The Case of Chris Watts - Part 3 - The Confession — Transcript

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1. 0:05I didn't lie to you on that polygraph. I
2. 0:06promise. Chris, I I stop. It's time.
3. 0:11I just stop for a minute. Take a deep
4. 0:14breath.
5. 0:15I want you to take a deep breath right
6. 0:17now.
7. 0:24There's a reason you feel sick to your
8. 0:26stomach. And when people hold stuff
9. 0:28inside, it makes you physically ill. And
10. 0:31I can just tell on your face. I could
11. 0:33tell you tell from the second you walked
12. 0:34in that you were wanting to just come
13. 0:38clean and just be done with this. And I
14. 0:40appreciate that because you knew sitting
15. 0:42down in that chair that you weren't
16. 0:43going to pass today. And you knew I was
17. 0:45going to find out cuz I told you that.
18. 0:48And then you continued to say knowing
19. 0:50that you could at the end say, "You know
20. 0:53what? I just need to get this off my
21. 0:55chest. everything that I've told you. I
22. 0:58do not lie on this polygraph. I am
23. 1:02I don't know how much I could I could
24. 1:04tell you right now like I did not
25. 1:06it's not even it's not even an option
26. 1:08right now because you did not pass a
27. 1:09polygraph. So I know you were being
28. 1:10deceptive. So that's not even an issue
29. 1:13right now. The issue right now is what
30. 1:15happened to Shenan, Bella, and Celeste.
31. 1:19The following tactic is called the
32. 1:21futility technique. a building block to
33. 1:23induce a sense in a suspect that any
34. 1:25resistance on behalf of their cause is
35. 1:27feudal due to the overwhelming evidence
36. 1:30against them. This was obviously not the
37. 1:32case as polygraphs are not admissible
38. 1:34evidence and Chris was in fact still
39. 1:36free to leave at this point.
40. 1:38That's the issue right now.
41. 1:40Great.
42. 1:40Okay. So, let's talk about that.
43. 1:44I know I know you want to tell us. I I
44. 1:46can I can see it in your face.
45. 1:50holding this lie in is gonna do nothing
46. 1:52for you.
47. 1:53I I know this like I'm not like trying
48. 1:56to like cover things up like
49. 1:58Yeah, but you kind of are because and
50. 2:00and it's normal. Normal people would do
51. 2:03that. Normal people that make a mistake
52. 2:05initially are going to go, I don't know
53. 2:07what you're talking about. I didn't do
54. 2:08anything. That's normal. I would expect
55. 2:11that. That's a natural reaction that
56. 2:13someone's going to initially lie about
57. 2:14something like that and then eventually
58. 2:16tell the truth. So, this is your
59. 2:18eventually telling the truth time.
60. 2:22This is where this is where the rubber
61. 2:23meets the road, Chris.
62. 2:26Like, don't let this continue any
63. 2:28longer, please.
64. 2:30Chris, right now, your dad's outside. He
65. 2:32flew across the country to help out.
66. 2:34Okay.
67. 2:36You're lying to him.
68. 2:48You're lied to everyone you talk to
69. 2:51and they all bought it.
70. 2:55Will you please help us find your
71. 2:57babies?
72. 2:59I want to find them. I've told you over
73. 3:02and I want to find everyone.
74. 3:05Can you understand that some of this
75. 3:07just doesn't make sense?
76. 3:09How is it possible that a woman and two
77. 3:11kids are just completely gone off the
78. 3:12face of the earth?
79. 3:15I promise you, I have I have nothing on
80. 3:18my hands that's I did nothing to those
81. 3:21kids or her
82. 3:23to make them vanish. I just I just find
83. 3:25it hard to hear you talk about this
84. 3:29having this emotional,
85. 3:31you know, conversation with Shannan and
86. 3:33you're balling and crying together and
87. 3:36you have not shed one tear in two days
88. 3:39that you've been here.
