A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Vigils & tributes to George Floyd one year since his murder ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Here's what reported grand jury in Trump case may look like NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East (CNN) — Sitting in a Colorado prison, Chris Watts recalled feeling confused and having no plans after killing his pregnant wife and two daughters. In a nearly five-hour interview with law enforcement officials, Watts opened up about his state of mind in the weeks and months leading up to his conviction and revealed what moved him to plead guilty to his crimes. The interview was recorded last month but wasn’t made public until Thursday. Watts, 33, killed his pregnant wife, Shanann, 34, and their two children, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, in August before disposing of their bodies at a secluded oil field where he worked. Colorado prosecutors said he strangled his wife with his bare hands, suffocated the children and loaded them in his vehicle and drove away to hide their remains. He pleaded guilty to the killings and is serving five life sentences after prosecutors and Shanann’s family agreed to drop the possibility of the death penalty. Here’s what we’ve learned from the interview: He didn’t know what to do after the murders Watts hadn’t planned the killings and had not thought about what he would do next. He said he was not “some criminal mind type.” “I had no idea what was going to happen … after everything … I mean I don’t even know how I was acting even normal to people that I was around,” he told investigators last month. He felt like he was not in control of his actions and was surprised anybody could understand him when he was speaking. “Nothing was right,” he said. “It was just like a reaction of something that I wasn’t even thinking about.” He pleaded guilty ‘to end it all’ A few weeks after his arrest, Watts told his attorneys he had killed his family and said he wanted to plead guilty in court. “I didn’t want my attorneys to lie for me for two or four years,” he said. He didn’t want people to relive their pain or be obligated to travel back to Colorado several times. “If we can end this, let’s end it,” he recalled telling his attorneys. “[I]f there is any closure they can have it right then instead of 2022 because it will only get worse for everybody.” Why did he first pin the blame on his wife? He denied for days that he was involved in his daughters’ killings and told police he saw his wife smothering their two daughters, according to court documents. When asked by officials last month, Watts said he hadn’t considered blaming his wife until he spoke to police. “Honestly, I never even thought about the story until you guys mentioned it,” he said. “I just went for it.” He thought his mother and his sister would probably believe his story, he said, because they “just really never liked Shanann.” And some of their friends could believe that, too, because her personality was more dominant than his. He removed his wife’s wedding ring Watts said he took Shanann’s wedding ring off her finger and put it on the counter when he returned home from disposing of the bodies. “It’s like you know, maybe she really actually wanted a divorce. Maybe she didn’t want to fix it and just put it on the counter,” he said. He also mentioned that he took a therapy book that his wife wanted him to read and threw it in the trash. If he had planned things better, he said, he would have taken his wife’s cell phone to the oil site with him. When police searched their home, police found her cell phone between the cushions of a sofa. A polygraph test broke him Days after killing his family, Watts was questioned by investigators at the Frederick Police Department for a while and was given a polygraph test, which he failed. “It was horrible,” he said. “Like, you would ask me questions for like 3-4 hours beforehand and then you do the polygraph, and then it’s like you break down some of my brain too much. It’s like Jell-o.” He agreed to talk to officers that day but when he arrived, he had a bad feeling. “Walking in there that day, just walking into that room, I knew I wasn’t walking out,” he said. He was hesitant to speak with reporters Watts appeared on a local Colorado newscast as a concerned father, pleading for the return of his family a week before he was arraigned in court on multiple charges in their deaths. But he didn’t want to do media interviews. It was a friend of Shanann’s who set them up. “I felt like you know, they would have just kept knocking on my door until I answer it,” he said. While a friend suggested he should not speak to reporters, he said, detectives told him that it was his decision. He felt uncomfortable and “it was like I was just lying to more and more people.” CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct who helped set up media interviews with Watts after his family disappeared.