In Part 4 of the full Chris Watts Interview Transcription, Chris talks about the shock of finding out Shanann was pregnant with Nico, feeling ‘forced’ to be in Facebook videos, Shanann Watts THRIVE job, his actions after the murders & separating his family.

(Continued from Part One , Part Two & Part Three of The Chris Watts Interview Confession Transcript ).

Note to other media outlets about use: I have spent days transcribing the 5 hour Chris Watts interview transcript, since the FBI did not make a full confession transcription available. You are welcome to use it by linking back to this website.

[ Begin Chris Watts Interview Transcript Part 4] 

Tammy (CBI): And what were you so angry at Shanann about? Like, if you could pinpoint it?

Chris: Nothing that makes anybody want to do this. You could be angry at your spouse like your whole life but you should never have done anything like this. You should never let it get to that point. I let it get to a point where I’ve never— I mean, I’ve never been angry before- and this was like the epitome of being angry. The epitome of showing a rage. The epitome of of like, losing your mind. Some people in here have said like dude what the heck happened you must have frickin’ snapped and like, I just walk away. It’s just like, you know I don’t see it my mind, when I look outside every day I’m like, “What could we be doing right now?”. You know. Right now I’d have a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 1 month old son, and a beautiful wife, and just like right now it’s just me.

Tammy: I watched that video of you finding out that Shanann was pregnant. You don’t seem excited. You seem like kind of in shock and—

Chris:—scared.

Tammy: Yeah. Like, “Oh Fuck. It’s already complicated, and now this.”

Chris: Well, it’s like a, when we had talked about it- it happened fast. With Bella it was like, we almost gave up trying then she bought me a like a supercharger for my car. And then with CeCe we tried, tried, tried, and then  finally, but with Nico it was once or twice and like two weeks later, she’s pregnant.

Grahm (FBI): Is that what happened?

Chris: Yes. It’s just like -it was more of like a surprise, scare- wait what? We just talked about this! Like, you know. And people have brought up the fact like “Oh she was probably pregnant before you guys even talked about it”. I’m just like no, that’s not- no. It was insanely fast. I’ll give it that. That’s the only reason I gave that notion even a moment of thought cuz it was like faster than any other time she had gotten pregnant.

Tammy: You just didn’t seem…happy. Like, you know what I mean?

Chris: Yeah, I don’t remember the video must I remember she was wearing like an “Oops we did it again” shirt I think and I was walking in with my cooler or something. I don’t remember my actual reaction like, watching the video but like I could see where you guys see it like that. It didn’t seem like he was jumping for joy type thing.

Tammy: Yeah, it didn’t seem like that.

Pictured Above: Still from Shanann Watts Facebook video: Shanann surprises Chris with news she is pregnant with baby Nico by wearing an “Oops We Did it Again” shirt. (As discussed in Chris Watts interview transcript).

Chris: Did you watch the one of where I found out about CeCe?

Tammy: Uh-uh.

Grahm: No.

Chris: Oh, okay.

Tammy: Is it totally different?

Chris: Yeah it was.

Tammy: Yeah,

Chris: It was, cuz Bella was in the crib and had an eviction notice on it. Yeah, I picked up Bella and spun her around and whatnot. This time it was just me and Shanann and she was in the kitchen. I forget what date it was, maybe like June 3rd or 5th or 7th…I’m not sure, like what date it was in the video but maybe I already felt guilty about talking to Nikki at work.

Pictured Above: Still from Shanann Watts Facebook video: Shanann surprises Chris with news she is pregnant with baby CeCe (Celeste) by placing an ‘eviction’ notice on little Bella’s crib. She hid and while she filmed Chris’ excited reaction. A VERY different demeanor than the 2018 reaction. (As discussed in Chris Watts interview transcript).

Tammy: Yeah.

Chris: Maybe that was going through my head.

Grahm: Is that the potential timing? Does that make sense?

Chris: I don’t remember the date or what day the video was but I knew I had kinda met Nikki around June 1st. I knew she like told me afterwards.

Grahm: When you say “Met her” you mean like, went on a date with her?

Chris: No I didn’t go on a date with her until Shanann was in North Carolina.

Tammy: Just like flirting stuff?

Chris: Yeah I mean it was natural flirting back and forth. I was just like, I knew with that video timing I probably just looked like I felt guilty through it talking to the girl at work.

Grahm: Well you probably did, right?

Chris: Yeah.

Tammy: Did you guys fight before, you and Shanann? I know you talked about like not really raising your voice and stuff. Was there- because I want to say- didn’t a neighbor talk about them fighting and stuff?

