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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Chris Watts Mourning Dead Wife And Kids; Cheating Hubby Kills Family, Goes On TV. Aired 6-8p ET
Aired September 04, 2018 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
[18:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: - but the fact that she has to live with what she is done and live childless and so forth, that is the tragedy. In
its own right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the eyes of the state, Andrea Yates is now simply a patient. He is no longer considered a criminal. Only Andrea knows if she
can ever forgive herself for her actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A tiny peaceful town mourns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were filled with life and joy and shared it with all those they encountered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As Shanann, Bella and Cici Watts.
S. WATTS: Look at Daddy, he is opening his birthday present.
CHRISTIAN WATTS, HUSBAND OF SHANANN WATTS, SUSPECT: How are you Johnson kids?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are laid to rest. Now their accused killer a husband and a father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, dad for everything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe praying to god about his fate while sitting in his cell.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exclusive tonight, Chris Watts is checked every few minutes to see if he is still alive and his cell has been stripped of
anything dangerous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn`t being as attentive to the girls as he normally was.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All this as friends reveal he began to change right before the murders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she suspect he might have been cheating?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was speculation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So how could a man who seemed to love his family so much -- tell so many bald faced lies as police desperately searched for
them.
WATTS: I don`t know where my kids are. I don`t know where Shanann is, I hope that she is somewhere safe right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And could one key of his alleged confession.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know where the bodies of the children are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turned the version of the events upside-down. What did Chris Watts really see on that baby monitor?
WATTS: I know I wasn`t turning the monitor on, I wasn`t going to kiss them to bed tonight. It was -- it was -- my thoughts were deplorable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did Shanann discover a terrible secret right before the murders? Exclusive new details tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, HLN CRIME AND JUSTICE: Good evening, everyone, I`m Ashleigh Banfield, this is "Crime and Justice." Being alone with your
thoughts can do a lot to a man, but when those thoughts are dark, it can be sheer torture. So the obvious question is, how is Chris Watts feeling
while he is sitting alone in solitary confinement in a Colorado jail cell? We are starting to learn a lot. A lot more about what Chris Watts` life is
like right now after being charged with murdering his entire family and after lying to the world that they were simply missing, but Chris Watts
cannot see this right now, because he forbidden from watching any television and the list of forbidden pleasures is long, it`s uncomfortable.
And it`s forcing him to spend a lot of time with his thoughts.
I spoke exclusively with a jail source, who laid out the details of Chris Watts every day and Chris Watts every night. I also spoke with a source
inside the investigation who is confirming a lot of things that we didn`t know and changing a lot of things that we did.
Joining me now is Steve Helling a senior writer with "People" magazine. Steve, you have been breaking a lot of news as well. I want to start right
away with some of these new information. You got an incredible piece coming out in "People" magazine on newsstands this Friday about the secrets
and pain and suffering. First and foremost, though, I want to talk with a law enforcement source whom I spoke who confirmed that the person at work
with whom Chris Watts was having an affair is a woman. Does that square with some of the reporting you are doing?
STEVE HELLING, SENIOR WRITER, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: It does. You know, we had a name very early on that we have not been able to confirm, but you know
that name was of a female and you know that is not surprising. We know that Chris has, you know, had affairs with both men and women in the past.
So nothing really surprises us at this point.
[18:05:00] BANFIELD: So the other piece of information my law enforcement source confirmed about this woman at Anna Darko, the oil company where
Chris Watts was working up until the day he was arrested, was that she was confronted by law enforcement and she admitted the affair. Flat out. She
kept no secrets. She told them everything.
HELLING: Which was probably a very smart move on her part. At this point there is no benefit for anybody in line to the police, you know, especially
because, you know, whatever Chris is alleged to do is what Chris did. Just because she was having an affair with him doesn`t mean she was implicates
in any sort of illegal wrongdoing, so it was the absolutely the right thing for her to do to own up to it right away.
BANFIELD: So, here`s another bombshell that really came as a shock to me, having read through, frankly combed through that warrantless affidavit, the
arrest affidavit. The police made their narrative very clear about what they say Chris Watts told them about what led up to the deaths of Shanann,
Bella and Cici. You and everyone has heard that police say Chris admitted to them that he saw his wife, he says, strangling one of the daughter after
seeing another daughter on the baby monitor blue.
He said that this happened after he had told Shanann he wanted to split. My law enforcement source says there is a little more to it than that. My
source is actually saying that Chris Watts is telling police that Shanann did this after she discovered the affair at work. Are you hearing or
seeing anything that correlates with that?
HELLING: That is new information to me. It`s not surprising. It certainly squares with a lot of the other things that you know that she was
-- Shanann was a very smart woman. You can`t hide an affair forever. So, it certainly squares with the idea and certainly makes sense that she would
have found out. Obviously, the other part about it, about the blue in the baby monitor doesn`t make a whole lot of sense, but it wouldn`t surprise me
if she had found out about this affair.
BANFIELD: Well, not long into this program, I`m actually going to do a demonstration, because we have tracked down the baby monitor that we
believe to be the one that Shanann was so proud of showing in her home videos. You know, maybe unfortunately for Chris, she was very clear about
the baby monitor pictures and about the adoring little images in those baby monitor picture. And so we actually tracked down the exact baby monitor.
And we`re going to do a demonstration of exactly what Chris says, he, you know, what made him in his own words according to police snap and strangle
his wife. We`re going to actually see if it`s plausible what he says he saw on a baby monitor. I will give you a little hint. This is an iPhone,
the baby monitor is smaller than that.
So let us think about this for a moment as we prepare a demonstration for you, and how far away, how far across the room this baby monitor might have
been for Chris to make the observations he said he did. So, that is coming up in a bit. A couple other things I just wanted to share. I want to read
this little snippet from the affidavit. Because it now starts to look very different in light of the information that we`re learning.
Chris stated after he told Shanann he wanted a separation, which now we are hearing from a law enforcement source was after Shanann actually found out
about an affair, he walked downstairs for a moment, then returned to his bedroom to speak with Shanann again. So now, again. He is in his bedroom,
while in the bedroom, via baby monitor, he observed Bella sprawled out on her bed and blue and Shanann actively strangling Celeste. He saw two
things in the baby monitor. And may I remind you, those children typically sleep in different rooms. They certainly have different rooms. They have
been photographed in different rooms. So how can he seen two things unless he went and toggles the baby monitor.
And I ask you for a moment to be reasonable. If you saw your babies splayed out on the bed and blue, would you then take care to go on toggle
to see about your other baby? Or might you run to that blue child? I ask you to think about that, the demonstration is coming up in a moment.
So, Steve, one of the other things that is interesting is to hear from some of the friends of Shanann and Steve, now they`ve had some time to marinate
about all the things that are coming out in light of these murder, we already knew that Shanann suspected that her husband could have been
cheating, but Nicole Atkinson said this to "Nightline" about what her observation were in the days and weeks leading up to the murder, have a
look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLE ATKINSON, FRIEND OF SHANANN WATTS: He wasn`t being the normal Chris that he normally was, he wasn`t touching her, hugging her, doing stuff like
that. He wasn`t being as attentive to the girls as he was normally has.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she suspected he might had been cheating?
ATKINSON: There was speculation, but she didn`t want to believe that, either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:10:04] BANFIELD: Steve, you have been incredible in your reporting in what you have been able to dig up about the alleged affairs. In fact, I
mean, it`s the headline of your work that this man had a lot of secrets.
