On March 5th, two days ahead of Weld County’s official release of the 5-hour interrogation tapes, Dr. Phil jumped the gun and provided his exclusive. According to Weld County, they were surprised by this early release.
According to People:
A spokeswoman from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation [Susan Medina] tells PEOPLE the office plans to release more information on the case Thursday, adding that the office was taken by surprise by the Dr. Phil interview.
For me the show isn’t meaningful so much for how it cuts to bone of this case [because it doesn’t] or because it sheds new light onto any new insights or real revelations. What I find fascinating is the stage management and the PR craft that’s playing out right in front of our eyes. The scale of it is impressive. Besides America, news of the show has been reported around in the world, as far as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
When the first episode opens, our first shot is of Dr. Phil on location in Pinehurst, North Carolina. He did the same when he interviewed Burke Ramsey on the 20 year anniversary. On that occasion he was in Boulder, standing outside the house with JonBenet’s brother.
So the show starts off providing that impression. It’s investigative. Dr. Phil is speaking to family firsthand, he’s in their back yard, digging for the truth. Right?
When I covered the Ramsey case, I noticed that although the impression is created that Burke and Dr. Phil are in Boulder together, standing outside the historic, gabled house, and later talking inside, on closer inspection I found that wasn’t true. While there is footage of Dr. Phil himself in front of the actual house, we never see Burke and Dr. Phil together in front of the house, although we do see them in front of another old house. Ditto the interiors. The interiors feel like the inside of the Ramsey home, but it’s not.
In the Watts case, Dr. Phil indicates he’s on location in Pinehurst, North Carolina? But why Pinehurst? The Rzuceks live and work in Aberdeen, about 10 miles south of Pinehurst.
We know Shan’ann’s funeral service was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pinehurst, but the woman and her children are buried at Bethesda Cemetery, near the old church, in Aberdeen. Shan’ann attended Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, which is closer to Pinehurst than Aberdeen.
In any event, the Pinehurst location feels a little off.
During his opening spiel Dr. Phil, while standing under a tree and blooms, talks about “they reportedly recorded” [they being law enforcement] ” a five-hour long confession where Watts revealed what really happened in his wife and daughter’s final moments”.
The keyword here is “reportedly”. If Dr. Phil had said and the same thing and left “reportedly” out, this is how it would have played:
They recorded a five-hour long confession where Watts revealed what really happened in his wife and daughter’s final moments
Reportedly is hidden in the beginning of the sentence, because to say “reportedly confessed” or “reportedly revealed” weakens the sentence, and also reveals that this confession isn’t the glossy blockbuster exclusive it’s being made out to be. Reportedly is a word journalists use when referring to hearsay. It’s a story about what someone else said, and what they believe was said yada yada yada.
“Today, before it [the audio of the interrogation] is released, we are exclusively revealing the devastating details of…” He’s not exclusively revealing the confession, or the truth, but “devastating details”.
And then the show cuts to Dr. Phil at the seat of a table somewhere, surrounded by four lawyers. All four are people none of us are familiar with, and none of them are introduced by name. One of them, the ginger fellow with the goatee, we know is Steven Lambert – the Rzucek family lawyer. Lambert also does virtually all the talking regarding the confession, but he admits he didn’t hear it himself, but was told about it by Sandi Rzucek. And then they say who Sandi heard it from is “speculation”. So in effect the broken telephone looks like this:
Watts ->three interrogators -> [blank] -> Sandi Rzucek -> Steven Lambert -> Dr. Phil
Now lets drill into a few segments of the first show.
1. Fuzzy Storytelling + Fuzzy Logic = Fuzziness
“From our understanding, uh…Bella did not witness the actual killing of her mother, Shan’ann, it was not until Chris was in the process of trying to dispose of Shan’ann’s body, essentially wrapping her up in the sheet, while she was doing that…Bella walked in. And asked, ‘What are you doing with Mommy?'”
What’s immediately clear from this scenario is how fuzzy and vague it is. There’s no time given, no location, and when Lambert describes it he simply refers to “the night in question”.
Next Lambert refers to Watts’ answer to Bella. He tells his daughter, “Mommy is sick, and we need to take her to the hospital.” Again, we’re not told where in the house this conversation takes place, where Shan’ann is wrapped, or where Ceecee or Deeter are when all of this is happening.
