shan’ann had a “problem” that Chris’ mother deliberately chose to feed her little girl some that could KILL HER. Would you put your child, no seatbelt, in a car with a drunk driver. Would you let her walk around a tall building with no railing? Would you let a child rapist babysit your kid? THAT is what Shan’ann was dealing with. Cindy KNEW about the nut allergy, but did not believe it was serious, so she left chocolate out for the 3-year-old to get into and fed her peanut ice cream. Dont ever babysit…ok?

      • Giselle

        That isn’t even what happened. One of the younger kids at the house pulled out some ice cream. Shannan freaked out because Cindy had ice cream in the house. It’s all in Chris’s interview after the conviction and sentencing. She lost her marbles because a kid sat down with another kid and started eating some ice cream they got from the freezer. It was more about the supervision for Shannan than it was about anything else and she flipped her lid and the kids were hiding behind the curtains because they were scared. Her reaction I think was justified in that her daughter could have died, but then she told Chris that he wasn’t ALLOWED to talk to his family.

        Bitch excuse me?? I understand you might not like your mother in law and your mother in law very well could be a shrew, terrible woman like Cindy. But to restrict somebody and cut them off of their family is wrong. And if you read Chris and Shannan’s communications she was just a very strong woman who was perhaps on the self centered side, and while she loved Chris, I don’t think she knew or understood how domineering she could be. And I think years of being just the nice guy to go along with everything and being bossed around and feeling so small like he didn’t really have a say, I’m sure had a profound impact on his mental health coupled with the fact that he allegedly wasn’t excited to have another baby and didn’t really love being a dad as much as he claimed. Shannan seems like the type of person who would be really difficult to live with and difficult to satisfy. The text messages where she almost expects Chris to be reading her mind…overall there are just a lot of red flags that tell me she was likely a very toxic partner. THAT DOES NOT GIVE CHRIS THE RIGHT TO DO WHAT HE DID. What he did was deplorable and disgusting beyond belief. But couple all those angry feelings and then having to pay attention to 2 toddlers and work a taxing job, have a wife who is not really a good match for you who wants to separate you from your family—if he wasn’t the type for this kind of lifestyle I could see how that would drive someone crazy.

        I see a lot of people saying there are two camps in response to this and there really aren’t. There’s people who believe Chris is a good guy, there are people who believe he’s a monster, and then there are people who understand the complexity of the human condition and what might drive a person to a psychotic break which I think is exactly what happened. Just because someone does something terrible doesn’t have to make them EVIL. There’s no such thing as all good or all bad. We’re all just people.

        But back to the original topic, Cindy did not try to kill Cece. That’s just not factual at all.

        • Zena

          Love your take. I think it’s the most reasonable one on here. I watched the doc on Netflix, and I think there’s a lot going on that no one will ever know. Only the ones that truly lived it.

        • Dawn Dyson

          This!!!! Hate to say it but Shanann emasculated him verbally a lot. you can see that just in the text messages in the documentary. She was pretty controlling. That was not an excuse to kill her by any means but she was fairly toxic herself. That probably did not help the situation in any way.

      • ac

        Celeste’s nut allergy was a bunch of BS. I think the doctor told her it was a ‘slight’ nut allergy– not carry an epipen/anaphylactic shock type nut allergy. Shanann just exaggerated the shit out of it, like all their health issues–herself included.

        “Would you put your child, no seatbelt, in a car with a drunk driver?” Haha, that was my own mother.

  4. Sam

    I think the whole family dynamics, along with the extended family, was just very toxic. I agree. Maybe they are a bunch of people with personality disorders, but even people with personality disorders have their reasons to do bad stuff and even justify every bad stuff they do. They really don’t wake up one morning deciding to abuse their kids, steal or kill.
    I like your take on this

  5. JC

    Ditto, Nan. The families involved have interesting, if not dysfunctional, dynamics going on. It’s still not unlike other families and interpersonal relationships between MIL’s and DIL’s in so many marriages. I continue to be intrigued with the Lev-el MLM and their (or perhaps Shan’ann’s?) irrational buy-in to such an inevitable financial disaster. And the nut allergy was something that may have been just one more thing that served to accentuate the obvious animosity between Shan’ann and Cindy.

