The Case of Chris Watts - pt. 1 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00The drama began shortly after the
2. 0:01Frederick Police Department received a
3. 0:03call from Nicole Atkinson, the best
4. 0:05friend of Shannon Watts. She had
5. 0:07arranged to drive Shannon into town that
6. 0:09same day for a pregnancy checkup, but
7. 0:11there was no answer when she knocked at
8. 0:13the door, nor any response to her text
9. 0:15messages or phone calls. After noticing
10. 0:17her shoes were still at the front door,
11. 0:19she became concerned and called 911.
12. 0:21Nicole.
13. 0:22Yes.
14. 0:22Okay. So, what's going on?
15. 0:24So, my friend um we were out of town for
16. 0:26a business trip this weekend,
17. 0:28right? and I dropped her off at 2:00
18. 0:30this morning. She's 15 weeks pregnant.
19. 0:32She wasn't feeling well and she had a
20. 0:34doctor's appointment this morning at
21. 0:359:00 and I told her to let me know if
22. 0:36she needed me to take her. She's got two
23. 0:38little girls. I called, I've texted. Her
24. 0:41car is in the garage. Her shoes wears
25. 0:43every single day by the front door.
26. 0:49[Applause]
27. 0:52How you doing?
28. 0:54You seen your neighbors today?
29. 0:57No. Okay.
30. 1:00What's Chris's phone number?
31. 1:01Chris's phone number is
32. 1:03Hey, Chris. Officer Kunrod for a police
33. 1:04permit.
34. 1:06Pretty good. So, do you have any idea
35. 1:08where your wife is? Right. Well, my
36. 1:10concern is her car is here. They're
37. 1:12saying she is diabetic. I don't want her
38. 1:15She's upstairs and can't respond. Okay.
39. 1:17About how far out are you? Okay. All
40. 1:19right. He said like 5 minutes.
41. 1:20It's not a sure sign of guilty conduct.
42. 1:22Yet, the fact that Chris made the
43. 1:24officer wait for his return would have
44. 1:26most likely alerted some minor
45. 1:28suspicion. In normal circumstances, a
46. 1:30husband receiving a call from the police
47. 1:32saying they were concerned about the
48. 1:34safety of their pregnant wife and
49. 1:35children, in most cases, would have
50. 1:37given them permission to immediately
51. 1:39kick the door down. It's a truly somber
52. 1:41awareness to know that the man stepping
53. 1:43out of the car had only a very short
54. 1:45time ago dumped his infant daughter's
55. 1:47bodies into an oil tank and buried his
56. 1:49pregnant wife in a shallow grave.
57. 1:52Scott, how you doing?
58. 1:55So, this is the only vehicle she would
59. 1:56have.
60. 1:57Only one that
61. 1:58she would drive. Okay.
62. 1:59The familiar routine for anyone checking
63. 2:01for someone's presence inside a house,
64. 2:03whether it be an emergency or otherwise,
65. 2:05is to immediately call out to them for
66. 2:07instantaneous reassurance. Chris remains
67. 2:10silent, but instead feels the need to
68. 2:12examine his wife's car before subtly
69. 2:14sneaking through the internal garage
70. 2:15door. He then disappears for 1 minute
71. 2:17and 7 seconds before letting the
72. 2:19neighbors and police officer inside.
73. 2:21Only Chris will know what he carried out
74. 2:23during that time period, but it's safe
75. 2:25to assume that his curious behavior was
76. 2:27not going unnoticed, made evident by the
77. 2:29unsettled gaze of Nicole as he opens the
78. 2:32door.
79. 2:33My door,
80. 2:35come in, Chris.
81. 2:37There were multiple key moments captured
82. 2:39from inside the house, which may not
83. 2:41have been noticed immediately by the
84. 2:42officer, but would have no doubt been
85. 2:44gathered by forensics upon further
86. 2:46investigation. The most overt
87. 2:48peculiarity was Chris's interaction with
88. 2:50his phone. The guise of his thumb
89. 2:52movement would have given the impression
90. 2:53he was texting someone, which would have
91. 2:55seemed very peculiar, as the normal
92. 2:57response would be to frantically call
93. 2:59people rather than text given the
94. 3:00circumstances. Hindsight gives us a
95. 3:02clearer picture of Chris's introversion,
96. 3:05which is that he was most likely using
97. 3:06his phone to avoid eye contact and
98. 3:09progressive dialogue with the officer.
