On 08/20/18, along with Michael Rourke and several DDA’s, I met with Frank and Frankie Rzucek at the Weld County District Attorney’s office. While briefly interviewing both Frank and Frankie I learned the following: • Watts stated to Sandi that Shanann “was in one of her moods.” • Nicole spoke with Sandi that morning and was concerned about Shanann and the girls’ whereabouts. • Shanann’s phone and iWatch were never turned off and that she charged them on her night stand each night. [This is probably a reference to them habitually being left on, in contrast to them being found off ito of the crime scene]. • The girls’ Jack & Jill bathroom doors were typically locked at night to keep Bella and Celeste out of the bathroom. • Sandi called Watts and left a voice message. She subsequently called him again to check on Shanann. • Watts was distant with Shanann’s family the one week he was in NC. This was the last week of six weeks Shanann and the girls were in NC visiting family. • Frank stated Watts’ relationship with his mother is not as good as the relationship with his dad. • Frank confirmed the conflict between Shanann and her mother-in-law (Cindy Watts) regarding Celeste’s peanut allergy. • Frankie stated that Shanann “wore the pants” in the family. • Frank said Watts was more stern and confrontational with Bella and Celeste while he was visiting in NC the last week of the six week trip. • Frank installed the hotel style latch on the front door to prevent Celeste from opening the door. • Frank also said a big blue blanket was typically on the couch. Note: this blanket has not been located to date. • Frank confirmed the outside garage door opener key pad has never worked. Nothing further.
According to Trent Bolte, he and Watts liked to watch Orange is the New Black together on Netflix. Piper Chapman, the main character in the series, is based on the memoir of a real life bisexual woman.
Ironically, Watts finds himself [possibly] in a genuine Orange is the New Black situation right now. Talk about fact creating fiction creating fact.
Bolte also told CNNWatts’ favorite film is Weekend. Both gay characters in the film have more than a passing resemblance to Watts.
Since almost everyone who participated got the first Guru Badge, I thought I’d make this one harder, and also leave out the multiple choice. As always the right answer has to be factually correct, and complete.
1. What do you know about Nichol Kessinger’s phone “pinging” on Franklin Drive?
2. How many dogs [all dogs] are involved in the Watts case?
It’s time to check where the regular visitors [and lurkers] at this site fall in the True Crime Rocket Science hierarchy. Are you becoming a guru, or are you still learning the ropes?
The best questions in true crime are always the simplest. One of the simplest questions that emerges time and time again in try crime is why? Yet it is virtually never answered, or even addressed fully.
I won’t torture you with such a difficult question. Even after four narratives, the answer to why isn’t short, and although it’s been comprehensively addressed, it can never be fully understood. The best we can do is study a case from every conceivable angle, become experts at it, become encyclopedias of accurate case facts and compelling probabilities, and use these tools to master the criminal psychology at play.
How accurate is your encyclopedia on the Watts case?
Let’s find out.
At what time did Watts arrive home from CERVI 319 on Monday August 13th?
To assist you I’ve provided a screengrab of the applicable part in the Discovery Documents [page 2126]:
Pick one of the five possibilities below, and in the comments, explain your answer:
A. 14:02
B: 14:10
C. 14:13
D. None of the above.
E. The exact time Watts arrived home is unknown.
Good luck!
ANSWER: 14:07:44.
The three screengrabs below show not only the moment Watts, Nicholas Atkinson and Nate Trinastich leave 2825 Saratoga Trail together to show Coonrod the surveillance footage, but as Coonrod heads that way he turns and sees Baumhover arrive.
Baumhover’s arrival on the scene coincides with Coonrod’s exit.
These screengrabs are from the final moments of Coonrod’s bodycam footage following his arrival at the Watts home.
When we first examined Trinastich’s surveillance video, most of us focused on the television. There wasn’t much to see, was there? Even the original video is fuzzy in depicting the goings-on in that all-important top left corner.
It didn’t take long though for folks to pick up on something else in the bodycam footage: Watts’ oddball behavior beside the flat screen. He seems at turns nervous, restless, distracted and even seems to be daydreaming at times.
On a few occasions he reaches for his phone and seems to be simply checking messages. Now we know he was responding to messages, including one – it looks like – to his mistress.
Although a reader brought this information to my attention, it’s been surprisingly difficult to confirm, and to be honest, it still may not be. This is because Detective Dave Baumhover and the other cops are somewhat vague in describing 1) at what time Officer Scott Coonrod entered the neighbor’s house to view the surveillance footage and 2) detective Baumhover’s exact time of arrival at the scene.
According to the Discovery Documents, Coonrod entered the Watts residence at 14:19:49, but that can’t be right because if Watts arrived at 14:07, everyone entered the residence no more than two minutes later. So the correct entry time must be closer to 14:09.
And a check of bodycam footage at the moment Coonrod enters the house for the first time confirms this.
In any event, Coonrod was on the scene for approximately twenty minutes before Watts showed up.
