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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield

New evidence on the Watts` murder case. Aired 6-8p ET

Aired September 11, 2018 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:00:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- write the book on the perfect murder. Well, she should have read the final chapter where there are no perfect

murders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daddy is a hero.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CRIME AND JUSTICE SHOW HOST, HLN: It might just be the biggest murder case in the country. His name is Chris Watts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man who allegedly killed his young wife and two young daughters.

BANFIELD: And it might just be the biggest break yet. Is daddy`s truck the answer to solving how the Watts girls died, because Chris might have

left something inside?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t just drive around and look.

BANFIELD: And did police find something that proves the killings were well planned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police went door to door asking like cameras and everything.

BANFIELD: Did this family man really turn into a family annihilator?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s losing. And he won`t move. He`s just delaying the inevitable.

BANFIELD: Tonight, the forensics takes center stage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty good game there, bud.

BANFIELD: And we have got the micro scope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Good evening, everyone. I am Ashleigh Banfield, and this is Crime and Justice. In every murder case, there are several questions to

answer, like how did it happen and why did it happen. In the case of Shanann Watts her darling daughters and her unborn baby boy who all wound

up dead at an oil site. The why is a truly dark mystery, because nothing seemed wrong with this family.

But now the how is coming together. And the details are dark indeed. This might just be the biggest break yet in the investigation into Chris Watts.

Once a hero of a husband, a hero of a father, now accused of killing everyone in his family. And someone who might just have left some evidence

behind that could prove whether he, or as he puts it, his wife killed those children.

Tonight, a microscopic smoking gun, the holy grail of police work might just be emerging from that truck that sat parked outside of the Watts home

all along. Did police find something in that truck that could crack the case wide open? And did this innocent Facebook Live post foreshadow

something far more sinister?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We may have a broken window here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s a lot of ice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s called hail. Poor daddy`s truck`s getting beat up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You hear the noise, it`s hitting the windows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: An innocent teaching moment, Bella`s mom showing the power of a hailstorm to her curious little girl. And daddy`s truck is front and

center. And it is sickening to realize now that Shanann might also have been capturing that car that would end up being more like the hearse that

would bury her and her children to their graves.

Welcome back, everyone. I want to bring in Pat Lalama, a crime journalist who has been following this case. Pat, the material that People Magazine

is reporting is astounding. Hundreds of hairs found in that truck. Take it from there.

PAT LALAMA, CRIME JOURNALIST: Well, you`re absolutely right. It is stunning to me as well. So in that truck, where it`s presumed that he

transported his pregnant wife`s body, the two children`s bodies, police sources tell People Magazine that they have recovered hundreds, Ashleigh,

not a handful, not one or two, but hundreds of strands of hair. And as you can very well guess, this will be very significant in terms of the

analysts, forensic analysts trying to determine if that will lead them to when exactly these poor people passed away.

BANFIELD: So there`s so much to that just in terms of the forensics. As we watch the pictures of them taking that truck away. Clearly, after they

knew this was not a missing person`s case, this was a murder case. They towed that truck away from that home. Not before Shanann had captured the

truck innocently parked out in front of their home, in so many different ways.

One of the ways I found just so difficult to process was this moment in the hailstorm. There`s the truck, Bella and mom are looking at the hailstorm

and Shanann is explaining what the hail is all about, telling little Bella she can`t go out because hail will hurt her. And then to find out that

that truck took their dead bodies to the death site, to the oilfield.

[18:05:08] There is also that photograph of Chris mowing that lawn out front, mowing that small patch of grass. And look what`s in the background

as he takes his baby in the backpack along for the chore, the truck in the backdrop. He`s mowing the lawn with the baby on his back. And the truck

is in the background. Look closely. You can see in the back bed of that truck, what looks like a tool kit.

It`s evident in all of the pictures, even the pictures they had when they towed that truck away. It`s evident in the hailstorm pictures. It`s

evident in this proud dad moment with baby on his back, the truck, the truck that he admitted in the arrest warrant. Police say he told them that

was the truck that he used to ferry them to the burial site, oil tanks and a shallow grave.

I want to bring in Dr. William Morrone. You just heard Pat Lalama explaining the significance of the hundreds of hairs that a source has told

People Magazine was recovered from that truck. Dr. Morrone, is there a way to determine when those bodies that yielded those hairs if they are

postmortem when they died? Is there a timeline that can be established at all?

WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, there isn`t a precise timeline. We have research from the University of

Tennessee that tells us that when they collected hairs from dead bodies that were in different conditions. Cold water, cold weather, and air

conditioned bodies either didn`t present hair bands or presented them very slow.

When bodies were studied and hair was recovered from partial buried automobiles and in warm weather, hair banding was much more prominent.

While it`s still a young science, we can say that if there was very warm weather and those hair bands appeared that that may be one of the

contributing things, that there was warm weather.

This wouldn`t happen in Manitoba. This wouldn`t happen in Alaska. This would happen in the Great Plains, in the Midwest, in the heartland in the

heat and in the summer. So there is a general sense that this could be possible. And if the hairs were removed in any kind of assault or trauma,

they might have blood on them, microscopic blood, so there are many different things. But the hair banding science, while it`s still very

young, we know what influences it.

BANFIELD: It is fascinating. Pat Lalama, just get me up to speed on what the police source told People Magazine regarding the timeline, because it

seems to me the police source seemed to think that if those hairs found in the truck are postmortem hairs, we might be able to determine if those

children died within minutes or hours or say several hours of their mother.

Because Chris Watts` story is that it all happened in an instant. He blew up in a rage because he saw his children being killed and killed his wife

all within an instant. That seems to be what the source is telling people, am I wrong?

LALAMA: Well, I think the important thing to remember, in complete laymen`s terms is that this all has to do with what kind of charges he

faces. Was it a heat of passion? Did he think about this? Did he kill those children before his wife even got home? Hopefully, everything

they`ve been able to pull out of that home and in that truck will have some sort of a time stamp that I am sure prosecutors are hoping will tell them

that it was all thought about prior to that horrific night.

BANFIELD: Joseph Scott Morgan, you`re a certified death investigator. You`re a professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. I know

that this evidence is remarkable, hair band evidence, postmortem hair evidence. But I am under the understanding that this police source may be

wrong, that while hair banding can show, you know, a passage of time from an already shed hair of a decomposing body.

I am not so sure that it can give you that narrow of a window of time of death. What`s your thought on it?

[18:09:51] JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Yeah. Postmortem interval is key here, isn`t it? The idea is that we look at

something with bodies that have decomposed to be quite frank. And after a period of time, hair sloughs where it begins to fall off. That takes days

to weeks sometimes. So that`s normally when I would expect to see something like hair banding.

If we`re talking about say a period of maybe 90 to 95 hours after death, I don`t know if you would see it present that quickly. If you remember back

at the case involving Kayleigh Anthony, they brought up hair banding in that particular case and it made a few people raise eyebrows. Because as

Dr. Morrone alluded to, it`s not an exact science, Ash. And time is of the essence here, relative to his relationship to these bodies and how they

were stored, how they were kept, and obviously when they were killed.

BANFIELD: So let`s go back to the picture if I can of the hair banding. The postmortem root band and why this is significant. And Dr. Morrone,

just maybe explain to me the picture that we`re seeing. And I think you`re sort of on the move, so you may not be seeing your screen, shows the hair

follicle that has been shed from a body post death.

And it shows a black band some distance away from the actual root. It shows two different images of that. What exactly does that tell me, that

black band? What is the science, as good as it is or as, you know, nascent as it is? What does the root band actually tell me? Have I lost Dr.

Morrone? I think I may have lost him on.

(CROSSTALK)

MORRONE: I am sorry, I am back.

BANFIELD: Are you there? OK, go ahead. Did you hear the question?

