Shannan Watts' brother raising funds to fight trolls blaming her for Chris Watts' crimes
Years after Chris Watts infamously slaughtered his wife Shanann Watts' and his two daughters four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste, Shannan's brother has now set up a crowdfunding page to support the family, who have been receiving threatening and abusive messages.
Watts, who was immortalized in Netflix's hugely popular true crime documentary 'American Murder: The Family Next Door,' is currently serving a life sentence for the 2018 murders of his wife Shanann, who was 15 weeks pregnant, and their daughters. Shanann's brother, Frankie Rzucek says he and his family have been "attacked on social media by online trolls" after the release of the documentary. Some of the critics have also blamed his sister for her own murder.
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'We are fighting for justice'
"These online trolls are sending us floods of threatening, bullying and abusive messages, many of which in a sick way blame my sister for her own murder, and suggest my family and I have taken bribes to conceal parts of the murder investigation, in an attempt to free the actual culprits," he wrote. "It deeply saddens us that even in times of death, in what has been the hardest time of our lives, these online trolls have gone to such lengths to dishonor my sister and my family by fabricating slanderous, callous, and outright false claims about us. This cannot continue and we are fighting for justice."
Through crowdfunding site CrowdJustice, Rzucek plans to fund a defamation and harassment suit against online trolls, and specifically one who has "an unhealthy obsession" with the murder case. "This internet user has amassed a fan base of so far 66.6k subscribers, who like him, have also developed an unhealthy obsession with the murder of my sister and her children, and inundated my family and I with threatening and abusive messages online," he said. The initial target of $33,600 has already been fulfilled.
'Online trolls prey on the vulnerability of innocent people'
He also discussed trolling in general and the harmful effects it can have on people. He wrote "Online trolls prey on the vulnerability of innocent people. We, a grieving family, have fallen victim to this cruel and vicious online hate, because these trolls have considered us to be a weak and vulnerable easy target. It is unacceptable that these online trolls should be allowed to hide behind the mask that is the internet, and bully vulnerable families, such as mine, without any real consequences," he said.
Rzucek added: "With the support of my solicitors, Cohen Davis, an award-winning social media specialist firm, who have agreed to work on our case under reduced legal fees, we are planning to commence a case of harassment and defamation in the High Court, against a number of the positively identified online trolls."
Yair Cohen, a lawyer for the family of Shanann Watts, told LADbible: "CrowdJustice is a safe way for people to support legal causes that they feel strongly about. The money that is being raised goes directly to the regulated law firm's client account and it can only be used to pay for actual legal work. It is often the only way for the most vulnerable people in our society to access justice, particularly when they face cruel and sometimes even sadistic online trolls."