Dave (Frederick CO Detective): Yeah, but that was embellished and exaggerated. He retracted that.

Tammy: Oh, he ended up doing that?

Dave: Yeah he retracted.

Tammy: Did you guys ever fight? Did you ever? Was there any domestic violence in your house?

Chris: No we never—

Tammy: This is strange to us

Grahm: Even from her to you? She gets mad when she’s pregnant and grabs a knife or scratches you or smacks you around..nothing?

Chris: No, she never like- nothing.

Grahm: Okay.

Chris: That’s what makes all this even more hard to understand from my standpoint, and I know from yours too.

Dave: Did she ever belittle you at all? Did you ever feel that way?

Chris: I mean, there was always points in a marriage where the dominant person takes control of everything, but I was..my whole life I just went with the flow, I never like put myself in the center of attention. I never wanted to be. I just wanted to be in the back row. If she did belittle me I couldn’t think of that point in time.

Dave: So you never really felt that way.

Chris: No, I mean I always knew I was the introvert and she was the…you know, she took control of most situations like when people came over I knew what my role was.

Tammy: I watch videos of like cooking, or she’d make power balls, protein balls or whatever. You just seem like you don’t want to be in those videos.

Chris: No

Tammy: I feel like you were being forced to be in those videos. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s what it seemed.

Chris: Yeah I hated being in videos, hated. I mean I did it for her because it was for her business but like it was- you know, I hated just being out for everyone to see. That’s why like the whole gender reveal thing I was like, I didn’t want it to be some live Facebook video. I’m just like no. I never wanted to be out there.

Grahm: Even when it was, I think Florida, on some LeVel or Thrive thing and she’s like “Here we are! And it’s all expenses paid!” And I’m thinking “He is not into this video right now”

Pictured Above: Still from Shanann Watts Facebook video of Thrive trip discussed in the Chris Watts interview transcript.

Tammy: No, you don’t look into any of the videos to be honest with you. I mean I remember you talking to me about she would even post stuff for you, like because you were technically a salesman too for LeVel or Thrive

Chris: Yeah, she put me underneath her and any of my friends or stuff or anything I do would help her. So it was just, you know, I would send her pictures, like “I took a picture with your patch” send it to her and then she’d make post about it. Eventually she was like I need to take more control over your business and stuff I was like, I don’t know what to talk about. Like if I went up to talk to somebody at the mall or the pool about this, Id just stumble over my words and be like “Okay, Bye”. I’m not a salesman. She could sell anything you’re wearing back to you, and you wouldn’t even know it. Those videos are not me. I did it just to support her, you know….

Tammy: Could you tell her no? Could you tell her I don’t want to be in that video? Or was that an option?

Chris: Probably not an option. She’d probably be like “This is to help our family. This is to help this and that” you know? I couldn’t have told her no it would have made her mad. I wouldn’t even start that because it’s for the business it’s for the family you know, I was gonna try to help out wherever I can

Tammy: Right.

Grahm: Did that actually make money?

Chris: Mhmm.

Grahm: So not only just more sales, but it actually put money in you guy’s pocket?

Chris: Mhmm. She made probably in that last year, probably as much as I did.

Grahm: On commissions basically? I know that’s a simplified version of it but

Chris: Yup, it’s a-

Dave: MLM?[Multi Level Marketing]

Chris: They don’t take taxes out on it so, that was like the good thing [*NOTE- Did he not understand that just because a company doesn’t automatically take out taxes since you’re an independent contractor, you still have a 1099 and need to pay taxes?!?] and they paid for your car, so.

Tammy: Did they give her an allowance or something to buy a car or lease it?

Chris: Mhmm. If you’re a certain level, like a 12K or above, they give you a car allowance once a month. I’m not sure how they even made money, the owners doing that, they did. Unless there’s just an insane markup on the product, which I guess there is.

Grahm: Probably is.

Chris: I’m not sure how much it costs for them to make it.

Tammy: Did you feel like a different person wearing those patches?

Chris: Yea especially like the duo, the burn patches. Like the Apple watches, like if you look on it, like when it tells you your exercise and stuff, it says exercise, like, all day. My heart rate was UP. Just from those patches.

Pictured Above: Chris & Shanann Watts wearing Thrive patches in a Facebook photo, as discussed in the Chris Watts interview transcript.

Grahm: Were they just full of caffeine, or what?

Chris: Ah, they had something in them. I mean, the Black Label ones, the longer black ones, those have caffeine in them, but they never had that effect. I mean, the Duo Burn ones, the once that were more of the fat loss type, it felt like I was working out all day even though I wasn’t.

