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HLN’s coverage of the Colorado Family Murders

https://youtu.be/wEo1CysAzWQ

https://youtu.be/x8LgaMZy9Xw

https://youtu.be/79L1q3_eTRU

In the clip below, Robert Bianchi makes a great point. Why didn’t Michael Rourke try harder to find out why Watts did what he did? Rourke had him by the balls, so why not get him to make a full accurate confession?

Bianchi calls Rourke’s attitude to Watts’ motive “incurious”. I couldn’t agree more, and besides the murders themselves, that’s the greatest travesty of this case. People will be asking why for years to come, none more so than the family of the victims.

6 Comments

  1. julinka1981

    Spot on!!!!

  2. Sylvester

    It was his constitutional right to remain silent. This is what offends me the most. Instead he is offered a plea deal where he can sign a document stipulating he is guilty of all 9 charges as laid out by the district attorney’s office and he will avoid his right to a speedy trial and they take the death penalty off the table, which may not have ever been carried out. We don’t know if he IS actually guilty, we just have to surmise that he is. The only thing he’s admitted to, verbally, is in a rage strangling his wife. And of course tampering with the bodies and burying them.

    • nickvdl

      No, I don’t think that’s right. The confession we’ve seen is the first one. We don’t know if there was a second, which set up the plea deal. Him pleading guilty to the charges in court is theoretically a third, and during sentencing, volunteering to accept his sentence and remaining silent, a fourth admission [silence is consent].

      I do agree that he should have exercised his right to a trial, but he’s an adult and he made a lot of poor decision, starting with the murders themselves. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he murdered his family.

      The investigation and prosecution does seem very, very hasty though.

  3. Shannon

    Personally I don’t like Rourke. Chris should have Shut up, got a Lawyer.
    Should have gone to trial.
    All involved, did a poor justice to the law.
    I don’t even think Chris will change his plea, in the deal.
    He needs to smarten up.

  4. Diana

    Its not unusual to see allocution as part of a plea agreement for murder, shame on Rourke for not making the coward stand up in front of his parents and tell how and why he snuffed out four lives! Another stipulation that’s not really unusual to see in a plea deal is a defendant waiving his/her right to appeal. I could be wrong, but I don’t recall that being in the agreement either. One of Rourke’s reasons for the family not pursuing the death penalty is being in and out of court for years. If CW did not give up his right to appeal, I could see him coming to his senses and appealing his sentence, then the family will never be free of Chris Watts! It does seem as if Rourke just wanted this case done and over as quickly as possible. But I have news for him, if Chris can appeal – he will! That’s my prediction anyways.

    • nickvdl

      I agree. I think once this media tsunami passes – or passes in his minds/the Watts minds – they’ll be thinking of an appeal. What do they have to lose?

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