CNN reported on the interview Lambert gave Dr. Phil as follows:
“She’s 4, what we’ve been told she’s quite smart — was quite smart — and knew something likely was up. And what he said was that, ‘Mommy is sick, we need to take her to the hospital to make her better,'” Lambert said.
Lambert said his understanding is that Chris Watts put Shan’ann’s body in his truck and then put his children, who were alive at the time, into the truck. He took Celeste’s favorite blanket and smothered her, Lambert said.
“At this point, Bella had unbuckled herself from the vehicle,” Lambert said. Watts walked back to the truck and that’s when Bella made the plea for her life, Lambert said.
Now when I read that, as narrator, it seems to be suggesting Watts smothered Ceecee in the car, in the driveway, and then Bella pleaded for her life inside the car, while it was still parked in the driveway.
As others have mentioned before, Armchair Detective must be having a field day with this hokum, doing a song and dance about how his prescient conspiracies have turned out to be true!
I don’t want to argue whether it was here or there, because the whole spiel is baloney. What I do want to do is expose the baloney in the psychology of the spiel.
What Lambert and all those who are fielding this supposed confession are trying to convince everyone of is that a little girl wakes up and interrupts her father when he’s wrapping her mother in a bed sheet. Fair to say? So on the night Shan’ann returns home after a weekend away, Bella doesn’t wake up during the first fight, nor does she wake up during the second fight, and she doesn’t wake up while her father is murdering her mother.
We may imagine smothering or strangling is a silent kill. It is one of the more silent murder methods, far quieter than a gunshot, and potentially more silent than a knife wound. But strangling isn’t silent. Put a pillow over your face mouth, stuff a cloth in your mouth and shout, and that sound is still very audible, and can travel quite far inside a house. And yet we’re expected to believe after three separate noise disturbances, when there is no noise, that’s when Bella walked in.
We’re not told where she walked in, but the walked in implies she’s in the home, in spite of the way CNN have reported on it. The point is, it’s fuzzy, confusing and clearly contrived. And you xan sort of see it on the expressions of some of the lawyers, who appear at times as if they’re trying not to laugh on camera.
There are few additional nitpicks to get through. In this version of their argument, selling the house doesn’t even come up. There’s also something patently inadequate about this setup of four lawyers gathered to exclusively reveal DEVASTATING DETAILS, but then we’re ultimately given is Shan’ann saying “something to the effect of…” So we don’t even know in this spiel what Shan’ann’s last words were, just approximately what they were.
How and where Shan’ann was strangled simply isn’t mentioned, and the spiel is fuzzy about where the children were smothered. The most detail is given about Ceecee smothered in her favorite blanket, and to some extent Shan’ann being wrapped in a sheet.
Although I believe it is fictional, the words: ‘Mommy is sick, we need to take her to the hospital’ have a certain ring of truth about them. Because Mommy was sick, and Mommy was pregnant, and was not feeling well that weekend, and she was intending to go to a clinic that day.
But even though the words are fiction, the psychology is sound:
Mommy is sick, we need to take her to the hospital…
Becomes…
Shan’ann is sick, I need to take her out…
And if this is his scenario, it’s the same scenario of using what’s plausible to lie. That’s what this confession is, as well.
2. CERVI 319 – Things Get Really Iffy
LAMBERT:…on the floorboards [of the truck]. Loads up Bella and Celeste into the vehicle. And drives 45 minutes or so to where the bodies were eventually found.
Notice how vague this is. No mention of Roggen, GPS co-ordinates, CERVI 319, well site. Just the generic “to where the bodies were found…”
LAMBERT: He takes Shan’ann body, still in the sheet [sighs], and throws it in the dirt pile next to the truck.
No mention of where Shan’ann body was, or himself digging the grave [which ought to have taken 20-30 minutes].
LAMBERT [Blinks]: And…uh…he walks over…and takes Cee’s favorite blanket and uh…smothers her. To death. And then he takes her body, takes it out of the vehicle…uh at this point Bella had unbuckled herself from the vehicle. And uh, he went back to the vehicle and uh-uh-uh at that point, Bella said, ‘Please Daddy, do not do to me what you just did to Ceecee’.
Notice how Lambert doesn’t mention what Watts did to Ceecee after smothering her. There’s no mention of tanks, or putting her in the tanks.
LAMBERT: And uh…and then he killed Bella. From what we’ve been told by Michael Rourke and the DA’s office, and that was revealed in his uh, sentencing hearing, there was a struggle, from Bella, I believe. There were signs that she had fought [sighs] for her life. And uh…I think of the things that have been hard for the Rzuceks to comprehend, to accept in this reality, what happened to Bella in those last moments have been the hardest.