89. 3:40Not one. And I help me understand that
90. 3:44because I don't get it. You're these are
91. 3:46your baby girls
92. 3:48and you have not shed one tear over them
93. 3:52not being around.
94. 3:57Chris, I I lose my four-year-old in the
95. 4:00store for 10 seconds and I start to go
96. 4:02panic. Panic.
97. 4:05I have not seen any of that from you at
98. 4:08all.
99. 4:10Help me understand that.
100. 4:11I love those girls. I I would never do
101. 4:13any of this because I haven't shed a
102. 4:14tear. You get
103. 4:16Yeah. No, that's weird. Is that weird?
104. 4:19Don't Don't look into that like I don't
105. 4:22love my explain to me. You're You're
106. 4:24crying with your wife that you're
107. 4:26leaving her.
108. 4:26Yeah.
109. 4:27But you don't cry that your two little
110. 4:29baby girls.
111. 4:30I'm hoping they're still around some.
112. 4:31I'm hoping they're still somewhere. In
113. 4:33the next moments, you will see step
114. 4:35seven of the Reed interrogation
115. 4:37technique known as the alternative
116. 4:39question where the suspect is given an
117. 4:41alternative and far more morally
118. 4:43acceptable choice for what happened.
119. 4:45Chris, did Shannan do something to them?
120. 4:47No, I don't know.
121. 4:48I'm serious. I
122. 4:49I have no clue.
123. 4:50No, you would have known cuz they didn't
124. 4:52leave the house.
125. 4:54When
126. 4:54did Shenan do something to them? And
127. 4:56then did you feel like you had to do
128. 4:57something to Shenan?
129. 5:01They were at the house when I left. They
130. 5:04were there.
131. 5:05They weren't there. They didn't leave.
132. 5:07They vanished.
133. 5:11They were there.
134. 5:12The only way they could have left is in
135. 5:15your truck.
136. 5:18Did Shann do something?
137. 5:20Something happened in the house that you
138. 5:21know about. We know that something
139. 5:24happened to all three of them. But I
140. 5:26want to know, did something happen to
141. 5:28these baby girls first that you had to
142. 5:30take into your own hands and deal with?
143. 5:33You had to clean it up for us. Shan,
144. 5:35Chris, you got to tell us. There's
145. 5:37something that happened to these baby
146. 5:39girls. Look at them.
147. 5:40I know.
148. 5:42I already came in. I'm just watching
149. 5:44videos.
150. 5:47Can I have a talk to my dad or
151. 5:48something?
152. 5:49Absolutely. Come.
153. 5:50Do you want to bring him in here?
154. 5:52Nuhuh. I talked about that if I flew
155. 5:55across the country.
156. 5:58How about this?
157. 6:00If we brought your dad in here, would
158. 6:02you please tell him what happened?
159. 6:04And you need to realize that your dad is
160. 6:06not going to stop loving you no matter
161. 6:07what you tell him. You are his child
162. 6:11and he will not stop loving you.
163. 6:14Never
164. 6:15ever.
165. 6:16And this is not the last chapter in
166. 6:17anyone's story at all. Okay.
167. 6:25Hey Chris, we're let you have however
168. 6:27much time you need. Okay. Okay.
169. 6:30No.
170. 6:30Yes.
171. 6:37Polyraph
172. 6:39it.
173. 6:42There's too much emotions.
174. 6:46Anything else you want to tell me what's
175. 6:48what's going on? What happened?
176. 6:52When
177. 6:54we had that conversation that morning,
178. 6:59it was emotional and
179. 7:02told about reparation and everything
180. 7:03like that.
181. 7:14What happened after?
182. 7:26I want to protect her. I don't want to
183. 7:28protect her.
184. 7:30I don't want to protect her.
185. 7:33I don't know.
186. 7:41She hurt.
187. 8:02I didn't hear anything.
188. 8:06They came back up. They're gone.
