Fans have been glued to Netflix true crime documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door. In new letters, convicted murderer Chris Watts has exposed what actually happened when he killed his wife and children.
In the show, it's revealed Chris admitted to killing his pregnant wife Shanann Watts, 34, as well as their two children - daughters Bella, four and Celeste, three - and his unborn baby.
Advert
But while Chris always maintained that he killed them all in a fit of rage, letters sent to author Cheryln Cadle describe a much more pre-meditated sequence of events.
In her book Letters From Christopher, Watts described what actually happened. In new information that isn't revealed to police in his initial interviews, he admitted that he tried to smother the two little girls before he killed his wife - but they woke back up.
Writing in one letter to Cadle, he said that on '12 August, when I finished putting the girls to bed, I walked away and said, 'that's the last time I'm going to be tucking my babies in''.
He added: "August 13th, morning of, I went to the girls' room first, before Shanann and I had our argument. I went to Bella's room, then Cece's room and used a pillow from their bed (to kill them). That's why the cause of death was smothering. After I left Cece's room, then I climbed back in bed with Shanann and our argument ensued.
Advert
"After Shanann had passed, Bella and Cece woke back up. I'm not sure how they woke back up, but they did.
"Bella's eyes were bruised and both girls looked like they had been through trauma. That made the act that much worse knowing I went to their rooms first and knowing I still took their lives at the location of the batteries."
Before the murders, he also said he had tried to poison Shanann in the hope of making her have a miscarriage with their child.
Advert
He said he 'thought it would be easier to be with Nichol [whom he was having an affair with] if Shannan wasn't pregnant'.
The documentary - which only uses first-hand footage including police interview tapes, social media posts, text message conversations and bodycam recordings - examines the 2018 killings of Shanann and her daughters.
Chris initially tried to claim his wife had taken the children away without his knowledge, but the real, grim story came to light over the following days.
Advert
Watts would eventually admit to cops that he killed his 15-weeks pregnant wife at their home in Colorado, before putting her body in the car with their two young daughters and driving to an oil field that he worked. He then killed both the girls before dumping their bodies inside oil tanks.
Watts then buried his wife's body in a shallow grave nearby. He is now serving five life sentences in prison.
American Murder: The Family Next Door is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: TV and Film, True Crime, Netflix