Once again, without actually referring to Watts’ story, Lambert now jumps to Rourke’s. Does Watts actually admit Bella fought back? It’s implied by her saying ‘Daddy, please don’t do that to me’ and then Watts does do that. It will be interesting to see how this aspect plays out in Watts’ own words in the five-hour interrogation.
3. “What does your gut tell you?”
DR. PHIL: Do you get the sense that Chris Watts is telling the truth at this point? Does your gut-level tell you that?
Instead of a simply yes or no answer, Lambert glances down and to the right, and carefully rephrases the question.
LAMBERT: If you’re asking us, if, based on our conversations with him, based on what we’ve heard of this recounting if [pauses] we believe it is authentic and accurate, on what actually happened that day, I have no reason personally to doubt it.
I’m sorry but I find Lambert’s response here quite funny. Really? You have no reason to doubt Watts’ version of events? What – were you born yesterday?
But then Lambert adds a little disclaimer.
LAMBERT: The slight concern that we’d have, is the only reason he might lie about is if he was protecting somebody.
So maybe he wasn’t born yesterday, just the day before.
And then the other anonymous lawyer talks about an alternative reality, where Watts might have had something else in mind.
In a real scenario about coming clean about an affair, the first question the wife is going to ask is who is it, and where did you meet her, how long has it been happening and where has it been happening. The word Anadarko is never mentioned once during this hour-long interview, and neither is Thrive, for that matter.
Nichol Kessinger is briefly referenced, though, including a clip where she refers to herself as a potential catalyst for the crime. Of course in this scenario, Watts’ makes the catalyst about custody, not about her.
Let’s move on.
When Lambert refers to technical aspects of the Anadarko well at CERVI 319, he makes sure to describe it without naming names.
LAMBERT [Speaks slowly, looks down]: Right…we had been told…um…that the job site…where the…bodies were eventually found of Shan’ann, Bella and Celeste, that there were supposed to be other people at the job site.
Scene cuts to shots of the Anadarko fracking tanks.
Job site? How generic can you get. It was a well site, a very idiosyncratic location particular to this case.
4. Dr. Phil offers some meaningful insight
LAMBERT: There were supposed to be other people at the job site that day, and Chris had called them off. And so [glances to the right] there is some speculation, like Tom is saying here, that this might have had some forethought to it.
DR. PHIL [Raising his pen]: Yeah, that’s why I want to look at that tape of Bella…you know, singing in the backseat…you know this is a little girl. This isn’t a statistic. This is a little girl…
So just as the conversation is getting somewhere, it’s steered back towards sentiment. That these were real people with real feelings. Instead of dealing with the premeditation aspect, or the specifics of it [and there are many, from photos, to texts, to the affair itself as a catalyst to Watts’ increasing standoffishness to Shan’ann] let’s have four lawyers talk about the humanity of the victims.
TOM: This was our daughter. These were our grandchildren. We loved them. They were real people. And to watch him, it’s incredibly scary to see how composed he appears to be, and that he can stand there and lie.
Ironically, this moment of reflection anchoring the narrative to “real people” actually produces a real result. Dr. Phil points to an image of Watts on the screen and makes an excellent point.
DR. PHIL: You look at his forehead, and around his eyes, there’s no stress in this man’s face at all. [Several lawyers nod.] And, what I’m saying is if this had not been premeditated, and he was having to put all this together in real time, that’s when it’s…cognitive overload. And he’s not [overloaded] here, which is why I don’t believe this was a crime of passion, and you say that…there is some indication that he may have called people off of this job site ahead of time. How does he call people off? Does he…?
LAMBERT: From my understanding of it, there were multiple people working the job site that day, there was something that needed to be done at the job site, and so he essentially said, ‘No-no guys, I got this.It’s fine, you don’t need to come around. I can handle this’.
This was an opportunity to dive into the actual case file, rather than float into “my understanding of it” and what he “essentially” said.
This is what he said, when he said it, who he said it to and what it was regarding:
Morning, Friday August 10th: Preparing his alibi for his date with Kessinger, and organizing a babysitter. Notice Watts did this less than 45 minutes after Shan’nn told him she’d landed in Arizona.
