True Crime Analysis, Breakthroughs, Insights & Discussions Hosted by Bestselling Author Nick van der Leek

Month: October 2018 (Page 2 of 8)

“Because of Le-Vel…” I am…dead?

MLM has been compared to a cult. The cliche fits because both involve prescriptive beliefs, members only and members only rules, non-disclosure agreements, scams to make money and ultimately, ruin and doom for those who drink the Kool-Aid and sign their lives away to these schemes.

In the two years Shan’ann Watts was involved, she went completely over to the dark side. She wore the t-shirts, it took over her social media, it took over her family, it took over her mind. Even her phone was branded with the Le-Vel logo.

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Below are a few screengrabs from one of Shan’ann’s Live videos. They reveal the particular flavor of Kool-Aid the Le-Vel cult was drinking.

At the very bottom is Shan’ann’s prayer flag, sticky-taped onto a makeshift shrine to Le-Vel.

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Because of Le-Vel Shan’ann Watts was able to retire at 33-years-old. That’s quite a boast. Is it true?

And then there’s this:

Because of Le-Vel I have my life back.

But did it give her her life, or cost her her life?

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What was in the Watts Family Basement?

Very little is known about the basement at #2825 Saratoga Trail. It doesn’t feature in any Facebook Live videos. Apparently it was still a “work in progress”.

In photos of other model homes and in the descriptions for model MLS®# 1846125 provision is clearly made for a “Man Cave”.

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…head to the basement for an incredible Man Cave entertainment area, complete with a pool table, wet bar with bar stools, home theater room with 120 HD screen, stadium seating and dimmer lighting!…

The fully kitted out Man Cave is supposed to look like this:

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In the Scott Peterson case, Laci’s body was likely “processed” in Peterson’s Man Cave – his warehouse located a few minute’s drive from the Peterson’s home on Covena Avenue.

At this point, we have no way of knowing exactly what was in the basement at #2825, but there’s some evidence it was a play area for the children and a storage area for toys, and perhaps other things too. A Mickey Mouse curtain or window cover supports this notion as does a remark made by Shan’ann in one of her Live videos [see below].

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https://youtu.be/ENTPDOw0TQ8?t=117

At 1:57 in the clip Shan’ann’s boasting about her daily spring cleaning efforts, and how the children’s clothes are sequestrated and given to others, or packed “in the basement.”

Bella’s clothes, according to Shan’ann, are packed in a container in the basement.

If the Watts basement was still unfinished – like in the Ramsey home – then besides toys, containers and clothes, it may have been used to store sports equipment, Christmas decorations, items of furniture, Chris Watts’ work tools and perhaps chemicals and engine parks too.

A windowless sanctum intended as a home cinema would be an ideal soundproof area to make noise without being heard or seen at night. It could also be used to leave Deeter temporarily, for the same reason.

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Shan’ann Watts: Just another [Chaotic] day in the life of a “Stay-at-Home” Mom

Le-Vel wasn’t the only MLM company Shan’ann Watts was hawking products for from home, there were others too including Lula Roe clothing and Younique cosmetics. Rocket Science has covered this in a recent post listing these MLM brands in the top 15 most hated in America.

It’s one thing to name and shame these companies, it’s another to go behind-the-scenes and get what this looks and feels like.

In Shan’ann’s Facebook Live video below all the usual suspects are there – Chris Watts, the Thayers, Nickole Atkinson and her daughter Madison. Far from being just a regular stay-at-home, Shan’ann was working hard to turn her home into a MLM shopping mall.

If there was a fair amount of time spent on Facebook Live promoting Thrive patches, that wasn’t all. There was also Younique, to be promoted while Shan’ann was going through her morning ritual. She apologizes halfway through for her daughter Bella watching Mickey Mouse on television. This is her attempt at monetizing every marketable moment she can from home.

https://youtu.be/bfMVMrx4kXk

Chris Watts told Shan’ann: “I want another baby”

In the last four minutes of the 31 minute interview with the Thayers, a female reporter off-camera asks whether baby Niko was planned? At 26:06 Amanda answers.