HELLING: He did. He had lots of secrets. So, yes, friends were starting to notice that maybe these secrets were catching up on him. He was
certainly not the same person that he was six months ago, a year ago, two years ago. So they were noticing that. And now police are left having to
unravel all these secrets and find out what`s true, and what`s not? As you and I both know, when you are dealing with a dishonest defendant, it`s
very, very hard to figure out what`s true and what`s not. And there is going to be a lot of having to put things together and see if they can
figure out, kind of retrace what`s happened in the last few months.
BANFIELD: Yes. We do know that he is dishonest. So often you and I are on these programs and speaking live. We have to couch what we say in, you
know, is it possible that he is telling a lie? But the truth is, we now know by his own admissions according to police that he lied blatantly on
the front porch about them being missing and seemed to be very, very glib and comfortable, camera after camera showing up, reporter after reporter
showing up in telling these stories about his missing family whom he missed so much, whose presence was so void in that home that he was lonely.
I mean, we know these are now just flat out lies. So it`s a defined fact that these are lies and he is liar. I just want to bring up something
interesting as well. Your law enforcement source has confirmed to you that they have, in fact, made contact with someone who spoke on this program.
Can you explain?
HELLING: Yes, you had somebody on this program last week who alleged that he had had an affair with Chris. And, you know, he had said that he was,
you know, hearing from law enforcement. And we always have to make sure anybody who comes forward that they`re telling the truth. There is always
a reason why there may not be, whatever, but that part does square up.
That, yes, law enforcement was very aware of your interview with him and you know they reached out to him and they did make contact with them. Just
because that is their job. That is what they do. They make sure that any possibilities that they`ve gone and talked to these people. So, yes, you
know, he has spoken with police from what I understand. I don`t know what happened after that, but I do know that that was a thing.
BANFIELD: I`ll also tell you this, we didn`t air his name. We certainly didn`t pack that information on to anyone in law enforcement or outside of
our editorial team. They found him. They found him through their own detective work and they found it important enough to find him and now as
you are saying question him about his input on this story. And here`s my guess.
I am going to bring in Tom Verni, real quickly. Tom, you are a former NYPD detective. I know as you do, some people come out of the woodwork. John
Mark Carr came out of the woodwork, and John inserted himself into that story, said he killed her, it wasn`t true. People are like that. However,
you have to investigate these things. You don`t look aside. But, typically, when you make contact with these people, if they are joking --
TOM VERNI, FORMER DETECTIVE, NEW YORK POLICE: Yes.
BANFIELD: -- typically they don`t want to go any further, am I wrong?
VERNI: Right, no, generally they don`t. I want to show you this, it`s such a beautiful family we`re talking about here. You know if anyone is
out there having marital issues, and you can`t seem to work it out. Please, don`t kill your children, you know, call me, tweet me, I will pick
up the kids.
BANFIELD: We can`t figure out how it`s possible.
VERNI: I can`t -- for as many stories that we`ve covered over the years, I just cannot -- it still blows my mind that people will take the lives of
their children, you know during these types of things.
BANFIELD: This is an investigation of a man who says he had a ten month relationship with Chris Watts. You know, the reason we point out that it`s
a gay relationship is not to besmirch anyone as some people have, you know, taken great offense to, it`s because it`s a secret. It`s a secret that may
have come as a great shock potentially to Shanann. And at some point it may have been a greater secret than the affair with a woman at work. Which
is why we bring that up. Steve Helling, jump back in, because you got more reporting as well from another jail source, who says a couple of emotional
things about what Chris is going through. Tell me what you found.
HELLING: We have found out from somebody who has spoken with Chris that, yes, things are starting to sink in. You know, we had watched this whole
thing where he was giving these really stilted interviews to TV. You know, in court he wasn`t reacting. And now, we are hearing that, you know, he is
got this time. He is sitting there, he is not doing anything and it`s sinking in. What he is in jail for. What happened? What he is lost.
What he may or may not have done, all of that is sinking into him right now and the other thing we know is that, you know, this beautiful and heart
breaking funeral that happened last weekend, he knew better than to suggest anything to reach out to the family in anyway. You know, they did that
without him. And he missed the funeral of his wife and children.
[18:15:13] BANFIELD: Not only that, if he read the obituary, by the way, you know, Tom, you just mentioned how sad this story is. There is nothing
more sad than seeing little caskets following their mother`s casket, and what would have been there, their baby brother where he had the chance to
be born, but there is nothing more sad than seeing this kind of a procession.
Funerals are sad, but these take the cake. So this is in every single way probably one of the most tragic images to come out of this story. This was
on Saturday, and there you have it, three grave sites. And do you see the one in the middle? It has two plaques. And that second plaque is for this
unborn son named Nico. The plan was for Nico, for the little boy to be named Nico, but each of them had this plaque and after the internment,
there was this beautiful floral covering for the grave sites.
It is just unimaginable in every aspect of this story that this is true, that this happened, that these two baby girls and their mother died in such
a violent end. I mean, it`s just simply remarkable. And to know that the man who police say did it was the man they trusted and loved more than
anything in the world, their father Chris Watts.
Speaking of Chris Watts. A couple things that I want to share with you that no one knows at this point, what his life is like. If you ever heard
of something called close watch protocol. I have not. I have heard of suicide watch. He is under it. He is not only under suicide watch and
what they call close watch protocol at this prison. There are a lot of things he is stripped of seeing, reading, having, tasting, sleeping under.
I will outline for you his every day his every night and all of the experiences this man is going through 23 hours a day in a lockup and the
one hour he is not. Next.
[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Chris Watts isn`t getting a lot of piece these days. He is locked up in a cell 23 hours a day on something called close watch
protocol. Close watch protocol is a fancy way of saying suicide watch. And he is on suicide watch, because someone at the lockup saw something and
alerted the jail. It could have been a jail employee. It could have been the counselors who are on staff 24/7, but someone said something about that
man and his behavior.
So what does it mean for Chris Watts? 23 hours a day he is in lockup. One hour a day he gets out. We have some of the pictures from inside the Weld
County jail and officially his cell would be different than this, but you can imagine, there is a lot of similarity, we are told in his cell there is
the bare minimum. Even bare minimum of personal effects. We actually have some video that was given to us actually from the Weld County jail. This
is a SWAT Operation. Now, it has nothing to do with Chris, but we at least get the bird`s eye view of what the cells in the Weld County lockup look
like as they go cell-to-cell in this drill.
So at least in the drill, we get to see the inside of Chris Watts` new home. And we are told it will more than likely be Chris Watts` home until
he is tried and the likelihood of him being moved from now until then is low, but what does close watch protocol mean for him, moment by moment?
It means that every five-to-ten minutes in his case, someone`s got eyes on him likely through the door and they can make verbal contact with him
likely through the door. Once a day there is a complete cell inspection. Meaning they check everything and several times per day they make physical
contact with that man`s person to make sure, a, he is still alive and, b, he is still there. Apart from that, Chris Watts` has the right to sleep
the day away. Because there is little else he can do. He has no television. He doesn`t even have access to television in that one hour
out. He has no reading material inside his cell. The only reading material he gets out is shared newspapers on the table in that common room,
but that common room is not very common. He is all by himself there as well.
It`s officially called the hour out room and all he gets in that hour out room is a table and a chair and a toilet and a shower and a phone, but the
man who just spent the last few years shedding 50 pounds and buffing up with all those exercises, dumb bells and weights has no access at all to
exercise equipment. If he wants to do any kind of arm bands now, it`s using a chair. He has nothing. Nothing. Bare minimum.
[18:25:13] He is also limited to zero commissary. Nothing from the prison store. Now, just imagine your 23 hours after you are used to this
lifestyle in this fancy home with a loving wife and two beautiful kids, to being inside a little cell, 23 hours a day. Barrett Marson is the former
Director of communications for the Arizona Department of Corrections. He is also a prison expert. Barrett, I heard about these, you know, these
conditions from a source inside the jail. I had a long conversation with the source inside the jail. It sounded more extreme than most situations,
not even with the reading material inside the cell. Is it surprising to you?
