There is something heartbreaking and mournful about a grave and a graveyard. It has an inevitable, unbreakable, unreachable, suffocating, claustrophobic permanence about it, doesn’t it?
The the area that was green and bursting with summer when they were buried is brown, grey and forlorn today.
The area in front of the gravestone has a Merry Christmas appeal to it, given the red and silver bows interspersed with the green.
It should be noted on the tombstone that Shan’ann’s name is spelled Shan’ann [the same convention followed by this blog and the narratives surrounding it]. Almost six months after her tragic death, even her staunchest defenders, as well as numerous media pundits still can’t get the spelling of her name right.
With that being said, while Shan’ann’s name on the grave is correct, the spelling of her unborn son’s name is incorrect. Incorrect because in Shan’ann’s own text messages she repeatedly used “Niko”.
Shan’ann used this spelling as recently as the last completed day of her life [August 12, 2018] in a message meant for her husband [sent to Addy Molony at 21:13]:
Shan’ann confirmed the same spelling on August 9th at 21:12 in a message to Nickole Atkinson and Cassie Rosenberg.
When it takes this long to get the kindergarten stuff right in a high-profile true crime case, it’s no wonder it’s so difficult for a society to ever get to grips with far deeper darker and more complicated questions – like why.
In the clip below there’s a touching moment at about [1hour38] where Kessinger bursts into tears. She cries for almost a minute. For my part I was touched by her tears and obvious sadness, and sympathy for the children.
Many will sneer at that. So what – I can hear some saying – if Kessinger showed emotion? Or her emotion isn’t real etc. For my part I find it quite touching. Of all the folks involved in this case, this moment seems to be filled with with a great deal of remorse. We see some of the same grief in Shan’ann’s father Frank, especially when he appears in court, but in very few others.
There was some grief in Cindy Watts when she was in court. And a little by Watts himself that same day.
Grief is a redeeming quality. In true crime, wherever we see grief there are authentic human connections and emotions. Real grief overcomes bullshit and bullshit semantics. Real grief means there is contrition after the crime has been committed. But that’s what makes the moment immediately following Kessinger’s tears so gut wrenching.
They spoke for 111 minutes a few hours before Shan’ann was murdered. It’s also possible this crucial 111 minute conversation took place after Watts murdered both his daughters. And yet Nichol Kessinger says she can’t remember what they spoke about.
If Kessinger herself truly wants to know why, and wants to understand why, then because of the timing of that final conversation, crucial conversation, the contents matters greatly. What was his mood? What did they talk about? What were their plans?
Below is a recent reader response, quoted almost verbatim. Thanks [name redacted], I’ll post my own response to this in the comments. It would be useful to have others weigh in on the issues you raise as well.
Re the Watts case, I much was made by Shan’ann of her child’s allergies to tree nuts. On one of her videos, she feeds Ceecee part of a Thrive Lemon Meringue bar – with no ill effects. The ingredients list includes tree nuts.
Lemon Meringue bars ingredients
https://cdn.le-vel.com/en/Documents/THRV025.pdf Ingredients: Thrive Pro Sequential Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Isolate), Prebiotic Dietary Tapioca Fiber, Maltitol, Vegetable Glycerine, Palm Kernel Oil, Natural Flavors, Whey Protein Concentrate, Palm Fruit Oil, Sunflower Seed Butter, Nonfat Dry Milk, Tapioca Starch, Whole Milk Solids, Soy Lecithin, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Sunflower Lecithin, Sucralose, Yogurt Cultures. Allergens: Contains Milk, Soy, Tree Nuts (Coconut). Net Carbs: 26g – 12g sugar alcohols – 11g dietary fiber = 3g Net Carbs
This helps confirm one of my thoughts – that the children’s many illnesses were made up by the mother or were induced by her. It was merely another way to get attention and control Chris. (We are all sick; you have to stay with us).
Her attack on his mother about the nuts in the ice cream was the tyrant’s attempt to cut off her victim (Chris) from all outside input. And I think Chris well knew the children’s “allergies” and Shan’ann’s alleged illnesses were fake – just part of a world built on lies – and he had to play along – until he couldn’t. He wanted to be free to create his own world, also built on lies.
I don’t doubt that Shan’ann had pain, but I believe much of it was due to the stress she put herself and her family under. Fibromyalgia, for example, doesn’t show up in tests and is not usually manifested by observable physical symptoms, yet prescription painkillers are used to treat it.
I believe Shan’ann was “on” painkillers and this contributed to her mental decline (obsessions, mania, etc.) The entire “work at home” scheme may have been due to her inability to find a legitimate job – it is reported (not verified that I know of) that she a record of embezzlement and arrests for other minor crimes. Related to this family’s decline and ultimate demise, it would be interesting to know what Chris’s politics were – was he was a fan of Fox News and perhaps right wing radio? If so, he was allowing liars to program him.
