A Colorado father charged with killing his family may have murdered his two young daughters before his pregnant wife returned home from a business trip, investigators said Tuesday morning during a court appearance. Christopher Watts is charged with nine felony counts after the bodies of his wife, Shanann, and daughters, Celeste and Bella, were found on an oil field last week near their Frederick home, days after they were reported missing by a family friend. During Watt's arraignment on Tuesday, a judge recited charges against him, which indicate that detectives believe Watts killed his children first and then killed his 15-week pregnant wife. According to the documents, Shanann was killed on August 13, the same day she returned home from an out-of-state business trip. The charges allege that Watts killed Bella and Celeste 'between and including August 12 and August 13'. The charging documents contradict a statement Watts previously made to investigators saying he went into a fit of rage and strangled Shanann to death after he saw on the baby monitor her 'actively strangling' Celeste. Bella, Watts told authorities, was already dead and had started turning blue. Detectives believe Christopher Watts killed his daughters Bella and Celeste before his wife Shanann returned him from a business trip Watts, 33, was charged with nine felony counts - including three counts of first degree murder - on Tuesday morning Detectives did not believe Watts' version of events ad charged him with nine felony counts - including three counts of first-degree murder, two of murdering children in his trust, one of terminating a pregnancy and three of tampering with bodies. Watts did not have to enter a plea during Tuesday's court appearance, and faces the death penalty if found guilty. According to an arrest affidavit released on Monday, Shanann's friend and co-worker Nickole Utoft Atkinson dropped the pregnant mother-of-two off at her home just before 2am on August 13. The two had been in Arizona for a business trip for Le-Vel, the health and wellness company they sold products for. Atkinson told detectives that Shanann had not been feeling well during the trip due to her pregnancy. She said she grew concerned about her friend, who also suffered from the autoimmune disease lupus, when Shanann failed to show up for a doctors appointment at 10am. Atkinson said calls and texts to Shanann's cellphone went unanswered so she went over to her home to check on her fearing that Shanann was suffering a medical emergency. '(Nickole) went to Shanann's residence and discovered her car in the garage with car seats positioned inside of it,' the affidavit says. '(She) attempted to enter the front door, but a latch prevented it from opening more than three inches.' Watts was last week arrested for murdering his wife Shanann and their two young daughters Investigators believe Watts allegedly killed his family at home and then drove their bodies to a property owned by the company he worked for, Anadarko Petroleum If he's found guilty, Watts could face the death penalty. He has not yet entered a plea in court In an affidavit unsealed late Monday, Watts claimed that he watched on the baby monitor as his pregnant wife killed one of the two daughters but detectives did not believe him. Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed Frank Rzucek, 55, the father of murdered Shanann Watts broke down in tears as Judge Kopcow read the charges against his son-in-law At the end of the 18-minute hearing in Ruczek, pictured with his son Frankie (right) stared down Christopher Watts as he was led from the court by prison officers Atkinson said she called Watts at work and told him he needed to come home and check on his wife and kids. She also called police, who arrived to the home before Watts did. Watts let officers into the house and police discovered that Shanann's personal belongings like her cellphone, purse and wallet, were still inside. Watts said he and his wife had a discussion about separating around 4am before he left for work. He said they were both crying and emotional, but it was not argumentative. He also told detectives that Shanann told him that she was taking the girls and going to a friend's house. Over the next few days, police searched for Shanann and her girls while Watts did news interviews saying he did not know where they were and begged them to come back home. The day before his arrest, Watts pleaded for his family's safe return saying in an on-camera interview: 'I just want people to know that I want my family back. I want them safe and I want them here'. During his court appearance on Tuesday, Watts hung his head and stayed silent. Shanann's father, Frank Rzucek, wept silently but uncontrollably as the charges were read. Watts remained emotionless in court on Tuesday as the charges were read against him. He answered, 'Yes sir,' several times in a barely audible voice Shanann's father Frank Rzucek (right) spoke to reporters at a press conference thanking everyone for their prayers. Rzucek's son Frankie, 32, (left) also appeared at the press conference but did not speak Rzucek's son