189. 8:12talking about separation and everything
190. 8:14about
191. 8:17I don't know like what else to say but
192. 8:21I
193. 8:27wasn't
194. 8:32heard commotion upstairs but I didn't
195. 8:34think anything of it
196. 8:40back upstairs and she was
197. 8:42I see
198. 8:57there.
199. 9:03I forgot.
200. 9:16Good job.
201. 9:47What's done?
202. 9:50Less than 10 seconds after the mention
203. 9:52of the word lawyer, the detectives
204. 9:54re-enter the room and immediately
205. 9:55reinforce Chris with nonverbal empathic
206. 9:58communication. They immediately divert
207. 10:00Chris's attention from the well-informed
208. 10:02advice of his father to their own
209. 10:04appreciative reception of his
210. 10:06contemporary admittance.
211. 10:07Could you help us more with you? Okay.
212. 10:14Will you tell us what you told your dad?
213. 10:17She
214. 10:25freaked out.
215. 10:29in there. On top of her,
216. 10:36my babies
217. 10:37are my kids.
218. 10:39What happened?
219. 10:48Although not the full avow they were
220. 10:50pursuing, Chris has still confessed
221. 10:52partly to the crimes and they now have
222. 10:54one foot in the door. he is no longer
223. 10:56free to leave. The interrogation now
224. 10:58returns to a non-suggestive process
225. 11:00where the detectives will collect
226. 11:02further information where they will not
227. 11:04contaminate with excessive or direct
228. 11:06input.
229. 11:17Both my kids are blue and they're gone.
230. 11:21So horrible for what I did most of
231. 11:30the hard part.
232. 11:33Can you tell us where we're at?
233. 11:35He's medical
234. 11:38that first location I went to that day.
235. 11:42I don't know what to do.
236. 11:44I know. I didn't know what to [ __ ]
237. 11:46do.
238. 11:47Like, none of this none of this makes
239. 11:49sense. Why would she hear my [ __ ]
240. 11:51girls?
241. 11:53I'm sorry.
242. 11:57I know you are.
243. 11:59[Music]
244. 12:01I know you came in today to do the right
245. 12:03thing.
246. 12:04Where'd you put him?
247. 12:09In the truck. Did Shenan fight back at
248. 12:12all when you did that?
249. 12:15The rage that I had after seeing that
250. 12:20much.
251. 12:21I didn't know what else to do.
252. 12:23I know.
253. 12:24I know.
254. 12:25I didn't know what else to do. I was so
255. 12:28scared.
256. 12:28I know.
257. 12:30I
258. 12:31like my wife just did this. I just did
259. 12:33that. What do I do? Right.
260. 12:36You were in a tough spot. I was like,
261. 12:37what can you do? Right.
262. 12:40like your body just kind of takes the
263. 12:42burn.
264. 12:48What's going to happen?
265. 12:51We're going to help them get out of
266. 12:52there. Chris, I know they're gone, but
267. 12:54they're still your babies and you're
268. 12:55still there.
269. 12:56I don't want to go there.
270. 13:02And you don't want someone else to find
271. 13:03them out there. You don't. I promise
272. 13:06you.
273. 13:09You give us a second so we can kind of
274. 13:10get some things arranged. Do that.
275. 13:19[Music]
276. 13:23This is just [ __ ] horrible.
277. 13:27I've always said she was a terrible
278. 13:29person, but I never thought million
279. 13:31years that could happen.
280. 13:37What is happening?
281. 13:40Why two girls?
282. 14:00This one.
283. 14:02No, no, not tonight.
284. 14:12Where about
285. 14:15the man and the girls?
286. 14:19The S for Okay. And where are the girls
287. 14:22at?
288. 14:27So, how did you dig this out? I'm
289. 14:29assuming that's under dirt. How did you
290. 14:33take that?
291. 14:38So, it sounds like I mean, it feels like
292. 14:39to me now we know pretty well how to go
293. 14:42get him. Is there anything else we need
294. 14:43to know?
