In the early hours of August 13, 2018, in a small Colorado town, Chris Watts murdered his wife, Shanann Watts, their two daughters, Bella and Celeste, and their unborn son, Nico, and disposed of their bodies at his worksite. This shocking act of familicide that grabbed the nation’s attention will soon come back into the public eye when Netflix releases American Murder: The Family Next Door on September 30.
With the latest in a line of gripping true crime documentaries hitting the streaming service soon, now might be a good time to go back to the Watts Family Murders, what led up to that fateful morning, and the events that unfolded after Shanann, Bella, and Celeste went missing. Some of what comes next is pretty disturbing and gets ugly at times, so go in knowing that.