Chris Watts case: Heartbreaking moment Shanann's father breaks down as judge reads out charges
The father of murdered Shanann Watts couldn't control his emotions as he sat in the courtroom and watched his son-in-law, Christopher Watts face nine felony charges for murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.
Frank Rzucek, 55, broke down in tears as Judge Marcelo Kopcow read out the charges against Chris. This included three counts of first-degree murder, two of murdering children in his trust, one of terminating a pregnancy and three of tampering with bodies. Frank's son, Frankie kept his hand on his father's shoulders as he could not hold back his tears. At the end of the hearing, Frank stared down Chris as he was led out of the court by prison officers.
However, Chris, whose hands and legs were shackled did not look at his father-in-law as he was walked out of the courtroom. During the court hearing, Chris just replied with a faint "Yes, sir" when judge Kopcow read the charges to him. He was not required to enter a plea, as reported by Daily Mail. He will next appear in court on November 19.
Chris is accused of murdering his 15-week pregnant wife Shanann and their two daughters, Bella and Celeste at their home in Frederick, Colorado last week.
Judge Kopcow told him that if found guilty of the murder charges he could face the death penalty but in any case, he wasn't going to see life out of prison. District Attorney Michael Rourke has nine weeks to decide whether to seek execution. According to the affidavit, Chris claimed that he had been having an affair with a workmate at Anadarko Oil and told his wife that he wanted to separate following her return from a business trip.
He then claimed he had left the bedroom for a couple of minutes and when he returned, he saw the baby monitor and found that Shanann was strangling Celeste. He further claimed that Bella was already lying dead on the bed. He further added that he became enraged and strangled Shanann. Chris then bundled the bodies into his truck and drove to a place where he buried his wife in a shallow grave and dumped his two daughters into a tank filled with crude oil.
But investigators do not believe his side of the story and think that he killed all three of them. According to the affidavit, Chris had told the cops he had seen Bella turn blue and sprawled out on her bed as Shanann was 'actively strangling' Celeste. Chris said he went into a rage and ultimately strangled Shanann to death," the affidavit read. "Chris said he loaded all three bodies onto the back seat of his work truck and took them to an oil work site."
After a two day investigation, the authorities found that Chris was having an affair, something he had previously denied. He later told the location to police where the bodies were and upon reaching the authorities found a bedsheet that matched other linens in the house.
Police had originally been notified that Shanann was missing by her workmate Nickole Atkinson, who had been on a business trip to Arizona with her. Chris was formally charged on Monday (August 20) with nine felony counts, including one for unlawfully terminating a pregnancy. He was also charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder of a child under 12 while in a position of trust and three counts of tampering with bodies.