Body cam footage released by the Weld County District Attorney’s Office shows convicted killer Christopher Watts freaking out when he realized his neighbor’s surveillance footage showed him at his truck. The defendant squirms quite a bit in the video, dated last August 13. At the time, he was claiming that Shanann said she’d take the girls to a friend’s house, but he didn’t know which one.
One might have assumed his fidgeting was the body language of a man worried for his family, but just a couple of days later, according to an arrest affidavit, Watts told investigators that he murdered his wife pregnant Shanann after she killed the kids–4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste. He admitted to hiding the bodies on property belonging to his then-employer. Taken at face value, this story alone confirmed that Watts’ behavior on August 13 was a complete fraud. Furthermore, the defendant pleaded guilty to all three murders on Nov. 6. That rendered the affidavit story a lie. Even his parents, who at first voiced skepticism about his plea deal, said prosecutors told them more about the evidence, and they now “accept” that their son killed his entire family.
With all of that in mind, that August 13 video really is something else. Watts, a neighbor, and at least one police officer review that neighbor’s surveillance footage.
“This is him at 5:17 [a.m.],” says the neighbor.
“I usually park out there on the side,” Watts say after putting away his phone. “I just want to get everything back in.”
Cue world-class squirming. Watts places his hands over his head, and begins swaying back and forth, even when addressing the officer. Dropping his hands to his side, he accidentally knocks his sunglasses down on his face, and he puts it back up. As time goes by, his body language became a little more composed, though he sometimes sways.
Watts was sentenced to multiple life sentences without parole for killing his wife and daughters. Family members say the unborn child, a boy, was to be named Nico.
[Screengrab via Weld County District Attorney’s Office; h/t Radar Online]