MORRONE: I did. I kept myself muted so I didn`t interrupt you. Here`s the deal. There are three pieces of that hair that are differential. It`s

the area above the band is what you see in women with really long hair and they Washington, you know, they want to condition it and everything. But

that`s really not vital.

Vitality is what`s really important. The band is what you see right at scalp level, and then that bulb and root is under the skin. So those three

different things give you geography. And what we think, because nobody has actually said this, is that the hair really close to the skin is still very

much alive. And it gets blood and it gets enzymes and has nutrition.

And when the body dies, blood stops flowing. Enzymes stop metabolizing. And that has happened a long time ago on the hair that`s distant, that`s

very far away. But when that happens there, then you have enzyme breakdowns. Sometimes there are enzymes involved in decomposition called

(Inaudible). And you have proteins (Inaudible) and all that happens, and it causes the solidification and the color that you see.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: OK. Well, that makes more sense. So let me ask this, and Joseph Scott Morgan, jump in on this as well. If they -- well, it`s not if,

I am assuming that medical examiners employed in this case of Shanann and Bella and Cece would have taken a look at the evidence of their hair

follicles. And clearly, they were buried in different ways. Shanann was buried in a shallow grave for approximately four days.

And those children were submerged in oil for approximately four days. Is there anything from your knowledge of death forensics that their hair

follicles might tell us in this case?

MORGAN: Well, from hair follicles, I think we would be curious as to whether or not the hair had been ripped out or if there was evidence that

hair had been ripped out, say for instance, in the case of a struggle. I can tell you this. At autopsy, it`s my understanding and it`s generally

standard practice that hair samples will be taken, in these cases, from all over the body.

So you`ll have multiple hair samples that will come off of the bodies, from the head and various other areas. One other thing we need to consider is,

what is the origin of these hairs in the truck, do they actually tie back to these individuals or were there other people in the vehicle that may

have sloughed this hair off as well.

BANFIELD: Well, I think that`s fascinating. And there`s two parts of that truck, right? There`s the cab where people ride. And then there`s the bed

where equipment and perhaps bodies ride. So we are not aware yet of any reporting that says where these hundreds of hairs, according to People

Magazine`s police source were found. But I think that will be of utmost importance.

[18:14:54] One last quick question, and that is this, Joe Morgan. What about the contents of their stomachs? And the reason I ask that is because

there is reporting that those children attended a birthday party on Sunday. Shanann does not get home until 2:00 in the morning the next day. If those

children were killed hours before that, can that be determined forensically, the time of their death, given the fact that they were in oil

for so long?

MORGAN: Yeah. That`s not going to impact the content of their digestive track at all, Ash. Literally within the stomach itself, that moment is

frozen in time if the stomach has not dumped into the small intestine. And even if it has dumped into the small intestine, we have incremental

measurements that (Inaudible) at the time which we can measure this.

Also one more thing, the foodstuffs themselves may (Inaudible) what they had eaten would actually be discernible, particularly if you`re talking

about things like leafy green vegetables, corn, anything like that that kind of has a husk on it, those things might be identifiable.

BANFIELD: The science is going to be so critical in this case, because if Chris Watts is trying to pin the blame for this horrific murder on one of

the victims, on Shanann Watts, well, they better have a very specific timeline in the postmortem autopsies of those little girls to ensure that

they had a lot of time to digest whatever it was they had for lunch and dinner on Sunday night.

Because his story is, they died at the hands of their mother, and that had to be after 2:00 a.m. Monday. So that will be critical. We`re still

waiting on the cause of death from the medical examiner. And still, even the DA in this case doesn`t have that information. It is remarkable how

long it`s taking to get some of the basic facts on this case. But they are buttoned up tight.

And there`s even a battle of legal wits over information leaking out. There`s no shortage of evidence in this case. But one of the questions

that we`re asking is does any of it possibly point to premeditated murder. Believe it or not, there is new evidence on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:20:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police department received a missing person call just before 2:00 p.m. on Monday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) the missing mom lives it`s still just a barking dog inside. There`s no sign of Shanann`s husband and the father of

her little girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So crazy and I was so scared for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If someone has her, just please bring her back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just doesn`t smell right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Watts was taken into custody and was transported to the county the jail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It kind of blew my mind that this could happen in our neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Bella and Cece Watts were found submerged in oil tanks. Twins, two (Inaudible) monsters, but their own father just might have had to climb

ladder step by ladder step while carrying their carrying lifeless little bodies. To leave them suspended in black crude, it is horrifying, but it

is also incredibly ironic. If Chris Watts indeed chose an oilfield as the final resting place for his kids, because now the police are doing some

drilling of their own.

They are drilling down on all of the evidence that would support their case that he is the one who killed the children, not the wife he`s pinning it

on. And they are drilling down to the microscopic level, which means the forensics may tell the truth about what happened inside that home. And

whether Chris Watts was lying when he pinned the blame on Shanann, as the police listed out, saying that she was the one who killed those beautiful

little girls.

But there is always a tiny little trail of evidence that`s left behind at every crime scene. No matter what has been done to clean it up. And it

might not be visible to the naked eye. Once the labs get involved, all bets are off.

I want to get back out to Pat Lalama, our investigative journalist on this case. There is other reporting tonight, Pat, that People Magazine got from

a law enforcement source about some of the hard evidence that they gathered from that home. What is it?

LALAMA: Well, let`s see, computers and phones and bedding. And again, going back to what I said before, they probably, Ashleigh, not probably,

most definitely know more than any of us know. And I think all of this is already leading them to the thought that this was premeditated. I told you

before that I didn`t think this was all over some girlfriend.

It just appears to me that this is a man who may have severe emotional issues, who wanted to be completely unencumbered, and that would take some

planning. Just speculating, I don`t know for sure. But I am telling you, I believe firmly that the police believe that they`re building a trail of

premeditation.

[18:25:09] BANFIELD: Well, and as the reporting from the law enforcement source told People Magazine, this does not seem like a crime of passion,

the source says. It`s pretty clear. They said that there are text messages. And search histories, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Normally you delete it.

(CROSSTALK)

LALAMA: OK. Well, you know, that`s the only thing. You might say that he doesn`t have enough time because he did do it out of a crime of passion, or

he`s just not smart enough to stop and say I need to delete my trail.

BANFIELD: Yeah. Deleting your trail is something many people think to do, but they don`t realize that deleting it doesn`t actually delete it from

forensic investigators. OK, I want to read if I can from the arrest affidavit, because there is something that`s very curious. Up stairs,

Detective Baumhover, who was one of the responding officers, observed the bed in the master bedroom had been stripped of its bedding, which was lying

on the floor.

Officer (Inaudible), that`s another of the investigating officers when they arrived to this missing person report, you know. Officer (Inaudible) and

Detective Baumhover both checked the bedding for signs of foul play but found nothing. Josh Campbell, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst is with me now.

What does that mean?

Check the bedding for signs of foul play when you`ve just responded to a house because some woman and her children appear to be missing. Is that

just a cursory look for blood or is that something more?

JOSH CAMPBELL, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, CNN: Yeah. It`s a very good question, Ashleigh. And first, let me just say at the outset if I can, I

just recently had lunch with a group of FBI agents who mentioned how great a public service this show is in really explaining these investigations to

the public, really digging into these really high profile cases.

So I wanted to pass that along while we had time. To the question here as far as what this actually means, I think this shows that this story is

going to slowly unravel, because in the subject`s mind, and again, he`s innocent until proven guilty. But we know what we know based on the

reporting and information that`s coming from law enforcement sources that if he has concocted a story to help explain presumably why he did what he

did.