BARRETT MARSON, FORMER DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: No, you know, suicide watch is some of the most intense
scrutiny you are going to get inside while you are incarcerated inside a facility. You know, it is so important, when somebody likely makes a
statements about suicide, it immediately puts a lot of jails and/or prisons on notice that is why they likely move a person into a suicide watch
situation. And some people just make some statements or whatever, but this clearly they are concerned enough to look at him at least every five
minutes, five or ten minutes.
BANFIELD: There is another fascinating aspect of his incarceration that I want to ask you about Barrett, he is used to being on a crew, where I`m
sure he had plenty of interaction with work mates. He certainly got pretty intimate, according to the warrantless affidavit and had an affair with one
of his work mates, but now in this cell the only regular contact he has is with a rotating group of guards. He doesn`t even have standard, I remember
O.J. saying he got very friendly with a certain group of guards. These guards are all on rotation. So, it is not as though he even gets one or
two guys that he regularly sees. It`s sort of like, you know, nameless, almost faceless people constantly checking in on him.
I did find out this, Barrett, he can see across the way, he can make visual contact with others in this pod that he is in. He can also have audio,
verbal contact. So it`s not a closed cell door. It`s probably something along bars, although for security reasons they wouldn`t say. He can make
audio contact with those across the way. And while I show you these picture of the Weld County jail, we are not sure which pod he is in, and
they wouldn`t tell us for security reasons. But they did say, Barrett that the audio contact and visual contact is actually helpful for prisoners as
they prepare for trial.
MARSON: Yes. You know a lot of times they talk through vents and you know if they`re an open bar situation. They still have that sort of contact
with other inmates, but you know, it`s important to the sort of rotate those officers, so they don`t become complacent and miss something. When
you have different eyes on the situation, you look at things differently and you are more apt to catch things. So, you really do want to rotate
those officers in and out on a suicide watch like this.
BANFIELD: Barrett, I heard people prepping to go, you know, serve their time, and if they have the luxury of doing so, but this man would not have
had any prefatory luxury. He was hauled in, and jailed right away. Which means, he had no idea that life as he knew it was going to end so abruptly.
He is working out with weights and gym equipment. Look at him. He is the vision of help. There are pictures of him with his wife. And he boasts
about the fact that he has lost 50 pounds over the last couple of years, and yet this man has no access to any exercise equipment at all. Does that
surprise you in close watch protocol?
MARSON: Oh, not at all. You are by yourself. You are being watched constantly if not literally continuously. It is not a fun time. Again,
most inmates have access to television and magazines and books. Under a close watch situation, you don`t necessarily have that same access, because
many things can become weapons, your razor blade that you shave with, they`re going to make sure and collect that every single time out the
toothbrush, same thing, so a lot of the comforts, if you will, of a normal in prison or jail are taken away, because so many things can be used as
weapons.
BANFIELD: Interesting you would say that because I asked about personal effects. You know I thought, first of all, I said, what exactly is in his
cell, where he is spending the 23 hours? And the answer I got was bed, toilet, sink, chair, table. And then I asked about bedding, because
obviously on suicide watch we`ve heard of people using their sheets. Because of the security issues, I was not allowed to know exactly what the
bedding situation was. I was told that there is a mattress, but as far as bedding, the only thing my source would say is that the bedding can be
modified. Now, what does that mean?
MARSON: Well, you know, sometimes an inmate who is on a suicide watch won`t even get a blanket, because again, that can be used for hanging
purposes potentially. So the mattress, they try and make a one piece so that it cannot be modified or torn apart. But, you know, inmates spend
enough time. And they will get resourceful. Suicide watch, it`s so important to have a continuous watch or near continuous watch who is on...
BANFIELD: Sorry, Barrett. I`m also told that there is a chaplain available at all times, as well as counselors and therapists who are
actually on site, and that he is aloud access to them when he`s with the chaplain. That would be privileged conversation. I don`t think so with
the counselors, though, am I wrong?
MARSON: Oh, you know that I would assume they`re doctors. I would assume there is some doctor/patient confidentiality there.
BANFIELD: OK.
MARSON: But counselors are so very important to the process, because he is more likely to open up about things, and they`re more likely, more easily
able to assess his mental state.
BANFIELD: Are you surprised to hear he has absolutely no access to the commissary, meaning whatever the jail is feeding him is what he gets? And
I did learn that the diet is no different for those on close watch than it is for general population. So the meal of the day is what is served to him
in his cell. And he takes his meals in his cell. Are you surprised to find out he gets nothing else, nothing from the commissary?
MARSON: Not at all. You know the jail or prison diet usually is enough to sustain life, and is hopefully a heart healthy diet. Commissary is
something extra, something that, you know, is a privilege if you will. So, you know, it`s difficult to make these commissary deliveries. So I
understand why there is no commissary for someone on a suicide watch.
It`s just too difficult. You don`t want a lot of people going in and out of the cell, more potential for his (Inaudible) that could eventually be
used as weapons. So you want as little interaction as possible.
BANFIELD: Bare minimum, I am told in that cell in terms of any kinds of personal effects as well, not just the sink toilet, bed, chair, and table,
but bare minimum. And I cannot imagine 23 hours a day without even reading material, but the papers are communal. They are out in the hour out room.
And he is not allowed to take them back into his cell, and no television anywhere.
So imagine life like that for those who are, say angry, well, now you know what his life is like. Barrett, stand by, if you will, while Chris Watts
stays in that jail cell 23 hours everyday. Shanann Watts` family had a lot of work. They had to plan a funeral for three and an unborn child. Bella,
and Cici, and Shanann and that unborn child Nico were laid to rest on Saturday, and the images were so profound and simply heartbreaking.
It was a final goodbye to a glowing mother and those children. But what can we learn from that funeral with regard to the investigation? And how
does a funeral home and a church even handle a security case like this one? That`s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00] BANFIELD: When you`re in the business of funerals, it is a fairly simple task, albeit a somber one. Present a memorial service that
pays tribute to the recently departed and their loved ones. But the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina had likely never
planned for a funeral like the one this past Saturday. Two tiny caskets for the bodies of two little sisters and a larger casket for their pregnant
mother, followed by hundreds upon hundreds of mourners and a row of television cameras that peppered what is otherwise a peaceful and quiet
street.
All this because Shanann Watts, her daughters Bella and Cici, and her unborn son Nico were memorialized in their hometown, and while tributes
from friends and family spoke volumes about Shanann and her children, the absence of the man who is alleged to have murdered them all spoke volumes
about him. Steve Helling is still with me as my other guests. And Steve, I was so moved by the fact that her family chose to present letters to the
pastor to read instead of stand in front and give tribute.
I can only imagine how hard that would have been for them. I want to play, if I can, the funeral, itself, was live streamed by the funeral home for
the public to be able see. And the Reverend John Forbes read this portion of a letter from Shanann`s brother, Frankie (Inaudible). Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[18:39:53] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was very successful and independent before any man came along. And that`s just the way she wanted it, always
worried about her and the girls being so far because I couldn`t protect them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Do we know anything, Steve, about Chris` family, because they lost two granddaughters. Do we know about their presence at this funeral?
STEVE HELLING, SENIOR WRITER, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Well, his family was not there. But believe me, they are mourning just as much as Shanann`s family
is. You know they realize that there is all sorts of things that they`re never going to get to do with their granddaughter. They`re never going to
take her to see a manatee. They`re never going to take her to the zoo. There`s all these things that are never going to happen, so yes,
definitely. Chris` family is in mourning as well. But they can`t be quite as public about it, obviously, as Shanann`s can.