    Chris’ sister, Jaime (at least it’s likely his sister), addresses briefly some of these very topics in a forum a couple months ago. Although she deleted her account shortly after posting these comments, I do believe this was likely Jaime Williams attempting to defend her brother’s character and reputation. Let me end with saying that I don’t know what happened that night, but I think that it’s a tragedy we can all expect to learn from. If this is indeed his sister, she knew about his affair with Nickole Sessinger prior to the murders. Did Shan’ann know too?
    https://www.websleuths.com/forums/search/2228646/

    • nickvdl

      Thanks for the link JC. Trinket doesn’t say much, does she?

      • JC

        She doesn’t show up for critical, life-altering-for-immediate-family court dates either, does she?

  6. Karen

    It’s so difficult for me to fathom not getting along your, I’ll just call it same-sex in-law because it happens in both cases. I had a fantastic relationship with my mother-in-law. Granted I was only 15 when I married but I was married 20 years but we still had a great relationship until she passed, and I have 1 daughter-in-law and it’s the same way. Great relationship, so it’s hard for me to picture dynamics like what Shan’ann and Cindy had.

    • nickvdl

      Haven’t you held a grudge against anyone, ever?

      • Karen

        oh, of course. I carry grudges. I see your point

    • FRAN

      I think that alot of the animus was the gaslighting of the invitations for the engagement party. To just throw them away? It’s one thing to say you will do something and then change your mind. You usually tell that person and give them the option of asking someone else. Or send them back to Shanaan. But to just not send them? Surely that will be dealt with harshly at a later date. I think Cindy probably encouraged Jaime to not send them or even throw them away. Passive aggressive and it smacks of Cindy’s influence.

  7. Shannon

    I didn’t get all with my In Laws at all. They were heavy drinkers. My family didn’t drink.
    The grew up in a low class family. I grew up in upper middle class.
    I just read that:
    Frankie William Rzucek
    Charged with misdemeanor child abuse.
    2 counts
    Oct 31 2015.
    Same year Shanann and Chris filed for bankruptcy.
    I’m sure there are many more Secrets on the Rzucek family.. .. side
    Also apparently Frankie receiving death threats and some really nasty messages..

  8. Shannon

    I think over time with the unsettling dynamics in the house, Chris immediate family, her family, Chris parent, sister, all full of animosity towards each other, bothered Chris. Maybe for peace .
    He decided not to create waves. Over time her actions ,her treatment of him, his parents…. bothered him. But he was afaird to speak up..why… Shanann
    They were fighting, money problems ,being sued by the homeowners association. Her Thriving…a bomb waiting to go off.

    • Just curious

      He became intolerant of these ongoing family issues once he started his affair with Nikki. On the one hand he had his wife complaining, and on the other, a lover selling him dreams.

  9. Seymour Glass

    A while back, I saw a video of Chris, Shanann, Bella and CeeCee with Chris’ parents. Chris had CeeCee on his shoulders and Shanaan was walking next to them. They appeared to be walking through an open mall – cafe’s, shops – the sun was setting.

    In front of Shanann was Chris’ dad holding hands with Bella and Chris’ mom walked beside his dad. Shanann was trying so damn hard to film a happy family moment, even calling out “Poppa or Grandpa.” Chris’ parents never looked back at her, waved or said one word. It was very obvious in the video that they didn’t like her at all. Their behavior spoke volumes.

    I think Chris became Chris by way of his mother. He went gray rock very early on in life to deal to cope with his mother. She’s a piece of work, that one.