<doc-sep>By Dillon Thomas, Ben Warwick and Lindsey Schwartz DENVER (CBS4) – Newly-released audio recordings in the Chris Watts case paint a clearer picture of the night he murdered his wife, Shanann, and their two daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3. The confession happened in a recorded jailhouse interview at a prison in Wisconsin last month. Warning: some of the contents of these recordings are disturbing. The first topic of discussion between Watts and investigators with the FBI, CBI, and Frederick Police is Trent Bolte, a man who claimed to have had an affair with Watts. The investigators asked about the relationship between Watts and Bolte. Watts categorically denied any knowledge of the man, saying “I’ve never met the guy. I’ve never even been to Wyoming, let alone been up there to see somebody.” Watts continued by explaining that Bolte found him on the messaging app WhatsApp, and Watts said he didn’t have the app and hadn’t even heard of it. Watts tells the FBI that he has pictures of his wife and children in his prison cell. “I have pictures of my wife and kids in my cell, and every morning and every night, I talk to them. I have this book I used to read for CeCe, and I remember that book, I read it to her every night.” Watts later told investigators about the night he murdered his wife and children. Watts said he had intercourse with his pregnant wife after she woke him up in the middle of the night. He said Shanann went back to sleep, while he made his breakfast. Moments later, he went upstairs to the bedroom and sat on top of her. He believed she, at first, thought he was initiating sex again. However, instead, he told her he was no longer in love. He said she started to cry, asked him if he was having an affair, and then threatened to never let him see his kids again. While sitting on top of her, he strangled her. He told investigators the time seemed to pass quickly. “I was getting the sheet off the bed, and (Bella) walked in. She had her little pink blanket with her. She was like, ‘What is wrong with Mommy?’” Watts recalled. “I said, ‘She doesn’t feel good.’ And, that is when I started to carry her downstairs. I attempted to pick her up, but lost grip. I just had to pull.” Watts said Bella watched, as he moved his wife’s lifeless body downstairs. He believed CeCe woke up to the sound of commotion at that time. “(Bella) started crying a little bit. She said, ‘What is wrong with Mommy?’” Watts, sniffling as he confessed to the investigators, said he loaded his wife’s body into his truck, as his kids stayed in the house. “They were just walking around the house. I put my lunch box and stuff in the truck, and the kids,” Watts said. Watts started to cry, as he told investigators about the moment he killed his children. He said his oldest daughter, Bella, sat in the truck as he disposed of his wife’s body. She also watched, as he smothered his youngest daughter, CeCe, with her own blanket. Watts said CeCe did not struggle. Watts once again started to cry, as he recalled returning to the truck to kill his daughter, Bella. “She said, ‘What happened to CeCe?’ She said, ‘is the exact same thing going to happen to me, as CeCe?” Watts recalled. Watts said he couldn’t recall if he answered before he killed his daughter. “I don’t know if I said yes, like a horrible person. Or, if I just put the blanket over her, and did the same thing,” Watts said. “I hear it every day (in prison), when Bella was talking to me.” Watts said “Daddy, no” were the final words of Bella’s life. “I wasn’t thinking. If I was thinking, none of this would have happened,” Watts said. “With any partial hint of what I feel for those girls, and, what I feel for my wife, none of this would have happened. I wasn’t thinking.” RELATED: Chris Watts And Nichol Kessinger Relationship: New Details Out In Recordings | On Dr. Phil Show, Lawyer Says Killer Chris Watts ‘Has Found God’ CBS4 has a team reviewing the latest recordings. This story will be updated throughout the morning. Dillon Thomas is a reporter at CBS4 and a Colorado native. He believes everyone has a story, and would love to share yours! You can find more of his stories by following him on Twitter, @DillonMThomas. Ben Warwick is an Assignment Editor at CBS4 and is a native Coloradan. He loves sports, particularly baseball, and telling stories from around the state. Connect with him on Twitter @BenCBS4.<doc-sep>The Colorado man serving multiple life sentences for killing his family revealed recently in a prison interview that after he murdered his pregnant wife and his youngest daughter, his oldest daughter pleaded with him not to do the same to her. Christopher Watts, 33, pleaded guilty in November to murdering his wife, Shanann, and daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, last August and is serving three consecutive life sentences. Attorneys for Shanann's parents, Sandy and Frank Rzucek, said on "Dr. Phil" that in a Feb. 18 prison interview with the FBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the Frederick Police Department, Watts disclosed brutal details about the day he killed his family. Written notes and audio files from the interview are expected to be released as a part of the Colorado Open Records Act. One of the Rzuceks' lawyers, Steven Lambert, said to Dr. Phillip C. McGraw that Watts told investigators that his daughters did not see him kill their mother, but Bella had walked into the bedroom after he strangled her and was wrapping her in a sheet and asked, "What are you doing with mommy?" He then loaded the girls and his wife's body in his truck and drove them 45 minutes to the property of Anadarko Petroleum, where Watts worked, Lambert said the parents learned from Watts' interview. Watts threw Shanann into a shallow ditch on the work site, and then with "Celeste’s favorite blanket ... he smothers her to death," Lambert said. "At that point, Bella said, 'Please, Daddy, don‘t do to me what