99. 3:11What time do you leave the day?
100. 3:14What time to leave there? Come here.
101. 3:15No, here.
102. 3:15Uh, usually between 5:30 and 6.
103. 3:18All right. Well, Shannon here then.
104. 3:20Yes. Yeah.
105. 3:28Does she usually watch the kids or you
106. 3:30have daycare watch them?
107. 3:31She she usually watch the kids if
108. 3:32they're not at school.
109. 3:34Okay. You guys having any kind of
110. 3:36issues, marital issues or
111. 3:39separation? You are. Now, how's that
112. 3:41going?
113. 3:44Civil for the most part or
114. 3:54Additionally, we are presented with a
115. 3:56subtle cues of Chris's forethought cover
116. 3:58story being that his wife simply ran off
117. 4:00with the kids after a breakdown in the
118. 4:02marriage.
119. 4:03All blankies are gone.
120. 4:07Um,
121. 4:09their blanket they sleep with. They
122. 4:10don't leave anywhere without them.
123. 4:11Good.
124. 4:26hair.
125. 4:29The rest of Chris's conduct could be
126. 4:31analyzed and dissected in various ways,
127. 4:33and it would be easy to pick at certain
128. 4:34oddities in body language and link them
129. 4:36with signs of guilt. Yet without the
130. 4:38hindsight we have now, his behavior
131. 4:40could just as easily be linked with an
132. 4:42innocent man who is understandably
133. 4:44concerned and frantic over the
134. 4:46disappearance of his family. His very
135. 4:48conservant neighbor, however, had the
136. 4:49perceptual advantage of knowing Chris on
137. 4:51a semi-personal level and could analyze
138. 4:54his kinesics in a far more accurate
139. 4:56manner than the police officer.
140. 4:57You just want to go talk to him? I'm
141. 4:58going to get his info real quick.
142. 5:03No.
143. 5:06never
144. 5:08rocking back and forth cuz he never
145. 5:10loads his stuff in and out of the garage
146. 5:12ever.
147. 5:12Right.
148. 5:12To be completely honest with you, my
149. 5:14wife and I were kind of wondering when
150. 5:15she was on vacation if something
151. 5:17happened cuz I've heard them full out
152. 5:20screaming at each other at the top of
153. 5:21their lungs and he gets crazy.
154. 5:23Does he? And that's pretty recently.
155. 5:25Yeah. He doesn't look worried. He looks
156. 5:28like he's trying to cover his tracks.
157. 5:30He's normally quiet subdued. He's over
158. 5:33here telling us, telling you three times
159. 5:35what he took out, what he did, what he
160. 5:37did, what he did.
161. 5:40He's very
162. 5:42He never talks. So, the fact that he's
163. 5:44over here blabbing his mouth makes me
164. 5:46kind of suspicious.
165. 5:47This was just after the moment he had
166. 5:48shown both Chris and the officer his
167. 5:50surveillance footage of that same
168. 5:52morning, capturing only Chris leaving
169. 5:54the house after loading multiple
170. 5:56unidentified things into his truck.
171. 5:58Yeah, we can pick up cars coming this
172. 6:00way. I get anything coming this way.
173. 6:01making this turn. So, and usually at
174. 6:04night I pick up the car pulling the ear
175. 6:06trim. So, unless they pulled right here,
176. 6:11but I would have caught her walking out.
177. 6:14Although not fully incriminating as
178. 6:16Shannon and the kids could have left
179. 6:17through the back entrance, this was an
180. 6:19extremely detrimental piece of evidence
181. 6:21and would have no doubt been extolled by
182. 6:23forensics and made Chris an immediate
183. 6:25prime suspect. The following day, Chris,
184. 6:27for some bizarre reason, agreed to be
185. 6:29interviewed by two separate news
186. 6:31stations where he came across as
187. 6:33extremely unimpassioned and detached
188. 6:35from the alarming nature of the
189. 6:36situation.