That will unravel if it doesn`t fit the facts. And I think one item that squares with that is the idea of the bedding and the bed. If you were so

distraught and so, you know, caught up in the emotion of the moment, and you are now trying to cover your tracks as he seems to be saying, you

wouldn`t necessarily go to all of those steps and take those steps, because that actually reduces evidence that would be in your case.

If your theory is that the wife killed the kids, you wouldn`t then, you know, get rid of the evidence that may try to help explain that. So I

think that`s key. In any investigation you have four different areas that you have to look at in order to prove a case. The first is the forensics.

And we`ve talked a lot about that and how that`s going to prove the case.

In my judgment, that`s going to be the key factor here. But there are other aspects. We`ve talk about the digital evidence. Everyone one of us

has a digital footprint. We walk around with computers in our pockets that track our every movement. We have apps. We have devices that help improve

our quality of life. They serve as potential gold mines for investigators if they`re trying to determine what someone was doing in the hours or days

before a crime.

If you look at a computer, if you look at searches, criminals are actually dumb enough to do research to try to figure out how they dispose of bodies,

how they get away with crimes. So as that evidence is locked in, both on site in the device and off site perhaps in the cloud or with the carrier.

That information is going to be of interest to investigators. The other two areas, very quickly, are in the witness statements from those who are

in the subject`s orbit.

And we can bet that investigators are going to be digging into all of associates, his family members, his co-workers in order to determine were

there signs here that this person was distraught, that he was perhaps unhappy with his life, and was hoping for something else. The last will be

the subject statement itself. What is he going to provide to investigators. That`s all going to be very telling in this investigation.

BANFIELD: So you know about the bedding, I was so fascinated to hear that that bedding was stripped from the master bed. Because again, this story

Chris tells is that I got up at 4:00 a.m. he says to one cop. I got up at 5:00 a.m. he says to the other cop. Maybe he`s actually referring to the

conversation that he had with Shanann. But in any case, it`s different to both cops.

And he says we had an emotional conversation. I told her I wanted to split. I went down stairs for a moment, came back up to the master

bedroom, saw on the baby monitor, one of my babies was sprawled out and blue, baby monitor is that big. And then I saw on the baby monitor Shanann

actively strangling our other child, Cece. So if that`s the story. Why is the bedding all stripped?

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Not even that. Let me read a little bit more from the affidavit, because it went on to say what else they found in the bedding,

extremely curious, even more curious than stripped off the master bed. Investigators spotted a bed sheet in the field near that tank battery a

sheet -- the sheet matched the pattern of several pillow cases and a top sheet recovered from a kitchen trash can from the Watt`s residence early

that day.

Randy Kessler, as a defense attorney, I want you to jump in on this. We`ve been making a lot of, you know, fuss about the bedding and where it was

found and how that may or may not match his story.

But I`m still way more fascinated on what they found on the search histories and the text messages that were not deleted. Because everybody

deletes a bad text message or a search history. Well, I shouldn`t say everybody, but most do.

RANDY KESSLER, ATTORNEY: (INAUDIBLE) that they were deleted so it shows that he premeditated this. I mean, that`s exactly what you`re saying a

minute ago. If you`re planning to commit a murder, you think about things like, I`m not going to write a text that`s going to show me guilty. I`m

certainly going to --

BANFIELD: Unless you`re dumb as paint.

KESSLER: Well, if you`re dumb as paint. But, you know, he came up with a pretty good answer for why -- I don`t think it`s the best answer, but he

was pretty darn desperate. And now the state is going all this trouble to try to disprove his ridiculous theory.

BANFIELD: So much of this is just guess work and theory. But let`s just go with what the arrest warrant says he says. This all happen, I load up the

bodies, I drive them in my work truck which very well could have had a GPS locator on it, right? Tracking his little popcorn trail all the way.

KESSLER: Right.

BANFIELD: I went to this work site which, by the way, most of these work sites are monitored. Engineers have told me personally whether they`re

video or electronic, some kind of monitoring, they`re monitored, so there`s another bozo move. I leave a shallow grave and children in a tank that

eventually will be cleaned out. Right?

KESSLER: Right.

BANFIELD: And I come back to work and eventually go on T.V. and tell everybody this crazy story. Does that sound like somebody who`s clever and

would cover tracks and premeditate in a good way?

KESSLER: You know, we always go into this Jeffrey Dahmer clever, mass murder clever. I mean, the fact that he went on national T.V. is the icing

on the cake. That`s what going to take (ph) jurors watch that. Jurors are going to be deciding his fate.

And all this other stuff to me is nonsense in case somebody on the jury says maybe he didn`t do it because he caught her doing what -- he says he

caught her. For that one juror, they want to make sure there is no chance that argument carries --

BANFIELD: You hit the nail on the head. That one juror. Somebody on Facebook today, there`s so many people who weigh in on Facebook on this

case, and one of the people weighing in on Facebook in the last few days, said -- and I kid you not, I think he`s innocent.

And you have an arrest affidavit where police say he admitted to doing all of this, he just doesn`t admit to the kids. Hold your thought for a minute

because we`ve been hearing a lot from our viewers on this story. And the interest just continues to grow and grow because the mystery is not solved

yet.

Next, we`re going to put some of your questions to the test. Your comments, your theories on this riveting case. We will get the experts to weigh in

and answer as best we can.

[18:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way that she looked at him and the way that he looked at her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My office filed one more charge against Christopher Lee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police said that Chris Watts confessed to killing his wife but not their two young daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is absolutely the worst possible outcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Why on earth would he do it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you guys get into an argument before she left?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn`t like an argument. We had an emotional conversation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loved those girls and these girls loved her. I`m sickened that a parent, a father could do that to his children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Who killed the children? It has been the big question all along. And we might just be closer to that answer. Thanks to the possibility of

all the forensic evidence collected. Evidence that could tell us when those little lives were taken and by whom.

But every day, there are more and more questions that arrive, about just how the three Watts girls were killed. And there are new theories about who

is responsible. Those questions and those theories come from you.

You are sleuthing and you are tracking the story alongside us, and you`re spotting clues that nobody else has, and you`ve had some great questions

that you sent to us as well.

So I want to get started and read some of them and get some answers as well. I want to start with Monique Rubliard (ph). I hope I am doing the

right pronunciation, Monique. Her question is, do they run blood tests on inmates when they are arrested? Chris Watts, since he was body building,

steroids? Roidrage?

Randy Kessler, is that something that`s standard? If you`re brought in for murder, would you have your blood tested for any reason?

KESSLER: No. If you`re brought in for anything, you won`t have your blood tested unless you volunteered to do it, because it`s

like saying, did you commit a crime?

BANFIELD: What about DUI? They take your blood?

KESSLER: No. They can`t do it because it`s like saying, did you commit a crime? You have a right not to testify against yourself. You have a right

not to give potentially incriminating evidence. But maybe the defense wanted to show that he was on steroids because that would mitigate his

rationality and his premeditation.

BANFIELD: So the defense could say, test his blood right away, because the longer he stays in prison, the more that would diminish.

[18:40:02] KESSLER: When you know he is already caught doing the deed (ph), then you got to have some excuse and explanation. Maybe that`s it.

BANFIELD: Thank you, Monique. Javier Hernandez asked this question. Has anyone considered that he might have had an accomplice? It`s a great

question. Javier, thank you for this. I will tell you this. There has been reporting from People magazine, from a law enforcement source, and I`ll

read to you what exactly was reported.

The woman with whom he was having an affair at work, they said she is cooperating, she is not suspected of any criminal wrongdoing. That`s

interesting at least to know that is part of the equation.

But Josh Campbell, CNN law enforcement analyst, are they looking for that kind of information? Are they -- would the defense be looking to try to

shift off some of the ugliness of the accusations to someone else? Or is that ship really sailed with this confession?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It`s a great question that Javier poses. I could say that as we look at the evidence and we`ve

discussed here today, it looks as though the defendant, the subject, is in a world of hurt. The only thing worse for him potentially is if there`s

someone else involved.

