Chris Watt’s mother, Cindy Watts, does not believe her son is responsible for killing his two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.
The 33-year-old pleaded guilty on November 6 to nine charges in relation to the murders of his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and the couple’s daughters. However, his mom claimed in a new interview that her son is only accountable for Shanann’s death.
“He did kill her, but the kids, no,” Cindy told KDVR on Monday, November 12. “It’s very difficult, very difficult. I can’t imagine my son doing that. He couldn’t have done that.”
She also told the outlet of her desire to step in before Chris’ sentencing. “I want to stop it before it’s too late. I want to talk to him. I want to be able to talk to him,” she said. “I love my son no matter what and I want to fight for him, and I don’t want him to go down for something he didn’t do.”
Shanann’s parents slammed Cindy’s claims, which included accusations that her son was in a verbally abusive relationship with his 34-year-old wife, on Tuesday, November 13. The family called her allegations “vicious, grotesque and utterly false,” according to KDVR. “[Chris] pled guilty to murdering his family because he is guilty. … Their false statements, however hurtful and inaccurate, will never alter the truth about Shanann, and will never alter the truth about the crimes committed by their son, Chris Watts,” the statement continued.
Chris pleaded guilty to five counts of murder in the first degree, one count of unlawful termination of pregnancy and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. Shanann’s family allowed District Attorney Michael Rourke to strike the death penalty from the Colorado man’s possible sentencing if he pleaded guilty to all nine charges. He is set to be sentenced on Monday, November 19, and faces life in prison.
Shanann, who was 15 weeks pregnant, Bella and Celeste went missing from their Frederick, Colorado, home in August and were found dead three days later. Chris, who initially told reporters he didn’t know where they were, was soon arrested. Though he admitted to killing his wife, he claimed Shanann murdered the two girls after he told her he wanted to separate.
Authorities detailed Chris’ alleged attempts to dispose of the bodies in an arrest affidavit obtained by Us in August: “Chris said he buried Shanann near two oil tanks and dumped the girls inside the oil tanks.”
Cindy Watts claimed in her interview that Chris told her he didn’t put Shanann’s body with her daughters because she had killed them. However, the initial charges against Chris speculated that he may have killed his kids the day before Shanann returned home from a business trip on August 13.