190. 6:37Like when I got home yesterday, it was
191. 6:39like a ghost town. Like she wasn't here.
192. 6:41Kids weren't here. I have no idea like
193. 6:44where they went. Right now it's got K9
194. 6:46units, the sheriff's department,
195. 6:49everybody's like they're they're doing
196. 6:50their best right now to figure out like
197. 6:52if they can get a scent. if she wasn't
198. 6:54here, like where did she go? Like once I
199. 6:57got here, it was like, all right, who
200. 6:58can I call? I called her three times,
201. 7:01texted her about three times just to
202. 7:03say, you know, what's going on? Like if
203. 7:05she's vanished, like I want her back so
204. 7:07bad. I want those kids back so bad.
205. 7:09Right now, I don't even want to just
206. 7:10like throw anything out there. Like, I
207. 7:13hope that she's somewhere safe right now
208. 7:16and with the kids. Last night, I wanted
209. 7:18I I wanted that knock on the door. I
210. 7:20wanted to see I wanted to see this kid
211. 7:21just running just just barrel rush me
212. 7:24and just give me a hug and knock me on
213. 7:25the ground. That's why last night it was
214. 7:26just horrible. I couldn't do it.
215. 7:29It I just I'm hoping that somebody sees
216. 7:33something or somebody knows something
217. 7:35and comes forward. Shannan, Bella,
218. 7:39Celeste, if you're out there, just just
219. 7:42come back. Like if somebody has her,
220. 7:44just please bring her back. I need to
221. 7:46see everybody. I need to see everybody
222. 7:48again. This house is not complete with
223. 7:50without anybody here. Please bring it
224. 7:53back.
225. 7:53This could have been construed as shock
226. 7:55trauma where a person will turn numb and
227. 7:57retreat into themselves as a means of
228. 7:59escape. Yet the viewers watching this
229. 8:01live from home were probably thinking
230. 8:03what we as the retrospective audience
231. 8:05already know. He was called in for
232. 8:07questioning 4 hours later.
233. 8:15All right, let's do this.
234. 8:18Somebody saw something. Somebody knows
235. 8:20where these kids are. And I keep saying
236. 8:21the kids, I'm sorry. Your kids and your
237. 8:22wife.
238. 8:23I know you're going through a lot. So,
239. 8:26we're not going to keep you here all
240. 8:27night. Tell me exactly what you remember
241. 8:30and I'll take notes about where we can
242. 8:31go.
243. 8:33So, this 1:40 a.m. Let me switch chairs.
244. 8:38When they come knocking
245. 8:40out
246. 8:42knocking, I got to use that key. One of
247. 8:43the oldest and most commonly used
248. 8:45techniques is for the interrogator to
249. 8:47sit between the door and the suspect.
250. 8:49This is for the purpose of heightening
251. 8:51the feelings of isolation and
252. 8:52dependence. It's an indirect subliminal
253. 8:54message, letting Chris know that the
254. 8:56only way out of that room is through the
255. 8:58detective. It's an excellent tool for
256. 9:00stripping away confidence, thus
257. 9:02increasing the telling signs and body
258. 9:04language when information is fabricated.
259. 9:074:00 a.m. That's when my alarm goes off
260. 9:09for work and I'm just get dressed, brush
261. 9:11my teeth, everything I do upstairs.
262. 9:13Okay.
263. 9:14About 4:15, that's when I get back,
264. 9:18slide right into bed next to her and
265. 9:19start having a conversation with her
266. 9:21about having the putting the house up
267. 9:24for sale and talking about se like
268. 9:27actually going proceeding with the
269. 9:29separation.
270. 9:29Okay. And obviously it gets pretty
271. 9:32emotional like we're talking about you
272. 9:33know like we felt this the disconnection
273. 9:35was there like falling out of love and
274. 9:39trying to stay together maybe just for
275. 9:40the kids sake but we're realizing that
276. 9:42doing like our homework it's not most of
277. 9:45the time that's not going to work. Yeah.