Because in any crime, when you have one person committing it, if that turns into a conspiracy with someone else, you then open the aperture (ph) and

the ability for the law enforcement to then probe and to pry and to try to figure if they can get someone else who may have been involved, that may

acknowledge to cooperate.

That`s obviously going to be part of the investigation to look at the people that are in his orbit to determine whether anyone else is involved.

BANFIELD: Cindy Morgan asked this question. I think it`s a good one. Question concerning Chris Watts. Did he appear to have any signs of

scratches or bruises on his face, neck or chest after the alleged strangulation of his daughters and his wife?

Let`s not forget, he, according to the police, admitted to strangling his wife. That would have been a pitched battle. We did see some photographs of

his neck as he was giving the interviews four days later -- excuse me, the next day on his front porch.

Some people online have pointed out they thought some of those red marks could be tell tale. Others said it looks nothing more than like a blemish.

But, Joseph Scott Morgan, can you tell me if someone would have no wounds on them, having engaged in a story that Chris allegedly has told police he

did, strangling his adult wife?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: I can`t imagine that. The survival instinct would kick in on her part. Remember, she is a

pregnant mother. She has an awareness that this is going on. I think that she would fight tooth and nail in this particular case. Nails are in fact

the key here.

The idea that maybe there is skin beneath her nails. I don`t think that there would be as much of an opportunity to harvest anything from the nails

of the children. But the mother, being buried, I think that could be a spot that they want to look for with nail clippings and nail scrapings.

BANFIELD: Yeah. And then maybe some of the things we could not see on those images on the front porch. Maybe there were scratches somewhere else.

We won`t know that until we get more of the details of the forensics of this case.

OK, so I`m going to go to break, but I have more questions from our Facebook viewers, and they are good ones. One of them asked about -- look,

we`ve seen a lot of Shannan and the children, and we heard so much about the postings of her family. What about his? What do we know about his

family? We do know something, that`s next.

[18:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have the hearts of angels and the souls of angels. I can`t believe that they`re gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This house is not complete without anybody here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just didn`t seem like the type of guy to injure a fly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Chris Watts is checked every few minutes to see if he`s still alive, and his cell has been stripped of anything

dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn`t want to believe that he was capable of anything. That he`s a monster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: We are still talking about the case that is turning the entire country into detectives, it seems. People pouring over the videos the

family left behind. And now the potential evidence that Chris just may have left at the crime scenes. And they`re asking the kinds of questions that

might just help to solve the murder case, and questions you may just hear in a court of law as well.

I want to go to Lee Peterson`s question to our Facebook page. What is the Chris Watt`s family story? Where is he from? What was his childhood like?

Who are his parents? School, friends, et cetera?

Pat Lalama, we know a little bit about that, not a lot, but we know a little.

PAT LALAMA, CRIME JOURNALIST: Yeah, interestingly just a little. But for all intents and purposes, he seemed like a friendly guy. People say that

the girls liked him. He was athletic. He did have friends. There were just no red flags.

Now regarding his parents, known as "mimi" and "papa" to those poor little children, we do know that upon his arrest, before he was actually arrested

when he showed up at the police station, he asked to see his father.

[18:50:00] His father did arrive and he was arrested. But aside from that, there just isn`t a red flag that would say Chris Watts was, you know, voted

most likely to do something horrific.

BANFIELD: Right. And People magazine also reported neighbors saying that they saw no red flags that those children were ever, ever afraid of their

parents.

LALAMA: Ashleigh --

BANFIELD: Hold your thought. I got -- yeah, real quick. I got only a minute left.

LALAMA: I just want to say it`s possible a tired pregnant woman coming home from a trip at two in the morning might have just gone to bed and

could have been sleeping. Therefore, no defensive wounds. I just want to get that out there.

BANFIELD: That`s a good point. That`s a good point. All right, so Roger Ambros (ph) writes, where are they going to find someone who has not heard

of this case to be on the jury? Randy Kessler, this is such a good question. It comes up with every high profile case. I`m going to put a few

photographs up on the screen that will help to illustrate --

KESSLER: OK.

BANFIELD: -- I`m sure the answer that you are about to give me. But if we can show those pictures of some of the more high profile cases that we

covered not just on this network -- do we have them? Do we have those pictures? There they are. If you can find a jury, Randy, for those four

faces, can you find a jury for Chris Watts?

KESSLER: You know, sometimes you actually don`t mind if the jury has heard about the case or seen the case. I mean, he has already put his story out

there. He is caught. He did something wrong. He at least killed her. So he has got to have a defense --

BANFIELD: According to the police, he`s admitted that. According to police, yeah.

KESSLER: Right. So, in this case, he may not be so upset. But, you know what, sometimes you just can`t find a jury that hasn`t heard about the

case. If you can move the jurisdiction to another part of the country, maybe but here, any part of the country --

BANFIELD: And by the way, may I remind our viewers as well of the Casey Anthony case which I covered every single day. There was a jury issue with

Casey Anthony as well. They didn`t move her case to another county. But they got the jurors from another county, which I found fascinating.

I hadn`t seen that a lot. They did is they buss them in. And then they stuck them in a hotel for the duration of that case. It was just awful, and

I feel for those jurors and what they had to go through. But they found jurors for Casey Anthony.

Thank you so much for those Facebook questions. We are going to continue doing that, by the way. Please send us your questions. We appreciate that.

We`re going to do that every day. We are going to answer your questions because they have been great.

This is not the only story, though, that has been gripping this country. For nine months, Americans wondered where was Elizabeth Smart? Where had

she disappeared to? And then we found out. And now one of her abductors is getting out of prison. How the hell is that happening? And what does

Elizabeth have to say about that? That`s next.

[18:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Elizabeth Smart is speaking out tonight, saying in no uncertain terms that she is outraged about the upcoming parole of Wanda Barzee, the

woman who helped her husband, Brian David Mitchell, kidnapped her back in 2002.

The Utah Board of Pardons announced today that Barzee will be released from prison next week. Barzee pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to

between one and 15 years behind bars.

Elizabeth Smart was just 14 years old in 2002, when Mitchell kidnapped her at knife point from her Salt Lake City bedroom. Elizabeth Smart testified

that she had been raped every day of her captivity. Barzee and Mitchell held her hostage for all those months, hiding in the woods near her home,

but then frequently moving her all around the state to avoid capture.

Elizabeth Smart says this. "It is incomprehensible how someone who has not cooperated with her mental health evaluations or risk assessments and

someone who did not show up to her own parole hearing can be released into our community. I am trying to understand how and why this is happening."

And here`s maybe the more important part. "And exploring possible options."

Last year, Elizabeth Smart made it clear to us that she considers Barzee to be more of a monster than even Brian David Mitchell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH SMART, KIDNAPPING AND RAPE VICTIM: I think it is easy to overlook her because Brian Mitchell, he is the one that forced his way into

my home, he is the one that held me at knife point, he is the one that raped me. He has done all these terrible things. But she was a mother. She

came from a prior marriage. She had six children. Honestly, part of me feels like, she is more evil because of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Wanda Barzee is scheduled to walk out of prison next Wednesday, September 19th. And what news it is to hear all of this on September 11th?

Next hour of "Crime and Justice" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[19:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daddy is a hero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): It might just be the biggest murder case in the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): His name is Chris Watts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Chris Watts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Chris Watts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man who allegedly killed his young wife and two young daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it may be the biggest break yet.

SHANANNA WATTS, CHRIS WATTS` WIFE: You see it`s coming down.

BANFIELD: Is daddy`s truck the answer?

WATTS: Search your car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To solving how the Watts` girls died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, have fun here.