    I’m familiar with Chris’ parental dynamic, where the father is the pussy, enabling his wife’s narcissism. Think of Ahab and Jezebel from the Bible. When I see Chris’ pictures from when he was younger, I see dead eyes. Nick has a pic on this site with him in a baseball uniform. Zoom in on his eyes. If you don’t get a chill, then I must be out to lunch. He had dead eyes as a lad.

    A pregnant woman in her 15th week, just getting home at 1:48am from a business trip, who was already in the separation process, isn’t going to “snap” and kill her two children. Chris Watts is a liar and like all sociopath narcissist did a smear campaign on Shanann. That’s what they all do – play victim.

    Do I think Shanann was a saint? No. I think the reason why she and Chris’ mom didn’t get along was due to that they were very similar. Shanann was always in control. I bet so was Chris’ mom. Shanann just stepped in his mom’s shoes and his mom, like any toxic mother-in-law, was threatened, and didn’t go to their wedding. What a shitty thing to do. It’s always about control with these women. I do suspend any judgement on Shanann. She suffered enough.

    • nickvdl

      Wish we could see that video.

      • Vstar

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U_-nUnbIgTU

      • TheSkrivinator

        My understanding is that the Rzucek family is being harassed by online trolls — receiving death threats, even — but not the Watts family. WHY???? Did you watch Chris Watts’ sentencing hearing? His despicable family took up more time than anybody. They jabbered on and on and on — AND THE WHOLE THING WAS CAUSED BY THEIR GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SON!!!! These people don’t even mention the precious children that their son killed — WORST GRANDPARENTS EVERRRRRR!!!! I have been able to skim through the 2,000 pages of investigation notes. My opinion of the Watts family is that they are some of the scummiest people in the world. They can go back under their rocks now — we have all seen enough.

  10. Seymour Glass

    I just had a thought.

    What if Chris’ hatred of Shanann was misplaced? What if his (unconscious) hatred and rage was really meant for his mother? Shanann got the wrath that was really meant for Mom-Watts.

    What if he married Shanann because, in some strange way, she reminded him of his mom?

    What if he killed his (beautiful) children because, in some strange way, he was killing that child in himself, the one he loathed and felt great shame for.

    By no means am I justifying his actions. His actions will never be justified.

    His mother made him a monster. And his father enabled it.

    • nickvdl

      I heard the same theory on Websleuths – that Chris Watts was actually murdering his mother. That argument falls apart when you consider Shan’ann and Cindy didn’t get along. If they got along great, then that’s a possible theory. But Cindy seems to have been quite down to Earth, simple and practical, and Shan’ann none of those things. It falls apart even further when you consider he didn’t only kill Shan’ann, but terminated the pregnancy and also killed his own children. So this is way more than some Freudian spiel to overcome a supposedly dominant mother. Shan’ann was the dominant force, definitely not Cindy.

      Killing his own child inside…I think it’s the opposite. He wanted his own wild child to have another run around the paddock. It wasn’t about killing his inner child but resurrecting it.

      • boga

        I think it makes more sense the theory if CW hated his mother and transferred this hate onto Shanann.. I had a mother in law like Cindy Watts. The day that bitch died was the best day ever

      • Carol

        Cindy watts was toxic to that marriage. She looks horrible by what she said in the interview and sandi rzucheks letter in discovery of what went on. Ironic it wasn’t shanann who destroyed her son, this mistress is more involved than she tried to say, it was more her that helped destroy Chris’s life, she didn’t do it but telling him immediately to pawn her rings? There is also what woman called the school…his sister or mother or his mistress? According to sources in the know his sister and mother are behind this awful Facebook page and people from it send horrible stuff to shananns parents and police are aware and are investigating. I can’t imagine how shanann is the one being attacked but not his mother, sister, or mistress. I feel so sad for her family, they don’t deserve this

    • boga

      Shanann was NOTHING like his mother. NOTHING. Do you think Shanann would place nuts in some kids ice cream when she knew they were severely allergic to nuts like Cindy Watts did to Celeste?? No damn way. Shanann kept trying to involve his family of ungrates – she should have told them to all fuck off when they didnt go tot he wedding and tried to sabatoge that as well

