MURDER DAD CHRIS WATTS BLAMES WIFE SHANNAN FOR NOT BEING LIKE HIS LATEST AFFAIR

Summary

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: "MURDER DAD CHRIS WATTS BLAMES WIFE SHANNAN FOR NOT BEING LIKE HIS LATEST AFFAIR"

Date: November 25, 2025
Host: Nancy Grace
Guest: Sherilyn Cadle (author of The Murders of Christopher Watts and The Many Faces of Christopher Watts: A Five Year Update)

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Episode Overview

In this gripping installment, Nancy Grace investigates the tragic and infamous Chris Watts case, focusing on Watts’s shocking justification for murdering his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their two daughters, Bella and Celeste. Nancy is joined by Sherilyn Cadle, who has spent extensive time interviewing Watts and writing two books about the case. The episode explores the timeline, details, and psychological underpinnings of the crime, Watts’s shifting blame to both his wife and mistress, and the monstrous depths of deceit on display both before and after the murders.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Disappearance & Initial Investigation

• Timeline recap: Shanann Watts is dropped home by friend Nicole Atkinson at 2 a.m. after a work trip, then misses a doctor’s appointment the next morning, prompting concern.
• Nicole Atkinson: “I dropped her off at her house at 2 in the morning last night...and I haven’t been able to get a hold of her this morning. She’s pregnant.” (03:46)
• Chris’s shifting stories: Chris tells conflicting tales—Shanann left for a playdate with the girls, was picked up, etc.—which immediately cast suspicion.
• Nancy notes: “When your story changes, that is a problem.” (12:56)

2. Chris Watts's Deceptive Demeanor

• Nancy and guests analyze Watts's on-camera behavior: organized, cold, giving police tours of his home and drawing attention to missing children’s blankets (“He knows exactly where those blankets are. They were with the children...when he murdered them.” (09:12)).
• Emotional plea on local TV is dissected as feigned: “That house was not complete. That was your doing.” (10:32)
• Neighbor’s suspicions: “I’ve heard them full out screaming at each other...he gets crazy.” (10:56)

3. Discovery of the Bodies

• Shanann’s body is found in a shallow grave, with baby Nico expelled post-mortem (“coffin birth”). The girls’ bodies are recovered from oil drums at Watts’s worksite.
• Nancy: “Bella and Celeste, these two babies were found forced...into oil drums...their bodies decomposed in that liquid not far from where mommy was buried.” (13:52)

4. Chris Watts’s Confessions & Blameshifting

• On tape, Chris continues lying: He pleads innocence, expresses (fake) love and longing.
• Watts: “You have to trust me...I did nothing to them...I had nothing to do with this act of evil...” (14:53)
• Admission to murder: Sherilyn Cadle recounts Chris’s step-by-step retelling—rolling Shanann off the bed, smothering the girls after an initial failed attempt, murdering them in the presence of each other, and disposing of the bodies.

5. Watts’s Rationalization: Blaming Shanann & the Mistress

• Watts claims Shanann was to blame for not being more like his mistress, making him “look little.”
• Sherilyn Cadle: “He then turned to blame his girlfriend, that she was dark, and somehow she transferred this evil dark spirit onto him...Just another way of blaming.” (33:42)
• Nancy: “He tries to blame it on anger...Like anger is some type of beast that did the deed.” (51:44)
• Nancy (on Shanann): “She made the money, she takes care of the children, she designs the home, she cleans the home. Wait, how does she make him look small? I thought you could only do that all on your own.” (43:20)

6. The Grisly Details: Step-by-Step Atrocity

• Cadle shares what Chris told her in letters about the murders:
  • Shanann was smothered after being pulled off the bed.
  • Bella and Celeste witnessed much of the aftermath and were driven to the oil site with their mother’s body at their feet.
  • Chris killed the girls at the oil site; Cece was forced into a tight opening (“an 8-inch hole”) and Chris admits “he had to stomp her in.” (27:44)
  • Last words and desperate questions from the girls (“Daddy, you’re not going to do the same to me that you did to Bella, are you?”)
  • Watts describes driving away listening to Metallica’s “Battery.”