AMANDA: He was [planned], actually [laughs]. Nick and I had been talking about having a second child. Uh…for quite some time. You know, Shan’ann was…she was always…I mean, on our side…you know, pressuring Nick [both Amanda and Nick laugh]. Um…and just really supportive of it. And then Shan’ann and I were…I dunno…going to get our nails done or something one day, and she told me that Chris, that night before, told her he wanted another child. Um…and she was…she was all on-board and…we talked about being pregnant together [smiles]….and [voices quavers] going through all the ups and downs of pregnancy…having our babies be best friends. So…yes, her pregnancy was planned. [Nick nods besides her].

REPORTER: Was the baby his?

AMANDA: Yes, 100%. There’s no doubt about it. 

https://youtu.be/J84bidDRE4E?t=1629

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But if Chris Watts planned the pregnancy, if it was his idea, if he was so excited, if he really wanted a third as Shan’ann claims, why would he kill his pregnant wife effectively putting an end to it, and her?

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Getting to know Hair Jazz, Shan’ann’s mother’s work place in Aberdeen, and the surrounding neighborhood

Shan’ann Watts’ parents are blue collar folks. Frank is a carpenter. Sandi a hairdresser. Does it matter who Shan’ann’s parents were, where they work and where they’re from, what their financial circumstances were [and are], or is it unkind and irrelevant even to ask?

If we’re to determine the journey to rise beyond one’s raisin’ [and if that even applies], doesn’t it matter that we know where the accused and the victim’s family arose from?

A simple way to answer this question, especially if you’re married, is to ask whether it matters who your partner’s parents are, where they’re from and their circumstances. Does it? And does it matter who your parents are to them?

Could it have any relevance to a family murder?

In the Scott Peterson case, the night before Laci’s murder, Scott Peterson and Laci made a final stop at Salon in Modesto, where Laci and her husband got a haircut. Laci’s sister Amy Rocha worked there.

In the image below left, Amy can be seen cutting Scott Peterson’s father’s hair.

The entire Peterson case, arguably, turned on a hair. A single hair found in the yellow needlenose pliers in the boat was the only evidence found of Laci. This puts the haircut in perspective, especially when we intuit a premeditated murder.

CCTV footage of the haircut inside Salon also confirmed what Laci was wearing the last time she was seen alive.

In the Watts case, Nickole Atkinson helped her cut and color her hair.

In Aberdeen, Shan’ann’s mother cut her killer’s hair a few days before her daughter’s death.

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While Hair Jazz doesn’t play as prominent a role in the Watts case as Salon does in the Peterson case, it’s through the hairdressers at Hair Jazz that we’ve discovered that Shan’ann and Chris Watts planned to separate. They knew this because Sandi had told them, and Sandi knew, apparently, because that’s what she’d been told – presumably by her daughter sometime during her 6 week stay in North Carolina.

We also know that Shan’ann posted a picture of a house she was looking at in North Carolina, which suggests she was thinking about moving home, back to her family. Her Thrive business, which she took with her on her trip, could theoretically be operated from anywhere with an internet connection.

Now let’s take a closer look at Hair Jazz and where and how it fits into Aberdeen and the fabric of North Carolina.

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During my first run-through on Google Earth, Aberdeen looked and felt a lot like Vass Road, outside Spring Lake, where Chris Watts grew up.

While floating through the street view, however, I couldn’t seem to find Hair Jazz. Google took me to the street corner but couldn’t do any better than that. I had the street and address, and yet I couldn’t seem to locate it between a number of nondescript buildings. It is in one of the images above [besides the top image], if you look carefully.

So I looked at the building as it’s presented on its Facebook page, and during a television interview.

It still wasn’t easy to find, but eventually I did.

This is it.

Hair Jazz sandi Onorati Shanann watts

And this is it from directly opposite.

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One has to consider this place and juxtapose it with Shan’ann’s bold statement in February 2018 that she wanted to by a Tesla ModelX for $80 000.

In the collage below we see Shan’ann and her friend [and part-time hairdresser] posing next to luxury cars. Both Shan’ann and Nickole spoke on camera about their intentions to by Teslas. In the collage on the left is Chris Collins’ daughter posing beside two of his Lamborghini’s.