Midday, Friday August 10th: It’s not clear whether Watts’ getting Shan’ann involved in discussions about realty and selling the house was done on purpose, to make it seem like a mutual decision prior to the murder, but it’s certainly possible. It was during Watts’ meeting with Troy McCoy at 13:34 that McCoy mentioned issues at CERVI 319. This occurred as a result of a call made by Kodi Roberts to McCoy while the Anadarko operators were standing side by side in a Safeway parking lot. So Watts overheard this call, and moreover, knew to contact Roberts because of this call. It’s not clear whether Watts also told McCoy he intended to volunteer to fix the leak at the well site.
Evening, Sunday August 12th: If it was a premeditated murder, and if Watts had entertained a preference for CERVI 319 as a dumping site over the weekend, then the “all clear” for the site and the murders occurred at 18:09 when Kodi Roberts handed over the job to Watts.
Morning, Friday August 13th: Many of Watts’ calls to Roberts that morning where to ask him where he was, where he was going and how long he was going to be.
TWO TAKEOUTS FROM DR.PHIL PART ONE
There are two primary takeouts from Part One of the Dr Phil examination of the Second Confession, one not much of a surprise, but the second of some significance.
Firstly, Watts’ version shifts his narrative from one of Shan’ann killing her children, and him killing her because of it, to him killing her over custody issues, and then killing his daughters [for reasons unknown]. Put simply, the second confession absolves Shan’ann.
Secondly, and this is important, Watts’ tries to sketch Shan’ann’s murder as a crime of passion, and the murder of the children [at the well site] as an almost afterthought. He tries to make it about Bella having an argument with him, or freaking out because of what he’d done to Shan’ann and her sister [burying them] and so Watts kills her as part of the passion surrounding that. What he’s doing his utmost to achieve is convey a scenario where the crime isn’t premeditated [the murder of Shan’ann isn’t and neither is Bella’s].
But the murders were premeditated. This is what the TWO FACE series has maintained all along.
I can’t quite comprehend why he wouldn’t want to admit premeditation when the discovery documents paint a clear picture of a planned out murder. He admits to such a depraved act on his children, especially Bella, but not premeditation. It’s very obvious this was about money and the new girlfriend. We all have a good idea what his thought process was at the time. He needs to just admit ” I killed my wife because I was sick of my life. I couldn’t stand being around her selling Thrive and spending all my money. I was tired of being told what to do and when to do it. My kids were even starting to boss me around, and I was miserable. I met this fantastic woman that took my breath away. I wanted a divorce, but I was too weak and scared of my wife to ask. As soon as she left town, I started spending more time with my new girlfriend. I even told her I was getting divorced, and we would be together more often. I realized that life can be wonderful outside my wife and kids Well, the fantasy was short-lived when my wife and kids came back. I found myself in a major bind, and it was taking its toll on me. My wife was asking me to do all sorts of stuff. I had to babysit my kids with all their needs, and they were constantly crying. When I talked to my girlfriend, she kept asking me constantly about my divorce and the sale of my house. My world was starting to crash in on itself…….The truth was I was stuck with my pregnant wife and kids because I didn’t have enough money to be with my girlfriend. I was going to have to let her go. Once again, go back to being miserable for the rest of my life. Go to work each day and watch the woman I love move on to another. When will my turn to be happy come?” That’s when the planning began………
For some reason he just can’t admit this, and I think that is what everyone is expecting.
I think the rest of his confession is probably what happened, but I think he considered drugging his kids. There are a lot of details left out. For instance, where was the dog?
I can’t quite comprehend why he wouldn’t want to admit premeditation.>>>Well because premeditated triple murder of your own family is about as monstrous, evil and unforgivable as it gets.
tp.. Your Chris Watts confession there is what I’m hoping to hear, but I’m not sure we’ll get it.
As far as killing Shan’ann in a “fit of passion”, that may not have been pre-meditated (I’m not buying it), but driving the girl(s) alive to the oil site, that 45-minute drive IS pre-meditation to kill.
If this is the story Chris Watts has built over 6 months in prison, he is truly not a smart man. He is truly a coward as well.
I agree, Sherri. The 45 minute drive would be premeditation. I’m still waiting to read the documents tomorrow and listen to the audios.
Interesting …. a talk show interview Dr. Phil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAy18d3Jk0s
I know many prolly won’t watch this, it’s only around 5 minutes long. But what I thought was interesting was at 1:10 ish, it is said that they make up and have sex. I guess Chris isn’t worried any more about NK hearing he was unfaithful to her with his wife after their 111 minute phone call.