7. Watts’s Delusions & Spiritualizing

• Watts, in letters, claims to Cadle that the girls “woke up,” which he frames as a demonic event rather than his failed attempt at murder: “He thought it was demon...he thought that there was some sort of a darkness over him that made him kill...” (31:07)
• Nancy: “He knew the night that he put those girls to bed...that was the last night I would be tucking my babies in.” (31:31)

8. Deep Dive with Sherilyn Cadle: Author’s Prison Conversations

• Cadle relates Watts’s affect: “He just acted like the nicest guy...hang his head, not look me straight in the eye. I could tell he was very ashamed. At one point I said, Christopher, look at me...Well, he was lying so much...” (24:47)
• On Watts’s arrogance: “He never considered, never gave one thought that he would ever be caught. He thought he was so smart that he could literally pull this off and never be caught...” (34:32)
• On his personality: “He wanted me to just feel that he was the good boy next door. And he took on a role with me almost as that I was a mother figure to him...” (35:45)

9. Unspoken Horrors & Unanswered Questions

• Cadle shares that Watts admitted some secrets would “go to the grave”—including, possibly, drugging Shanann (with oxycodone) in an earlier attempt to induce miscarriage.
• Nancy speculates the “real secret” may be even worse: “I think it’s something much worse...something he did to Shanann or the girls or to their bodies. Something that’s so horrible he won’t confess it.” (40:14)

10. The Cult of Chris Watts

• Despite evidence, Watts continues to receive love letters and money from admirers.
• Cadle’s warning: “My takeaway is...there’s something in him that he thinks he can just woo any woman. And woman beware.” (53:48)
• Nancy: “He confessed. And people still believe he didn’t do it.” (56:13)

11. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Nancy Grace (on the details):

  • “He has a straight face. This guy can lie like a rug.” (09:56)
  • “I find all of this so hypocritical. I mean, he’s got the children’s pictures up on his wall in his jail cell, but he was of sane mind at the time he murdered them.” (33:00)

• Sherilyn Cadle (on her impressions):

  • “He wanted to clear his wife’s name so he was willing to speak with me...His mother was very much pushing for it...” (20:33)
  • “He never did shed a tear.” (52:00)
  • “He had a job, a decent job, but he only made $60,000 a year. She made twice what he made. And he felt belittled, he said, by her.” (44:32)

• On the fan club/cult of personality:

  • Nancy: “Why am I seeing him without a shirt on? Why are you doing that to me?...You might as well show me a picture of a coral snake or an anaconda or a poisonous spider. That’s how I view him.” (55:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Discovery/Disappearance Timeline: 03:46–08:34
• Analyzing Watts’s Lie & Police Interview: 09:12–14:53
• Details of the Crime (Letters, Motive, Method): 19:03–30:56
• Blameshifting (Wife, Mistress, Demons): 31:07–34:32
• Author Impressions & “Unspoken Horrors”: 35:45–41:47
• Psychological Dissection and Motive: 42:29–52:00
• Watts’s Fanbase, Public Reaction: 53:48–56:22

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Conclusion & Takeaway

Nancy Grace and Sherilyn Cadle shine a blistering light on Chris Watts’s manipulative, narcissistic psychology—his attempts to paint himself as a victim, the incessant shifting of blame, and the monstrous reality of his actions. Through firsthand prison visits, letters, and analysis, they make it crystal clear that Watts was calculated, prepared, and unrepentant, motivated by ego, infidelity, and selfishness. The episode is a cautionary tale not just about domestic violence and sociopathy but the dangerous allure manipulators hold—even from behind bars.

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End note:
Nancy caps the show by honoring Corporal Michael Roberts, a fallen officer, in sharp contrast to the evil at the episode’s core, and delivers a stern warning to listeners about the dangers of narcissistic manipulators like Watts.

Transcript

[Nancy Grace]

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[Sherilyn Cadle]

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[Sherilyn Cadle]

Because I'm concerned about a friend of mine. I dropped her off at her house at 2 in the morning last night because we were out of town together and we were on the way back to the airport and issues and she's pregnant. I haven't been able to get a hold of her this morning.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

Did you tell your mother in law that she went to a friend's today? Yeah. Who was what friend? Her close went to a friend's house. So that's all I knew. Who was she supposed to go to? That's all I knew. That's all she told me.

[Nancy Grace]

I wear my sunglasses at night and indoors. Okay. Did you see him going back and forth and back and forth? I'm just a trial lawyer, but I know that that's off and with good reason. Take a listen to this.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

My daddy is a hero. He helps me grow up strong.

[Nancy Grace]

He help me I'm snuggle too.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

He reads me books. He ties my shoes. If you're a hero, Flew and Bl.

[Advertisement Voice]

Shanann Rucek never expected to fall in love with a man who sent her a random friend request. But two years later, she married Chris Watts. Just after their first anniversary, the couple welcomes baby Bella and she becomes a big sister to Celeste at 2 years old.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Despite financial struggles, the family is incredibly.

[Advertisement Voice]

Happy to learn they are expecting a little boy.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

And break the news to Shanann's parents.