you just did to Cece,'" Lambert said. "And then he killed Bella," Lambert said. Shanann Watts, and the two daughters in Colorado. The girls' bodies were found submerged in oil, and Shanann's body was found buried in a shallow grave on the property. "There was a struggle from Bella. ... There were signs that she fought for her life," Lambert said. "I think of the things that have been hard for the Rzuceks to comprehend and to accept in this reality, what happened to Bella in those last moments have been the hardest," Lambert added. "Obviously the question becomes how much were Bella and Cece aware of what might have been happening in those 45 minutes on that drive to where their bodies were placed." Watts first told police that his wife and daughters had vanished and he didn't know where they were. Then, he confessed that he had killed his wife, who was 15 weeks pregnant, because he had caught her in the act of killing the girls. However, in the prison interview, he says he and Shanann had a fight before the murders, during which he said he wanted a divorce, at which point Shanann threatened to take away the girls.<doc-sep>
Frederick, Colo. — Four-year-old Bella Watts pleaded for her life, just moments after she watched her father kill her younger sister "CeCe," according to lawyer Steven Lambert. Lambert, of the Grant & Hoffman Law Firm, represents murder victim Shanann Watts' parents Frank and Sandy Rzucek, CBS Denver reports. The law firm shared new details about the murder with Dr. Phil in an exclusive interview. According to lawyer Thomas Grant, Chris Watts confessed new details to investigators after finding faith in prison. Watts spoke for hours with police on Feb. 18 from a prison in Wisconsin. "He is claiming that he is remorseful, and he has found God," Grant told Dr. Phil. Lawyers confirmed Sandy Rzucek was not given access to the audio recording in advance, but was briefed on the discussion by law enforcement. Rzucek wished to share the information with the public, prior to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation releasing the redacted audio recording Thursday. The Rzuceks hoped sharing the story would help clear their daughter's name, after some believed Chris Watts' original story that she killed the children. "They 100 percent know their daughter was not capable of hurting those kids, and would never do that. Now, to hear him admit it, is important to them," Grant said. Christopher Watts killed his wife, Shanann and their two daughters, Bella and Celeste in August. CBS News While many believed the Watts daughters were murdered in the family home in Firestone, lawyers say Shanann was the only one who died in the house. Lambert said Watts killed his wife in their bedroom, after she threatened to take his children away because he wanted a divorce. "In that fight he confessed to having an affair," Lambert told Dr. Phil. After Shanann was strangled, Lambert said Bella Watts walked in the room, to find her father wrapping Shanann's body in a blanket. "(Bella asked) 'What are you doing with Mommy?'" Lambert said. "What he said was, 'Mommy is sick. And, we need to take her to the hospital to make her better. From our understanding, Bella did not witness the actual killing of her mother." Video surveillance from a neighbor's home showed Watts backing his work vehicle in to the driveway shortly after. Later, he admitted to loading Shanann's body in to the back floorboard of his truck. According to Lambert, Watts then told his daughters to get in to the truck, and the family left the home. After a roughly 45 minute drive, Watts arrived at the location where he would bury his wife. Lambert told Dr. Phil that Bella Watts then watched from the truck, as Watts disposed of Shanann's body, and murdered CeCe. "He walks over, takes CeCe's favorite blanket, and smothers her. Then, he takes her body, takes it out of the vehicle. At this point, Bella had unbuckled herself from the vehicle. He went back to the vehicle," Lambert said. "Bella said, 'Please, Daddy, don't do to me what you just did to CeCe.'" Lambert said Watts murdered Bella last, moments after she pleaded for her life. "There was a struggle from Bella. I believe there were signs that she fought for her life," Lambert said. "Of the things that have been hard for the Rzuceks to comprehend and to accept in this reality, what happened to Bella in those last moments has been the hardest." Lambert emphasized that the Rzuceks did not personally hear the prison confession by Watts, but said the previous details were provided to his clients by law enforcement. The interview with the lawyers aired only on Dr. Phil. Frank and Sandy Rzucek, and their son Fanky Jr., interviewed with the show as well, with their segment scheduled to air Monday, March 10. Lambert told CBS Denver he spoke, personally, with Chris Watts several times on the phone. Watts, serving several life sentences in prison, was "eerie" to speak with according to Lambert. "He's sounds friendly, and almost glad to hear from us," one lawyer said. With public speculation that Watts was trading the new details of the murder for better living situations in prison, lawyers said they believed that was not the case. The Grant & Hoffman Law Firm told Dr. Phil they believed he found new faith, and felt it was time to share the information. "We don't believe he has been offered anything, or (that) there is really anything that could be given to him, or traded," Grant said.