      • Gabby

        Watts sister and mother went to the bridal party before the wedding. But Shan’ann accused them of tampering with her food. They had intended to go but felt they couldnt after this. Cindy Watts did not put nuts in CeCe’s icecream. I mean are you for real? With your comment where you know .
        only a fraction of the reality? Your comment fully reveals how humans can distort and exaggerate most of what they hear. Or read etc. Due to lack of knowledge. She left a bag of pistachio nuts down on a low shelf, within reach of a 3 year old. Then she gave Bella an icecream with nuts in it and left CeCe with none as she did not buy any special nut free food. As Shan’ann asked her too. This non buying of nut free food really upset Shan’ann. CW parents were considered safe and good enough to babysit for up to a fortnight while Cw and Shan’ann were staying at places like Punta Cana. They can’t have been too bad then!!! Reliable enough to trust about nuts…

        Shan’ann herself fed CeCe Thrive bars with nuts in them, but it was coconut which isnt considered a true tree nut. But she told Bella that CeCe would die if she ate coconut!! This really upset Bella and she went crying to the v reliable and intelligent babysitter about it. We know because the babysitter told the police all this during her interview with them. Perhaps you could learn more before commenting with over the top emotion.

        • noorabullyn6

          Watch out! “Gabby” is actually Cindy Watts lmao

        • robin

          Yeah Gabby, and it sure is too bad that we can’t clear this all up and move on… well we can, but Shanan, CeeCee and Bella cannot because Chris Watts choked them to death. So rehash all the old disputes and wounds, nothing stands but his murderous actions.

        • Sharon

          Anyone who left a child with the Watts family were completely ignorant of how truly dangerous it was. Proof is in the planning, deliberate smothering of his 2 little girls TWICE, and murder of tgeir mother and baby Nico….all planned weeks in advance. These people now deny and excuse him. Tell it to God some day.

    • Melissa

      I think you might be spot on.
      You are the first person who has suggested this.
      I am a family therapist and wondered exactly the same. Thank you for putting my thoughts into words (so eloquently).

    • Just curious

      He killed his family to very simply be free for his lover. He experienced freedom while they were gone, and when they got back, he was probably overtaken by resentment that they stood between him and the mistress. I think he hated Shanann at the moment he killed her. I think there was never a talk as he described and he surprised her in her sleep. Shannan would have gone down with a fight if she were awake.

  11. BAMS13

    Agree with all of the above. Can I add that SW seemed like a classic shit stirrer too??

    CW looks miserable on his wedding day whilst she looks elated – she has her whole family there after all.

    • boga

      Do not say one god damn bad word about Shanann. Do your research. Shanann tried to involve these in laws from hell. The sister wanted to get involved in the wedding planning nad volunteered to do the invitations. When no one was replying they were coming – Shanann found out it was because Jamie, his sister, had intentionally not mailed out the invites to sabatoge the wedding. THEY WERE ALL INVITED. THEY WERE ALL EVIL in not going. Cindy Watts was in a power game – that she couldnt win. The dumb bitch. I had a mother in law like her.
      And learn about all teh times they bashed Shanann in front of her and behind her back. Learn about the ‘nut’ incident that happened when Shanann took the girls to his family for a visit. OH NO NO NO – Shannan was way to good for this inbred family. She didnt stir the shit enough was her problem. She should have wrote them ALL off from day one.

      • BAMS13

        No need to be angry at me for trying to understand the family dynamics. I do think it was horrible that they didn’t go to the wedding. It’s practically unheard of unless family is estranged and in this case I don’t think any of them were. My thoughts are just that it’s a pretty big deal not to go to a wedding so it would be interesting to get all the facts. If it’s true that the sister deliberately didn’t mail out the invitations then shame on her as that is just wrong. Having said that, for CW parents to feel so strongly about Shann’an that they didn’t attend their own son’s wedding then there must be a whole lot more to this that we don’t know or understand. That’s all I mean. They still should have been the bigger people and just attended the wedding and “put up & shut up”.