[Nancy Grace]

On a summer vacation, Baby Nico was never born unless you count coffin birth. After Shanann Watts was murdered and placed in a shallow grave, her body expelled baby boy Nico. This raised the first red flag of.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Alarm calling because I'm concerned about a friend of mine. I dropped her off at her house at 2 in the morning last night because we were out of town together and we were on the way back from the airport and. And she's pregnant and I haven't been.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

Able to get a hold of her.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

This morning, and I've gone to her house and her car is there and stuff like that, but she won't answer the door, she won't answer phone calls.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

She won't answer text messages.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

And I'm just really, really concerned. And she had a doctor's appointment this morning and she didn't go to it. And I'm just. I don't know what to do. I've called him and talked to him, and he said that she went on a play date with her other two daughters. But, like, if she went on a play date, they're both in car seats. Why would she not take her car?

[Nancy Grace]

Shannan's friend, rightfully disturbed. You know, that's called routine evidence. Not stereotypical or normal evidence. Evidence of a routine. Why would Shanann take her children on play dates with their car seats still in the back of her car? Shannan would never have done that. What more do we know? Listen.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Pregnant Shanann Watts sets off again for a work trip with close friend Nicole Atkinson. Shanann confides her marriage has been strained, but she's hopeful to reconcile. When she returns, the pair's flight is delayed and Atkinson drops Shanann off at home just before 2am Monday. Shanann has a 9am doctor's appointment, but the expectant mom misses it. Watts says Shanann told him she was taking the girls to a playdate when he left for work at 5:15. No idea where Shanann or their children are.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, what about that? Missed doctor's appointment. Shanann pregnant with baby Nico at the time. So rightfully and sop, Standard operating procedure. They speak to Chris Watts, the husband.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

Any friends she that you know, she would be hanging out with? I mean, I know. I guess her. Her parents are out of state, across country. North Carolina. Oh, yeah. So that's not happening. All the girls. Blankies are gone. Their blankets they sleep with. They don't leave anywhere without them.

[Advertisement Voice]

Good.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

Nothing else appears to be missing, though. Just stuff you'd take for a quick trip. She tell you anything about leaving? Moving out? Not moving out. I mean, last time I talked to her was this morning. She said she's gonna take the kids to a friend's house. And then she asked where she was gonna be. And then I've texted her today. I've never heard anything. But the car's here.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Car?

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

Unless somebody came, picked her up. But the people that I know, nobody's heard from her. Nobody's seen.

[Nancy Grace]

Am I just projecting or can you tell? He's lying right there. You know, I picked up A lot. If we could put that on mute and see the video again. You see Chris Watts leading the police along. They're trying to find his wife, his pregnant wife. Shannan, check out the closet. That I noticed immediately. Everything is in perfect order. She wanted to give him the perfect home. She had designed it, she had painted it. I look how organized. She even has her husband's clothes color coordinated. See the sports shirts on the end? Then you've got dark, then you've got blue, then you've got plaid, orange, white. It goes on all the way around. She had in her mind the perfect home, the perfect marriage, the perfect family. Where does he fit in? Another thing. Oh, yeah, another thing that jumped out at me. As he's walking through the home, he points out the baby's blankets are missing. He knows exactly where those blankets are. They were with the children, Bella and Celeste, when he murdered them. And he has a straight face. This guy can lie like a rug. So when we are judging someone's demeanor, you can really be fooled. This is Chris Watts, AKA Killer dad. But you've got to see this. The inevitable begging for their return.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

Shannan, Bella, Celeste, if you're out there, just come back. Like, if somebody has her, just please bring her back. I need to see everybody. I need to see everybody again. This house is not complete with. Without anybody here. Please bring her back.

[Nancy Grace]

That's one of our friends at Denver 7. That was his emotional plea for his wife to come home, for the unknown perpetrator to bring her back. That the house was not complete, that was your doing. Once you're doing in such a horrific manner. And even the neighbor noticed his behavior was very odd. Uncharacteristically odd. Watch.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

You just want to go talk to him. I'm going to get his info real quick. No. Boats and stuff in and out of the garage ever, right? And it doesn't look like he came from right here. It looks like he came from down the street. To be completely honest with you, my wife and I were kind of wondering when she was on vacation if something happened, because I've heard them full out screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. And he gets crazy.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Does he?

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

That's pretty recently, yeah. I'm guessing that's why she went and visited people, is because she wanted to get away from the situation.

[Nancy Grace]

I love the neighbor. I want him to be my neighbor. So from his door cam, he could see what was happening at Shanann's home she shared with Watts. And he could see Watts loading things in and out of the car, he could see Shanann's car parked there. Now, he referred to her going out of town. She had gone out of town prior to her murder. She was with her family in North Carolina with the two little girls. She did not leave the two little girls with daddy. Took them with her. The neighbor noticing uncharacteristically odd behavior on the part of Chris Watts. But then there's more.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

We waited the time we were told, the mom called him again. He said he was still on it and to wait another 45 minutes. So he's just been giving us false times and everything. And we know he's been lying cuz his stories aren't good enough, right? Tell everybody different stories. Because we have one story, she's out, she's with a friend right now. And then there's another story. She's on a play date with her kids with another friend. And then she left in the middle of the night. So he's told us three different stories.

