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Category: Chris Watts (Page 7 of 16)

Rzuceks on Dr. Phil: This is why Sentiment is the Antithesis of True Crime

March 12, 2019 /

Part One of Dr. Phil was hearing Chris Watts’ “Second Confession” 4th hand [via law enforcement, the Rzuceks, then their lawyers] a few days before the official release thus giving Dr. Phil exclusive first bite at the cherry.
Part Two was hearing the Second Confession again, this time from Frank, while the cameras tried to capture the emotional responses of the family.
Let’s be clear, any time there is grief expressed in the context of true crime, it’s redeeming, it’s necessary and it’s meaningful.  Grief is a genuine acknowledgement of loss. It’s how we come to terms with the loss of life, and the pain of losing someone that was loved and cared about. This message is one that matters most in true crime – that life is precious. Whether the victim or victim’s family expresses it, or the perpetrator, grief provides a moment of authentic humanity. Is that what we see on Dr. Phil?
Is that what this is?

Almost five minutes of the Dr. Phil show deals with a sentimental spiel worthy not of an adult, but of a small child. Not only did we see an infantile response to a triple homicide but the level of wish fulfillment that’s being made a spectacle of on national television [even reported on CNN] is extraordinary.
Sandi [that’s actually how Shan’ann spelled her mother’s name on Facebook, and how Sandi did] took viewers through around three or four fictional scenarios.
The first was that Sandi experienced a “visitation” from her daughter, telling her she was at peace, and she was sorry. If you were murdered, and your children murdered, and your husband had blamed you, and you were dead, robbed of everything, and all you were ever going to be, would you be at peace? Ever?
The second visitation was from Ceecee, who told Sandi what a great grandmother she was, and kissed her. The third was from Bella, telling Sandi, “I can go to Walt Disney World anytime I want.” The final scenario was that Shan’ann handed her mother the fully formed boy child, and everyone lived happily ever after.
Obviously by today, Niko would have been born, but at the time of the “visitation” he was the size of an orange. This illustrates just how desperate and unrealistic the wish fulfillment actually is. It not only ignores reality, it defies it.
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Some may feel it’s in very bad taste to criticize these visitation experiences because they’re personal. Dr. Phil didn’t, and seemed to think it was all in the name of joyful and peaceful closure, and healing.
But such sentiment is the antithesis of true crime. We often see sentiment used in true crime by defendants, and by defense teams, to evoke sympathy. And it works. It worked and continues to work with Steven Avery. When you feel sorry for someone in the context of true crime you don’t think. What happened no longer matters.
I can assure you if Shan’ann could climb out of the dirt of the graveyard where she’s buried and speak for herself, and if Bella could, neither would be resigned to what had happened six months later, and what’s more, they’d resent others manufacturing words and scenarios that have nothing to do with their reality as it stands now, or as it did when their lives were snuffed out. Imagine yourself being murdered, yourself fighting for breath and then the world being told you were praying and died peacefully with no struggle.
mansplaining
In this day of mansplaining, whitesplaining, minimizing murder by having victims act out pleasant sounding fictions and aphorisms ought to have a meme too. It’s just in extremely poor taste to be euphemistic about the death, especially when the manner of death is homicide.
This crime took place for a combination of reasons, some that had to do directly with sentiment [Watts’ romantic, schmaltzy feelings towards his mistress] and some that had to do with the opposite. He was able to kill his family because he no longer felt “sentiment” towards his family. And so, trying to understand Watts’ motives through the prism of sentiment is a double-edged sword, except only one side of that sword cuts to the bone of this case.
What about the other side?
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Sandi’s schmaltz was surprising after her tough testimony during the sentencing hearing. Out of everyone who spoke that day, perhaps not including Rourke, Sandi sounded the strongest, the most in control and the least sentimental.
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Not here on Dr. Phil. Suddenly in the face of terrifying information [which probably isn’t accurate either], there’s this mythical barrier where the laws of the universe and nature simply don’t apply. Now everyone is resurrected and magically set right in the blink of an eye. Suddenly everyone is living happily ever after and on their way – apparently – to PleasureLand.
But how is that so different from the lives they were living on Earth? In fact just before their deaths, the children were playing on a playground in Myrtle Beach [while their father was floating off somewhere else], and around this same period they were on the beach for the first time ever. Frank was with them, but apparently not paying too much attention to trouble brewing in paradise right in front of him.
In a  more general sense, the fairy tale scenarios of the Watts family promoted endlessly on Facebook [to make money], is exactly the same brand of magical thinking and wish fulfillment we see from Sandi. The urge to deny mortality is the root of untold evil in the world, which is why this crime happened, and why what Sandi is doing is absolutely not helpful.
Hiding from reality in fantasies does Chris Watts a huge favor, especially when the version he’s given is just another hastily assembled house of cards. Hiding in fantasies is the reason this crime happened, and the key to preventing it was waking up from these delusions.
How do we lie to ourselves? How does society lie to itself? Right here. Like this.
It’s so consistent, it’s a default setting. We are a society geared to lying to itself, not only collectively, but individually. We also actively lie to ourselves. And if you really want to talk about narcissism, talk about narcissism in the context of damaging magical thinking like this. Talk about handcrafting fairy tales and promoting fairy tale potions and powders, while your home is about tumble into a crater of debt. Talk about concocting fake fictions in order to feel better about the trauma tearing at the world, and your own heart.
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More: Frankie Rzucek arrested in October 2015 for assaulting a two-year-old child

