A simple hand signal by Chris Watts while he was being questioned by police led the authorities to believe that he murdered his wife.
On August 13, 2018, the suburban Colorado dad killed his pregnant wife Shanann, who was 15 weeks along with their third child, after an argument about divorce.
He strangled her, loaded her body into his truck, and drove with his two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, still alive, in the backseat beside their mother’s corpse.
Once at a remote oil site, Watts smothered both girls and stuffed their bodies into crude oil tanks. Shanann and unborn baby Nico were buried in a shallow grave just 100 yards away.
An autopsy later revealed the two little girls had oil in their throats, stomachs, and lungs — a horrifying testament to how long their bodies were submerged.
After the murders, Watts gave a televised plea, pretending to be a devastated husband and father: “Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you’re out there, just come back. If somebody has her, just bring her back. I need to see everybody.”
But his story quickly unraveled, especially under the sharp eyes of law enforcement.
A resurfaced interrogation clip from the Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door shows how his body language gave him away. During questioning, Watts repeatedly touched his neck — a behavior that alarmed the agents watching.
Tammy Lee from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation explained: "Chris, while he was talking to Special Agent Coder, made a lot of movements towards his neck area."
The footage then shows a montage of Watts fidgeting and resting his hand on his neck during questioning. Tammy added: "Special Agent Coder actually came out of the room and said 'He may have strangled her'."
Reddit users were quick to weigh in, praising the agents' instincts: "He really thought he could outsmart them too. Within 5 minutes of Coder talking to [Chris Watts] alone he already figured out how he killed Shanann."
Another added: "He knew he has a visible scratch there and was probably trying to hide it."
Watts eventually confessed and pleaded guilty to nine charges, including the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
Despite the brutality of his crimes, Chris Watts receives a steady stream of letters from admirers. Some of them include flirtatious photos. Others are disturbingly affectionate.
Prosecutors from Weld County released many of these notes. One woman wrote: "In my heart, I know you are a great guy. If you do write me back I'd be the happiest girl alive, that's for sure #teamchris #chrisisinnocent #lovehim #socute."
Another woman sent a bikini photo and wrote: "I've found myself thinking a lot about you."
She hoped the image would: “brighten” his day.
Some letters go even further. One writer described Watts as her “soulmate” in a handwritten note, while another posted her message from as far away as Australia.
According to Crime Online, the tone of many of these messages is “racy” and suggests a disturbing obsession.
A source told People: "He got a lot of letters at first. Many of them are from women who thought he was handsome and felt compassion for him. He had nothing better to do, so he wrote them back. And he started having pen pals. A couple of them stood out, and they've kept in contact."
"But then he gets letters from women who want to connect with him, you know, romantically."
Experts say this phenomenon might be tied to hybristophilia — a psychological condition where people are sexually attracted to those who commit violent crimes.