[Nancy Grace]

So now that's the son of Shanann's best friend, Nicole Atkinson speaking. Now, I've always believed and observed that if your story gets embellished, like you add facts to it, that's totally understandable. Maybe you were not asked the right questions. Maybe you remembered something in addition, like, hey, now I remember X. But when your story changes, that is a problem. All right? You're hearing Nicole Atkinson's son describe how Chris Watts story was changing. That's a big red flag. And then of course, it culminates here.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

We have been able to recover a body that we're quite certain is Shanann Watts body. We have strong reason to believe that we know where the bodies of the children are and recovery efforts are in process on that.

[Nancy Grace]

That's from our friends at abc. Her body recovered and recovered in a horrible way. Pregnant Shanann was found buried in a shallow grave. I told you earlier that she then baby Nico was born by coffin birth. Her body expelled her only son. She had Bella and Celeste, her two little girls. Not far from that shallow grave, Bella and Celeste, these two babies were found forced, their bodies forced into oil drums, long cylindrical drums. And their bodies decomposed in that liquid not far from where mommy was buried. Now, of course, Watts was then questioned. Listen to what he had to say. And Watts demeanor.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

You have to trust me that when I tell you that these two beautiful girls right here, I did nothing to them and to my beautiful wife, I did nothing to her. Like, you have to trust me and believe me, like, I know you don't know me as a person. You've known me for, like, two and a half, three hours. And I don't know what your opinion is, but you have to realize that these two beautiful girls right here and my wife. I had nothing to do with the disappearance. Like, they vanished. They were taken. Someone has taken them. They're safe somewhere we don't know. I had nothing to do with these. With this act of evil cruelty, whatever has happened here, because my love for these two girls and my wife, like, I don't want anything to happen to them. I've never wanted anything to happen to them. Like, I need them. I want them just to run through that front door and just grab me or just barrel. Just tackle me, knock me to the floor, bust my head. I don't care. The amount of love I have for my family is exponential, and it's never gonna die. And they need. I want them back. Okay? I have to have them back. Listen, I don't think anything like that could happen. I don't think I ever do it. But I did. I know. Keep going. She accused me of it. I denied it. I. As. She was on her ass, horrible for it. Like, she was pregnant, and it was. I don't want to. I didn't hurt her. I cheated on her. I hurt her emotionally. I cheated on her.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Mm.

[Nancy Grace]

Listen.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

Your girl, Did they leave after that for a long time. So she started. She started. Her begins.

[Nancy Grace]

Oh, my stars. Not only does he murder her, he then blames her that she is the bad person. There's a tiny bit more. Listen.

[Friend/Neighbor of Shanann Watts]

And then what happened? I looked at her, and I just got on top of her. And you did the same thing. Okay. Did you have to knock her down? No, she was already on the ground. I was like. I just pulled her off on the bed and. Oh. Kind of one movement. Okay, so it's not as though you. I just pulled her off. No. Like, I went up, pulled her down and did that. I didn't know. I lost it. Sure. Okay, so Shanann was laying on the ground on the bed. On the bed? Yeah. Like, when she was on top of the seat, I saw what was happening, pulled her, went down to the bed. What kind of child? Queen. You know, I think it's a. It's probably a queen or some sort of. And then finally, my babies are gone, And I put my hands around my wife's neck and did that same thing. Did Shannan fight back at all? You did that? The rage that I had after seeing that, like, not much. How do you know she's amlisted.

[Nancy Grace]

Joining me right now is a very special guest that I've wanted to speak to again for a very long time, Sheryl Lynn Cadle, the author of the Murders of Christopher Watts and the Many Faces of Christopher Watts, A Five Year Update. Sheryl Lynn, thank you for being with us. What led you to speak to Chris Watts?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Well, just as you saw him on the front porch that morning, it seemed more like he was trying to not laugh. And I told my husband there's a lot here to uncover and I'm going to write this man and I want to write a book about him. I felt very led to do so. I just felt like it was meant to be. And so I did write him and he responded and accepted my proposal to write a book.

[Nancy Grace]

Wow. I have never been interested in hearing what he had to say, but I'm curious the way I would be curious, like looking at a spider under a glass case. I'm curious in that way like when you go to the snake house at the zoo. So I'm very curious. Curious what Chris Watts had to say. Tell me everything. Start at the beginning.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Well, the very beginning was he wanted to clear his wife's name so he was willing to speak with me. He invited me to come to the prison. Actually. His mother was very much pushing for it and I think it's because they thought they could control the narrative of a grandmother that they thought was someone that they could control, that he could control. So I went to the prison and I sat with him the first day for five hours as he poured out everything that had happened but telling me there were some things that he couldn't tell me face to face, but he would write them to me in a letter. He said that there were guards listening and that type of thing and I don't know what he was trying to protect at that point.