Alex Jones , for example, programmed his fans to believe fantastical, nutcase theories such as – Sandy Hook was a hoax. Once an unstable person suspends belief in reality, he can then segue into thinking he can magically dispose of his family, even when simple GPS evidence would lead investigators to the bodies, esp. that of Shan’ann. Even if she was moved later in the day, the dogs would have found her initial grave site. He also disbelieved his own neighbor’s security cam’s ability to show him loading his truck Monday morning. What a goddamn fool.
The fantasy of the new woman, his likely sex addiction (fueled by “chemicals”) could have fed into his break with reality. Imagine being a closeted gay or bisexual man and meeting someone like Nickole who “confirmed” that he was really hetero, and what he would do to possess her. Also, dead family = insurance money (although without bodies, he would have waited years for the payout – another breakdown in his logic).
As a “dog person”, I was very moved by your focus on the role of the dogs in the Watts story – little Deeter and the cadaver dogs.
I am a retired [redacted], living in NW Georgia. Exposing liars is a very worthwhile occupation, and I wish you much success in all your work.
During Chris Watts’ first interrogation with the FBI he’s shown a color photograph of Bella and Celeste. The photo appears red in the CCTV footage of the interrogation.
Can you find the original among Shan’ann’s Facebook images?
The True Crime Guru Badge goes to tbp with this image:
Can anyone source it from Shan’ann’s social media [location and date]?
18 minutes before Nick Thayer’s text – sent from the parking lot of the Frederick Police Department – Watts handed over his phone to the FBI. Watch that moment here.
This means Thayer’s text came through when Watts no longer had his handset with him. It was the best advice he ever got, from anyone. Approximately an hour after giving up his phone, and half an hour after Thayer’s text, Watts had already consented to give a polygraph.
We know more about Nicolas Atkinson’s version of the crime scene than we do about his mother Nickole Atkinson, Shan’ann’s closest friend. Although Nickole Atkinson has appeared in the media a few times, and although she was interviewed multiple times and gave multiple statements, none of these statements occur in the 1960 pages of released discovery.
Why?
At the same time Watts was giving his first interview with FBI Special Agent Grahm Coder on Tuesday night, August 14, 2018, CBI agent Tammy Lee contacted Atkinson [who was bothered and angered by the call, and her husband was heard yelling at her in the background]. Atkinson initially agreed to visit the police station on her way to work, but then changed her mind.
Agent Lee despatched CBI Agent Greg Zentner to the Mesa Vista nursing home in Boulder [where Atkinson worked the night shift] to interview her [Discovery Documents, page 556]. The interview itself and any interview notes from it, however, are not part of the discovery file.
Provision is clearly made for Atkinson’s narrative. Page 469 of the Discovery Documents records an interview by Agent Zentner conducted on August 14 in Boulder. The duration of the interview is not recorded.
After page 471 in the Discovery Documents introducing the details of the interview there is no page 472. Instead another interview is listed with Troy McCoy, Watts’ colleague at Anadarko follows on pages 473-474. The narrative of the interview with McCoy then follows on page 475-478.
So where is Nickole’s interview with the cops? Why is arguably the most important witness to the whole case not in the Discovery Documents?
Five months after the Watts Family Murders a strange silence seems to have settled over the case. This was to be expected in the absence of any legal challenge from Watts. But given the amount of information placed in the public domain it’s been surprising, frankly, the silence not only of the media, but also some of the main players in this case.
At the same time Watts himself was secreted away to a distant prison, his mistress Nichol Kessinger disappeared into witness protection. Watts’ parents have – understandably – withdrawn into a self-imposed exile. Shan’ann’s folks did an exclusive with ABC, but have otherwise been relatively media shy of late. Frankie Rzucek, despite being scornful of the media at turns, has made some overtures to some social media pundits like “Molly Golightly”.
But what about all the other witnesses? The co-workers, promoters, neighbors, ex-husbands, ex-girlfriends? Shan’ann’s friends are clearly – very clearly – still an active presence on social media, actively Thrivin’ but apparently less keen to talk in public about their recently deceased friend.
Slowly but surely, a few important friends and witnesses are coming out of the woodwork. It’s important that they do because no one can address the Monster Myth better than the people who were there. The folks who knew the Watts family firsthand, personally and directly. And the Monster Myth does a great disservice to this case.
Dismissing Watts as a narcissist and/or psychopathic monster deprives his family of their humanity, and incidentally, it exposes us for our facile view of true crime, and this crime in particular.
In this respect Nate Trinastich’s interview is both timely and insightful. Some of the low hanging insights from his interview with Dr. Oz include the following:
1. Trinastich says the Watts family didn’t fight any more than a normal couple. The bodycam records Trinastich speculating that the “flat-out screaming” arguments he heard were the reason Shan’ann had left for North Caroline [for 5-6 weeks] in the first place. The Discovery Documents on the other hand contain no record of arguments witnessed by Trinastich.