278. 9:52So when I got home I opened the garage
279. 9:54door and we went inside the house and
280. 9:57looked everywhere. and Bella and
281. 9:58Celeste. Nowhere to be found. She went
282. 10:01away, rings on her nightstand. Her
283. 10:03phone's still on the couch. Her purse is
284. 10:05still there. The medicine for the kid is
285. 10:07still there. The car in the car seat is
286. 10:08still there. And there's no sign of them
287. 10:10anywhere.
288. 10:10Okay.
289. 10:16I was just hoping that I left all the
290. 10:17lights on in the house. I was hoping
291. 10:18that I'd get a knock on a door, but
292. 10:20nothing happened. Yeah. But nothing
293. 10:22happened.
294. 10:22What do you think happened?
295. 10:25At first, I really thought maybe she was
296. 10:27just at somebody's house just
297. 10:29decompressing.
298. 10:31Yeah. But after today, like with the
299. 10:34onslaught of all the cars, I mean, all
300. 10:36the police cars, all the news, all the
301. 10:38K9 units,
302. 10:40it's making me lean the other direction
303. 10:42about someone took her.
304. 10:44Okay. But it's just
305. 10:48if someone took her, it would have to
306. 10:50have been someone she knew
307. 10:52because there's there's no sign of
308. 10:54anything like being disturbed, broken.
309. 10:57Mhm.
310. 10:58But like that's the way I'm leaning now.
311. 10:59At first I thought for real. She was
312. 11:00just decompressing somewhere. Just I
313. 11:03mean I thought she was safe.
314. 11:04Even though everything in the house was
315. 11:06left there,
316. 11:07but now it's just after the day with the
317. 11:09news crews and everything, it's just it
318. 11:11feels more the other direction and it's
319. 11:13freaking me out.
320. 11:20on that night I told I woke that morning
321. 11:22early that morning I told her like the
322. 11:24disconnection it's it's there like it's
323. 11:27not going away like the connection we
324. 11:29had
325. 11:30when in the beginning
326. 11:32it's not there anymore it's like I don't
327. 11:35feel like the love we have is there
328. 11:37anymore
329. 11:40and it's just like I don't feel like I
330. 11:43mean if we want to stay together for the
331. 11:44kids. I'm not sure if that's going to
332. 11:46work.
333. 11:47Like bring us what you told him.
334. 11:48Yes.
335. 11:49Okay.
336. 11:49Like having another baby and bring us in
337. 11:51this relationship. Do you think this is
338. 11:53going to work
339. 11:54with us being together or separation I
340. 11:57think is going to be the best possible
341. 11:59route for us? And that's when like all
342. 12:02the crying and everything proceeded. And
343. 12:04it was just it was very hard just just
344. 12:06to talk talk about that. But I needed to
345. 12:10do it face to face.
346. 12:11Okay. And I needed like I needed to see
347. 12:13her face like while I did it. I couldn't
348. 12:16text, phone, whatever. I needed to be
349. 12:18face to face and be able to see her and
350. 12:21know that she was going to be at least
351. 12:24reciprocating back to me.
352. 12:26Oh, what did she say?
353. 12:28She said that it was I mean it was she
354. 12:31wants she wanted to kind of work on it.
355. 12:33Mhm.
356. 12:34But if that's the way I was feeling,
357. 12:36then she respects that.
358. 12:38Okay.
359. 12:40Uh 1:00 p.m. I'm now on my way home to
360. 12:43check on my family. Is that just cuz
361. 12:45you're worried with based on the
362. 12:46conversation with Nicole? Had the police
363. 12:47contact you by then?
364. 12:48No.
365. 12:49Okay. I arrived. Sorry. Go ahead.
366. 12:51But Nicole said she was probably going
367. 12:53to call the cops.
368. 12:54Okay. All right. Now, so it sounds like
369. 12:57Nicole's pretty worried,
370. 12:58more worried than you.