According to the gurus behind Thrive, if you want a nice car, put a picture of the Lamborghini – or Tesla – on a vision board, and if you wish very hard and say the right words, it can be yours. Simple as that.

In the first two image on the left are Chris Collins’ daughter and his vision board. Notice the picture of the car in the vision board corresponds to the color of the Lamborghini in the collage above [which is from his garage]. The message is clear: you can get whatever you want, all you have to do is ask, and then believe in yourself [and sign up to be a promoter with Le-Vel].

The impression that Aberdeen feels like Vass Road turns out to be not such a long walk in the park after all. Where Sandi works today and where Chris Watts parents live is separated by less than 30 miles by car.

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Saratoga Trail probably felt like another world to the Watts family, where the laws of finance and the universe didn’t apply. Until they did.

 

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It’s Time to Revisit the “Oops We Did It Again” Video

It’s been viewed over 12 million times, and yet when she posted her pregnancy announcement video on June 11th, Shan’ann received just five comments.  Two were from family – her father Frank and brother Frankie. That leaves three comments from friends. Three comments from three friends.

Since her death more than 300 comments have been left and the video shared over 1200 times. Where was the interest from her family, her mother, her community, her fellow promoters when Shan’ann posted this video for the first time? Weren’t all those Thrive friendships real friendships?

We don’t know if certain friends like the Thayers and Nickole Atkinson went back and and scrubbed their social media pages to disassociate themselves after Chris Watts’ arrest, but if they did, that’s pretty lousy.

On Nick Thayer’s photography page he still has Shanann’s endorsement of his photography business, and what’s more, has probably made a packet selling his Watts family photos to the media. So association appears to be okay, as long as the terms are right.

In terms of the video itself, many of us watched it a few months ago, formed our respective conclusions, and went on.

As part of ongoing research I took another close look at and listened to the video today. My analysis has definitely shifted from those first impressions. Here’s what I picked up in those 65 seconds this time round:

1. The video – in my opinion – is definitely staged in the sense that it’s not spontaneous. This has to be appreciated in context. Shan’ann made videos daily and none of them were spontaneous. It was her job to rig each day’s spiel so that it involved product placement and promotion. The whole point was to pretend that it wasn’t promotional, and to insinuate that it wasn’t rehearsed either. Of course, in each case she has all the tools she needs on hand [patches, numbers to call, dates to memorize, freebies to claim]. In the pregnancy reveal she the shirt and the stick ready, not so much for his benefit, but for her viewers.

Just like the Christmas spiel, it’s made out to be spontaneous but it isn’t. It’s engineered to be a happy moment, but it falls flat. And then she posts this less-than-great moment anyway, to limited reinforcement from her limited flock.

At about 20 seconds into the clip, when he rounds the corner, he knows just where to stop and look and sort of overdramatizes the moment of being “taken aback” by what’s on her shirt. Chris Watts is a terrible actor. Even though there was perhaps a little preparation going into the video, it’s still executed poorly. There’s very little that’s warm and fuzzy about it. The video clip itself isn’t a crime, so the staging isn’t proof of anything except that when it comes to this family, we shouldn’t take anything at face value, especially the stuff that’s posted by them on Facebook. This applies in general to Facebook, but it’s doubly true of this supposedly Thrivin’ couple.

2. After Shan’ann directs the camera to her shirt and smiles for the camera, Deeter skitters off and around the corner. We can hear him bark presumably when he runs into Chris Watts. So he’s not shy when it comes to barking. During the rest of the video, simply because Shan’ann and Chris Watts are both ambulatory and talking, Deeter can still be heard skittering around them. He’s an excitable animal even when very little is happening.

3. During the actual interaction, very little is said between husband and wife. For such a momentous, life-changing milestone, 65 seconds of mostly silent footage speaks volumes about both of them. He reads her shirt, makes a show of laughing and appearing pleased, and tells Shan’ann he likes her shirt. Pretty much the only moment of intimacy and exchange is when he asks: “Really?” and Shan’ann responds with a mute-sounding “Really.”