      • Just curious

        The sister Jamie said she couldn’t get off work to attend the bridal party events prior to the wedding. That only happens when you’re not serious about the wedding. I mean, this was planned in advance. She probably didn’t want to be part of the wedding party to begin with. Cindy Watts probably pressured her not to partake. Cindy Watts mouth turns upside down when she speaks of Shannan in videos. Not sure what more she wanted in a daughter-in-law. Shannan seemed to be a great mom, was beautiful, kept a beautiful house, worked hard, and loved her son.

      • Sharon

        Thank you! Isnt it a shame we have to actually defend 2 little girls and their pregnant mommy, after their daddy put them unconscious (no reason to believe they were dead since he didnt kill them the first time) and drowned them in crude oil?

    • TheSkrivinator

      Chris Watts on his wedding is his true self: a pudgy, pussy-whipped basic white male. Nothing special.

      • petecowell1

        Pussy whipped? You sound like one of those men who spend a lot of time online whining on about women. Or if you’re a woman, you have submitted that you’re trash as a woman, from being subjected to those men who spend their time making youtube videos saying they don’t want women, but instead of leaving women alone, they spend their time trying to make women feel bad

    • noorabullyn6

      -_-

  12. boga

    The WATTS family that were inlaws to Shanann, all THREE of them, give all in laws a bad name. How could they be this stupid. The wedding? The wedding invitations the sister was in charge of but delibertely didnt mail out. The nut incident. The constant bashing of Shanann. Whatever amount of attention Shanann wasted on this family was to much. She was far to good for them

  13. boga

    My question to Cindy Watts is who the hell would and could get along with you? You misfit husband and misfit daughter are the only ones who could and can.

  14. Shannon

    Wow….boga….you must strictly be on shanann’s side.
    We don’t have to like or even try to get with *in-laws*….there could be many reasons behind…Why.
    But it does change the dynamics…
    Tension and stress.
    Both these families, had multiple discord amongst them all.
    To be honest, I firmly believe Shanann thought she was above all, when in reality …she wasn’t.
    She had many faults within herself.
    I’m not going to name them.
    But I think she’s was the Root of all Evil.

    • Carol

      Shananns the root of evil? This mother in law was rude to her the first time they met. Asking her mom about shanann not loving Chris etc. Read shanann watts mothers statement in discovery about other incidents. Blocking them on Facebook, refusing to come to Celeste’s birthday, sending her gift to Colorado rather than sending it over to her birthday party. I have a daughter in law, in my opinion the greater onus is on me to get along with her. We have a great relationship because of that. I had a wonderful mother in law and I take from her how to treat a daughter in law. We are different, but I love her dearly and if my son loves her I’m also in her corner then. She didn’t take away my son, I don’t own him. What she did do is add to our fami,y and gave me two awesome grandsons. I treat her like I do my daughter. Shanann should have wiped this woman from her life, says a lot about her character that she still had a single thing to do with this woman

      • influencemoon

        Shanann wore the pants in the marriage and Chris’s anger built over time. I do not condone the murders but i can see why this terrible disaster happened. No excuse for murder none at all. If only Chris got a divorce. Perhaps he was trying to save his daughters from the madness he knew he had for a long time. Only someone who is mad could possibly kill his whole family. Dear God so many people have been affected by this horrific disaster. As for being attracted to Nichol Kessinger I can see why she is Gorgeous and unfortunately too often people go by looks and forget about character.

    • TheSkrivinator

      Nothing — ABSOLUTELY NOTHING — that Shan’ann did merited a death sentence. Chris Watts, on the other hand, killed his pregnant wife AND his two living children. He dumped their bodies like garbage. Uh, the root of all evil is Chris Watts.