Grahm: Were you tired?

Chris: I mean I know at some points even Nikki said I’d fall asleep on the couch – her couch- when I was talking to her, and then pick back up like I never knew I fell asleep, which I don’t know if it was an insomnia thing or what. I wasn’t sleeping much.

Tammy: They had a lot going on then.

Chris: Yeah. That was the only patches I felt a real big difference on, just because it felt like I was working out all day.

Tammy: Mhmm. You don’t feel like they changed your personality or anything like that though?

Chris: I don’t know. I don’t really know. I just know I felt different on those than any other patch. I felt like I could just go long and longer each day. I’m not sure if that – that was probably a bad thing. I don’t think I was sleeping more than probably three hours a night.

Tammy: When Shanann was gone would you stay with Nikki and then go home to get ready for work?

Chris: Yeah, I’d just wake up at like 4:00, 4:30 go home and get ready for work and leave. Then I’d just work out when I got back home.

Grahm: What were the conversations with Nikki as far as um, at some point you guys were talking about her helping find you an apartment. So what did you guys talk about as far as your future together?

Chris: That didn’t really happen until I got back from the beach so I told her like, I lied to her, like hey you know I had talked to Shanann about getting a separation-

Grahm: —and that talk hadn’t happened yet?

Chris: No, I mean it kinda like…no…she knew something was going on, we weren’t sleeping in the same room and she even mentioned the fact like hey you know, “Colorado is a 50/50 state” or something like that. Ok, I guess she looked it up. But that actual talk that hadn’t happened. I thought it was gonna happen.

Grahm: So when you had conversation with Nikki, I get it- you’re telling her like the progress towards the divorce is a little bit more than it was. So what were you guys planning?

Chris: So it was more of like she’s gonna help me find an apartment that’s affordable that’s around Brighton or maybe close to work like Fort Lupton or something around there- that’s kinda like where my area was.

Tammy: Did you talk about moving in with her?

Chris: She didn’t want that.

Tammy: She didn’t want that? Would you have done that if she would have been cool about that?

Chris: Uh, it would have been a little too soon I would have thought. We had only been really seeing each other for a month and just talking for two months so that would have been really— ‘cause she called her house…her apartment…like her…kind of like her shield or she had another word for it, but—

Tammy: —her safe place?

Chris: Yeah, safe place or something like that. And she said people like to invade it  but that’s why she would always let me come over because she said she felt like I was fine her dog liked me and everything. Should you belong here type thing, okay. So…

Dave: So you and Shanann, did you talk about selling the house? At what point did you? There was some discussion there with Anne Meadows?

Chris: Yeah she had sent an email to Anne about we’d go about selling the house and I think Anne told her about get— Anne was always about getting pre-approved just like if you’re selling your house get pre-approved for another house so it’s like, you know, much faster.

Dave: Yeah, so you can just quickly transfer from one to the other. When did that happen, do you remember?

Chris: I think it was either right before we left- no, it would have had to have been first week of August somewhere around there I think she may have contacted her.

Dave: Okay, so the plan was maybe to buy a house I think you told me in Brighton, you were thinking of buying a house in Brighton?

Chris: Yeah she liked that Adams 12 school system or something, so. I think that’s what Brighton is.

Tammy: What were you thinking about when you called the school that day? On Monday? (*Chris had called Primrose Academy, Bella and CeCe’s school, and told them they were divorcing and moving so the girls would not be attending).

Chris: I was freaking out I was thinking in my had what I just did, what I had done and I didn’t know it was stupid to do anything, to call the school, to call Anne, to call anybody. They were right to be suspicious about anything because I probably sounded eccentric on the phone and out of sorts, and just, you know, I don’t even know what they were thinking when they heard me.

Tammy: I think they thought it was weird…but I don’t know how you would not sound weird, you know, like you said, so.

Grahm: So are you 100% sure the girls were still around and alive when you drove out? (I assume Chris nodded). Okay. So that’s completely accurate nothing else about that?

Chris: No, they got in the truck.

Grahm: Okay.

Tammy: Where did the blanket go?

Chris: It either- it was probably in the trash can or something, I think. It wasn’t like, it was still in my truck.

Tammy: We thought we had saw some GPS where you stopped by near construction, a rolloff dumpster- is that true?

Chris: Yeah I think that I dumped my clothes in there.

Dave: So that would have been on the way back to the house?

Chris: My neighborhood.

Dave: Yep. When Officer Coonrod was there? Okay. Was it one of those red construction dumpsters?

Chris: More than likely.

Dave: Okay, got it.