Detective Baumhover arrived on the scene sixteen minutes later [subsequent to Coonrod entering the home] at “approximately” 14:35 according to the arrest affidavit.
So we see, Coonrod was inside the scene with Watts for just a few minutes when he reckoned uh-oh, something is badly out of whack here. And then he summoned resources.
Coonrod and Watts were heading over to Trinastich’s house when detective Baumhover arrived at about exactly 14:35.
We know Watts remained at the neighbor’s house for seven more minutes after Coonrod made Watts aware of the detective’s arrival at the scene. That pushes the clock close to 14:42.
Now let me show you how and why we make these inferences.
At 02:04 in the video clip above, while Watts is doing his lip-curl thing, has both hands cupped against the back of his head, and sways from side to side [henceforth known as the Watts Bullshit Dance] Coonrod says: “My detective just showed up.” The bodycam records the time as 20:40:42Z.
If we assume the 14:35 arrival time is fairly accurate [but it may not be], and we advance 9 minutes forward through the timeline of the bodycam video [to the time of the text message to Kessinger] we get this at approximately 14:44 [20:49:35Z on the bodycam clock].
At this point in the bodycam footage, Watts has just exited Trisnatich’s home and returned to his own home to be questioned by Baumhover. It’s possible during this interlude, Watts sent this text to Kessinger:
As mentioned above, the bodycam clock shows the time when Watts exits as 20:49:35Z. I’ll explain the “Z” in a moment. For the time being, bear with me.
If the detective’s arrival time has a five-minute margin of error, and if we add a minute or two for the detective to arrive on scene and for dispatch to convey that to Coonrod, then it’s possible Watts sent the message to Kessinger while standing beside the cops. And we know that he was texting because on at least two occasions we can see he is texting beside the television.
His last text is at 20:42:53Z.
What does the “Z” mean?
The bodycam seems to be configured to Zulu time, which is a military metric based on Greenwich Mean Time [GMT]. 20:42 Zulu converts to 15:42 Mountain Standard Time [MTS]. So it appears Officer Coonrod’s bodycam clock is fast by one hour or the arrest affidavit is inaccurate by an hour. It seems unlikely detective Baumhover would mistake his ETA by more than a few minutes.
The Discovery Documents do show Watts texted Cristima Meacham at 14:26, which is nine minutes prior to Baumhover’s estimated arrival. Watts’ text to Cristina read:
Police are here, call you when I know.
Unfortunately the Discovery Documents are silent on further activity from Watts, or the cops – there is nothing between 14:26 and 15:46.
It’s frustrating that on so simple an issue as when the cops arrived there’s so little clarity or consistency.
Incredibly, in the Amanda Knox case, there’s also confusion around a critical part of the timeline; when the cops arrived at the Villa crime scene in Perugia.
For all the talk about the “N” word in the mainstream, and on social media, how often does the word narcissism appear in the Discovery Documents? Answer: twice. Both instances are pretty loaded.
Who’s right?
Interestingly, just recently Trent Bolte appeared on CNN saying that Watts referred to Shan’ann in similar terms as she referred to his mother [as a “fucking bitch”].
Someone made a comment recently on this blog that a true narcissist would never admit to lying, let alone confess to committing murder. Key narcissistic traits include exhibitionism, superiority and exploitativeness. It’s difficult to imagine an introverted character like Watts, who barely made a peep in all of his court room appearances, ticking any of those boxes.
By comparison, the MLM huns are all about those traits. The Thrive promotional spiels were all about narcissism – vanity, authority, exhibitionism [through cars, travel, wellness extravaganzas], superiority [live a premier lifestyle with Thrive] and exploitativeness above all. Buy this over-priced piece of shit product so I can make money off you. Sign up to get rich, healthy and live a better life [but really, fuck you, just sign up because I need the fucking money].
Personally, I cannot stand labels in true crime because it oversimplifies all aspects of the criminal enterprise. True crime is a complicated, subtle and shady business by default. It has many layers and levels to it. Labels oversimplify the psychology. Labels reduce motive to little more than an afterthought. Labels toss out the dynamics, circumstances and interiority of the people involved, but they made the expert handing them out seem very astute. The label gives us a sense of control, and manipulates us into thinking we have a handle on a person and a situation when we do not.
Rather than labeling criminals [narcissist, psychopath, evil, monster], or their crimes [annihilation, mass murder, serial killing], we ought to spend more time figuring out the entire dynamic. The cosmos of circumstances. That’s difficult and takes time, and requires us to start off by admitting what we don’t know. That’s hard. We live in a narcissistic society that prides itself in being right, in knowing things. So to admit we don’t know something, or that we might wrong is not only difficult, it runs counter to society and feels counter-intuitive.
But let’s try it anyway. Let’s pretend we don’t have all the answers and want to learn something, for example about this “N” word. Let’s be honest and open and ask a simple question [and be open to a complicated answer].
So here it is.
Do we know what we’re talking about when we use the “N” word?
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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