  15. Karen

    You mentioned the Lacy Peterson case in passing, but the comparisons are far closer. Both were high powered women, both were the “in charge” types, both married passive, “easy going” guys who seemed to be OK with doing things their wife’s way. Both were their mothers “golden boys” and both mothers disapproved of their daughter-in-laws. Bothe women were pregnant and both were financially strapped. These men are what is know as “Family Annihilators”. It is a well documented mindset and interesting factoid, many of these murders take place on Sunday’s in August. They have no history with law enforcement,domestic violence or mental problems. John List is the best known example of this, but there are many others. Their rage is deep seated and ends in a final act of murder, which seem totally out of character to all who felt they knew them

    • nickvdl

      You’re right, many comparisons to be made. I’ve written a trilogy of books about the Peterson case, and a trilogy on the Watts case, so the similarities are all too clear. This blog is meant to make only passing commentary of numerous issues and insights. The books provide a much deeper and more thorough analysis.

  16. Misty

    I saw an interview with one of Chris Watt’s former mistresses, not Nichol but the one before her. The fact that he had several affairs while married essentially leading a completely double life which would include a lifestyle of lies to cover his tracks, speaks volumes to his character but I digress. His former mistress on Inside Edition said they watched the movie Shutter Island the first night they had sex. If you are familiar with this movie then you know the main character kills his wife after she kills their children. I believe that is where he got the idea of blaming Shannan. Unless you have ever been victimized by a narcissistic toxic family, you really have no understanding of the level of dysfunction happening to the targeted victim. Shannan was a threat to the Narc Family. She was scapegoat because she established boundaries. Was Shannan a saint? No, none of us are. She was human and had flaws just like all of us. Her only mistake was marrying into a toxic family. After after she is brutally murdered along with her children, her husband’s family is waging a smear campaign against her and trying to salvage their own public image. Despicable And completely typical Narcissistic behavior.

    • petecowell1

      Do you remember Neil Entwistle who tried to say his wife killed their child before herself? His father Clifford Entwistle has just written a book saying he’s innocent

    • Ralph Oscar

      “they watched the movie Shutter Island the first night they had sex. If you are familiar with this movie then you know the main character kills his wife after she kills their children.”

      THAT’s creepy!

      “I believe that is where he got the idea of blaming Shannan.”

      Interesting hypothesis, but it’s pretty clear from the interview/interrogation that Chris only starts talking about that scenario *after* the investigator floats the question about Shan’Ann doing something to the girls as the reason why he killed her. The scenario where Chris saw Shan’Ann killing the girls wasn’t Chris’ own idea originally.

    • loveliestdoll

      They already proved that chick to be a fake. Inside edition= Fake News

  17. Rachel

    As we now know, it took the Watts parents all of two seconds to give Chris a pass for killing Shannan. They even believed it was justified. It probably helped that her murder occurred shortly after a big blow up between Shannan and his parents.

  18. petecowell1

    Shanann’s family are so nice and normal compared to Chris’s. Shanann’s brother cared about everybody, saying he thought he had a brother, but Chris’s mother cared more about making excuses for him than what he did

    • Gabby

      Shan’ann’s brother Frankie was charged with child abuse in 2015 or 2016. It was related to the small child of a girlfriend. Not sure the outcome. The Rzucek family are weird as well. Everyone closely connected to this dreadful situation seem v strange…

      • Gabby

        So not so sure about your Rzucek ‘ normal family’ scenario……

  19. Marie

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Cindy Watts talked to Chris after the nut explosion and said “Look, I am so sick of Shan’ann and those girls, if you don’t divorce her or just get rid of her then I will tell her about your affair”. Chris just saw red and let his moms words take over.

    • Ralph Oscar

      “It wouldn’t surprise me if Cindy Watts talked to Chris after the nut explosion and said “Look, I am so sick of Shan’ann and those girls, if you don’t divorce her or just get rid of her then I will tell her about your affair”. Chris just saw red and let his moms words take over.”