371. 13:00Oh, so once once she couldn't get
372. 13:02anything out of her and nothing was
373. 13:04going on at the house, I was like, "All
374. 13:05right, I got to go home." The sharp and
375. 13:06sudden change of angle from baseline
376. 13:08questioning to direct confrontation
377. 13:10would normally make an innocent person
378. 13:12refute or at least challenge the
379. 13:14statement. There would also be a brief
380. 13:16pause as they would need time to process
381. 13:18the allegation due to its perplexity. A
382. 13:21guilty individual would already be in a
383. 13:23defensive state of mind and would
384. 13:25normally respond in a hastily motus.
385. 13:27Instead of refuting the remark, they
386. 13:29would accept it but try and explain its
387. 13:31actuality in a defensive manner.
388. 13:33But it's something Nicole was more
389. 13:34worried. Yeah, because like most of like
390. 13:36if she doesn't text me like I understand
391. 13:38that like sometimes that happens.
392. 13:40Okay.
393. 13:40But for her not to get back to her
394. 13:43direct sales group,
395. 13:45that was very unorthodox.
396. 13:47Okay.
397. 13:49So then they're they're at home
398. 13:53um police officers there.
399. 13:54Mhm.
400. 13:55Um then walk me through that.
401. 13:57So as we go through the house, we're all
402. 13:59Do you immediately go through the house?
403. 14:01Oh, like I open the garage door and I
404. 14:02just I just go into the house. I'm I'm
405. 14:05looking like I just go in the garage
406. 14:07door and I'm looking.
407. 14:08Is the police officer saying, "Hey, let
408. 14:09me talk to you for a minute."
409. 14:10No.
410. 14:10No. Okay. What's the vibe like?
411. 14:13I just I go up there, shake his hand,
412. 14:14but I'm like open the garage door at the
413. 14:16same time.
414. 14:17Okay.
415. 14:17And then I go through and then they're
416. 14:19waiting at the front door. I go in, open
417. 14:21that up, and then they come in.
418. 14:23Oh, so they didn't go in the garage door
419. 14:24with you. Okay.
420. 14:24Well, they they went in the garage. They
421. 14:26didn't come in the way I did.
422. 14:28All right. So, then they everybody goes
423. 14:31in.
424. 14:32I think that was at
425. 14:364:00. That's when um cuz the neighbor
426. 14:39cuz the neighbor I was the officer. I
427. 14:41went over to the neighbor's house to see
428. 14:42if he saw anything. And
429. 14:44whose was that?
430. 14:46I think it was the officer cuz
431. 14:48he just went over there.
432. 14:49Um and then that's when the uh neighbor
433. 14:53called him back over to show him he had
434. 14:55some stuff from the other night. Okay.
435. 14:56Just show him like whatever he had and
436. 14:58that I put motion on it.
437. 14:59Okay.
438. 15:014 p.m. Police check neighbor security
439. 15:03footage and question them as well. Okay.
440. 15:06Have we talked about that? Is that where
441. 15:08we're at? Uh, anything else about that?
442. 15:11No, I mean it just shows Nicole dropping
443. 15:13her off but her not walking up and it
444. 15:16shows me loading my truck up.
445. 15:18About the time I told you I left.
446. 15:19Okay.
447. 15:21Um, can we talk about something that's
448. 15:23kind of hard to talk about?
449. 15:26Um,
450. 15:27so when I work investigations like this,
451. 15:30I have to keep an open mind on
452. 15:32everything. Okay?
453. 15:36And part of keeping an open mind is
454. 15:39listening to you talk about your wife
455. 15:41and your marriage. And
456. 15:44the day she goes missing is the day that
457. 15:46you guys have marital this quarter.
458. 15:48Okay?
459. 15:51So you can understand what I'm thinking
460. 15:53about you.
461. 15:53Yeah. What do you think about that?
462. 15:57Makes me sick to my stomach, honestly.
463. 15:59Like I know like I've talked to a few of
464. 16:01my friends is like, you know, this does
465. 16:03not look good on you. I'm like, I know.