Dr. Phil Reveals Paternity of Niko Lee Watts in Emotional Show with Shan’ann’s Parents and Brother + TCRS Revisits Original Theories

March 9, 2019 / / 50 Comments

 Dr. Phil confirms paternity of Niko Lee Watts

“There’s a medical report that confirms the baby was his [Chris Watts’]” – Dr. Phil [Appoximately 2:30 into the attached link] 

The Daily Mail has released a preview clip of Monday’s Dr. Phil, part two in the show dealing with the Watts Family Murders. Part of the factual findings of the show [not the show’s strength it has to be said] is a medical report proving Chris Watts was the father of the unborn child. Not that that was ever in dispute, but in a case as fluid as this one, where reality seems to shift almost on a whim, it’s good to get certainty. Brick by brick we’re building a solid scenario for this case.
Curiously, what the victims are going through seems to be a parallel universe to Chris Watts’ experience in jail. The Rzuceks are also finding comfort in God, and according to Sandi, she has feelings of hopelessness that sound troublingly close to suicidal thoughts. That’s exactly what Watts has been saying about how he’s handling things as well.
Of course going onto Dr. Phil and telling the nation is the worst way to deal with grief, or to get closure, if that’s the goal.
While the Rzuceks deserve every support and sympathy, and probably will benefit financially from this interview – and significantly – it is not the purview of true crime to hand the fates or the souls of criminals [or their victims] to God. In common with the law, law enforcement and the justice system as a whole, it is also not the business of true crime to be sentimental about criminal matters relating to life and death, though a no-nonsense approach shouldn’t be confused with a lack of compassion or humanity in the face of genuine human tragedies and catastrophes.
It takes a thief to catch a thief, and so in true crime, we can’t catch the operant criminal psychology without trying to outfox the fox. We have to temporarily adopt the merciless mindset of the fox to catch the fox, if that makes sense.
In fact the point of true crime is to show how our humanity [or the criminal lack of it] to humanity actually plays out, and by doing so as honestly, completely and as thoroughly as we dare, perhaps we can improve our sense of self-consciousness, self-awareness, and our ability to adapt to and change for the better. Or as Thomas Hardy once put it:

If the way to the better there be,

it exacts a full look at the worst.

Perhaps by taking an unfettered view at the worst in ourselves, we can find a way to being better, to some kind of affirmative journey to authentic self-actualization.
Not to be indelicate, but it is the purview of populist tabloids and tabloid media to ingratiate and indulge in the touchy-feely aspect of crimes. This does virtually nothing to actually move our understanding forward, and despite appearances to the contrary, Watts’ Second Confession hasn’t provided truth or closure in terms of where, when or how the murders were committed. It is possible the way he killed his children is truthful, or partly truthful in terms of how, even if the where and when is not true.
With that being said, it’s probably timely to address TCRS’s position in terms of the “new information” of the Second Confession, as well the District Attorney’s recent statement that most of Watts said is credible and reliable. Has it changed?


The position of TCRS remains that the children were murdered at home prior to the arrival of their mother [which was originally scheduled to be three hours earlier than she did arrive], which also necessitated the immediate execution of Shan’ann the moment she arrived. The children were killed first, and then Shan’ann, not the other way round.

The position of TCRS also remains that the children were sedated, overdosed or poisoned and that there was no “please Daddy” or any other kind of talking – or crying – in the home, just as there was no talking or intimacy with Shan’ann prior to her murder.

Admittedly, there is no chemical or autopsy evidence to prove the contention of sedation, besides the fact that the basement had containers – floor to ceiling – filled with powerful sedative medication, and that Shan’ann and her husband both worked in jobs on a daily basis that had to do with chemicals, arguably toxic in both cases.