SHANANN WATTS, WIFE OF CHRIS WATTS: Poor daddy`s truck`s getting beat up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because Chris might have left something inside.

CHRIS WATT, ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE, CHILDREN: You can`t just drive around and look.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did police find something that proves the killings were well planned?

WATT: Police went door to door with cameras and everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did this family man really turn into a family annihilator?

WATTS: He`s losing and he won`t move. He`s just delaying the inevitable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight, the forensics takes center stage.

WATTS: Pretty good game there, bud.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we`ve got the microscope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN, HOST: Good evening, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. And this is Crime and Justice. In every murder case, there are

several questions to answer, like how did it happen and why did it happen? In the case of Shanann Watts, her darling daughters and unborn baby boy who

all wound up dead at an oil site, the why is a truly dark mystery, because nothing seemed wrong with this family.

But now the how is coming together. And the details are dark indeed. This might just be the biggest break yet in the investigation into Chris Watts.

Once a hero of a husband, a hero of a father, now accused of killing everyone in his family. And someone who might just have left some evidence

behind that could prove whether he or as he puts it, his wife killed those children.

Tonight, a microscopic smoking gun, the holy grail of police work might just be emerging from that truck that sat parked outside of the Watts home

all along. Did police find something in that truck that could crack the case wide open? And did this innocent Facebook live post foreshadow

something far more sinister?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANANN WATTS: We may have a broken window here Tim.

BELLA WATTS: That`s a lot of ice.

SHANANN WATTS: Yes, that`s called hail. Poor daddy`s truck`s getting beat up.

BELLA WATTS: What?

SHANANN WATTS: Can you hear the noise? It`s hitting the window.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: An innocent teaching moment, Bella`s mom showing the power of a hail storm to her curious little girl. And daddy`s truck is front and

center. It is sickening to realize now that Shanann may have also been capturing the car that would end up being more like the hearse that would

ferry her and her children to their graves.

Welcome back, everyone . I want to bring in Pat Lalama, a crime journalist who`s been following this case. Pat, the material that People Magazine is

reporting is astounding. Hundreds of hairs found in that truck. Take it from there.

PAT LALAMA, CRIME JOURNALIST: You`re absolutely right. It is stunning to me as well. So in that truck where it`s presumed that he transported his

wife -- pregnant wife`s body, the two children`s bodies, police sources tell People Magazine they have recovered hundreds, Ashleigh not a handful,

not one or two but hundreds of strands of hair. And as you can very well guess, this will be significant in terms of the analysts -- forensic

analysts trying to determine if that will lead them to when exactly these poor people passed away or died.

BANFIELD: There`s so much to that just in terms of the forensics says, we watch the pictures of them taking that truck away. Clearly after they knew

this was not a missing person`s case. This was a murder case. They towed that truck away from the home. Not before Shanann had captured the truck

innocently parked out in front of their home, in so many different ways.

One of the ways I found so difficult to process was this moment in the hail storm. There is the truck, Bella and mom are looking at the hail storm and

Shanann is explaining what the hail is all about, telling little Bella she can`t go out because hail will hurt her and then to find out that that

truck took their dead bodies to the death site, to the oilfield.

There is also that photograph of Chris mowing that lawn out front. Mowing that small patch of grass and look what`s in the background as he takes his

baby in the backpack along for the chore, the truck in the backdrop.

He`s mowing the lawn with the baby on his back. And the truck is in the background. Look closely, you can see in the back bed of that truck, what

looks like a tool kit. It`s evident in all of the pictures even the pictures they had when they towed that truck away. It`s evidence in the

hail storm pictures. It`s evidence in this proud dad moment with baby on his back, the truck, the truck that he admitted in the arrest warrant.

Police say he told them that was the truck that he used to ferry them to the burial site. Oil tanks and a shallow grave.

I want to bring in Dr. William Morrone. You just heard Pat Lalama explaining the significance of the hundreds of hairs that a source has told

People Magazine were recovered from that truck. Dr. Morrone, is there a way to determine when those bodies that yielded those hairs, if they are

postmortem, when they died? Is there a time line that can be established at all?

WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, there isn`t a precise time line, we have research from the University of

Tennessee that tells us that when they collected hairs from dead bodies that were in different conditions, cold water, cold weather and air

conditioned bodies either didn`t present hair bands or presented them very slow. When bodies were studied and hair was recovered from partial buried

automobiles and in warm weather. Hair banding was much more prominent while it`s still a young science.

We can say that if there was very warm weather and those hair bands appeared that that may be one of the contributing things, that there was

warm weather. This wouldn`t happen in Manitoba. This wouldn`t happen in Alaska. This would happen in the Great Plains and the Midwest, in the

heartland in the heat and in the summer.

So there`s a general sense that this could be possible. And if the hairs were removed in any kind of assault or trauma, they might have blood on

them, microscopic blood. So there are many different things. But the hair banding science, while it`s still very young, we know what influences it.

BANFIELD: It is fascinating. Pat Lama, get me up to speed on what the police source told People Magazine regarding the time line. It seems to me

the police source seemed to think that if those hairs found in the truck are postmortem hairs, we might be able to determine if those children died

within minutes or hours or say several hours of their mother because Chris Watts` story is that it all happened in an instant.

LALAMA: Right.

BANFIELD: He blew up in a rage because he saw his children being killed and killed his wife all within an instant. That seems to be what the

source is telling people, am I wrong?

LALAMA: Well I think the important thing to remember, in complete laymen`s terms is that this all has to do with what kind of charges he faces. Was

it a heat of passion? Did he think about this? Did he kill those children before his wife even got home?

Hopefully, everything they`ve been able to pull out of that home and truck will have a time stamp that I`m sure prosecutors will tell them it was all

thought about prior to that horrific night.

BANFIELD: Joseph Scott Morgan, you`re a certified death investigator. You`re a professor of Forensics at Jacksonville State University. I know

that this evidence is remarkable, hair band evidence, postmortem hair evidence. But I`m of the understanding that this police source may be

wrong that while hair banding can show a passage of time from an already shed hair of a decomposing body. I`m not so sure that it can give you that

narrow of a window of time of death.

What`s your thought on it?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, FORENSIC PROFESSOR, JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY: Yes, postmortem interval is key here. Isn`t it Ash? The idea is that we

look at something with bodies that have decomposed to be quite frank, and after a period of time, hair sloughs or begins to fall off. That takes

days to weeks sometimes. So that`s normally when I would expect to see something like hair banding.

If we`re talking about say a period of maybe 90 to 95 hours after death. I don`t know if you would see it present that quickly, if you remember back

at the case involving Caylee Anthony. They brought up hair banding in that case and it raised a couple eyebrows because as Dr. Morrone alluded to,

it`s not an exact science, Ash. And time is of the essence here relative to his -- his relationship to these bodies, how they were stored, how they

were kept and obviously, when they were killed.

BANFIELD: So let`s go back to the picture if I can of the hair banding. The postmortem root band an why this is significant. And Dr. Morrone, just

explain to me, the picture we`re seeing, you`re sort of on the move, you may not be seeing your screen, shows the hair follicle that has been shed

from a body post death. And it shows a black band some distance away from the actual root. It shows two different images of that.

What exactly does that tell me, the black band? What`s the science, as good as it is or as, you know, naissance as it is. What does the root

band actually tell me?

Have I lost Dr. Morrone? I think -- I may have lost him. Is he there?

MORRONE: I`m sorry. I`m back.

BANFIELD: Are you there? OK. Go ahead. Did you hear the question?

MORRONE: I did. I kept myself muted so I didn`t interrupt you.

BANFIELD: OK.

MORRONE: Here`s the deal. There are three pieces of that hair that are differential. It`s the area above the band is what you see in women with

really long hair and you know they want to condition it and everything. But that`s really not vital. Vital. Vitality is what`s really important.