It’s difficult to say who is weirder in the interaction, him or her. During the whole thing, though she smiles at the camera, she seems standoffish towards him, doing little more than putting him on the spot. If she knew about the affair, then her being standoffish, especially under these circumstances, would be appropriate, wouldn’t it? Then it would be all about putting him on the spot, wouldn’t it? Time to make your move pal, are you with me or her? That’s the actual question being asked here. When he asks what “pink means” Shan’ann’s a little curt with him.  One has the impression Shan’ann feels she’s able to keep him on a leash, and this is about getting him back onto a tighter one.

4. The biggest moment in the clip is right at the end when he stutters about “it happens” when you want it, and then sniffs as he gazes up at it. I’ve commented previously about the darkness in his face here. He seems down, perhaps sick or brooding, but there’s little genuine joy from either of them.  If the clip is rehearsed, then the heavy atmosphere from him is because he’s acting through some sort of psychological malaise around the knowledge of this third pregnancy. We see it, she sees it [I believe], and he’s trying not to show it. He failed.

5. Compare the thick heaviness of this clip to the bright sunny fairy tale stuff that’s everywhere else in the Watts social media. There is a heavy psychological load weighing on these 65 seconds. Why?

When Chris Watts walked away, after finishing the spiel, perhaps to continue mowing the lawn, did he feel enthusiasm in his belly, or was something else – bitterness perhaps – burning him? Well, we know how this story ends.

What the video seems to communicate best is if the couple were this bad at pretending to be happy, how unhappy were they behind closed doors when the cameras weren’t rolling? How unhappy was he – really?

Chris Watts: Don’t Forget About Deeter!

As I left in my car this afternoon to do some grocery shopping, I noticed in my rear-view mirror a neighbor walking his dog. It’s a little dachshund, just like Deeter. I’d been meaning to ask him a few questions about temperament, so I hoped [while shopping] that he’d still be out walking the dog when I got back. Fortunately he was.

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One thing I picked up during research for the first TWO FACE narrative was the neighbor at 2817 Saratoga Trail – 68-year-old Cheryle Hallowell – remarking on the dog’s barking being “different” on the day the family were killed.

2817 is not directly beside 2825, there’s one house in-between. Even so, the neighbor said she could hear the dog barking and what’s more, could tell the pitch of the bark changed too.

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When I approached my neighbor, he had let go of the leash and the dog – Gigi – was moving around a neighbor’s brick wall sniffing various drainage orifices. I asked him – let’s call him Ted – about how he experienced Gigi’s barking.

“How long does it take if you leave the dog outside for him to start barking?”

TED: Well, it’s a her, and we don’t tend to leave her outside. She’s treated like…

“Royalty?”

TED: That’s the word.

“But if you did leave her outside, how long would it take her to start barking?”

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TED: If she had something to distract her, like this, it would take longer for it to start. But she’d probably start after about ten minutes.

“What about the change in tone? You know when they go from barking, which is already quote loud, to a sort of whining and shrieking?”

TED: Hard to say. We don’t let that happen to her.

“But if you did?”

TED: Half an hour. They’re quite anxious animals.

I told him I’d lived beside another neighbor once who had a dachshund, and they worked during the day. And at some point in the day, every day, you could hear the dog bleating and shrieking from simply being left alone. It got worse and worse as the day wore on and grated the nerves. Not all dogs do this of course, but this one does.

Wikipedia also makes note of the dachshund’s idiosyncratic “separation anxiety”:

They can have a loud bark. Some bark quite a lot and may need training to stop…Dachshunds are known for their devotion and loyalty to their owners…If left alone, many dachshunds will whine until they have companionship. Like many dogs if left alone too frequently, some dachshunds are prone to separation anxiety and may chew objects in the house to relieve stress.

Dachshunds are burrowers by nature and are likely to burrow in blankets and other items around the house, when bored or tired. Their temperament and body language give the impression that they do not know or care about their relatively small size. Like many small hunting dogs, they will challenge a larger dog. Indulged dachshunds may become snappy or extremely obstinate.