[Nancy Grace]

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Now that's curious. He didn't want to talk because guards were listening.

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[Nancy Grace]

What would that have to do with him telling the truth just because a guard was listening Right, exactly.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

But this is a man who wants people to think that he is the good boy next door. That's the way he came off to everyone. And he's a monster. Absolutely. A monster in sheep's clothing. When you go. When I went to the prison to meet with him, he just acted like the nicest guy and would hang his head, not look me straight in the eye. I could tell he was very ashamed. At one point I said, christopher, look at me. Stop looking down. Look at me when you talk to me. I want you to look at me. Well, he was lying so much. I realized later, because he was blaming what he did and other things. So we. From there, he started writing me letters, many letters. 12 page letters. And he. One of the things he was trying to hide is the morning that he killed Shannan, he. The girls were still alive. As he was rolling Shanann off of the bed and wrapping her in a sheet, Bella walked in the bedroom and said, what's wrong with Mommy? What's happened? And he told her that mommy was sick and they were going to take her to the hospital. But he was mortified that that child woke up. As he put it, not far behind her was CeCe. CeCe was stumbling. My opinion, she may have had a little bit of brain damage from where he had smothered them and thought that he had completed the job. It takes more than a couple of minutes to do that. And I think he stopped too soon.

[Nancy Grace]

Wow.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

One of the most horrible things that can be imagined is he put those two baby girls in the backseat of his truck. Bella asking why they weren't in a car seat or a seat belt, and him telling them it was okay, it'd be okay this time. He laid Shanann across the bottom of the floorboard of that truck under the girl's feet. And the girls kept saying, something stinks, Daddy, something smells. What's wrong? What's wrong with Mommy? He took them to the oil field where he had them wait while he rolled Shanann out onto the ground. He pulled her over, away from the truck, and he buried her where those baby girls could watch, if you can even imagine. As he rolled Shannan over, he noticed that Nico had been born. And he was, like, amazed at what had just happened. He went back to the truck. He smothered Cece, he said first, and then he smothered Bella. Well, first when he smothered Cece, he said he took her up to the oil battery and put her in. But he put her in an 8 inch hole. Now, if you think of ordering an individual pizza. It's about eight inches around. And he put her in this eight inch hole and he had to stomp her in. He couldn't just drop her in. He had to stomp her in. And he heard the splash as her body hit the oil. Then he went back to the truck and Cece said, daddy, you're not going to do the same thing to me that you did to Bella, are you? But he took that child and he put a blanket over her head and he smothered her. And she fought him. She may have only been four, but that child fought him with everything she had. And it has still made me wonder to this day if Cece may, or, I'm sorry, if Bella may have been alive when he dropped her in that oil battery. Because she had tearing in her mouth, she had bruises. It kept me awake at night. Nancy. It is the most horrible thing of thinking of what he could have possibly done to his own flesh and blood. And the reasons why he did it are even more horrible. And he pulled away listening to a song by Metallica, and I just.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Sherilyn Catle. He pulled away? You mean drove away in his car listening to Metallica?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes.

[Nancy Grace]

What is his demeanor as he's telling you this, or was this in the letters?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Some was in the letters and some was in person. In person, he could not tell me that they woke back up, but he said in the letters that, you know, he didn't know what else to do with their bodies at that point. He was afraid they were going to wake back up again. He thought, according to him, that it was a spiritual thing, that he. That they woke back up and he had to kill them the second time. He did not look at it as. He just fumbled the murder the first time. So he was afraid they would wake back up.

[Nancy Grace]

I don't understand that. How did he think them reviving was a, quote, spiritual thing, demonic? I mean, what is he talking about?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yeah, he thought it was demon. He thought. He thought that there was some sort of a darkness over him that made him kill Shannan and the girls. Something that he had been dealing with for a couple of weeks, when, in fact, those couple of weeks were his planning stage. He. He would dream, daydream about how he was going to kill them. He knew the night that he put those girls to bed, he says in a letter to me, I knew that was the last night I would be tucking my babies in. He knew they would never wake up again and carry on another day. And so he waited for Shanann to waylay her. He surprised her with the way that he treated her. He had sex with her before he murdered her.