Whaaaaaaat?
I think he used the the sex thing as a cover up for NK . Shanann was tired after coming home and they may have had an argument. So Chris and Shanann having sex in that particular night does not make sense at all. I assume he just want draw off the attention from NK. Something feels definetly very odd with his sex story.
Well said tp. I also have the same views but could not have put it as well as you did.
I’m surprised, in a good way, that Dr. Phil didn’t totally buy into whatever narrative this telephone game was trying to sell this time around. His observations regarding the premeditation aspect were actually decent. Watts is definitely still trying, in some warped way, to mitigate. I do not buy this story, but there might be some truths sprinkled in this sad, sorry tale. The key will be ferreting out what those are.
That said, I’m waiting to hear it from the horse’s mouth. What will be interesting will be which specific questions are asked by Coder, Lee, and Baumhover; and how Watts answers. Way more telling than fifth hand comments by lawyers in a television studio.
I caught the Dr. Phil show yesterday because it happened to be on in the gym, so I felt obliged to see what it was all about. I’m going to leave all the erudite analysis to Nick and others who are more knowledgeable than me.
I can’t stop thinking about this: This will go down in the annals of Cases that were Botched by the State of Colorado (Volume 15). I will never understand why this case – with 3 victims (4, technically) and a lot of “moving parts” was treated so “rush-rush, hurry up, wrap it up” by the state. Because they wrapped it up so damn fast, now we have the likes of Dr. Phil with his dog-and-pony show today. Because they rushed to wrap it all up, now we have loose ends which will never be resolved and there will be nothing but conspiracy and speculation from here on out.
This case should have gone to trial and frankly the death penalty should have been pursued. I lived most of my life in Texas and Georgia, two states that firmly believe in the death penalty. It’s there for a reason. I feel bad for Shan’ann’s family, but it’s not up to them whether or not the death penalty should be on the table – it’s up to the state. It’s The State of Colorado vs. Chris Watts. I bet they regret making that decision so rushed and cutting that deal with CW. I know I would.
I bet I laid out some unpopular opinions in this, and I hope I expressed them coherently. I think it was better the first time I wrote it last night – when I got to the very end, my phone died.
“I will never understand why this case was treated so “rush-rush, hurry up, wrap it up” by the state.” >>>Can someone here help LW understand?
This might help:
https://crimerocket.com/2018/11/04/chris-watts-a-plea-deal-is-definitely-on-the-cards/
And this:
https://crimerocket.com/2018/11/28/the-deadly-firestone-explosion-in-pictures/
And this:
https://crimerocket.com/2018/11/10/what-did-the-mid-term-elections-have-to-do-with-the-watts-case/
But more specifically this:
https://crimerocket.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/fullscreen-capture-20181128-054334.jpg?w=676
And this:
https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_112,_Minimum_Distance_Requirements_for_New_Oil,_Gas,_and_Fracking_Projects_Initiative_(2018)
I see why they did it, but I still think it’s a travesty that they did.
I don’t believe this 2nd confession…CW is kinda blaming SW again..saying he killed her after they had arguments cause she said ‘he would never see the kids sgain’. I’ve read Nick’s series and I agree with what he has laid out as to what happened. This was premeditated, pre-planned and happened fairly quickly after SW returned home so he had plenty of time to clean up like he did. One question that I still have is..when Nicole drops SW off that morning, CW’s truck is seen in the front of the house. At some point, CW moves the truck to the back of the house cause Nate’s camera shows CW driving down the street and backs into the driveway. Why and when did CW move his truck back there? You would think it would show on Nate’s camera too.
This 2nd ‘confession’ just proves to me that CW continues to shift the blame on SW and is not sorry for what he’s done at all. Thank you Nick for the great job you have done and continue to do on this case.
I completely agree with this analysis – these crimes were so obviously pre-meditated that I can’t believe anyone is taking his ‘confession’ seriously. Taking these two little girls out at night as described would have surely attracted some attention – decibel levels are higher at night and toddlers usually can’t be quiet unless they’re asleep. I’m sure neighbors would have heard something. Also, although Bella was adorable and probably very bright, she didn’t seem to articulate herself as well as many four year olds, and I can’t envision her saying those things. Too many other reasons to even list! Finally, and just an aside, the staging of the show, apparently meant to resemble a corporate boardroom complete with blank notepads in front of the many lawyers, was a little silly. One thing I will say is that at least Dr. Phil raised the idea that this might be a false second confession, and his skepticism seemed fairly obvious.