BANFIELD: So Nicole Partin is a licensed funeral director and embalmer, and she joins us now. And the reason I show you these three caskets, the
way they are in the church is that they are closed caskets. And oftentimes, in Roman Catholic funeral, there will be open caskets. In this
case, Nicole, there is so much to this story that`s not your average funeral. There is the security that`s needed at the funeral home prior to
arriving at this church.
There is security at the church. This is a public event. This is still an active investigation, and we do not know the results of the autopsy. There
is no official cause of death at this time. How difficult is it in the line of work that you did to maintain the security prior and during to this
extremely somber service?
NICOLE PARTIN, LICENSED FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND EMBALMER: Actually, it`s very difficult. Of course, standard procedures were followed by the funeral
home, extra staff brought in. But in a case like this, we would rely heavily on the presence of law enforcement to be there to maintain peace,
to maintain the protection of the deceased and the wishes of Shanann`s family. The number one goal of the funeral home is their request, meet
their needs, and then of course protection of the deceased.
So the funeral home in regards to what they would do with every other family they would serve would also in a case like this rely heavily on law
enforcement and their presence.
BANFIELD: And I imagine, then, Nicole the same could be said of the grave site, the images emerged recently about the three graves covered in flowers
with these temporary plaques, likely to be replaced with tombstones at some point soon. And there is a fourth plaque I should mention if anyone is
joining us right now. The fourth plaque is the dedication to the unborn son named Nico. It just sort of -- it gives you a chill looking at these
signs. But the sights of the graves as well, are they also security risks?
PARTIN: They would be. And the thing about the cemetery is that of course public access. So once the funeral home staff, once the authorities rest,
that`s a public area where me or you or anyone has access to go there and visit the graves. But certainly during grave site memorial, while the
family was present, the funeral home and local law enforcement were there to adhere to the request of the family, to maintain privacy and to maintain
the peace of that somber moment for the family.
BANFIELD: Nicole, thank you for that. After their father, Shanann`s husband was arrested, police say that Chris Watts told them it was on the
family baby monitor that he saw his daughter Bella turning blue, and also saw Shanann strangling little Cici, which in turn, he said sent him into a
rage that forced to him kill Shanann. Is it at all possible that he saw all of that on this tiny little three-and-a-half inch screen, this one?
We decided to get our own. Almost identical, if not the exact baby monitor as the one he says he saw in the bedroom. We`re going to do a little
demonstration. Do you see that little person? It`s about the same size as the babies were on the screen. How hard is it to see what color this
person`s face is? The demonstration is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:00] BANFIELD: There`s nothing more serious than death. It`s why any death penalty case is dead serious. And we`re counting down the days
before the DA has to decide if Chris Watts is going to face the death penalty for the alleged murders of his entire family. And if Watts is
facing the death penalty, his entire case may hinge on one critical story that police say he confessed to them, that he saw something terrible on the
family`s baby monitor after talking with his wife Shanann.
One of his daughters, he claims, was sprawled out on her bed and blue, while the other was being strangled by his wife, he claims. But is it
possible to see anything like that on the exact baby monitor the Watts family kept on the bedside table?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[18:49:54] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re still sleeping, nice, peacefully sleeping. That`s Bella. And Cici is (Inaudible) I think she`s sleeping
(Inaudible). She`s waiting for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It turns out there`s a lot of home video featuring the exact baby monitor in the house. And lucky for investigators, the starring role
the monitor plays in those images may prove exactly what you can, and maybe more importantly, cannot actually see. So we decided to do a little
demonstration. Because if Chris Watts said he went downstairs for a moment and then came back upstairs to the master bedroom, and witnessed his baby,
Bella, sprawled out and blue on the bed.
We wanted to know how difficult that might be. So I want you to look, if you will, at the size of the baby monitor. The camera that`s pointing at
me, and this baby monitor right here, which is smaller than an Iphone 7, camera`s about 10 to 15 feet away. So you are now looking at the baby
monitor 10 to 15 feet across the bedroom, master bedroom, where Chris Watts says he witnessed his daughter, Bella, blue.
Can you tell? Now you`re about five feet away. Now you`re about four, three. Now you`re getting right up close and personal. Your face is about
two to three feet away from our producer, Bernice, who`s in the monitor. Now the lights are on in the room where Bernice is waving to you. And so
it`s bright color. It`s as bright color as you`re going to see. On the right-hand side is the baby monitor image of one of their children.
The lights look to be low, but you can see the face of that baby. And you are about a foot away from the screen looking at the actual baby, because
the monitor is so small you have to be that close for it to appear that big. Now look at Bernice`s coloring. She`s wearing a blue shirt. You can
definitely see her blue shirt. But can you tell the color of her face with the lights on? This is 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning Chris says.
So perhaps the lights were on, but maybe more likely they were off. So let`s turn the lights off and see if that changes anything in the color of
Bernice`s face. It will be critical -- it will be critical to Chris` argument as to whether he could tell little Bella was blue, because right
now even her blue shirt looks the same color as her pants, as the wall, as everything else. And her face, which by the way look to the right, is the
same circumference as the baby`s face in the monitor. I don`t know about you, but I sure can`t tell at all if that face is pink or blue or bright
purple or green or any other color for that matter.
So very critical to get Troy Slaten in on this, he`s a defense attorney. How do you overcome something like these images because you just know that
in any prosecution they`re going to do the exact same thing I just did?
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it strains credulity. And certainly the jury is going to be asked to apply their common sense, to apply
everything that they know about the world. And if the defense attorneys ask the jury to believe something that is clearly not true, then it`s going
to remove all credibility that the defense attorneys have.
And that`s going to be added to the prosecution`s argument that everything that Chris has said up to this point has been a lie, when he looked right
into the camera during those news interviews and made provable lies. That`s going to make the jury dislike him and not believe him.
BANFIELD: Just to the facts on this. I mean Tom (Inaudible), you`re a detective, look at the two images. Can you tell what color Bernice`s face
would be at this point?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. And I have 20/20 vision so...
BANFIELD: Put the lights on. We`ll flick the lights on and give Chris the benefit of the doubt that it was full color in that monitor. Now you`re
looking at the best image you can see on that tiny monitor. And make no mistake if you`re a viewer right now, is about a foot away from the
monitor. And can I also add, Tom, you have to toggle physically to get the image of the other baby up. Would you do that if you see your baby all
blue?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. With infants, too, you have sudden infant death syndrome which occurs with infants under the age of one. So in that case,
if you have that or a baby who is actually strangled, you`d want to go and try to revive...
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: Your instinct would be to rush in there.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: I didn`t even mention that there are two way audios on the monitors, OK. You can hear what`s going on in that room. He made no
mention of hearing any screaming or struggling. And you can also be heard now. That still has yet to be determined. But there`s still so much more
in this investigation to determine. The story of the Watts family is I think what you can call a classic American tragedy.
And it`s important to pause and take a look at the lives, the lives that were cut short because of this horrific crime. And look at it through the
eyes of their mother, the small life moments that these little girls shared with her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s the first hailstorm you witnessed, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I go play out there, mommy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you can`t. It`s thunder and lightning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:55:15]
[19:00:19] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): A tiny, peaceful town mourns.
FR. JOHN FORBES, PASTOR, SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH, PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA: They were filled with life and joy and shared it with all those
they encountered.
BANFIELD (voice-over): As Shanann, Bella, and Cece Watts --
SHANANN WATTS, MURDERED WIFE OF CHRIS WATTS: Look at daddy opening his birthday present.
CHRIS WATTS, HUSBAND OF SHANANN WATTS: Oh, you`ve got to be kidding me.