We also have the tiniest thread indicating Watts searched Oxycodone 80mg and subsequently deleted this search, so we can’t be sure when he searched. What we can be sure of is that Oxycodone can also be used as a murder weapon, and far more effectively than a blanket because it is a silent and “soft” kill.

More: Mixing opioids and popular sedatives may be deadly – CBS

US drug overdose deaths rose to record 72,000 last year, data reveals – The Guardian, August 16, 2018

Prescribe Oxycodone With Caution – Psychiatric News

Sackler family members face mass litigation and criminal investigations over opioids crisis – The Guardian, November 2018


OxyContin [another name for Oxycodone] kills 200 Americans daily, so to use it as a murder weapon would make sense, especially if its already in the home.

If there is negligible forensic evidence to prove the TCRS theory, then neither is there evidence [fibers or otherwise] to prove Watts’ contention of in situ random, impulsive smothering at CERVI 319. The blanket as imputed murder weapon for both children  has also disappeared so it’s impossible to verify Watts’ claims. And that’s the point – there is no evidence to confirm his scenario so we have to make up our own minds what makes sense and how it lines up with his introverted, cowardly, sly, two face and face saving personality. One thing we know with certainty is Watts Googled Oxycodone prior to the murders. We don’t whether whether he Googled “smothering”. So which has more objective proof behind it?

….harrowing details emerged this week for the first time since Watts was taken into custody.

‘It’s worse than we ever thought.  We thought we’d heard the worst already, we had no idea it was worse than this,’ Shanann’s brother Frankie said. Her mother cried at points in the interview and said the only thing keeping her alive was her faith.

‘Those were my grandchildren.  I loved them. They were mine. I cry all the time.  ‘There’s many times that I just feel like giving up.  If it wasn’t for God I wouldn’t be here,’ she said.

Frank, Shanann’s father, recounted the disturbing details of the murders to Dr. Phil who replied: ‘I am so, so sorry.’

Guest Post: The Second Confession has a gigantic gaping hole in one particular area

March 9, 2019 / / 26 Comments

In his Second Confession Watts himself seems to have found closure. Now he loves his kids and wife again [apparently in that order], and daydreams of reading them bedtime stories and sitting with his months-old baby boy on his lap.
But isn’t this spiel missing something?
There was a giant volcano of debt hemorrhaging just beneath the surface of their marriage at the time of the murders. If Watts is a liar about the scale and scope of his crime, it stands to reason he’d lie about the scale and scope of debt rumbling in the background. And if the proceeds from the sale of the house [present day] will be swallowed up by all this debt, how are the Rzuceks lawyers going to get paid for their efforts in the civil suit?
Going back to the timeline of that fateful Monday morning in mid-August, we know the first non-work-related calls Watts made after the murders were to the school and the realtor to contain the financial plague gnawing at his future happiness. We also know on the same day Watts seemed reluctant to make calls to find out where Shan’ann was, and only called a few hospitals at around 18:00.
In his confession he dismisses the calls to the school as “a mistake”, but in fact part of what he communicated in that call was that they were selling the house and moving out of town. In almost every conversation Watts had, he repeated the same spiel. He told Nickol Atkinson, Cassie and others that Shan’ann was gone, and by the way, they were selling their house and moving. This also became part and parcel of Watts first version of events to law enforcement. But as early as his call to school at 09:00 Watts first move was to get the house sold. That same morning on his way back to the crime scene he went to look at another property suggested by the realtor.
Quite a huge shift in the circumstances and it happened immediately after the bodies were taken care of, didn’t it?
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The screengrabs above are all from the afternoon of August 13th, 2018.
In a rare moment of insight, Nichol Kessinger admitted to the CBI that her being in Watts’ life “accelerated the process” [referring to the murders], but added that she thought money was the “biggest catalyst for this event happening”.
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TCRS also maintains that money was the biggest catalyst, along with Shan’ann’s stranglehold over the finances, and her fatal infatuation with MLM.
The trio of investigators glossed over the finances in their five-hour interview, but there were a few exceptions. For example Watts claimed they had been sending checks to the homeowners association – just to the wrong address – for over a year.
I’m assuming because Shan’ann did that and she’s gone, those checks are in some financial purgatory, some limbo, an unknown abyss where they can never be found and confirmed. If that’s the case that’s one thing, but one would imagine if the checks  weren’t cashed “for an entire year” amounting to several hundred dollars, someone like Shan’ann ought to have noticed.
Thanks to Maura for your contribution on this subject:
10 Reasons the Watts Finances Were A Factor
This second “confession” doesn’t bring up their poor financial situation at all including:
1. Behind on their mortgage several months and being sued by HOA for non payment of fees
2. Credit credit cards maxed out/debts owed—paying minimum amounts monthly
3. Medical bills from SW and the kids
4. Large house expenses
5. Thrive MLM costs vs. income remaining after coststhrive-level-review
6. Private preschool costs of $25,000 per year
7. Niko’s upcoming birth, medical expenses and SW’s taking time off from work for maternity leave, and having another mouth to feed.
8. Cost of wining, dining and traveling with NK who expected CW to pay for their dates.Visa-Exe.Black-Univ-rel
9. If divorced, CW would need security deposit and income to pay for a separate apartment plus a home for his ex-wife and 3 kids. SW would have been on maternity leave Jan. to ?? and not able to work FT with a newborn.
10. If SW took a leave after Niko’s birth and could not meet lease payments on the Lexus or earn $800 Thrive bonus, she and the kids wouldn’t have a car either especially if CW lived elsewhere. Would they have moved to another area like NC where her family could help?alimony-guage-pic-opti
Chris decided that he was going to be the only one to benefit from the sale of their only asset, the house, which would enable him to have a fresh start with Nichol. Premeditated the murders were his solution to fix things.
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Would Nichol have stayed with him if his wife and kids truly disappeared? Or, if he was going through a bitter divorce and had 3 small children including a newborn? If she knew the extent of his finances? If their infatuation cooled and she got to know the real Chris?
If police had given him another lie detector test I don’t think he’d pass it with his new story either.
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NOTE: Watts does mention exorbitant wedding costs playing a drag on their finances six years after they got married in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bankruptcy/financial problems of the Rzuceks is not referenced.