None of this ‘confession’ makes sense….is there a chance that whatever is released tomorrow will differ much from the Dr. Phil account?
The notion that they argued, made up, then got in another argument, all after Shan’ann came home likely exhaused late at night, seems like more Watts BS that we’ve grown accustomed to.
I agree, Dan – it doesn’t make sense that they had two arguments, and he waited until the second one to tell her he was through. Even if he actually was planning to tell her that he wanted out, he probably would have told her during the first argument. I still doubt there was any argument at all, he was too non-confrontational.
The one thing I would need to know before even considering whether any part of this latest “confession” has any truth to it is whether CW gave up his right to appeal. If he can come back to the courts saying the murders were not premeditated, theoretically, he can be retried for manslaughter, which could mean a drastically reduced sentence! And before you say that will never happen, I would ask you – Does the name O.J. Simpson sound familiar? How about everybody’s “favorite” party girl Casey Anthony? Juries are unpredictable.
Imo this episode of Dr. Phil was nothing more than sensationalism. Dr. Phil loves to act like he’s above the fray, he doesn’t exploit his guests. I call bs on that! I believe anyone who has any interest in the truth, should withhold any judgements about the who, how, what and where of these murders until we hear it straight from the monsters mouth, then proceed with caution!
I would think the 45 minute drive would nullify him being able to claim the girls’ murders weren’t premeditated. According to his original confession he also killed SW in the heat of the moment.
Besides blowing all the great logical, empirical, and in depth psychological analysis of NVDL (I’ve told people for months that Van der Leek is the absolutely very best source on the Watts case) to smithereens, this second story doesn’t absolve poor Shannan well (had she not said the hideous words, all would still be alive) nor will it stop the Armchair Detective crowd from insisting Kessinger was in the truck with the kids ( remember, the mob bought into the additional shadows which showed Nichol with the live children as Chris was loading the truck at 5:20 am).
Thank God Dr. Phil, if he was going to cause all this trouble, stresses premeditation.
I’m concerned that Chris was spoon fed this theory which exactly mirrors a certain YouTube theory, by the lovestruck women who write him (as a poster here kindly pointed out).
So much for March 7. 😑
It makes me wonder if a conspiracy theory [like Armchair Detective’s shadow theory] wasn’t suggested to Watts, and then Watts went, ‘Oh, yeah, the kids were alive when I went to the well site.”
Absolutely.
According to the armchair detective he is responsible for the detectives going there 🙄…I saw in the comments that his followers amassed a total of almost 1000 times they sent his shadow theory video to the authorities. I find that hard to believe but I think authorities would realize most people don’t buy his findings. For me he so crossed the line when he freeze frames shapes he created and said it was NK, speculate fine, but using tricks to make her complicit in murder is despicable. The question I have is you send them your shadow theory but not the actual pic of NK supposedly at the scene, which would have more clout with the authorities but yet that he doesn’t send, tells you he doesn’t even believe there’s anything there.
Right, it was a contrived gimmick and Armchair Detective knew it. I could see in the picture (supposedly NK with a long ponytail carrying CeCe ) that the “baby” ( splotch made to look like one) did not have the head or body shape that matched Cece’s.
It’s really infuriating that Watts seems to be boosting the shadow theory now and destroying the NVDL theory. I feel it would be better if the investigators hadn’t met with him. The public will always have this vision of 2 live toddlers taking a 45 minute death ride with daddy.
‘It makes me wonder if a conspiracy theory [like Armchair Detective’s shadow theory] wasn’t suggested to Watts, and then Watts went, ‘Oh, yeah, the kids were alive when I went to the well site.”’
The same way one of the detectives suggested that ‘Did Shan’Ann do something to the kids?’ or whatever and Chris just grabbed onto that like a life preserver and ran with it – oh, right! NOW he remembers that Shan’Ann strangled her own daughters! Yeah! THAT’s the ticket!
Keep the faith, CBH. You can bet if there is truth to be learned, Baumhover, Coder and Lee will get it. They may be going back for more in scheduled trips, we don’t know that for sure or not yet. Just set Dr. Phil aside for now and stay focused. Questions are did Watts call the Agents or did they contact him. And what’s in it for Watts. He might be playing games.
Thanks. Yes, I suppose there’s still hope that March 7 can clarify things.