BANFIELD (voice-over): -- are laid to rest. Now, their accused killer -- a husband, and a father --
BELLA WATTS, MURDERED DAUGHTER OF SHANANN WATTS: Thank you, God, for everything.
BANFIELD (voice-over): -- may be praying to God about his fate while sitting in his cell.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD (voice-over): Exclusive tonight, Chris Watts is checked every few minutes to see if he`s still alive, and his cell has been stripped of
anything dangerous.
NICKOLE ATKINSON, FRIEND OF SHANANN WATTS: He wasn`t being as attentive to the girls as he normally was.
BANFIELD (voice-over): All this as friends reveal he`d begun to change right before the murders.
DAN HARRIS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Did she suspect he might have been cheating?
ATKINSON: There was speculation.
BANFIELD (voice-over): So how could a man who seemed to love his family so much --
C. WATTS: I don`t even want to just like throw anything out there.
BANFIELD (voice-over): -- tell so many bald-faced lies as police desperately searched for them?
C. WATTS: I don`t know where my kids are. I don`t know where Shanann is. I hope that she`s somewhere safe right now.
BANFIELD (voice-over): And could one key part of his alleged confession --
JOHN CAMPER, DIRECTOR, COLORADO BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: We know where the bodies of the children are.
BANFIELD (voice-over): -- turn his version of events upside down? What did Chris Watts really see on that baby monitor?
C. WATTS: I know that I wasn`t going to turn that monitor on, know I wasn`t going to kiss them to bed tonight, it was -- it was -- that`s why I
left the house. It`s horrible.
BANFIELD (voice-over): And did Shanann discover a terrible secret right before the murders? Exclusive new details tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Good evening, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is CRIME AND JUSTICE.
Being alone with your thoughts can do a lot to a man. But when those thoughts are dark, it can be sheer torture. So the obvious question is,
how is Chris Watts feeling while he`s sitting alone in solitary confinement in a Colorado jail cell?
We are starting to learn a lot. A lot more about what Chris Watts` life is like right now after being charged with murdering his entire family and
after lying to the world that they were simply missing.
But Chris Watts cannot see this right now because he is forbidden from watching any television. And the list of forbidden pleasures is long, it`s
uncomfortable, and it`s forcing him to spend a lot of time with his thoughts.
I spoke exclusively with a jail source who laid out the details of Chris Watts` every day and Chris Watts` every night. I also spoke with a source
inside the investigation who is confirming a lot of things that we didn`t know and changing a lot of things that we did.
Joining me now is Steve Helling, senior writer with "People" Magazine.
Steve, you`ve been breaking a lot of news as well. I want to start right away with some of this new information. You got an incredible piece coming
out in "People" Magazine on newsstands this Friday about the secrets and the pain and suffering.
First and foremost, though, I want to talk about a law enforcement source with whom I spoke who confirmed that the person at work with whom Chris
Watts was having an affair is a woman. Does that square with some of the reporting you`re doing?
STEVE HELLING, SENIOR WRITE, PEOPLE: It does. You know, we had a name very early on that we have not been able to confirm, but, you know, that
name was of a female. And, you know, that`s not surprising. We know that Chris has, you know, had affairs with both men and women in the past. So
nothing really surprises us, at this point.
BANFIELD: So the other piece of information my law enforcement source confirmed about this woman at Anadarko, the oil company where Chris Watts
was working up until the day he was arrested, was that she was confronted by law enforcement, and she admitted the affair. Flat out, she kept no
secret, she told them everything.
HELLING: Which was probably a very smart move on her part. At this point, there is no benefit for anybody in lying to the police. You know,
especially because, you know, whatever Chris is alleged to do is what Chris did.
And just because she was having an affair with him doesn`t mean that she`s implicated in any sort of legal wrongdoing. So it was absolutely the right
thing for her to do, to own up to it right away.
[19:05:05] BANFIELD: So here`s another bombshell that really came as a shock to me, having read through -- frankly, combed through that
warrantless affidavit, the arrest affidavit. The police made their narrative very clear about what they say Chris Watts told them about what
led up to the deaths of Shanann, Bella, and Cece.
You and everyone have heard that -- police say Chris admitted to them that he saw his wife, he says, strangling one of the daughters after seeing
another daughter on a baby monitor blue. He said that this happened after he had told Shanann he wanted to split.
My law enforcement source says there`s a little more to it than that. My source is actually saying that Chris Watts is telling police that Shanann
did this after she discovered the affair at work. Are you hearing or seeing anything that correlates with that?
HELLING: That is new information to me. It`s not surprising. It certainly squares with a lot of the other things that -- you know, that she
was -- you know, Shanann was a very smart woman and, you know, she -- you can`t hide an affair forever. So, you know, it certainly squares with the
idea and it certainly makes sense that she would have found out.
Obviously, the other part of it about the blue in the baby monitor doesn`t make a whole lot of sense, but it wouldn`t surprise me if she`d found out
about this affair.
BANFIELD: Well, not long into this program, I`m actually going to do a demonstration because we have tracked down the baby monitor that we believe
to be the one that Shanann was so proud of showing in her home videos. And you know, maybe unfortunately for Chris, she was very clear about the baby
monitor pictures and about the adoring little images in those baby monitor pictures.
And so we actually tracked down the exact baby monitor, and we`re going to do a demonstration of exactly what Chris says he -- you know, what made
him, in his own words, according to police, snap and strangle his wife. And we`re going to actually see if it`s plausible what he said he saw on a
baby monitor.
I`m going to give you a little hint. This is an iPhone and the baby monitor is smaller than that. So just think about this for a moment as we
prepare a demonstration for you and how far away -- how far across the room this baby monitor might have been for Chris to have made the observations
he said he did. So that`s coming up in a bit.
A couple of other things that I wanted to just share. I want to read this little snippet from the affidavit because it now starts to look very
different in light of the information that we`re learning.
Chris stated after he told Shanann he wanted a separation, which now we`re hearing from a law enforcement source was after Shanann actually found out
about an affair, he walked downstairs for a moment then returned to his bedroom to speak with Shanann again.
So now, again, he`s in his bedroom. While in the bedroom, via baby monitor, he observed Bella sprawled out on her bed and blue and Shanann
actively strangling Celeste.
He saw two things on the baby monitor. And may I remind you, those children typically sleep in different rooms. They certainly have different
rooms. They have been photographed in different rooms, so how could he have seen two things unless he went and toggled the baby monitor?
And I ask you, for a moment, to be reasonable. If you saw your baby splayed out on the bed and blue, would you then take care to go and toggle
to see about your other baby, or might you run to that blue child? I ask you to think about that. The demonstration is coming up in a moment.
So, Steve, one of the other things that`s interesting is to hear from some of the friends of Shanann. And, Steve, now that they`ve had some time to
marinate about all the things that are coming out in light of these murders, we already knew that Shanann suspected that her husband could have
been cheating.
But Nickole Atkinson said this to "Nightline" about what her observations were in the days and weeks leading up to the murders. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ATKINSON: He wasn`t being the loving Chris that he normally was. He wasn`t touching or hugging or doing stuff like that. And he wasn`t being
as attentive to the girls as he normally is.
HARRIS: Did she suspect he might have been cheating?
ATKINSON: There was speculation but she didn`t want to believe that either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Steve, you have been incredible in your reporting and what you`ve been able to dig up about the alleged affairs. In fact, I mean,
it`s the headline of your work that this man had a lot of secrets.
HELLING: He did. He had lots of secrets. And so, yes, friends were starting to notice that maybe these secrets were catching up on him. He
was certainly not the same person that he was six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, so they were noticing that.