[Nancy Grace]

When he's talking to you and divulging these details, what is his demeanor?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

He didn't want to look at me. He was acting, and I want to emphasize acting, that he was remorseful. Telling me about how he's having nightmares and prison, how Cece is visiting him in prison. And he thought that she knocked off some papers off of a table right next to him, and. And he jumped because he was afraid she was gonna. The table was gonna fall on top of her and hurt her. Really. So his demeanor was as a concerned dad as I'm. You know, I can't believe I did what I did, but it was so fake. Just like the porch.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, I find all of this so hypocritical. I mean, he's got the children's pictures up on his wall in his jail cell, but he was of sane mind at the time he murdered them. In fact, isn't it true, Sherrilyn Cadle, that he murdered Shanann and Bella and Celeste and baby Nico because he wanted to be with another woman? And the entire time Shanann was visiting her family in North Carolina, he used that opportunity to hit on a co worker.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Exactly. And they had a six week affair up until the date that Shanann came home. And he didn't want to let go of her. He didn't want to go back to his real life and give up his girlfriend. But now, after murdering his family and being found guilty of everything, or he admitted to it, he then turned to blame his girlfriend, that she was dark, and somehow she transferred this evil dark spirit onto him, which made him kill his family. Just another way of blaming. And one thing I wanted to say, because we see him so fidgety and everything on the videos at the neighbor's house and talking to the police, he told me he never considered, never gave one thought that he would ever be caught. He thought he was so smart that he could literally pull this off and never be caught. And he could go off and have his life with his girlfriend and everything would just be wonderful. Yeah, that's a monster. That's a real monster.

[Nancy Grace]

When he would talk to you, Sherlyn, what. What was your impression of him? Because I find that really not only interesting, like I said, studying a rattlesnake, but I find it probative. In other words, it proves something to me that he was so arrogant that he believed he would never be caught that he could manipulate everyone. The girlfriend, well, the many girlfriends he had. His wife, his children, his own family, the justice system, his co workers. I mean, he'd been hooking up with women for one night stands forever.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Right, right. And Christopher is good looking, or he was at one time he was good looking. I believe that this crime has eaten him. He's not as good looking as he used to be, but he's a good looking man and he comes across very sweet. He was very gallant in the way he even treated me. He was very kind. He wanted me to just feel that he was the good boy next door. And he took on a role with me almost as that I was a mother figure to him. And he would tell me that because, I mean, I went into it at 60 years old. I had no intentions of any kind of a romance. And I made that up for front in my letter. That's not what my letter was about. And I find it interesting that he has a lot of issues from growing up that he may think is okay. But I would be very concerned if my son had those kind of issues. And I think that it was.

[Nancy Grace]

What kind of issues?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

He would go into the bathroom at home and his mother told me this. He would go into the bathroom at home and she would hear him crying and saying, oh God, please forgive me, please forgive me, please forgive me for what I did. Please forgive me. She said that she would ask him about that and. And he wouldn't answer her.

[Advertisement Voice]

And.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

And so she decided to leave him alone because she felt like he had his right to moments of privacy. Well, that is far beyond privacy. That was sick. Something had happened. Something. A 12 year old boy, I don't.

[Nancy Grace]

Know so much that something happened or that he did something sounds to me that did something that he was anxious to be forgiven.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes, yes, absolutely. And so he would do things like that. And he was very much kind of a loner. He did have a friend that he grew up with that lived close by to them or next door or something. But I think there was a lot of dark things in his childhood that he did. And I don't think it was killing the cat down the street. I think there was some things that he did. He told me once in the jail that there was some things he would take to his grave that he would never talk about. One of those things.

[Nancy Grace]

Oh my God. Whoa, whoa, hold on. My head just blew off. Let me attach it. He's murdered his pregnant wife, the unborn baby, his two daughters, Bella and Celeste. But there's Something so bad he won't tell you.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes. And that was one of those things happened during the surrounding the murders. I would question him about different things. I think the thing that he wouldn't talk about, that he was going to take to his grave. I think it had to do with the fact that he gave Shanann a heavy dose of oxycodone when he had met up with her at her family's house in South Carolina. He spent the night, the first night at the house there with the family. And he so wanted to get rid of the unborn baby that he gave Shanann. He made her a shake and he put oxycodone in that shake, thinking that it would cause her to miscarry. The poor girl drank it, unaware of what he was doing to her. And it made her very violently ill. She threw up all night. He couldn't even console her. He allowed her to literally sleep in the bathroom with her head on the toilet, vomiting and sick. Her brother had to come in and help console her, she was so sick. But she did not lose her baby. I believe that one of the things that he will take to his grave with him is who gave him that oxycodone. He wouldn't tell me.