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Many dachshunds…growl or bark at [strangers].  Although the dachshund is generally an energetic dog, some are sedate. This dog’s behavior is such that it is not the dog for everyone. A bored, untrained dachshund will become destructive. If raised improperly and not socialized at a young age, dachshunds can become aggressive or fearful.They require a caring, loving owner who understands their need for entertainment and exercise.

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Dachshunds may not be the best pets for small children. Like any dog, dachshunds need a proper introduction at a young age. Well trained dachshunds and well-behaved children usually get along fine. Otherwise, they may be aggressive and bite an unfamiliar child, especially one that moves quickly around them or teases them. However, many dachshunds are very tolerant and loyal to children within their family, but these children should be mindful of the vulnerability of the breed’s back…

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What we get from all that it is:

A. The dachshund’s loud bark is an issue. Deeter’s bark was an issue and we know it was because the neighbor heard it the day of the murders, Monday August 12th.

B. The dachshund’s temperament [its separation anxiety] is an issue. Deeter’s temperament meant he couldn’t be left outside when the crime/cover-up was committed, not even for a short time, and especially not at night, as this would soon awaken/disturb/alert the neighbors.

C. Its loyalty to family members is an issue. If one family member wishes to murder another or several, sequestrating the dog will likely form part of the preplanning. Given the propensity to bark after a short period, it’s not ideal to leave the dog outside, and then be seen [during the commission or cover-up of the crime], awake and opening the door for the animal. Given the loudness of the bark, somewhere has to be found inside the house that is soundproof. Three possibilities in this respect are the basement, the upstairs laundry and the inside of a vehicle parked in the garage.

 

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Since the neighbor from two doors away heard the dog on the Monday when Shan’ann and the children were considered “missing”, and since by then already the barking had escalated from normal loud barks to anxious hysteria, it’s clear that when Nickole Atkinson arrived, Nickole who was right in front of the door HAD to have heard Deeter barking too.

In an article by the Daily Camera posted on August 15, Madeline St. Amour reports on visiting the Watts residence sometime on Tuesday August 14, but that:

…No one answered the Watts’ door when the Times-Call knocked, although a small dog did come to the door and bark.

Wouldn’t Deeter have done the same when Nickole came round? We know from the latch that Nickole was able to open the door, but only three inches. Could she see Deeter?

We know that when Nickole arrived at the house, Deeter had been left alone [counting from when Chris Watts left the house after 05:27] for at least five hours. That’s more than enough time for a dachshund to experience chronic distress.

“What about the change in tone? You know when they go from barking to whining and shrieking?”

TED: Hard to say. We don’t let that happen to her.

“But if you did?”

TED: Half an hour. They’re quite anxious animals.

What if Deeter couldn’t come to door, but Nickole could hear him loud and clear? Could it be that the dog’s hysterical barking and shrieking inside the house, and perhaps the dog’s inability to get to the front door on Monday was what got Nickole to call the cops as soon as she did?

Was Deeter the first one to raise the alarm?

Deeter Dieter Watts dog

Who Changed More over the course of their Marriage – Chris Watts or Shan’ann? [DISCUSS]

When one person changes inside a marriage, it causes a strain. When one person changes jobs, or a career, it causes a strain. When both people change, the strain can reach breaking point. In the Watts family the breaking point came with trauma and tragedy. We have an idea about the finishline to this spiral of strain, but what of the spiral?

How did the relationship unravel? How did the individuals within that relationship unravel?

In Chris Watts’ video about relationships, just beyond the halfway mark he suggests that “it’s generally the more attractive one that leaves…”, then double’s back and says enigmatically: “I agree [with that] somewhat, and I disagree with [it].”

What do you think he means by that?

Backtracking to a few seconds prior to this statement, let’s follow the transcript:

WATTS [Reading from a prepared script]: Reasons relationships start to fall apart: sometimes you no longer find your partner attractive – physically, or in their personality. When you’re in a relationship you have to show desire, lust towards your partner….But if you want your relationship to keep going I would suggest, maybe going to a place where you first met…go bungee jumping…go somewhere that will bring the excitement back. 

It’s noteworthy that Watts highlights “showing desire/lust” as something one “has” to do in order to have a relationship, and as the first reason to prevent it from “starting” to fall apart.