And now, police are left having to unravel all these secrets and find out what`s true and what`s not, which, as you and I both know, when you`re
dealing with a dishonest defendant, it`s very, very hard to figure out what`s true and what`s not.
[19:10:07] And there`s going to be a lot of having to put things together and see if they can figure out -- kind of retrace what`s happened in the
last few months.
BANFIELD: Yes, and we do know he`s dishonest. You know, so often, you and I are on these programs and speaking live and we have to couch what we say
in -- you know, is it possible he`s telling a lie?
But the truth is, we know now, by his own admissions, according to the police, that he lied blatantly on the front porch about them being missing
and seemed to be very, very glib and comfortable camera after camera showing up, reporter after reporter showing up, in telling these stories of
about his missing family whom he missed so much, whose presence was so void in that home that he was lonely.
I mean, we know these are just now flat-out lies. So it`s a defined fact that these are lies and that he`s a liar.
I just want to bring up something interesting as well. Your law enforcement source has confirmed to you that they have, in fact, made
contact with someone who spoke on this program. Can you explain?
HELLING: Yes. You had somebody on this program last week who alleged that he had had an affair with Chris. And, you know, he had said that he was,
you know, hearing from law enforcement.
And, you know, we always have to make sure anybody who comes forward, that they`re telling the truth. There`s always a reason why they may not be,
whatever. But that part does square up that, yes, law enforcement was very aware of your interview with him.
And, you know, they reached out to him and they did make contact with him just because that`s their job. That`s what they do. They make sure that,
you know, any possibilities that they`ve gone and talked to these people.
So, yes, you know, he has spoken with police, from what I understand. I don`t know what happened after that, but I do know that that was a thing.
BANFIELD: I`ll also tell you this, we didn`t air his name. We certainly didn`t pass that information on to anyone in law enforcement or outside of
our editorial team. They found him.
They found him through their own detective work. And they found it important enough to find him and now, as you`re saying, question him about
his input on this story.
And here is my guest. I`m going to bring in Tom Verni real quickly.
Tom, you`re a former NYPD detective. I know, as you do, some people come out of the woodwork. John Mark Karr came out of the woodwork in JonBenet,
inserted himself into that story, said he killed her.
TOM VERNI, FORMER DETECTIVE, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes.
BANFIELD: It wasn`t true. People are like that.
VERNI: Yes.
BANFIELD: However, you have to investigate these things. You don`t look aside. But typically, when you make contact with these people, if they are
joking, typically, they don`t want to go any further. Am I wrong?
VERNI: Right. No, generally they don`t. And you know, what a shame this is. Such a beautiful family we`re talking about here.
And, you know, if anyone is out there and they`re having marital issues and, you know, you can`t seem to work it out, please, don`t kill your
children. You know, call me. You know, tweet me. I will pick up the kids. It`s just --
BANFIELD: Yes. We can`t even figure out how it`s possible.
VERNI: I can`t even -- you know, for as many stories as we`ve covered over the years, I just cannot -- it still blows my mind that people will take
the lives of their children, you know, during these -- during these type of disputes, of these --
BANFIELD: But this investigation of the man who says he had a 10-month gay relationship with Chris Watts -- and, you know, the reason we point out
that it`s a gay relationship is not to besmirch anyone as some people have, you know, taken great offense to.
VERNI: Right.
BANFIELD: It`s because it`s a secret.
VERNI: Yes.
BANFIELD: And it`s a secret that may have come as a great shock potentially to Shanann and, at some point, might`ve been an even greater
secret than the affair with a woman at work, which is why we bring that up.
Steve, jump back in because you`ve got more reporting as well from another jail source who says a couple of emotional things about what Chris is going
through. Tell me what you found.
HELLING: Yes. We have found out from somebody who has spoken with Chris that, yes, things are starting to sink in. You know, we had watched this
whole thing where he was, you know, giving these really stilted interviews to T.V. And, you know, in court, he wasn`t reacting.
And now, we are hearing that, you know, he`s got this time. He`s sitting there. He`s not doing anything, and it`s sinking in. What he`s in jail
for, what happened, what he`s lost, what he may or may not have done, all of that is sinking into him right now.
And the other thing we know is that, you know, this beautiful and heartbreaking funeral that happened last weekend, he knew better than to
suggest anything to -- and to reach out to the family in any way. You know, they did that without him, and he missed the funeral of his wife and
children.
BANFIELD: Not only that, if you read the obituary -- and by the way, you know, Tom, you just mentioned how sad this story is. There is nothing more
sad than seeing little caskets --
VERNI: Yes, absolutely.
BANFIELD: -- following their mother`s casket and what would have been their baby brother were he had -- you know, had the chance to be born. But
there is nothing more sad than seeing this kind of a procession.
[19:14:57] Funerals are sad but these take the cake. So this is, in every single way, probably one of the most tragic images to come out of this
story. And this was on Saturday. And there you have it, three gravesites.
And do you see the one in the middle? It has two plaques. And that second plaque is for this unborn son named Nico. The plan was for that -- for
Nico -- for the little boy to be named Nico. But each of them has this plaque. And after the internment, there was this beautiful floral covering
for the gravesites.
It is just unimaginable in every aspect of this story that this is true, that this happened. That these two baby girls and their mother died in
such a violent end. I mean, it is -- it`s just simply remarkable. And to know that the man who police say did it was the man they trusted and loved
more than anything in the world, their father, Chris Watts.
Speaking of Chris Watts, there`s a couple things that I want to share with you that no one knows at this point. What his life is like. If you ever
heard of something called close watch protocol -- I have not. I have heard of suicide watch. And he`s under it.
He`s not only under a suicide watch and what they call close watch protocol at this prison, there are a lot of things he`s been stripped of seeing,
reading, having, tasting, sleeping under. I am going to outline for you his every day, his every night, and all of the experiences this man is
going through 23 hours a day in lockup and the one hour he`s not. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:21:29] BANFIELD: Chris Watts isn`t getting a lot of peace these days. He`s locked up in a cell 23 hours a day on something called close watch
protocol. Close watch protocol is a fancy way of saying suicide watch. And he`s on suicide watch because someone at the lockup saw something and
alerted the jail.
It could have been a jail employee. It could have been the counselors who are on staff 24/7. But someone said something about that man and his
behavior. So what does it mean for Chris Watts? Twenty-three hours a day, he`s in lockup; one hour a day he gets out.
We have some of the pictures from inside the Weld County Jail. And officially, his cell would be different than this, but you can imagine
there`s a lot of similarities.
We are told, in his cell, there is the bare minimum. Even a bare minimum of personal effects. We actually have some video that was given to us
actually from the Weld County Jail.
This is a SWAT operation. Now, it has nothing to do with Chris, but we at least get the bird`s eye view of what the cells in the Weld County lockup
look like as they go cell to cell in this drill.
So at least in the drill, we get to see the inside of Chris Watts` new home. And we`re told that it will more than likely be Chris Watts home
until he is tried. That the likelihood of him being moved from now until then is low.
But what does close watch protocol mean for him moment by moment? It means that every five to 10 minutes, in his case, someone`s got eyes on him,
likely through the door. And they can make verbal contact with him, likely through the door.
Once a day, there is a complete cell inspection, meaning they check everything. And several times per day, they make physical contact with
that man`s person to make sure, A, he`s still alive, and, B, he`s still there.
Apart from that, Chris Watts has the right to sleep the day away because there`s very little else he can do. He has no television. He doesn`t even
have access to television in that one hour out. He has no reading material inside his cell. And the only reading material he gets is shared
newspapers on the table in that common room.
But that common room is not very common. He`s all by himself there as well. It`s officially called the hour out room. And all he gets in that
hour out room is a table and a chair. And a toilet and a shower and a phone.