 

The first "incident" with Nichol Kessinger happened on July 4th, just 4 days into their rollercoaster summer romance

March 8, 2019 / / 14 Comments

When Chris Watts was asked if he and Kessinger ever fought, and about what, Watts cuts to the bone. They argued about her always being “second”, and this just four days into their dalliance.
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Now imagine how that had to feel five weeks later into their summer romance, with Shan’ann hours away from returning to end it all. Isn’t that what their 111 minute conversation was about on the night of August 12th…?
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What we also see here is when Kessinger doesn’t get her way, there’s a consequence. A punishment.
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July 4th was also the day Kessinger went to Watts’ home for the first time.
In his Second Confession Watts’ claimed Kessinger  went to his house once. Kessinger said she went to his house twice, the second time on July 14th or 15th.
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Complete Audio of Chris Watts' "Second Confession" [Includes Audio Subsections related to Specific Areas of the Crime]

March 8, 2019 / / 4 Comments


LEE: I watched that video of you finding out Shan’ann was pregnant. You don’t sound excited. You seem like…kinda in shock-
WATTS: Scared? …It was insanely fast.
LEE: You just didn’t seem happy, like…
WATTS:…Maybe I felt guilty about…talking to Nikki at work…
It’s interesting how Lee and Coder copy Watts’ simplistic and casual way of talking and expressing herself, with Lee using the word “like” and Coder talking in a casual, disassociated way when referring to details of the murders, and Watts matching that with his own disassociated responses.





More: Watts Interview 02.18.19_Redacted

"Ceecee was first…"

March 8, 2019 / / 31 Comments

According to the Second Confession, Shan’ann was killed in bed, and both children killed one-by-one inside Watts’ work truck, on the back seat, while it was parked at CERVI 319.

When Coder says, “And what was Bella doing…” does he sound like he’s buying any of it?
It’s natural to feel emotional hearing these disclosures, but what’s really missing is Watts’ emotion. We should compare his demeanor and tone of voice here to how he “confessed” to his father in the cubicle at Frederick Police Station in the late afternoon of August 15th. That was a false confession too, but when he gave that confession he had his head in his hands, and he sounded tearful as croaked out a few words at a time, with his father rubbing his back.
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A few minutes later when his father left the room, and he was asked to explain how he disposed of the children’s bodies [which ought to have been the most traumatic moment of all], Watts was completely nonchalant about it. When asked if he had difficulty pushing them through the hatches, he answered evenly, with no trace of emotion:
“Not really.”
It’s natural for us to feel emotion listening to this and reading it, but we ought to guard against letting emotion or sentiment cloud our perceptions. If Watts’ isn’t getting emotional about killing his family, if he’s not shedding a tear then there’s no remorse. And where there’s no remorse there’s no honesty. When a person shows genuine contrition, they are humble enough to tell the truth, as humiliating as it may be. We don’t see any of that here.
A few hours after skimming through the transcript and listening to a few pieces of the audio I couldn’t help thinking back to Shan’ann’s Thrive videos. The whole thing was a house of cards held to together with words. His confession, and Watts’ seemingly enjoying selling it, feels a lot like a super long Facebook Live promo, except instead of selling powders and shakes to make a living, Watts is selling a formula for a crime to save his soul.
Is anyone buying?
Although most of what he’s saying isn’t true or credible, not all of it is lies. Probably some of the words, feelings, sights and sounds are true, the trick is knowing which is which.
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We should also take note of the capacity of this guy to delude himself. Lying to others on a scale and scope like this begins with lying to oneself. And that’s what a Two Face is. It’s someone whose entire life is a lie.