The band is what you see right at scalp level, and then that bulb and root is under the skin. So those three different things give you geography, and

what we think, because nobody has actually said this, is that the hair really close to the skin is still very much alive. And it gets blood and

it gets enzymes, and has nutrition. And when the body dies, blood stops flowing.

Enzymes stop metabolizing. And that has happened a long time ago on the hair that`s distant, that`s very far away. But when that happens there,

then you have enzyme breakdowns. Sometimes there`re enzymes involved in decomposition called (INAUDIBLE). And you have protein denaturing and all

that happens, and it causes the solidification and the color that you see. That`s because --

BANFIELD: OK. Well, that makes more sense. So let me ask this, and Joseph Scott Morgan, jump in on this as well. If they -- well, it`s not if.

I am assuming medical examiners employed in this case of Shanann and Bella and CC (ph), would have taken a look at the evidence of their hair

follicles.

And clearly they were buried in different ways. Shanann was buried in a shallow grave for approximately four days. And those children were

submerged in oil for approximately four days. Is there anything from your knowledge of death forensics that their hair follicles might tell us in

this case?

MORGAN: From hair follicles. I think we would be -- we would be curious as to whether or not the hair had been ripped out or there was evidence that

hair had been ripped out say for instance in the case of a struggle. I can tell you this. At autopsy it`s my understanding and it`s generally

standard practice that hair samples will be taken in these cases from all over the body.

So you`ll have multiple hair samples that will come off of the bodies, from the head and various other areas. One the thing we need to consider is,

what`s the origin of the hairs in the truck? Do they actually tie back to these individuals or were there other people in the vehicle that may have

sloughed this hair off as well.

BANFIELD: Well, I think that`s fascinating. And there`s two parts of that truck, right? There`s the cab where people ride.

MORGAN: Right.

BANFIELD: And then there`s the bed where equipment and bodies ride. So we are not aware yet of any reporting that says where these hundreds of hairs,

according to People Magazine`s police source were found. But I think that will be if utmost importance.

One last quick question and that is this, Joe Morgan. What about the contents of their stomachs? And the reason I ask that is because there`s

reporting that the children attended a birthday party on Sunday. Shannan does not get home until 2:00 o`clock in the morning the next day. If those

children were killed hours before that, can that -- can that be determined forensically, the time of their death given the fact that they were in oil

for so long?

MORGAN: Yes, that`s shouldn`t -- that`s not going to impact the content of their digestive track at all, Ash. Literally, within the stomach itself,

that moment is frozen in time if the stomach has not dumped into the small intestine. And even if it has, we have incremental measurements we can tie

back in time with which we measure this. Also one more thing, the foodstuffs they had eaten would be discernible. Particularly if you`re

talking about things like leafy green vegetables, corn, anything like that that kind of has a hast on it, those things might be identifiable.

BANFIELD: The science is going to be critical in this case --

MORGAN: Yes, it will.

BANFIELD: Because if Chris Watts is trying to pin the blame for this horrific murder on one of the victims, on Shanann Watts. Well they`d better

well -- they`d better have a very specific time line in the postmortem autopsy of those little girls to ensure that they had a lot of time to

digest whatever it was they had for lunch and dinner on Sunday night because his story is, they died at the hands of their mother, and that had

to be after 2:00 a.m. Monday. So that will be critical.

We`re still waiting on the cause of death from the medical examiner, and still, even the D.A. in this case doesn`t have that information. It is

remarkable how long it`s taking to get some of the basic facts on this case. But they are buttoned up tight. And there`s a battle of legal wits

over information leaking out.

There`s no shortage of evidence in this case. But one of the questions we`re asking is, does any of it possibly point to premeditated murder?

Believe it or not, there is no evidence on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida Police Department received a missing person`s call just before 2:00 p.m. on Monday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prior with the missing lady and her kiddos. Do you know her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The home where the missing mom lives is still just a barking dog inside. There`s no sign of Shanann`s husband and the father of

her little girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s so crazy and I was so scared for them.

WATTS: Come back like if somebody has her just please bring her back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn`t smell right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Watts was taken into custody and transported to the local county jail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It kind of blew my mind this could happen in our neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIED: Bella and CC (ph) Watt were found submerged in oil tanks, twin, two storey monsters. If their own father just might have had to climb

ladder step by ladder step while carrying their lifeless little bodies. To leave them suspended in black crude, it is horrifying, but it is also

incredibly ironic. If Chris Watts indeed chose an oil field as the resting place for his kids because now police are doing some drilling of their own.

They`re drilling down on all of the evidence that would support their case that he is the one that killed the children, not the wife he`s pinning it

on. And they`re drilling down to the microscopic level which means the forensics may tell the truth about what happened inside that home.

And whether Chris Watts was lying when he pinned the blame on Shanann as the police listed out saying she was the one who killed those beautiful

little girls. But there is always a tiny little trail of evidence that`s left behind at every crime scene no matter what has been done to clean it

up. And it might not be visible to the naked eye. Once the labs get involved, all bets are off.

I want to get back out to Pat Lalama, our investigative journalist on this case. There is other reporting that People Magazine got from a law

enforcement source about some of the hard evidence that they gathered from that home. What is it?

LALAMA: Well, let`s see, computers and phones and bedding. And again going back to what I said before. They probably Ashleigh -- not probably, most

definitely know more than any of us know. And I think all of this is already leading them to the thought that this was premeditated.

I told you before, that I didn`t think this was all over some girlfriend. It just appears to me that this is a man who may have severe emotional

issues, who wanted to be completely unencumbered and that would take some planning, just speculating, I don`t know for sure. But I am telling you, I

believe firmly, the police believe they`re building a trail of premeditation.

BANFIED: Well and as the reporting from the law enforcement source told People Magazine, this does not seem like a crime of passion, the source

says.

LALAMA: Right, exactly.

BANFIED: It`s pretty clear, they said that there are text messages. And search histories, right? Normally those are deleted Pat. What about in

this case?

LALAMA: That had not been deleted. OK. Well you know that`s the only thing you might say that he didn`t have enough time because he did do it

out of a crime of passion or he`s not smart enough to stop and say I need to delete my trail.

BANFIED: Yes. Deleting your trail is something many people think to do. But they don`t realize that deleting it doesn`t actually delete it from

forensic investigators.

LALAMA: Right, right.

BANFIED: OK. I want to read from the arrest affidavit because there`s s something that`s very curious. Up stairs, the Detective Bamhover (ph) who

was one of the responding officers, observed the bed in the master bedroom had been stripped of its bedding which why was lying on the floof. Officer

Coolrod (ph), that`s another of the investigating officers when they arrived to this missing person report, you know, Officer Coolrod (ph) and

Detective Bamhover (ph) both checked the bedding for signs of foul play but found nothing.

Josh Campbell, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst is with me now. What does that mean? Check the bedding for signs of foul play when you`ve just responded

to a house because some woman and her children appear to be missing. Is that a cursory look for blood or something more?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. It`s a very good question, Ashleigh. And first let just let say at the onset if I can I

just recently had lunch with a group of FBI Agents who mentioned how great a public service this show is in really explaining these investigations to

the public, really digging into these really high profile cases. So I wanted to pass that along while we had time.

To the question here as far as what this actually means, I think this shows that this story is going to slowly unravel because in the subject`s mind.

And again he`s innocent until proven guilty. But we know what we know based on the reporting and information that`s coming from law enforcement

sources that if he has concocted a story to explain why he did what he did. That will unravel if it doesn`t fit the facts.

And I think one item that squares with that is the idea of the bedding and the bed. If you were so distraught and caught up in the emotion of the

moment, and you are now trying to cover your tracks as he seems to be saying you wouldn`t necessarily go to all of those steps and take those

steps because that actually reduces evidence that would be in your case. If your theory is that the wife killed the kids, you wouldn`t get rid of

the evidence that may try to help explain that. So I think that`s key.