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Fullscreen capture 20181022 190907But the terms in which Watts expresses this are clearly off. If a relationship is deteriorating, telling yourself “you have to show desire” is probably the last thing the relationship needs. Often when a couple is put off by one another, trying to push the lust button only makes matters worse.

Probably, in a conventional relationship, especially with young adults, that lust, libido, desire and physical attractive is all there. It’s hot-wired. That’s not the problem. The problem is more likely a lack of attentiveness, sensitivity and interest, perhaps due to business or distraction or exhaustion. That’s the area one has to deal with. Intimacy. Communication. Listening. I care about you. Do you care about me in the same way or not?

WATTS: You no longer experience closeness. Or when your differences become more important than your similarities. [Looks up] You just pick-apart your partner. And you don’t see anything that you have in common any more – you just see that something he or she does and it just gets on your nerves and you just can’t let that go.

This is another interesting aspect he highlights. The growing isolation in a relationship happens because of fundamental differences that are more important than similarities.

[Glances down at his laptop] And you feel you might do better with someone else that-that you’ve met. [Looks at laptop but he’s not reading] You think that you can no longer do – that your partner is someone that you can’t be with. [Reading from the presentation] When you feel you are putting more in the relationship than you are getting out…

It’s important to remember, some of what Watts is saying here is generic relationship stuff. It’s the low-hanging off-the-top-of-my mind first Google search result vanilla stuff. That’s not what we’re looking out for. What we’re looking out for is what’s going on between the scripted stuff. When we give a prepared presentation, we stick to the prescriptions in it, but in our reinforcements, we stray from them, revealing our true feelings.

So when Watts uses as an example “picking-apart” one’s partner, that’s not in the presentation. That’s coming from his own personal and private field of reference. When he mentions not having anything in common and something [here he’s pointedly careful to make it “he” or “she”], then he uses the loaded term “you can’t let that go”.

One of the biggest unknowns in this case is Chris Watts’ sexuality. Is he bisexual or not? In what appears to be a pretty stock-standard presentation, Chris Watts is stock-standard, or is he trying to be?

The issue of Watts’ sexuality isn’t to be sensational, or to manufacture tabloid fodder out of thin air. According to the Daily Beast in a piece specifically querying the notion of Chris Watts’ “double life” [a second face] the article mentions:

A source close to the investigation [said] that Chris had affairs with both men and women. It’s unclear if Shanann knew about the alleged liaisons, [but Shan’ann’s mother said] Shanann and Chris were planning to separate. Two of Shanann’s friends [Nickole Atkinson and Amanda Thayer] said she [Shan’ann] suspected Chris was cheating on her. 

So Chris Watts’ sexuality is extremely relevant to the investigation and will be a key element at the trial. His sexuality is central to why this crime happens because it cuts to the core of the actual dynamic going on between Watts and wife and Watts and the family dynamic in general. We have a red carpet rolled into his mind going into this vital area thanks to this video.

Watts is presenting [presumably] to a heterosexual audience about relationship deterioration and repair. Anyone who is heterosexual wouldn’t even consider the nuances of the sexual spectrum because we tend to accept that we’re heterosexual, most people are heterosexual.

Amanda Thayer said in an interview that Shan’ann told her when they met she had to do all the work and that he had no game. Six years into their marriage, Shan’ann confided that although she suspected infidelity, she was confident that he still “had no game”. Why was she so confident?

That’s also somewhat at odds with her own version on a Facebook Live video where she describes him sticking by her, putting up with her at her worst, and sticking around when she was pushing him away each day and continuously giving him a reason to leave, and an out. It feels like there are a lot of mixed messages here, truth and deception mixed up from both of them. Both of them seem to be presenting an idea of themselves and each other, rather than living it or knowing it for real.

The most significant verbal slip in the speech, when he goes off script is quick and easy to miss, but here it is:

…you feel you might do better with someone else that-that you’ve met. [Looks at laptop but he’s not reading] You think that you can no longer do – that your partner is someone that you can’t be with.

It’s in the way he frames the response to doing better with someone else.

