Before Shanann Watts left on a weekend work trip to Arizona, she took time out of packing and preparing to write a heartfelt letter to her husband, Chris Watts. She carefully crafted sentences expressing her love and sharing all the little things she appreciated about Chris, while noting growing concerns about her husband’s distant demeanor and reluctance to stand up for his daughters after a recent family problem.

When Shanann Watts shared a photo of the letter she wrote through text with her friend Sara, she didn’t know this would be the last letter she would ever pen. She didn’t know that during the time she was putting ink to paper, trying so hard to find words that would resonate with her husband and motivate him to make their marriage a priority, that he was transferring risqué images of his mistress to a hidden app on his phone. Chris Watts was living a double life, trying to meticulously hide an affair from his 16 week pregnant wife. But what Shanann did know was that something wasn’t right- something had changed, and she planned to do everything she could to try to fix the relationship with the father of her children and the man she vowed to love and cherish until death do them part.

Recently a 2000 page Discovery document from the Watts case was released publicly, detailing the investigation from day one. The report shows just how through the inquiry was, filled with police notes, interview transcripts, and Shannon and Chris Watts’ phone and text records and conversations. Over the next few days, Crime Lights will be diving into the report and discussing interesting aspects of it to give a clearer picture of exactly what investigators uncovered.