I had to go back and watch the loading up of the truck again. I still don’t see two shadows. But I do see the overhead light on the cab of his truck come on several times. And toward the end I see him bending to pick something up from the ground and into the back cab of his truck. I suppose one could say that was CeCe but I have my reservations. For one he absolutely knew Nate’s camera was trained on a particular spot of his driveway. He wouldn’t necessarily know how detailed the camera would be at night. Having live children walk out to the truck and be picked up and placed inside it way too risky. Watts also is seen trying to find a spot for the gas can. First he goes to one side of the bed of the truck, then the other. No room in the bed of the truck? Later it ends up at the back of the bed of the truck (when he comes home). I also listened to his account of his day to Agent Coder and he does mention putting containers in the truck. What what it’s worth. He hadn’t mentioned containers to Coonrod or Baumhover.
I’m not sure how from shadows one can say that the shadow is a child, then two, then that they’re both alive. It’s a shadow. He was loading dead bodies and we can’t even be certain where and when he’s doing that from the footage, but now suddenly the shadows have a “life” of their own, pun intended,
In a court case it would be thrown out as evidence, similar to the cadaver odor in the Casey Anthony trunk. It has to be objectively shown not subjectively intuited.
I couldn’t tell either when he loaded them, the DA said at sentencing that you could see him making three trips back and forth into the house loading their bodies, if that’s true then the detectives should be challenging Chris that they weren’t alive at that time
The only thing I can make out as definite from the neighbours video is when he loads SW into the truck. He’s walking backwards and clearly dragging something big and heavy.
I watched the same video – I didn’t see that.
Was Nichol Kessinger referred to by name on Dr. Phil? I am curious because I only recall them saying “the mistress”.
What a bunch of hooey *that* was! As you noted, the only useful commentary was when Dr. Phil was evaluating CW’s face and noting no signs of distress/being overwhelmed. I’m not buying *any* of the rest. What a let down!
I knew I had heard a similar statement to the one the lawyer suggested on Dr. Phil as to Bella’s last comment about Daddy please don’t do to me what you did to CeCe. In Richard Allen Davis’s final statement in court after being sentenced he said as he was walking Polly Klaas up the hill she said to him “just don’t do me like my daddy”, to which Mark Klaas jumped up and said “burn in Hell Davis.”
I was hoping you’d do an analysis of this PR spectacle. Feels exploitative of the children regardless of whether or not it’s true.
I can’t shake the feeling that something will come out tomorrow that Shannan’s family wanted to get ahead of by doing this interview. They didn’t even tell the CBI they were going to do it. Maybe the DNA analysis came back and the baby indeed wasn’t Chris’s. I don’t know, but something about this stinks.
Did they do a DNA test on the baby?
Yes, page 1901 of discovery (1719 if you’re looking at actual page numbers of the pdf)
There’s no way, the kids would sleep thru 2 arguments and then sex. Really. I’m just wondering if and hoping Chris’s version is different. But I don’t think so…..eek.
I saw a loop video of the shadows, I saw just 1 shadow, not 2.
Whose gonna kill there kid in the truck on the driveway. And leave 1 alive?
The kids know the hospital, Bella would ….have said something. I can’t believe I said that. Can you image a 4 yr old, dead mom, sister, dad driving and her sitting there……?
Wonder what Bible Chris was really reading.
I thought of how pissed Nick would be specifically when watching this haha. What bothers me is that I don’t think Dr. Phil believes the second confession, which he himself calls a “confession” using air quotes. Then it sort of turned into “that’s what happened” by the end and the news is reporting it as such. If Weld Co. is looking into anyone else (as if we don’t all know who they mean) then why would they say that on national tv? Weld Co. does say that we’re “surprised” by this move-I can’t imagine them not checking with them about that? Dr. Phil’s not THAT stupid/immoral, is he? It really bothers me that the shadow people are thinking this is a real thing and I do wonder if CW heard about it. It’s literally madness. And of course they only put Nichol’s nakedish picture up, or it was featured, but claim it’s not exploitative? Apparently it’s only ok to not exploit you if you’re dead.
There is a whole thread dedicated to why we must not take Dr. Phil seriously on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/ShannanWatts/comments/axoays/who_else_is_not_giving_any_energy_to_this_drphil/. I read one comment on reddit which said something on the lines of: on top of the crimes already committed by CW he has commits another crime of making us watch Dr. Phil.