But the man who just spent the last few years shedding 50 pounds and buffing up with all those exercises, dumbbells, and weights has no access
at all to exercise equipment. If he wants to do any kind of arm bends now, it`s using a chair. He has nothing. Nothing. Bare minimum.
He is also limited to zero commissaries. Nothing from the prison store. Now, just imagine you`re 23 hours after you are used to this lifestyle in
this fancy home with a loving wife and two beautiful kids. To be inside a little cell for 23 hours a day.
Barrett Marson is the former director of communications for the Arizona Department of Corrections. He`s also a prison expert.
[19:25:02] Barret, I heard about these -- you know, these conditions from a source inside the jail. I had a long conversation with a source inside the
jail. It sounded more extreme than most situations. Not even with the reading material inside the cell. Is it surprising to you?
BARRETT MARSON, FORMER DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: No, you know, suicide watch is some of the most intense
scrutiny you`re going to get inside -- while you`re incarcerated inside a facility.
You know, it`s so important when somebody likely makes statements about suicide. That immediately puts a lot of jails and/or prisons on notice.
And that`s why they likely moved a person into a suicide watch situation.
And some people just make some statements or whatever. But this, clearly, they are concerned enough to look at him at least every five minutes. Five
to 10 minutes.
BANFIELD: There`s another fascinating aspect of his incarceration that I want to ask you about, Barrett. He is used to being on a crew where I`m
sure he had plenty of interaction with workmates. He certainly got pretty intimate according to the warrantless affidavit and had an affair with one
of his workmates.
But now, in this cell, the only regular contact he has is with a rotating group of guards. He doesn`t even have standard -- I remember O.J. saying
he got very friendly with a certain group of guards, but these guards are all on rotation, so it`s not as though he even gets one or two guys that he
regularly sees. It`s sort of like, you know, nameless, almost faceless people constantly checking in on him.
I did find out this, Barrett, he can see across the way. He can make visual contact with others in this pod that he`s in. He can also have
audio, verbal contact, so it`s not a closed-cell door. It`s probably something along bars, although, for security reasons, they wouldn`t say.
He can make audio contact with those across the way.
And while I show you these pictures of the Weld County Jail, we are not sure which pod he`s in and they wouldn`t tell us for security reasons. But
they did say, Barrett, that the audio contact and visual contact is actually helpful for prisoners as they prepare for trial.
MARSON: Yes. You know, a lot of times, they talk through vents. And, you know, if they`re on an open-bar situation, they still have that sort of
contact with other inmates. But, you know, it`s important to sort of rotate those officers, so they don`t become complacent and miss something.
When you have different eyes on a situation, you look at things differently, and you`re more apt to catch things. So you really do want to
rotate those officers in and out on a suicide watch like this.
BANFIELD: Barrett, I`ve heard people prepping to go, you know, and serve their time if they have the luxury of doing so. But this man would not
have had any preparatory luxury. He was hauled in and jailed right away, which means he had no idea that life as he knew it was going to end so
abruptly.
He`s been working out with weights and gym equipment. Look at him. He is the vision of health. There are pictures of him posing with his wife, and
she boasts about the fact that he`s lost 50 pounds over the last couple of years. And yet this man has no access to any exercise equipment at all.
Does that surprise you in close watch protocol?
MARSON: Oh, no, not at all. You are by yourself and you are being watched constantly, if not literally continuously. It is not a fun time. And,
again, most inmates have access to television and magazines and books.
Under a close watch situation, you don`t necessarily have that same access because many things can become weapons. Your razor blade that you shave
with, they`re going to make sure and collect that every single time out. The toothbrush, same thing.
So a lot of the comforts, if you will, of a normal prison or jail are taken away because so many things can be used as weapons.
BANFIELD: Yes, interesting you would say that because I asked about personal effects. You know, I thought -- first of all, I said, what
exactly is in his cell where he`s spending the 23 hours? And the answer I got was bed, toilet, sink, chair, table.
And then I asked about bedding because, obviously, on suicide watch, we`ve heard of people using their sheets. And because of the security issues, I
was not allowed to know exactly what the bedding situation was. I was told that there`s a mattress. But as far as bedding, the only thing my source
would say is that bedding can be modified. Now, what would that mean?
MARSON: Well, you know, sometimes, an inmate who`s under suicide watch won`t even get a blanket because, again, that can be used for hanging
purposes potentially. So the mattress they try and make a one piece so that it cannot be modified. It cannot be torn apart.
But, you know, inmates spend enough time, they will get resourceful. Suicide -- and that`s why it`s important to have a continuous watch or a
near-continuous watch on someone who is --
BANFIELD: I`m also told that there is a chaplain available at all times, as well as counselors and therapists who are actually on site and that he
is allowed access to them. When he`s with the chaplain, that would be privileged conversation. I don`t think so with --
[19:30:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST: -- available at all times as well as counselors and therapists who are actually on site. And that he is
allowed access to them. When he`s with the chaplain, that would be privileged conversation. I don`t think so with the counselors, though, am
I wrong?
BARRETT MARSON, PRISON EXPERT: Oh, you know, that are -- I would assume they`re doctors. I would assume there is some doctor-patient
confidentiality there.
BANFIELD: OK.
MARSON: But counselors are so very important to the process because he`s more likely to open up about things and they`re more likely -- more easy
and able to assess his mental state.
BANFIELD: Are you surprised to hear he has absolutely no access to the commissary? Meaning whatever the jail is feeding them is what he gets, and
I did learn that the diet is no different for those on close watch than it is for general population. So, the meal of the day is what`s served to him
in his cell and he takes his meals in his cell. Are you surprised to find out he gets nothing else, nothing from the commissary?
MARSON: Not at all. You know the jail or prison diet usually is enough to sustain life and is a -- hopefully a heart healthy diet. Commissary is
something extra. Something that, you know, came as a privilege if you will. So, it`s, you know, sort of, difficult at times to make these
commissary deliveries, so I understand why there`s no commissary for someone on a suicide watch. It`s just too difficult. You don`t want a lot
of people going in and out of the cell, more potential for things dropping that could eventually be used as weapons. So, you want a little
interaction as possible.
BANFIELD: Bare minimum, I am told, in that cell in terms of any kinds of personal effects as well. Not just the sink, toilet, bed, chair and table,
but bare minimum. And I cannot imagine 23 hours a day without even reading material, but the papers are communal. They are out in the hour out room
and he is not allowed to take them back into his cell and no television anywhere. So, imagine life like that for those who are say, angry, well,
now you know what his life is like.
Barrett, stand by if you will. While Chris Watts stays in that jail cell 23 hours every day, Shannan Watts` family had a lot of work. They had to
plan a funeral for three and an unborn child. Bella and Cece, and Shannan, and that unborn child, Nico were laid to rest on Saturday, and the images
were so profound, and simply heartbreaking. It was a final goodbye to a glowing mother and those children. But what can we learn from that funeral
with regard to the investigation? And how does a funeral home and a church even handle a security case like this one? That`s next.
[19:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: When you`re in the business of funerals, it is a fairly simple task, albeit a somber one. Present a memorial service that pays tribute to
the recently departed and their loved ones. But the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina had likely never planned for a
funeral like the one this past Saturday. Two tiny caskets for the bodies of two little sisters and a larger casket for their pregnant mother,
followed by hundreds upon hundreds of mourners and a row of television cameras that peppered what is otherwise a peaceful and quiet street. All
of this because Shannan Watts, her daughters Bella and Cece and her unborn son Nico were memorialized in their hometown. And while tributes from
friends and families spoke volumes about Shannan and her children, the absence of the man who was alleged who have murdered them all spoke volumes
about him.