In any investigation you have four different areas you have to look at in order to prove a case. The first is the forensics and we`ve talked a lot

about that and that`s how that`s going to prove the case. And my judgment that`s going to be key factor here. But there are other aspects.

We talked about the evidence. Every one of us has a digital footprint. We walk around with computers in our pockets that track our every movement.

We have apps. We have devices that help improve our quality of life that serve as potential gold mines for investigators if they`re trying to

determine what someone is doing in the hours or days before the crime, if you look at a computer, if you look at searches.

Criminals are actually dumb enough to do research to try to figure out how they`d dispose of bodies, how they`d get away with crimes. So as that

evidence is locked in both on site in the device and off site perhaps in the cloud or with the carrier, that information is going to be of interest

to investigators. The other two areas very quickly are in the witness statements from those who are in subject`s orbit. And we can bet that

investigators are going to be digging into all of his associates, his family members, his co-workers in order to determine were there signs here

that this person was distraught. That he was perhaps unhappy with his life and was then hoping for something else.

The last will be the subject statement itself. What is he going to provide to investigators. That`s all going to be very telling in this

investigation.

BANFIED: And so about the bedding, I was so fascinated to hear the bedding was stripped from the master bed. Because again, the story Chris

tells is that I got up at 4:00 a.m. he says to one cop. I got up at 5:00 a.m. he says to the other cop maybe he`s actually referring to the

conversation he had with Shanann. But in any case it`s different to both cops.

And he says we had an emotional conversation, I told her I wanted to split. I went downstairs for a moment, came back up to the master bedroom, saw on

the baby monitor, one of my babies was sprawled out and blue. The baby monitor is that big. And then I saw on the baby monitor Shanann actively

strangling the other child CC. So if that`s the story why is the bedding stripped.

CAMPBELL: That`s the key point here. That`s the key point here.

BANFIED: And then by the way Josh, not even that. Let me read a little more from the affidavit because it went on to say where else they found

some bedding, extremely curious even more curious than stripped off the master bed. "Investigators spotted a bed sheet in the field near that tank

battery, a sheet matched the pattern -- the sheet matched the pattern of several pillow cases and a top sheet recovered from a kitchen trash can

from the watts` evidence earlier that day."

Randy Kessler, as a defense attorney, I want you to jump in on this. We`ve been making a lot of, you know, fuss about the bedding and where it was

found, and how that may or may not match his story. But I`m still way more fascinated on what they found on the search histories and text messages

that were not deleted, because everybody deletes a bad text message or a search -- well, I shouldn`t say everybody, but most do.

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Wouldn`t they rather find if they were deleted so it shows that he premeditated this? I mean, that`s exactly what

you`re saying a minute ago. If you`re planning to commit a murder, you think about things like, I`m not going to write a text that`s going to show

me to be guilty, and I`m certainly going to --

BANFIELD: Unless you`re dumb as paint.

KESSLER: Well, if you`re dumb as paint, but you know what, he came up with a pretty good answer for why he -- I don`t think it`s the best answer in

the world, but he is pretty darn desperate, and now the state has gone all this trouble to try to disprove his ridiculous theory.

BANFIELD: And so much of this is just guess work and theory. But let`s just go with what the arrest warrant says he says. This all happened, I

load up the bodies, I drive them in my work truck which very well could have had a GPS locater on it, right? Tracking his little popcorn trail all

the way. I went to this worksite, which by the way, most of these worksites are monitored. Engineers have told me personally whether they`re

video or electronic, some kind of monitoring, they`re monitored. So, there`s another bozo move. I leave a shallow grave and children in a tank

that eventually will be cleaned out, right?

KESSLER: Right.

BANFIELD: And I come back to work and eventually go on T.V. and tell everybody this crazy story. Now, does that sound like somebody who`s

clever and would cover tracks and premeditated in a good way?

KESSLER: You know, we always go into this. It was Jeffrey Dahmer clever, mass murderer clever. I mean, it`s really not clever but the fact that he

went on national T.V. is the icing on the cake. I mean, that`s what`s (INAUDIBLE) jurors watch that, jurors are going to be deciding his fate.

And all this other stuff is, to me, is nonsense in case somebody on the jury says maybe he didn`t do it because he caught her doing what -- he says

he caught her. For that one juror, they want to make sure that there`s no chance that that argument carries any water.

BANFIELD: Yes, you hit the nail on the head, that one juror. Somebody on Facebook today -- there`s so many people who weigh in on Facebook on this

case, and one of the people weighing in on Facebook in the last few days said -- and I kid you not -- I think he`s innocent. And you have an arrest

affidavit that where the police say he admitted to doing all of this, he just doesn`t admit to the kids. So, hold the thought for a minute because

we`ve been hearing a lot from our viewers on this story. And the interest just continues to grow and grow because the mystery is not solved yet.

Next, we`re going to put some of your questions to the test, your comments, your theories on this riveting case. We will get the experts to weigh in

and answer as best we can.

[19:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANANN WATTS, MURDER VICTIM: He is the best thing that had ever happen to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way that she looked at him, the way that he looked at her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My office filed formal charges against Christopher Lee Watts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say that Chris Watts confessed to killing his wife but not their two young daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is absolutely the worst possible outcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why on earth would he do it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you guys get into an argument before she left?

CHRIS WATTS, MURDER SUSPECT: It wasn`t -- it wasn`t like an argument. We had an emotional conversation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loved those girls and those girls loved her. I`m sickened that a parent, a father could do that to his children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Who killed the children? It has been the big question all along. And we might just be closer to that answer, thanks to the

possibility of all the forensic evidence collected. Evidence that could tell us when those little lives were taken and by whom. But every day,

there are more and more questions that arrive, about just how the three Watts girls were killed. And there are new theories about who is

responsible. Those questions and those theories come from you. You are sleuthing and you are tracking this story alongside us, and you`re spotting

clues that nobody else has, and you`ve had some great questions that you`ve sent to us as well.

So, I want to get started and read some of them and get some answers as well. I want to start with Monique Robillard, and I hope I`m doing the

right pronunciation, Monique. Her question is: "Do they run blood tests on inmates when they`re arrested? Chris Watts, since he was body building,

steroids? Roidrage?" Randy Kessler, is that something that`s standard? If you`re brought in for murder, would you have your blood tested for any

reason?

KESSLER: No, if you`re brought in for anything, you wouldn`t have your blood tested unless you volunteered to do it. Because it`s taking -- it`s

like saying, did you commit a crime?

BANFIELD: What about DUI? They take your blood?

KESSLER: No, not without -- they can`t do it because it`s like saying, did you commit a crime? You have a right not to testify against yourself. You

have a right not to give potentially incriminating evidence. But maybe the defense wanted to show that he was on steroids because that would mitigate

his rationality and his premeditation.

BANFIELD: So, the defense could say test his blood right away, because the longer he stays in prison, the more that would diminish.

KESSLER: And you know he`s already caught doing the deed then you`ve got to have some excuse and explanation. Maybe that`s it.

BANFIELD: Thank you, Monique.

Javier Hernandez asked this question, "Has anyone considered that he might have had an accomplice?" It`s a great question, Javier, Javier, I`m not

sure how you pronounce it, but thank you for this.

[11:40:09] And I will tell you this, there has been reporting from People Magazine, from a law enforcement source, and I`ll read to you what exactly

was reported. "The woman with whom he was having an affair at work, they said she is cooperating, she is not suspected of any criminal wrongdoing."