Frankie, 32, put his hand on his father's back in support as the older man leaned forward in his seat and cried. At the end of the 18-minute hearing in Greeley, Colorado, Rzucek, 55, stared down Christopher Watts as he was led from the court by prison officers. Watts, 33, whose hands and legs were shackled did not lift his head to acknowledge his father-in-law as he shuffled out of the third-floor courtroom. Watts answered, 'Yes sir,' several times in a barely audible voice as Judge Kopcow read the charges to him. He will next appear in court on November 19. Judge Kopcow told him that if found guilty of the murder charges he could face the death penalty and in any case will never see life outside of prison. District Attorney Michael Rourke has nine weeks to decide whether to seek execution. According to the affidavit, Watts claimed that he had been having an affair with a co-worker at Anadarko Oil and he told his wife he wanted to separate after she returned home following her trip. The case has drawn national media attention to the town of Frederick, as well as hundreds of flowers and toys from friends and strangers Mourners are seen Sunday at the family home where police say the murders were committed He claimed he then left the bedroom and when he returned he watched on the baby monitor as Shanann strangled Celeste. He became enraged, he claimed, and strangled his wife. He then bundled the bodies into his truck and drove 35 miles to a windswept plain outside Roggen, Colorado, where he buried his wife in a shallow grave and dumped his two daughters into a tank filled with crude oil. He later told police where he had hidden the bodies. Watts has been held at the Weld County Jail on the outskirts of Greeley. He is being kept away from other prisoners for his own safety, according to Fox News. Shanann's father made an emotional appearance Monday to thank everyone involved in arresting his son-in-law. 'I'd like to thank everyone in the Frederick Police Department and all the agencies involved for working so hard to find my daughter, granddaughters and Nico,' Rzucek said between sobs. 'I'd like to thank everyone for coming to the candlelight vigil and saying all your prayers. They are gratefully appreciated — and keep the prayers coming for our family.' Since the bodies were found, well-wishers have left toys, dozens of flowers, candles and balloons in the front yard of the $400,000 house on Saratoga Trail in Frederick that the couple bought in 2013.<doc-sep>These two little girls are my world! I love them so much, even when they drive me crazy! Tomorrow is the last day Celeste is in 2yr old PreSchool and Bella is in PreK 1. Growing up so fast. A post shared by Thrive Healthy Fit Mom (@shanannwatts) on May 24, 2018 at 8:06am PDT<doc-sep>The murdered Colorado mom and her two young daughters whose shocking deaths made international headlines were laid to rest Saturday in North Carolina, nearly two weeks after their bodies were found dumped at an oil worksite. About 200 mourners filled the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Pinehurst, to remember North Carolina-native Shanann Watts, 34, and her daughters Bella Marie, 4, and Celeste, 3. Chris Watts, Shannan’s husband and the girls’ father, has been charged with killing all three in their home in Frederick, a small town north of Denver. “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” the Rev. John Forbes read in a short passage from the Gospel of Matthew during the somber service, where the tragic mom–who was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed– was remembered as a “fireball” filled with “pure love.” “She had dreams to be fulfilled” and “wanted to be an exceptional wife and mother,” the pastor said. Her girls, Forbes said, ” were light for all around them. They were filled with love and joy for all those they encountered.” His homily assured mourners that the murdered family, including the unborn son Watts named Nico Lee– were with them as they prayed. “Shanann, Bella Marie, Celeste and Nico are present with us here today,” Forbes said. “Not just their physical bodies, but their souls as well. Their prayers will help sustain us in the days to come.” “She was our pride and joy, a true gift from God,” Shanann’s parents, Frank Rzucek and Sandra Onorati Rzucek, wrote in her obituary. “We were so blessed to have such a joyful and wonderful daughter whose beauty was that of a doll.” Rzucek described his daughter as “nothing but pure love” in a letter read by the priest at the close of the Mass. “You are always Daddy’s little girl,” the note ended. Her brother, Frankie Rzucek, wrote that he was always worried about not being able to protect his sister and nieces because they were so far away in Colorado. “From a young age I always knew my sister was going to be successful and nothing would stand in her way,” his note said. “She was ready to take on the world and we know she did.” Her mother’s note thanked all of the people who reached out to the family during the ordeal, and said to her daughter and grandchildren, “Nonna loves you with all of her soul.” At no point during the hour-long service did anyone refer to Christopher Watts, 33, who authorities said dumped their bodies on his former employer’s property. Shanann Watts’ body was recovered Aug. 16 in a shallow grave near an oil tank on land owned by Anadarko Petroleum. Officials said they found the bodies of the girls in oil drums near their mother’s body. Cops said that Chris Watts was “actively involved in an affair with a coworker,” and a man who claimed to be his secret former gay lover came forward after his arrest. Watts has been charged with murder in the three deaths, as well as unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and has yet to enter a plea, He is being held in protective custody in a Colorado jail because of the publicity the crime received.<doc-sep>