Tammy: Did you pack new clothes? How did that work?

Chris: I already had some in there, cuz like in case we have a spill or something. If you ever get crude oil on you. I had like 2 pairs of boots, I had all different kinds of things in there just because like, one time I had to clean up a spill and I had defrost on and I had like a headache for two weeks cuz its like the crude oil, so I always have something in there.

Tammy: So where did you keep them after you took them off? Did you just change up there into your new, other clothes?

Chris: Uhh see I like, dumped my clothes in that dumpster.

Tammy: But wasn’t that on the way back? When you were coming? Like you had already worked the whole day, right?

Chris: I worked ’til like 11 or so…

Dave: That was back when Nickole Atkinson—

Chris: Yeah when she was at my house. The doorbell

Tammy: Did you think right then like, ‘Oh Fuck, here we go…”, or what were you thinking then?

Chris: I didn’t know why she was there. I didn’t know like, maybe she had an appointment or something with Shanann, I didn’t know.

Pictured Above: Shanann Watts close friend, Nickole Atkinson and son attempting to check on Shanann after not being able to get in touch with her as discussed in the Chris Watts interview transcript (Photo from police body cam).

Tammy: What did you think, like, that day, like what you were going to say? Like what was your plan? Were you just gonna go home and be like, report to the police that you family’s gone or—?

Chris: I, I had no idea what was gonna happen after everything. I mean, I don’t even know how I was even acting even to all the people that I was around. Cuz when Troy and Cody and Chad and Alyssa and all them, like when they showed up, I don’t even know how I was even being somewhat even coherent what I was saying. But apparently they understood me. I didn’t know what was gonna happen. This wasn’t some Criminal Minds—

Tammy: —well thought out thing?

Chris: Yeah, it wasn’t nothing like that. I had no idea what was going on.

Grahm: So once the girls were gone, was it also just a minute by minute thing as far as the oil tanks?

Chris: Yeah. I didn’t know what to do. I mean just thinking about an oil tank makes me want to throw up.

Grahm: And was that just because it was in front of you, and there it was- it just presented itself? Or was it a plan beforehand? (Assuming Chris shook head ‘no’). Okay, was there any reason why the separate ones?

Chris: No, it was like you said going up the stairs and I didn’t know. What Frank said, I was trying to separate everyone, that’s not true. I don’t want to separate anybody.

Pictured Above: Shanann Watts father, Frank Rzucek, bravely and eloquently makes a victim impact statement in front of the judge and Chris (as mentioned in Chris Watts interview transcript)

Grahm: What was the reason?

Chris: I – I- I can’t even tell you. Like I said it was like something else was in control of what I was doing and I was doing something I never thought I would do in my life.

Tammy: Did you think there would be less chance of someone finding them if they were in separate tanks?

Chris: I don’t- no, I couldn’t- whatever my reasoning was in my head that day it wasn’t sound because nothing was right.

Grahm: And you don’t even remember thinking about it?

Chris: No it was just like a reaction, of something that I wasn’t even thinking about.

Dave: Can you talk about the trash bags? Do you remember that?

Chris: Oh, with the—

Dave: There were two.

Chris: Oh, okay, yes. Trying to- cuz the sheet kept – the one coherent thing I guess I had, I didn’t want the girls looking at Shanann while they were in the backseat.

Tammy: So what did you do?

Chris: Put a trash bag on one end of her feet and one on her head, so they didn’t have to see.

Grahm: And they were just too little to kind of figure out, right?

Chris: Yeah they didn’t know what was going on.

Grahm: Okay.

Chris: I just know that when I was driving up there, they were just, you know sitting there just kind of asleep or kind of just holding onto each other, laying in each other’s laps…

Grahm: Do you remember having any thoughts of thinking about why not just putting them all together with Shanann?

Chris: Honestly, honestly, it was just happening so fast I had no time to really have a thought that was my own.

Grahm: Okay.

Chris: I wasn’t like, dutifully trying to separate anybody pass them away, or trying to keep anyone separate. Everything Frank, Sandy and Frankie said I don’t holdout against them. They can hate me – I think they have a right to hate me – for the rest of their lives.

Tammy: They don’t, they don’t hate you.

CONTINUE TO PART 5 OF CHRIS WATTS CONFESSION INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Shanann’s Family (Sandy, Frank, and Frankie Rzucek) have asked that those interested in remembering and honoring the lives of Shanann Watts, Bella Watts, Celeste ‘CeCe’ Watts and Baby Nico Watts can make a donation in their honor to one of three charities they adore: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital or The Lupus Foundation.