“What is the Matrix? It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth…”

BREAKING: The "New Face" of Chris Watts to go with his "New Version of Events"

March 7, 2019 / / 17 Comments

The Greeley Tribune has thus far released one photo – this photo – of Chris Watts. He doesn’t look as pudgy as the last photo, does he? If anything he looks strangely rested.
According to the Tribune another photo was also released, as well as two audio files totalling 5 hours, and a 37 page CBI report. It should be noted CBI Agent Tammy Lee’s original report, including polygraph, was 34 pages long. Any chance Watts was polygraphed on his answers this time round?
This page will be updated throughout the day.
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Interview with Chris Watts, case documents released by CBI – kdvr

FOX31 and Channel 2 has a team in the newsroom reviewing everything that was released. We will be making careful decisions on what content we report on-air and online.
While the interview and documents are now public records, we are working to be thoughtful in our coverage and considerate to all those involved with and touched by this case.
This story will be updated with additional information throughout the day.

New Christopher Watts confession details how he murdered his wife, two daughters – Denver Post
BREAKING: CBI 34 Page Release [“Second Confession”] 

What's Wrong with the "Second Confession"? Fact vs Fiction Checklist

March 5, 2019 / / 123 Comments

Claim #1: Chris Watts murdered his elder daughter after she witnessed him killing her mother.

TCRS:
Bella did not witness her mother’s murder.
Bella was dead before her mother’s murder.

Claim #2: It started with Shan’ann threatening to keep their children…

TCRS:
There were no arguments or conversations on Monday night or Tuesday morning, with the exception of a 111 minute phone call between Watts an Kessinger from approximately 21:00 to 23:00.

Claim #3: ….she learned of his affair…

TCRS:
Watts never admitted to the affair. He committed murder so that he didn’t have to admit to it, or confront her, and so that Kessinger wouldn’t find out about the pregnancy [either that Shan’ann was pregnant, or that he was the father, or both].

Claim #4: Bella reportedly spent her final moments begging her father to spare her life.

TCRS:
Bella did not “fight back” or beg. The injuries inflicted were in the process of forcing her little body through an 8-inch hatch, and then stomping on her to make sure she went all the way through.

Claim #5: Shan’ann had said something to the effect of, “well you’re not going to see the kids again.”

TCSR: This is true, but it wasn’t said on Monday morning. It came up for the first time in the Phone Data review on August 8th.

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On the same day Shan’ann declared to Cassie and Nickole [and in the same conversation about the house loan]:
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It has been argued that Watts’ admission to killing Bella after she saw him kill her mother sounds genuine because he’s not trying to minimize what actually happened.
I would argue it is still minimizing. The way it is described in the media is that Bella “begged”. The way Watts probably told it likely very different. She simply said, “What are you doing to Mommy?” and then he quickly smothered her. That’s not begging.
All of this conforms to the classic “I just snapped” defense wormout. But semantics aside, what could be worse than Shan’ann freaking out, Watts killing her and then killing his child? What could possibly be worse?
A triple, premeditated murder – that’s what. A coldly calculated annihilation plotted and planned several days ahead of time and then coolly, almost casually executed when the time came. That is infinitely worse.
HIOBIZU

"Bella asked, 'What are you doing with Mommy?'" – Chris Watts' Second Confession on Dr. Phil

March 4, 2019 / / 48 Comments

Watch this show, by all means. Listen. Maybe we’ll learn something meaningful, but don’t believe everything you hear.
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I will do analysis of course but it’s the position of TCRS that both children were killed several hours before Shan’ann’s arrived and that neither were smothered. It’s also the position of TCRS that Shan’ann was murdered in a surprise attack before she went upstairs.
One aspect to consider when you’re hearing this nonsense is the most obvious question of all. If Shan’ann and Bella were murdered simultaneously, or soon after one another, why did no one hear anyone screaming in the dead of night between 01:48 and 04:00?
I’m also interested in the semantics Dr. Phil is going with;  specifically in the use of the word “admission” here. Why not confession? An “admission” is a concession, a claim, an expression, but it’s not quite as strong as a confession [a formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime].
More analysis to come.

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