466. 16:05It's like people that if people knew
467. 16:07that we were having marital issues,
468. 16:10they're going to look at me, especially
469. 16:12with the way everything looks. It
470. 16:14honestly just makes me sick to my
471. 16:15stomach because this is something that I
472. 16:17would never do
473. 16:20ever.
474. 16:23I I know like you have to look at every
475. 16:26every vantage point. This is something I
476. 16:28would never do to my kids or my wife at
477. 16:31all.
478. 16:38This is what is known as the pause
479. 16:39technique. After the suspect answers a
480. 16:41question, the interrogator will remain
481. 16:43silent while maintaining eye contact.
482. 16:46This physical demeanor gives off the
483. 16:47subtle cue that he expects more
484. 16:49information to be divulged and may
485. 16:51already know more than the suspect
486. 16:53realizes.
487. 16:57I'm not sure like what I could do to
488. 16:59like to make people believe that just
489. 17:01because if they
490. 17:04they knew or have marital discord they
491. 17:05would automatically look at me. But
492. 17:08there's no I would harm anybody in my
493. 17:10family
494. 17:12at all.
495. 17:21I know we were having marital discord
496. 17:23and we had that conversation that
497. 17:25morning and then she goes, "We have no
498. 17:28idea where she is or the kids."
499. 17:33I promise you that has nothing to do
500. 17:36with any of that.
501. 17:48Are you telling me the truth? I'm sorry.
502. 17:50It's absolutely true.
503. 17:53Why should I believe you?
504. 17:54A truthful individual will normally
505. 17:56respond to this question with a question
506. 17:58such as why are you asking me that or
507. 18:00what's going on here? They will often
508. 18:02protest the aggressive nature of the
509. 18:04Inquisition or give a short and forceful
510. 18:06response
511. 18:07because I'm a very trustworthy person
512. 18:09and the people that do know me, they
513. 18:11know how I am a calm person. I am not an
514. 18:14argumentative person. I am a person who
515. 18:18is that's never going to be abusive or
516. 18:21physical in any kind of relationship. I
517. 18:24would never harm my kids. I would never
518. 18:26harm my wife.
519. 18:28I mean, you can talk I mean any you can
520. 18:30talk to any of my friends, any of her
521. 18:32friends. They know me. They know I'm a
522. 18:35low-key guy that's quiet. I'm I'm not
523. 18:40about confrontation. I'm not about
524. 18:43anything that elevates to that level.
525. 18:47I mean, like if someone like yells at
526. 18:49me, screams at me, I just hate it. And I
527. 18:53just try to get it by the wayside and
528. 18:55get it back to where it's a cool just a
529. 18:57cool conversation to where like none of
530. 18:59that none of that gets to that hype cuz
531. 19:01I am not that person.
532. 19:05I've never been that person.
533. 19:19Okay.
534. 19:21Would you take a polygraph?
535. 19:23Sure. Okay,
536. 19:25let's take a little break. I'm going to
537. 19:28come back in here because I have a lot
538. 19:30more questions for you.
539. 19:35How you feeling? Looking at that
540. 19:37picture,
541. 19:40[Applause]
542. 20:01she's rampage. She's always the one
543. 20:03that's gung-ho. She's always the one
544. 20:06that's just like she's she's either go
545. 20:09or sleep. She's always the one growling.
546. 20:12She's she's always pretend she's a
547. 20:14tiger.
548. 20:16Bella, she's the calm, the mothering
549. 20:18one. She's the one that's always You
550. 20:21okay? You okay? Fine. Okay.
551. 20:25She's just She's just the sweetest
552. 20:26little girl. She's the one that favors
553. 20:28me more and Celeste is the one that
554. 20:30favors San more.
555. 20:35[Music]
556. 20:44I remember when they wore that dress.
557. 20:46She just wore that dress not too long
558. 20:47ago.
559. 20:51Unbutton the back of it so I could get
560. 20:54her pajamas on. She's like, "No, daddy.
561. 20:56I got to ping. I got
562. 20:59to love those spaghetti strap dresses.
563. 21:01She likes long dresses.
564. 21:06She was a girly girl.