Five shocking things Netflix's Chris Watts documentary didn't show

In 2018, Chris Watts killed his wife and two children in a horrific case.

Two years after the horrendous crime in 2020, Netflix would release the documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door, taking a look at the grim story.

When his wife and children disappeared, Watts had claimed at the time that he had no knowledge of what had happened.

A state-wide search was launched to locate the pair's two young daughters, Bella, four, and Celeste, three, as well as Shanann, who had been pregnant with their third child.

But Watts' story soon unravelled, and he pleaded guilty to their murders.

He was handed five life sentences for the killings, as well as a sentence of 48 years for the unlawful termination of Shanann's pregnancy, and 36 years for tampering with the bodies.

The TV documentary went into detail about Watts' lies and their devastating consequences, but there are some things it did not include.

Family tensions

The Watts family. (Netflix)

Reports have claimed that Shanann had a difficult relationship with Watts' family.

Watts had previously claimed that she hadn't gotten along well with his parents, with his dad not coming to their wedding.

Weld County District Attorney released text messages suggesting that Watts' mom had endangered the couple's daughter Cindy by giving her ice cream that contained peanuts.

Messaging her husband, Shanann wrote: “You should call your dad and tell him you did not appreciate your mom putting your daughter at risk today."

She added: “She’s evil and willing to risk your daughter’s life just to get under my skin. You and your dad are no different if you are ok with her behaviour.

"There’s nothing wrong with me and I'm not crazy. I just love my kids way too much.”

Wedding plans

Watts had been cheating on his wife. (Netflix)

The documentary mentions Watts' affair with Nichol Kessinger, but doesn't reveal how serious things had gotten between them.

People magazine obtained documents suggesting that she had searched for wedding dresses on Google for 'over two hours' on August 4 2018.

Secret prison visitor

Watts was actually visited by a woman while he was prison, a fact not mentioned in the documentary.

Visit records indicate that Anna Nowak was one of the visitors who was approved to see the killer in jail at Wisconsin's Dodge Correctional Institution.

She would visit Watts nearly every week, and was refuted` in April 2019 as she had used the maximum visits.

Further infidelity

Watts' story eventually unravelled and he confessed. (Netflix)

Kessinger was not the first person with whom Watts had cheated on his wife with.

According to a report from OK! magazine, the murderer previously had a one night stand with Amanda McMahon, a woman he had met on Tinder.

Male escort Trent Bolte also claimed that he had been seeing Watts for 10 months in 2018 despite Watts telling police: "I’ve never been with a guy."

Rescuing the marriage

Shanann had tried to plan a weekend away for the pair in an attempt to repair their relationship.

In a message, she had told them that they 'need to talk' and urged him to stop 'living the bachelor life'.