Shanann Watts Met Husband Chris Online During Dark Period 8 Years Before Murder: 'He Is Amazing'
Slain Colorado mom Shanann Watts said months before her death that she was lifted out of a trying period in her life by meeting her husband Chris — the man now accused of killing her and the couple’s two daughters.
“I believe that everything in life happens for a reason, and I also believe people are placed in our life for a reason,” Shanann said in a Facebook Live video approximately four months ago, before she and daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, were found dead last week.
On Monday prosecutors formally charged Chris Watts, 33, with their murders and also with allegedly terminating Shanann’s 15-weeks-old pregnancy.
The 30-minute video, filmed by Shanann on a Saturday morning at the couple’s Colorado home while Chris is seen playing with their daughters in the background, is an outreach to friends and clients of Shanann’s direct-marketing business as a seller of health supplements.
In it, she promotes her own growing confidence and independence while conceding she has battled through insecurities, including “health challenges” after she bought her first home at age 25.
“I met Chris because of those health challenges,” she says.
A mutual contact had sent her a Facebook prompt suggesting Chris as a possible friend. She deleted it. Two months later she received a diagnosis — her brother said she had lupus — “and I went through one of the, I would say, darkest times of my life, because things just got scarier.”
RELATED VIDEO: Pregnant Mom & 2 Daughters Likely Killed at Home — Allegedly by Husband — Before Bodies Were Dumped
A North Carolina resident at the time, she quit her job of nine years, lost friends “because they didn’t understand that I looked perfectly fine, and I felt horribly inside,” and “was in a really, really, really bad place, and I got a friend request from Chris on Facebook,” she said.
“I was like, oh what the heck, I’m never going to meet him,” she said. “Accept.”
“Well, one thing led to another, and eight years later we have two kids, we live in Colorado, and he’s the best thing that has ever happened to me,” she said.
She said she hoped her love story with Chris would inspire others. “Know that no matter how hard life gets, no matter how low you feel, know that deep down, like in your heart, there’s a purpose, there’s a reason for everything.”
She added: “Because I got so sick, I let him in, and he only knew me … at my worst. And he accepted me.”
“I’m telling you, when I met Chris, I pushed him away. I gave every excuse for him to run. … I mean, he went to my colonoscopy, I tortured him, I rejected him, I pushed him away time and time and time again. But when I cancelled dates last-minute, ’cause that’s how life is with my heath challenges, you cancel things last minute … he stuck around. And he stuck around because he was the one for me.”
“He is amazing, and I can’t tell you how wonderful he is,” she said.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
Chris was “actively involved in an affair with a coworker” before he allegedly killed Shanann and their two children — 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste — court documents obtained by PEOPLE allege.
He allegedly had denied the affair to police, the affidavit shows. But authorities said they carried out a two-day investigation and confirmed the infidelity. He also allegedly admitted he killed Shanann — but only after, he claimed, he “went into a rage” when she strangled one of their daughters.
During his interviews with police, Chris changed his story several times, the affidavit alleges.
He was arrested Wednesday, a day before the three bodies were located on the property of a company where Chris formerly worked.
He remains in custody without bond and will return to court on Tuesday to be advised of the charges against him. He has not entered a plea and his public defender has not responded to PEOPLE’s multiple requests for comment.