Although it’s useful to hear that Trinastich feels he may have embellished the intensity of the arguments, and that Watts’ portrayal as a monster isn’t accurate, the fact that Watts murdered his family means this aspect of the dynamic isn’t irrelevant and shouldn’t be minimized either. It shouldn’t be embellished, it shouldn’t be minimized, and it shouldn’t be dismissed. What we need to know is the true dynamic that existed between this couple, and the family.
2. The location of the motion detecting surveillance camera is indirectly shown for the first time.
We can see that the yellow and white pillar of the Trinastich home seems to block the view of the Watts driveway, as well as the protruding garage wall and boundary tree. From the perspective of Watts on the driveway, he may have underestimated the ability of the camera to be triggered by motion, and perhaps also miscalculated the capacity of the various barriers to block out what he was doing .
Even so, what the camera does show isn’t clear. It doesn’t show any bodies directly, or any bodies being loaded. This visual uncertainty is why conspiracies have developed around fragments of apparently disconnected shadows and plays of light in the critical left corner that recorded only intermittent parts of Watts’ activity that morning.
3. There were four witnesses checking the surveillance footage when Officer Coonrod arrived: Coonrod, Nickole Atkinson and her two children. Notice Watts is the only one with his back to the television when Coonrod arrives, as if trying to visually confront his audience.
4. It’s worth noting that during this interlude, Watts has his sunglasses propped onto the top of his head. This certainly invokes CCTV footage from earlier that same day of the Orange-Shirt guy who has his glasses propped on the top of his head, on a cap.
5. It’s regrettable that Dr. Oz, who has pontificated about weight loss supplements, some affiliated to MLMs [and gotten into trouble over it] didn’t use his medical knowledge to analyze the Thrive aspect of the narrative. In his interview he commends Trinastich for trying to protect the integrity of the victims. Dr. Oz’s failure to interrogate the medical aspect of this case [thus far anyway] is puzzling, because there are very many aspects that remain troublingly unclear.
A further aspect that is worth highlighting, but not an insight per se, is Trinastich’s observation to Coonrod that Watts explaining quickly and in detail while the CCTV was rolling, what he was loading was unnecessary, suspicious and didn’t really make sense. If Watts was loading tools why did he load them into the cabin of his truck?
One of the key reasons the Watts case was prosecuted as effectively as it has been had nothing to do with the quality of law enforcement. It had everything to do with the vigilance and intervention of the community and neighborhood, the fabric of society, the friendships, and to some extent the social media surrounding Shan’ann and her children.
Although Nickole Atkinson raised the alarm, her son Nicolas played an integral part in investigating the scene before anyone else did. His connection to the Watts’ was tenuous, based on dog sitting and his mother’s connection to the victim. But he got involved. Trinastich too, went to the trouble right then and there to check what he had, and it wrong-footed the suspect. It exposed him, and caused the momentum to shift significantly against him.
This was a crime solved by ordinary citizens first, before the cops, FBI and District Attorney swooped in.
Keep an eye on the loft railing in the video clip below [move the slider to approximately 22:48]. Watts doesn’t appear to have Shan’ann’s phone in either of his hands.
Coonrod then enters both of the children’s bedrooms. When he turns Shan’ann’s phone is suddenly right there on the railing.
Who put it there? And why not hand it directly to the police officer?
Within the first ten minutes we discover that Chris Watts was a gym rat all his life, until he met Shan’ann. She made him give it up and once he did, he put on a lot of weight.
The ex [whose name I can’t figure out, can you?] says that Watts went to gym religiously for two hours a day, everyday.
In POST TRUTH, the 100th True Crime Rocket Science [TCRS] title, the world’s most prolific true crime author Nick van der Leek demonstrates how much we still don’t know in the Watts case. In the final chapter of the SILVER FOX trilogy the author provides a sly twist in a tale that has spanned 12 TCRS books to date. The result may shock or leave you with even more questions.
SILVER FOX III available now in paperback!
“If you are at all curious about what really happened in the Watts case, then buy this book, buy every one he has written and you will get as close as humanly possible to understanding the killer and his victims.”- Kathleen Hewtson. Purchase the very highly rated and reviewed SILVER TRILOGY – POST TRUTH COMING SOON.
TCRS MERCH available now – just in time for Christmas!
Book 5 – ALL NEW! “I have thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook…” – Connie Lukens. Drilling Through Discovery Complete Audiobook
Read the entire 9-Part TWO FACE series, the most definitive book series covering the Chris Watts Case
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Book 4 in the TWO FACE series, one of the best reviewed, is available now in paperback!
“Book 4 in the K9 series is a must read for those who enjoy well researched and detailed crime narratives. The author does a remarkable job of bringing to life the cold dark horror that is Chris Watts throughout the narrative but especially on the morning in the aftermath of the murders. Chris’s actions are connected by Nick van der Leek’s eloquent use of a timeline to reveal a motive.”
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