[Nancy Grace]

Hold on just a moment. Hold on. So disagree. And I admit that you're the expert because you've had all these conversations with him, but he would sell anybody down the river. He's now blaming Shanann. She was the problem. She was a control freak. He's blaming the girlfriend. It's all her fault. She was a, quote, dark spirit, like cult mom Lori Vallow said. He blames everybody else for everything. I think it's something much worse than who gave him the oxycontin that he slipped into her drink to kill the baby and maybe her. I don't think that's it. He would sell out anybody and their mother. I think it's something worse than that. Something he did to Shanann or the girls or to their bodies. Something that's happening so horrible he won't confess it. Now. Let's just let our minds follow that through to its logical conclusion.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Right? Right. And I have wondered if the girls were alive when they hit that water. That has been because it's. He was a time crunch getting out of there. You know, he had to. To appear like everything was okay at work at 8 o'. Clock. And so it took time to smother those girls. It took time to walk them up those battery steps. If you've seen a picture of Them, they're huge. They're huge. They're tall up in the air. So were they alive?

[Nancy Grace]

So he had sex with Shanann right before he killed her. I wonder if rape kits were done on Bella. And so Celeste, I wonder if he, let me just say, euphemistically tampered with Shanann's body. Post mortem, whatever it is, has got to be something that's so horrible he can't bring himself to state it. And I don't know what could be more horrible than what we already know he did what he's confessed to. Question, how is he twisting this around and making this all Shannan's fault?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Shannan was an accomplished woman in her own right. She. She sold a company thrive that she worked for and she was very successful. They gave her a car allowance for new Lexus. When she would go to the. The large campaigns that they have every year, she won awards. She had something like 400,000 people under her. She was very accomplished woman and she liked to spend money, she liked to impress. They lived in a huge home. She made him look very little in his eyes. He felt like she made him look little. He told me that she would.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, wait, wait, wait. What? How does her working her fingers to the bone and creating this beautiful home that she artfully designed. I've looked at every room that she designed. She painted, she furnished. Now, how does she makes the money? She brings home the money. She takes care of the children, she designs the home, she cleans the home. Wait, how does she make him look small? I thought you could only do that all on your own.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

That's only in his eyes, not in. I don't believe Shanann felt that way about him. I know for a fact his in laws did not feel that way about him. But he had to have some way to blame all this. See, they went on trips. It shows right here. You're looking at them at a. A beach. That trip was furnished by her. By her company that she worked for. She earned those things. And he had a job, a decent job, but he only made 60,000 a year. She made twice what he made. And he felt belittled, he said, by her. She was very.

[Nancy Grace]

Ooh. But he didn't mind spending her money, did he? Somebody had to pay for all those motels he shacked up in.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yeah, that's all the dinners he took his girlfriend to and the gifts that he bought her. That's right. Yes. And so Shanann was, like you said, working her fingers to the bone. That girl worked day and night to do what she accomplished. And yet he would say that she was just, you know, just onto him all the time and, you know, just whatever he could use to blame her forever.

[Nancy Grace]

Yeah, because she probably knew he was cheating or at least suspected. Look, you can't have a house that beautiful that you design and you keep neat as a pen and not look at your husband's credit cards when he doesn't show up for supper.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Right?

[Nancy Grace]

Right.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Right.

[Nancy Grace]

Isn't that why we all have life360?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes. Right. Yeah. No, no. She, she was blindsided in the beginning. I believe she trusted him because she was so busy. I don't think she had time to follow him around and see what he was doing. And so in the beginning I think she was very trusting.

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A doubly certified OB GYN doctor and a licensed acupuncturist doctor walk into a room. What do they talk about? GLP1 of course. GLP1 slows digestion, leading to bloating and discomfort versus Verasity Self Care's metabolism ignite product, which supports your digestion and gut health. GLP1 side effects can lead to nausea, fatigue and muscle loss, whereas metabolism Ignite is powered by plants and there are no side effects. Visit veracityselfcare.com and receive 15% off your first order with promo code iHeart. That's veracityselfcare.com crime stories with Nancy Grace.

[Nancy Grace]

Sherlyn Yes, I want to throw something at you. I mean, I know you're not a shrink, but I'm just thinking about her and I admire her. Well, she's beautiful and she always is so put together and she's trying so hard to get that Hallmark family and home and keep it perfect and beautiful. And she has to wonder, what's wrong with me? Why is he not coming home at night? Why is he at the Dew Drop in motel? I mean, she had to be suspicious and that probably manifested by her being quote on him like, what are you doing? Where have you been? And I'm sure he resented that. But this beautiful woman on the end, not her. I'm talking about Shanann. That's one of his many, many girlfriends. Her, Shanann. She was always feeling like she was overweight, like she wasn't pretty enough, like she wasn't exciting and funny and witty and blah, blah, blah. Fill in the blank. Because of him. Right?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Right. He didn't do anything to feed her ego, but he wanted his fed. Well, and he went to the gym and he lost weight and he buffed up and she had to have known something's going on here because she was a smart girl. She was just, you know, she wasn't stupid by any means. And so, I mean, we all have things about us that we we wish we looked different or we were weighed less.