Christopher Lee Watts, the Colorado man who had pleaded publicly for the safe return of his family, claimed that he killed his wife in a fit of rage after he saw her killing their two young daughters, according to court documents released Monday. Watts, 33, of Frederick, a suburb north of Denver, was charged Monday with five counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Shanann Watts, 34, and their daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3. In addition to the first-degree murder counts, he was charged with a single count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. Prosecutors brought two murder charges for each of the girls' deaths, the second of which cited the death of a child who "had not yet attained twelve years of age and the defendant was in a position of trust." Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said Monday that it was "way too early" to discuss whether prosecutors would seek the death penalty. Watts was being held without bond in the Weld County Jail pending a bond hearing on Tuesday. Police said in an affidavit unsealed Monday that Shanann Watts came home after midnight on Aug. 13 — last Monday — after a business trip. According to the affidavit, Christopher Watts told investigators that he awoke around 5 a.m. and "began talking to Shanann about marital separation and informed her he wanted to initiate the separation." Watts said he left for work at about 5:27 a.m., which police said a neighbor's security video confirmed. According to the affidavit, police the next day learned that Watts was involved in an affair with a co-worker, which he had denied in previous interviews. It quoted him as saying he would tell the truth if he were allowed to speak with his father, whereupon he told investigators that Shanann Watts killed the girls and that he killed her in anger. "While in the bedroom, via baby monitor located on Shanann's night stand, he observed Bella 'sprawled' out on her bed and blue and Shanann actively strangling Celeste," Watts claimed, according to the affidavit. "Chris said he went into a rage and ultimately strangled Shanann to death," it read. Police said Watts told them that buried his wife on the property of the oil and natural gas company that he worked for and that he dumped the girls inside the oil tanks. The oil company, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of Texas, fired Christopher Watts the day he was arrested. The causes of death weren't made public, but prosecutors alleged that Shanann Watts, who was 15 weeks pregnant with a boy they'd planned to name Nico, died "as a result of the unlawful termination of her pregnancy." Defense attorneys, meanwhile, sought DNA swabs of the children's necks, informing the court that they had contacted an forensics expert specializing in strangulation. The Wattses presented themselves as a happy family on social media, but a bankruptcy filing from 2015 indicated that they were in significant financial distress, with debt eating up most of the couple's combined income. They said in the bankruptcy filing that they had two savings accounts with less than $10 and a joint account with less than $870. Watts briefly kept up the facade after his family were reported missing last Monday, telling reporters that he was "torn up inside" and that he wanted "everybody to just come home." But shortly before he was arrested, police alleged that Watts had confessed to having killed all three of them. While some friends said there was no indication that Watts might be capable of harming his family, a friend of Shanann Watts' said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday that there were recent red flags and that Shanann Watts wondered whether her husband had been cheating. "He wasn't being the loving Chris that he normally was," the woman, Nickole Atkinson, said her friend had told her. "He wasn't touching or hugging or doing stuff like that." Atkinson said she was likely the last person to have seen Shanann Watts alive after she dropped her off at home from a late business trip at about 2 a.m. on the day she went missing. Shanann Watts missed a doctor's appointment later that day, Atkinson said, and when she called Christopher Watts about the family's whereabouts, he seemed unfazed. She said Christopher Watts told her that the girls were on a play date but that he didn't specify with whom.