A body language expert has pinpointed several key moments in police footage where Chris Watts subtly revealed his guilt on the day his pregnant wife and two young daughters were reported missing.
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The case gained global attention after it was featured in Netflix's American Murder: The Family Next Door, which heavily used police bodycam footage and real texts to document how the horrific events unfolded.
In August 2018, Watts murdered his wife Shanann and their daughters, Bella and Celeste. Yet when officers first arrived at the family home in Frederick, Colorado, Watts acted as though he had no idea what had happened.
But not everyone was convinced by his calm demeanor.
Body language analyst Derek Van Schaik, whose video breakdown has been viewed over 29 million times on YouTube, claims Chris Watts was showing red flags from the moment officers arrived. He points to how Chris claimed he was just “five minutes away” when a concerned friend called the police, but actually didn’t show up for over 45 minutes.
When Chris finally got there, Derek notes that he made no effort to rush inside, open the garage, or help the investigation, even though it was possible Shanann was having a medical emergency. Instead, he seemed detached and oddly passive.
According to the expert, Watts also used subtle tactics to deflect suspicion, such as drawing attention to small details, like the disappearance of his daughters’ blankets, to imply they had simply gone missing. Derek calls this “diversion dialogue,” designed to distract officers from considering him a suspect, The Tab reports.
Another telling sign? His body language. Watts appeared fidgety and nervous, but Derek says it was an inward-focused fear – more about being caught than concern for his family. In contrast, Shanann’s friend Nicole, who first reported her missing, was clearly outwardly anxious; worried for her friend’s safety.
When officers later revealed that home security footage showed only Chris leaving the house that morning, his reaction was a flat "ok." According to Derek, this was an attempt to downplay an obviously incriminating fact.
Later, when Chris discovered Shanann’s wedding ring still inside the house, he held it delicately at the tip of his finger, far from his body. Derek interprets this as an unwillingness to be associated with the emotional weight the ring symbolized.
But perhaps the most revealing moment came when officers and neighbors gathered at a nearby home to review security footage from a doorbell camera. While everyone else focused on the screen, Chris buried his face in his phone.
According to Derek, this was his attempt to mentally escape from the room, likely fearing the footage would expose him. He held his phone tightly against his body, a defensive posture, and may have even been texting his mistress at the time.
As the footage played, Watts began nervously talking over the video, offering unnecessary commentary to control the narrative. Derek says this kind of behavior is a major indicator of guilt.
Then, rather than watch what was on the screen, Chris physically turned his head away, a clear signal that he couldn’t bear to see what was coming. His gaze shifted all the way to the door, suggesting he wanted to leave the room entirely.
Chris also took a deep breath and placed his hands on his head, a self-soothing gesture that Derek identifies as a method of trying to calm intense internal stress. These moments, stacked together, formed what the expert calls a "huge red flag."
In the following minutes, Watts' demeanor shifted from defensive to defeated. He began rocking slightly and speaking with flat, emotionless tone; clear signs that his story was unraveling. Even the neighbor picked up on it, commenting to police that Chris seemed "off" and was behaving strangely.
Chris Watts was arrested just days later and eventually confessed to the murders. He's now serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. But for many, the clues were visible from the start – you just had to know how to read them.