[Nancy Grace]

What is wrong with men? I don't get it. I don't get it. Of course, I guess you could say the same thing about some women. But they've got it all. If you can't be happy with her and the beautiful girls and the baby boy and the picture perfect home and the perfect neighborhood, I mean, what does it take? I don't know. I Don't know. What does it take? Take. That's everybody's dream. But listen to this. I'm quoting from Sherilyn Cadle's book. Now she's got two of them. I know. If Nikki and I were going to be together, I had to kill all of them. That's a quote from the murders of Christopher Watts. It was all to be with another woman. Hadn't he ever heard of divorce?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes, Think of that. And the other woman, I don't know anything about her, but Shanann was, in my opinion, far more what he should want. I mean, he built a life with.

[Nancy Grace]

Why do people always cheat down? Yeah, exactly. They always cheat down.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Cheat down. That's a good one. Yes, definitely. I mean, look at Shanann. She's beautiful. She's laughing. She's. She's got a wonderful personality. She treated people so well. People love. She had a huge group of friends. I don't understand at all. I don't understand why he would not be happy with what he had.

[Nancy Grace]

He tries to blame it on anger that I was so angry, I would have killed anything. Like anger is some type of a beast that did the deed. It was him that did the deed. Did he ever shed a tear?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Never. Never did he shed a tear. And here's another thing. And I asked him about this point blank, because I said, it seems like that this monster in you, that whatever it was, that you were having to go to the bathroom and pray for forgiveness, and this didn't happen just once. This is something that happened on a kind of a regular basis, that his mother could hear him as a child. I said, it seems to me like there was a monster inside of you and it was boiling and boiling and it had to come out. And that's why you killed Shanann, is because that monster just had to come out. I don't know what you think of that, but it's like something in there. And it wasn't caused by Shanann, that monster inside of him.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, you mentioned that when he left the disposal scene, which is a really euphemistic way to put what he did to Bella and Celeste, Shanann and Nico, that he was playing Metallica. What he was playing was a Metallica song, Battery, Battery. And some of the lyrics are pounding out aggression turns into obsession. Cannot kill the battery, cannot kill the family. That's. He knew exactly what he was doing. And the motive was to be with another woman who he'd probably start cheating on the moment he could.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes.

[Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Nancy Grace]

What is your takeaway of Chris Watts and the books are amazing. The Murders of Christopher Watts and the Many Faces of Christopher Watts. A five year update. What's your takeaway that you can give.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Us all of these women that are at that are writing to him and sending him love letters and sending him money through the mail that has overloaded his commissary? My takeaway is that there's something in him that he thinks he can just woo any woman. And woman beware. Because let me tell you, anyone that has that personality, I would definitely be very careful of. I don't think that there is a man or a woman alive that is willing to kiss your feet that much, to woo you that much and not just be themselves, but these women, they want to marry him, they want to support him, they want to visit with him, they want to talk to him on the phone. Oh my gosh. My takeaway is just beware. Women beware.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, you mentioned that he was good looking. I have never once found him good looking even before I knew for sure he murdered Shanann because he doesn't have a kind face, you know?

[Sherilyn Cadle]

No.

[Nancy Grace]

Why am I seeing him without a shirt on? Why are you doing that to me? I don't want to see his body. He's guck. You know what control room showing me that. You might as well show me a picture of a coral snake or an anaconda or a poisonous spider. That's how I view him. I've never once seen a kind look in his eyes. I mean, he may smile, but there's something cold in his eyes. You know, when my husband smiles, his eyes smile too.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes.

[Nancy Grace]

Just like my dad and my mom. Their eyes smile. His eyes always look cold to me.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, there's so many women think that he's good looking to the point that all these women that have written him, Nancy, they send him money in the mail. He has a fan club. It's unbelievable. The fan clubs that he has and the people that believe that he didn't really do this or it was more caused by Shanann. They both did.

[Nancy Grace]

Oh, my stars. He confessed. And people still believe he didn't do it.

[Sherilyn Cadle]

Yes, yes, people still believe he did not do it.

[Nancy Grace]

What an artful deceiver he is. You know, that's what the devil is often called. The deceiver. Yes, the deceiver. That's what he is. You know what? Just to irritate Chris Watts, I'm going to close our time together for now anyway. And I hope we meet again. Your books are amazing. And you work so hard and so meticulously to do this. And thank heaven you didn't fall for that pocket Chris Watts the Murders of Christopher Watts and the Many Faces of Christopher Watts A five year update now to irritate Christopher Watts. I'm going to close out remembering someone decent and good and true. An American Hero Corporal Michael Roberts, Tampa PD Shot in the line of duty after 11 years of serving others leaving behind a grieving wife, Cynthia, and a lonely son, Adam. American Hero Corporal Michael Roberts. Rest in peace Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye friend.

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[Sherilyn Cadle]

Sure thing.

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[Nancy Grace]

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[Nancy Grace]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.