295. 14:48What
296. 14:52do you think of that, Christian?
297. 14:57Let my family down.
298. 15:01My dad down, my mom, sister, nephew,
299. 15:04nie's, friends, co-workers.
300. 15:12Can I ask you another tough question?
301. 15:15Just get it all on the table.
302. 15:18When you see Shenan
303. 15:22choking, strangling
304. 15:25Celeste
305. 15:27and you get her off of Celeste.
306. 15:31Do you think um about calling an
307. 15:33ambulance?
308. 15:38They're blue and limp.
309. 15:40I've never seen something like that in
310. 15:42my life.
311. 15:44I mean, she just like laid over like
312. 15:47nothing was she was wasn't moving at
313. 15:49all. No gasp of breath.
314. 15:52She was totally just blue.
315. 15:54After the baseline information of
316. 15:56Chris's version of events is gathered,
317. 15:58he is now locked into an alibi and
318. 16:00timeline of affairs that forensics will
319. 16:02subsequently examine and dissect in ways
320. 16:05so they can use it against him. The tone
321. 16:06of the interrogation then reverts back
322. 16:08from information gathering to a
323. 16:10confrontational nature.
324. 16:12So, Chris, you're doing the show for a
325. 16:13long time. I know
326. 16:14I uh I know a lot of about
327. 16:19psychology and as far as like what
328. 16:21people are thinking and most parents
329. 16:24will never even want to fathom that
330. 16:26their kid or kid is dead. Even if their
331. 16:29kid's stiff blue in bed, I mean stiff
332. 16:31like been dead all night, they still
333. 16:34call an ambulance to see if someone can
334. 16:36revive their child.
335. 16:38And they when the ambulance get that
336. 16:40gets there and they're like, "Gosh,
337. 16:43their kids's been dead all night. Like
338. 16:44there's nothing we can do." And the
339. 16:46parents like, "What are you why are you
340. 16:47not doing something? What are you
341. 16:48talking about?"
342. 16:49So that's what I'm that's what we're
343. 16:51used to. So I just that's why I want you
344. 16:53to explain to me like what was going on
345. 16:54in your head and
346. 16:56I felt for what she was what she did.
347. 17:01It just took over. I just I would hate
348. 17:03for Shenan to get a bad rap if she
349. 17:08didn't have anything to do with it. You
350. 17:09know, it's not fair to
351. 17:12not fair.
352. 17:13There is no technical term for this
353. 17:15approach yet. It's a clear attempt by
354. 17:17the detective to interconnect to the
355. 17:19suspect's sense of morality, which is
356. 17:21always under the assumption that they
357. 17:22have any.
358. 17:24Like enough bad stuff is happening, but
359. 17:26like we need to stop the bad stuff from
360. 17:28happening.
361. 17:32truth. That is that is true.
362. 17:34So, you're good with the public knowing
363. 17:36that Shannan killed her daughters?
364. 17:37I did not hurt these girls.
365. 17:39Are you okay with the public knowing
366. 17:40that Shenan?
367. 17:41Yes, cuz I did not hurt these girls.
368. 17:44Chris, I'm not sure.
369. 17:47Are you sure Shenan didn't catch you in?
370. 17:49No. My god, no. Don't get mad. But what
371. 17:52it looks like is that
372. 17:55you found a new life. And the only way
373. 17:58to get that new life was to get rid of
374. 17:59the old life.
375. 18:01And I think that you killed these girls
376. 18:04before their mom came home and then
377. 18:06kills him. Now
378. 18:09that's what we're kind of left. That's
379. 18:11what we have to believe cuz it just
380. 18:13doesn't make sense. I mean to her point,
381. 18:16if I walked in and my kid was
382. 18:18decapitated, I call an ambulance,
383. 18:20right? So
384. 18:21knowing there's no hope,
385. 18:23it just it just doesn't make sense. It
386. 18:25just doesn't add up. So,
387. 18:28either you're this monster who says, "I
388. 18:31just want this young, hot girlfriend, so
389. 18:33I'm going to kill everyone and hope it
390. 18:35works out or something."