You think that you can no longer do…

It could be he’s referring to the idea of living a double life, and finding “you can no longer do it” or “you can no longer do it to yourself”. This is exactly the sort of inner monologue a bisexual or gay person might have when they decide they can’t or won’t continue living out their ruse. “I just can’t can’t do it any more. I can’t live like this.” To be fair, it could also be Watts simply misreading from the line above [“do better”].  When we actually join those words to what he was originally saying we get:

You think that you can no longer do better…

When re watching this moment, where he interrupts himself after the word “do”, he’s actually looking down at that moment. He’s not reading.  At the moment he makes the slip his head jerks slightly and he returns to his script. The looking down while going off script suggests introversion, closedness and tension regarding this aspect.

So, returning the original question:

Who changed more during the course of their six year marriage? Who changed more physically? Who changed more sexually? Who had the greatest personality change? Which partner became more attractive vis-a-vis the other?

At trial, this will be a vital question, because the one who changed the most grew the most, and the one who became the most attractive would have most wanted out when things went south.

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How the Hailstorm of June 18 Plays into the Watts Family Murder

There were two powerful hailstorms on two consecutive days in Frederick, Colorado in June. The first one, on June 18 was the worse of the two, with hail stones the size of chicken eggs. It was during this storm that the video [posted below] was taken, with Chris Watts Ford truck parked outside. As the hailstones clobber the roof in the live video, Shan’ann says: “Poor daddy’s truck’s getting beat up.” Yes, likely it was.Fullscreen capture 20181022 140010

Almost two weeks later, Nicole was still feeling sad about her vehicle, A white Mazda GT that was hammered [“totalled” in her words] in the same storm.

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This post has since been removed.

Because of Nickole’s car troubles [with the old car], I was interested to know whether she put her car bonus to good use. Shan’ann had made a big song and dance about it on the San Diego trip, which happened just days after the hailstorm.

Shan’ann also did a live video from the pool deck of the hotel, congratulating Nickole on the new car and promising to take her car shopping when they got back. It’s not clear if Nickole has untagged herself in that post, or if, now that Shan’ann’s Facebook is in legacy mode, the tag has been rendered invisible to the public. Anyway, here it is. To date it’s been viewed over half a million times.

I was curious, since Nickole had won this car bonus, and she obviously needed a replacement vehicle since the hail had totalled her Mazda mere days earlier, what did she do with it? In one of her posts, and also in this video, she mentions wanting to buy herself a Tesla [approximately $80 000 a pop] with the bonus.

In Paradise Nevada, on February 10/11 both Shan’ann and Chris Watts test drove Teslas.

Some Thrivers were doing the same in San Diego. Apparently Thrive getaways included that sort of thing – car demos, test drives, car shopping.

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Nickole herself seemed to have her mind on a luxury car for a while, posing alongside a few, sitting in others at various time in March and April 2018.

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During the San Diego trip Shan’ann also did some posing inside and alongside cars while sporting a Le-Vel branded jacket..

So what car did Nickole end up getting after that June 18 hailstorm? Since I couldn’t find any splashy news about it on in her public Facebook profile [unlikely as Thrivers are all about telling everyone about their windfalls, often repeatedly]. So I asked Nickole directly.

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Nickole and Shan’ann got back from Arizona in the wee hours of August 13th, the night Shan’ann was murdered. Wasn’t that why Nickole tried so hard to get hold of her that day of all days – after almost almost two months, she wanted to go get her car, she needed Shan’ann to do it, and Nickole wasn’t answering her phone.

Postscript:

On June 18 there was also a hailstorm in Utah. Chris Collins, one of the big kahunas behind LeVel, posted these images outside his home [which may well have inspired Shan’ann, who often modeled her posts on his to copy him].

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Below are additional examples of Shan’ann copying [apparently] Chris Collins’ Facebook vibe. Collins is on the left, Shan’ann on the right.

It’s worth noting that Shan’ann appeared to be shopping for a new car for Chris earlier in the year, but that didn’t happen either. If neither Chris Watts nor Nickole Atkinson “exercised” their car bonuses but Shan’ann did, is this evidence that she was more reckless with her income and expenses than they were?

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