      I *love* this scenario 😀

      • Gabby

        Thats ridiculous . CW had tended to side with Shan’ann against his mother until not long before the horrendous murders. No way his mother would have said that crap. Especially ‘ those girls’..Indeed she loathed Shan’ann, but not her grand daughters. I also don’t think she would have said she would tell about his affairs. I mean that is so simple minded and silly.

        • Ralph Oscar

          But notice that, in the wake of “NutGate”, Chris commented to Shan’Ann that she had “put a dagger” between him and his *father*. Chris was very close to his *father*, so while he might have tolerated a high level of Shan’Ann aggression toward his *mother*, when she cut off *both* his parents, that was a bridge too far.

          • Just curious

            They cut her off. Not the other way around. Ronnie blocked Shannan from Facebook. I could almost hear Cindy Watts yelling and pressuring her husband to do so. Cindy Watts had a great hand in manipulating her daughter and husband to side with her against Shannan. If she’d given Shannan a chance for the love of her son things may have been rosier. I think that Shannan tried to make things work while Cindy spent her time trying to show Chris that Shannan wasn’t good enough. That is a losing battle.

  20. Terri

    Chris Watts is a disgusting excuse for a human being. He should get death penalty. I feel so terrible for the family of Shannon and the children. So sad. God bless those poor victims. ❤️

  21. pj4president@aol.com

    he was always a lunatic, he just mimicked others very well. he met Nicky Kessinger and wanted a fresh new start, and to an empty vessel of a soul narcissist, that meant eliminating his family, not divorcing his wife, but eliminating her. as shown by the way he disposed of his children’s bodies, you can plainly see that he never actually felt anything close to human emotion towards them

  22. Ralph Oscar

    One of the primary activities at a wedding is to enable the two sides of the family to meet and get to know each other. Although both families essentially lived in the same town, they apparently did not know each other or regularly cross paths, so this would have been a valuable opportunity to get to know each other better, since the families would now be linked together via the happy couple.

    By boycotting the wedding, CW’s family not only rejected Shan’Ann herself, but they rejected her entire family as well. From CW’s perspective, when SW’s *parents* came and stayed in their home *for over a year*, that was more evidence that SW’s parents/side of the family would be a major part of their lives, while his own family, whom he was very close to, would not. SW would have been smart (and kind and generous and all those other nice qualities she did not display toward her husband) in acknowledging how important CW’s family was *to him* and making a strenuous effort to include them and build a friendly relationship with them. That likely would have changed everything.

    And for those who say, “Cindy Watts was a witch! SW couldn’t be responsible for doing *everything* to make a friendly relationship happen!”, yes, she could. When something needs to be done, *someone* needs to do it. Sometimes one person needs to step up and start doing it instead of waiting for the *other person* to.

    • SRC

      Yes, you learn to compromise for the sake of your spouse. And the parents learn to compromise for the sake of their children. Ronnie and Chris seemed to get this yet it ate away at something inside them so much they both resorted to extreme measures to ultimately cope: Ronnie – cocaine and Chris – murder. I’m not attempting to conflate the two choices, just the fact of the toll it took on them. The women had all drawn lines in the sand and that takes a toll on everyone, I think.

      • Ralph Oscar

        “The women had all drawn lines in the sand and that takes a toll on everyone, I think.”

        Agreed. What if just *one* of them would have decided to be a bigger person and “make nice” for the sake of Chris, whom they both loved?

        I can see responsibility on both sides – the mother to be mature and wise enough to accept the son’s choice of wife, and the new wife working to accept her husband’s family – but in this case, Shan’Ann’s the one who ended up paying the price.

  23. Kelli

    That woman was lying when she said she loves her son. If you look at her while she is saying that here head is moving side to side, that usually indicates that someone is lying. If you nodded your head while saying no is also a lie

  24. Correction

    The incident at Cindi’s house where she exposed CeCe To nuts happened in July not on June 9th. Shanann was still in Colorado in June. She went to North Carolina for six weeks at the very end of June. Chris and Nikki’s affair started at the end of June, lasted through July and into August until Chris murdered his family.

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