391. 18:38So, I think we're very, very close to
392. 18:41the truth, but not by their asses.
393. 18:43So, if you're not that monster,
394. 18:45I'm not a monster.
395. 18:47So, what's going to happen when their
396. 18:49cause of death comes back to you or the
397. 18:51girl?
398. 18:51She's not going to.
399. 18:52Okay.
400. 18:54You sure?
401. 18:54I'm 100% positive it's not going to come
402. 18:57back to me.
403. 18:57And what happens when a coroner looks
404. 19:00and said it sees your fingerprints on
405. 19:02their neck? Not going to be my
406. 19:04fingerprints. Okay. What is it going to
407. 19:06be? It's going to be Shenan. Why take
408. 19:10their bodies out of the house and bury
409. 19:12them?
410. 19:14I was scared. I didn't know what else to
411. 19:15do. Okay.
412. 19:16Nothing Nothing
413. 19:19Nothing was going to I didn't know what
414. 19:22to do.
415. 19:22Yeah.
416. 19:23So, I honestly didn't know what to do.
417. 19:25Scared of what?
418. 19:28Scared of what everything was going to
419. 19:29look like. There was my two babies were
420. 19:31gone.
421. 19:31And I I just did that to my wife and I
422. 19:35was the only one left in the house. What
423. 19:36do you expected going to happen?
424. 19:37Yeah, it did look bad, right?
425. 19:40It looked I mean, this was a nightmare.
426. 19:43Yeah.
427. 19:45Okay.
428. 19:55yesterday when you were talking
429. 19:58um again this is before we kind of got
430. 20:00to this um moment today you mentioned
431. 20:03that
432. 20:05we were talking he said I don't know
433. 20:06where they are I don't know where they
434. 20:07are and then you said something along
435. 20:09the lines of whatever happened to him
436. 20:11just acted pure evil what did that mean
437. 20:17this
438. 20:20evil that I saw when I walked behind
439. 20:22Shan and she was on top of CC
440. 20:26and I felt evil.
441. 20:33Okay.
442. 20:40So, after we after we look at their
443. 20:42bodies, we're going to have a lot more
444. 20:44questions. Um, things are going to be
445. 20:47different then, but if you're willing,
446. 20:49we'd love to talk to you then, too.
447. 20:52Now that we know what we know, um, we're
448. 20:55going to, um, I need to check that you
449. 20:58don't have any weapons on you or
450. 20:59anything like that. Do you have a weapon
451. 21:00on?
452. 21:01Okay. Um, we'll do that. We'll go to the
453. 21:04bathroom. I'm not going to go in the
454. 21:06stall with you, but I'm going to go with
455. 21:07you. Um, and then we'll come right back
456. 21:09here. We'll make a decision about how
457. 21:10the rest of the night goes. All right.
458. 21:12So, you might stand up so I can check.
459. 21:25This interrogation was a true testimony
460. 21:27of how mental fatigue can restructure an
461. 21:30individual's cognitive rationale. Chris
462. 21:32maintained his innocence even after the
463. 21:34failed polygraph. And if he had kept
464. 21:36that stance, he would have walked out of
465. 21:38that police department as a free man for
466. 21:40at least another night. Yet, after a
467. 21:42prolonged state of isolation, anxiety,
468. 21:44and fear, coupled with the cerebral
469. 21:46influencing tactics of the
470. 21:48interrogators, the alleviation of
471. 21:49getting out of that situation was in
472. 21:51that moment perceived as enough of a
473. 21:53luxury to exchange his freedom for it.
474. 21:58Chris,
475. 21:59stand up for me, and I'm going to have
476. 22:01you face that wall. Lift up your hands.