So, that`s interesting at least to know that that is part of the equation. But Josh Campbell, CNN law enforcement analyst, are they looking for that

kind of information? Are they -- would the defense be looking to try to shift off some of the ugliness of the accusations to someone else? Or, is

that ship really sailed with this confession?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it`s a great question that Javier poses. And I could say that, you know, as we look at the

evidence and we`ve discussed here today, it looks as though the defendant, the subject is in a world of hurt. The only thing worse for him

potentially is if there is now someone else involved. Because in any crime, when you have one person committing it, if that turns into a

conspiracy where there`s someone else, you then open the aperture and the ability for the law enforcement to then probe and to pry and to try to

figure out if they can get someone else who may have been involved that may have knowledge to cooperate. So, that`s obviously going to be part of the

investigation to look at the people that are in his orbit to determine whether anyone else is involved.

BANFIELD: So then, Cindy Morgan asked this question, I think it`s a good one. Question concerning Chris Watts. "Did he appear to have any signs of

scratches or bruises on his face, neck or chest after the alleged strangulation of his daughters and his wife?" Now, let`s not forget, he,

according to the police, admitted to strangling his wife. That would have been a pitched battle. We did see some photographs of his neck as he was

giving the interviews four days later, or excuse me, the next day on his front porch. Some people online had pointed out they thought some of those

red marks could be tell-tale. Others said it looks nothing more than like a blemish.

But Joseph Scott Morgan, can you tell me if someone would have no defensive -- or no wounds on them having engaged in the story that Chris allegedly

has told police he did, strangling his adult wife?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: I can`t imagine that, the survival instinct would kick in on her part. Remember, she`s a

pregnant mother, she has an awareness that this is going on, I think that she would -- she would fight tooth and nail in this particular case. And

nails are in fact the key here, aren`t they, Ash? The idea that maybe there is skin beneath her nails. I don`t think that there would be as much

of an opportunity to harvest anything from the nails of the children. But the mother and by virtue of the fact being buried, I think that that could

be a spot that they would want to look forward, nail clippings and nail scrapings.

BANFIELD: Yes. And then maybe some of the things we could not see on those images on the front porch. Maybe there were scratches somewhere

else. We won`t know that until we get more of the details of the forensics of this case. OK, so I`m going to go to break, but I have more questions

from our Facebook viewers, and they`re good ones. One of them asks about, look, we`ve seen a lot of Shanann and the children and we`ve heard so much

about the postings of her family. What about his? What do we know about his family? We do know something, that`s next.

[19:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have the hearts of angels, and the souls of angels. I can`t believe that they`re gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always wondered why he was so quiet.

C. WATTS: This house is not complete without anybody here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just didn`t seem like the type of guy to injure a fly.

BANFIELD: Chris Watts is checked every few minutes to see if he`s still alive. And his cell has been stripped of anything dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn`t want to believe that he was capable of anything -- that he`s a monster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Still talking about the case that is turning the entire country into detectives, it seems. People pouring over the videos the family left

behind. And now, the potential evidence that Chris just may have left at the crime scenes. And they`re asking the kinds of questions that might

just help to solve the murder case, and questions you may just hear in a court of law as well. I want to go to Lee Peterson`s question to our

Facebook page, "What is the Chris Watts` family story? Where is he from? What was his childhood like? Who are his parents, school, friends, et

cetera?"

Pat Lalama, we know a little bit about that, not a lot, but we do know a little.

PAT LALAMA, MANAGING EDITOR, CRIME WATCH DAILY: Yes, interestingly just a little, but for all intents and purposes, he seemed like a friendly guy.

I`ve heard people say that the girls liked him, he was athletic, he did have friends. No -- there were just no red flags. Now, regarding his

parents known affectionately as Minnie and Papa to those poor little children, we do know that upon his arrest, before he was actually arrested

when he showed up at the police station, he asked to see his father. His father did arrive and then he was arrested. But aside from that, there

just isn`t a red flag that would say, Chris Watts was, you know, voted most likely to do something horrific.

[19:50:18] BANFIELD: Right. And People magazine also reported neighbors saying that they saw no red flags, that those children were ever, ever

afraid of their kids. OK, hold on a second, I`ve got -- yes, real quick, I got only -- I got only a minute left.

LALAMA: I just want to say it`s possible a tired, pregnant woman home from a trip at 2:00 in the morning might have just gone to bed and could have

been sleeping, therefore, no defensive wounds. I just want to get that out there.

BANFIELD: That`s a good point. That`s a good point. All right. So, Roger Ambrose writes, "Where are they going to find someone who has not

heard of this case to be on the jury?" Randy Kessler, this is such a good question. It comes up with every high-profile case. I`m going to put a

few photographs up on the screen that will help to illustrate, I`m sure, the answer that you`re about to give me. But if we can show those pictures

of some of the more high-profile cases that we`ve covered, not just on this network. Do we have them? Do we have those pictures? There they are. If

you can find a jury, Randy, for those four faces, can you find a jury for Chris Watts?

KESSLER: You know, sometimes you actually don`t mind if the jury has heard about the case, or seen the case. I mean, he`s already put his story out

there. He`s caught red-handed, he did something wrong. He at least killed her. So, he`s got to have a defense.

BANFIELD: Well, according to the police, he`s admitted that. According to the police, yes.

KESSLER: Right. So, in this case, he may not be so upset if they hear about it. But you know what, sometimes you just can`t find a juror that

hasn`t heard about the case. If you could move the jurisdiction in other part of the country, maybe, but here? Any part of the country --

BANFIELD: And by the way, may I remind our viewers as well of the Casey Anthony case, which I covered ad nauseam every single day. There was a

jury issue with Casey Anthony, as well. They didn`t move her case to another county, but they got the jurors from another county, which I found

fascinating. I hadn`t seen that a lot, but what they did is they bussed them in and then they stuck them in a hotel for the duration of that case.

They sequestered them. It was just awful. And I feel for those -- for those jurors and what they had to go through, but they found jurors for

Casey Anthony. Thank you so much for those Facebook questions. We`re going to continue doing that, by the way. Please, send us your questions,

we appreciate that. We`re going to do that every day, we`re going to answer your question because they`ve been great.

This is not the only story though that has been gripping this country. For nine months, Americans wondered where was Elizabeth Smart? Where had she

disappeared to? And then we found out. And now, one of her abductors is getting out of prison! How the hell is that happening? And what does

Elizabeth have to say about that? That`s next.

[19:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Elizabeth Smart is speaking out tonight, saying in no uncertain terms that she is outraged about the upcoming parole of Wanda Barzee, the

woman who helped her husband, Brian David Mitchell, kidnap her back in 2002. The Utah Board of Pardons announced today that Barzee will be

released from prison next week. Barzee pleaded back in 2009, guilty, and she was sentenced to between one and 15 years behind bars. Elizabeth Smart

was 14 years old back in 2002, when Brian David Mitchell kidnapped her at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City bedroom. Barzee and Mitchell together

held Elizabeth Smart hostage for over nine months, hiding in the woods near her home, and moving around frequently to avoid capture.

Elizabeth Smart says, "It is incomprehensible how someone who has not cooperated with her mental health evaluations or risk assessments and

someone who did not show up to her own parole hearing can be released into our own community. I am trying to understand how and why this is

happening," and here`s what`s really important, "and exploring possible options."

Last year, Elizabeth Smart made it clear to this program that she considers Wanda Barzee to be more of a monster than Brian David Mitchell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH SMART, RAPE SURVIVOR: I think it is easy to overlook her, because Brian Mitchell, he`s the one that forced his way into my home, he`s

the one that held me at knifepoint, he`s the one that raped me, he did all these terrible things, but she was a mother. She had came from a prior

marriage. She had six children, and honestly, part of me feels like she`s more evil because of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Wanda Barzee is scheduled to walk out of prison next Wednesday, September the 19th, and the news comes to us today on September the 11th.

Thanks for watching, everybody. "FORENSIC FILES" is coming up next.

END