Steve Helling is still with me, as are my other guests. And Steve, I was so moved by the fact that her family chose to present letters to the pastor
to read instead of stand in front and give tribute. I can only imagine how hard that would have been for them. I want to play if I can, the funeral
itself was live streamed by the funeral home for the public to be able to see. And the Reverend John Forbes read this portion of a letter from
Shannan`s brother Frankie Rzuce. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REVEREND JOHN FORBES, SACRED HEART ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH PRIEST: She was very successful and independent before any man came along, and that`s just
the way she wanted it. Always worried about her and the girls being so far because I couldn`t protect them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Do we know anything, Steve, about Chris` family? Because they lost two granddaughters. Do we know about their presence at this funeral?
STEVE HELLING, SENIOR WRITER, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Well, his family was not there. But believe me, they are mourning just as much as Shannan`s family
is. You know, they realize that there`s all sorts of things that they`re never going to get to do with their granddaughter. They`re never going to
take her to see a manatee. They`re never going to see -- take her to a zoo. There`s all these things that are never going to happen. So, yes,
definitely, Chris` family is in mourning as well but they can`t be quiet as public about it, obviously, as Shannan`s can.
[19:40:11] BANFIELD: So, Nicole Partin is a licensed funeral director and embalmer, and she joins us now. And the reason I show you these three
caskets, the way they are in the church, is that they are closed caskets and oftentimes, in a Roman Catholic funeral, there will be open caskets.
In this case, Nicole, there`s so much to the story that`s not your average funeral. There is the security that`s needed at the funeral home prior to
arriving at this church, there is security at the church, this is a public event. This is still an active investigation and we do not know the
results of the autopsy, there is no official cause of death at this time. How difficult is it, in the line of work that you did, to maintain the
security prior and during to this extremely somber service?
NICOLE PARTIN, LICENSED FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND EMBALMER (via telephone): Ashleigh, it`s very difficult. Of course, standard procedures were
followed by the funeral home, extra staff brought in. But in a case like this, we would rely heavily on the presence of law enforcement to be there
to maintain peace, to maintain the protection of the deceased, and the wishes of Shannan`s family. The number one goal of the funeral home is to
meet their request, meet their needs, and then, of course, protection of the deceased. So, the funeral homes, in regards to what they would do with
every other family they would serve, would also in a case like this, rely heavily on law enforcement and their presence.
BANFIELD: And I imagine, then, Nicole, the same could be said of the grave site, the images emerged recently about the three graves covered in flowers
with these temporary plaques, likely to be replaced with tomb stones at some point soon. And there`s a fourth plaque, I should mention if anyone
is joining us right now. The fourth plaque is the dedication to the unborn son named Nico. It just, sort of -- it gives you a chill looking at these
signs. But the sites of the -- of the graves as well, are they also a security risk?
PARTIN: They would be. The thing about the cemetery is that, of course, they have public access. So, once the funeral home staff, once the
authorities left, that`s a public area where me or you, or anyone has access to go there and visit the graves. But certainly, during the grave
side memorial, while the family was present, the funeral home and local law enforcement were there to adhere to the request of the family to maintain
privacy and to maintain the peace of that somber moment for the family.
BANFIELD: Nicole, thank you for that. After their father, Shannan`s husband, was arrested, police say that Chris Watts told them it was on the
family baby monitor that he saw his daughter, Bella, turning blue. And also saw Shannan strangling little Cece, which in turn, he said, sent him
into a rage that forced him to kill Shannan. Is it at all possible that he saw all of that on this tiny little 3-1/2-inch screen? This one. We
decided to get our own. Almost identical if not the exact baby monitor as the one he says he saw in the bedroom. We`re going to do a little
demonstration. But do you see that little person? It`s about the same size as the babies were on the screen. How hard is it to see what color
this person`s face is? The demonstration is next.
[19:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: There`s nothing more serious than death. It`s why any death penalty case is dead serious. And we`re counting down the days before the
D.A. has to decide if Chris Watts is going to face the death penalty for the alleged murders of his entire family. And if Watts is facing the death
penalty, his entire case may hinge on one critical story that police say he confessed to them. That he saw something terrible on the family`s baby
monitor after talking with his wife Shannan. One of his daughters, he claims, was sprawled out on her bed and blue while the other was being
strangled by his wife, he claims. But is it possible to see anything like that on the exact baby monitor the Watts family kept on the bedside table?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHANNAN WATTS, MURDER VICTIM: They`re still sleeping. Nice, peacefully sleeping. That`s Bella, and then Cece is the animal. I think she`s
sleeping. No, she`s standing in her bed. She`s waiting for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It turns out there`s a lot of home video featuring the exact baby monitor in the house. And lucky for investigators, the starring role
the monitor plays in those images may prove exactly what you can, and maybe more importantly, cannot actually see.
[19:50:10] So, we decided to do a little demonstration. Because if Chris Watts said he went downstairs for a moment and then came back upstairs to
the master bedroom, and witnessed his baby Bella sprawled out in blue on the bed, we wanted to know how difficult that might be. So, I want you to
look, if you will, at the size of the baby monitor. The camera that`s pointing at me and this baby monitor, right here, which is smaller than an
iPhone 7. Camera is about 10 to 15 feet away. So, you are now looking at the baby monitor 10-15 feet across the bedroom, the master bedroom where
Chris Watts says he witnessed his daughter Bella blue. Can you tell?
Now, you`re about five feet away. Now, you`re about four, three. Now, you`re getting right up close and personal. Your face is about two to
three feet away from our producer, Bernice, who`s on that monitor. Now, the lights are on in the room where Bernice is waving to you, and so, it`s
bright color. It`s as bright color as you`re going to see. On the right- hand side is the baby monitor image of one of their children. The lights look to be low but you can see the face of that baby and you are about a
foot away from the screen looking at the actual baby. Because the monitor is so small you have to be that close for it to appear that big.
Now, look at Bernice`s coloring. She`s wearing a blue shirt. You can definitely see her blue shirt. But can you tell the color of her face with
the lights on? This is 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, Chris says. So, perhaps the lights were on but maybe more likely they were off. So, let`s
turn the lights off and see if that changes anything in the color of Bernice`s face. It would be critical, it would be critical to Chris`s
argument as to whether he could tell little Bella was blue. Because right now even her blue shirt looks the same color as her pants, as the wall, as
everything else. And her face, which by the way, look to the right, is the same circumference as the little baby`s face in the monitor. I don`t know
about you, but I sure can`t tell at all if that face is pink or blue or bright purple or green or any other color, for that matter.
So, very critical to get Troy Slaten in on this. As a defense attorney, how do you overcome something like these images? Because you just know
that in any prosecution, they`re going to do the exact same thing I just did.
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it strains credulity. And certainly, the jury is going to be asked to apply their common sense, to apply
everything that they know about the world. And if their -- if the defense attorneys ask the jury to believe something that is clearly not true, then,
it`s going to -- it`s going to remove all credibility that the defense attorneys have. And that`s going to be added to the prosecution`s
argument, that everything that Chris has said up to this point has been a lie, when he could look right into the camera during those news interviews
and made provable lies. That`s going to make the jury dislike him and not believe him.
BANFIELD: And just to the -- just to the facts on this. I mean, Tom Verni, you`re a detective. Look at these two images. Can you tell what
color Bernice`s face would be at this point?
TOM VERNI, FORMER DETECTIVE, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: No, and I have 20/20 vision. So --
BANFIELD: Let`s flip the lights on. Just do another demos. We`ll flip the lights on and give Chris the benefit of the doubt that it was full
color in that monitor. Now, you`re looking at the best possible image you could see on that teeny-tiny monitor. And make no mistake, your face, if
you`re a viewer right now, is about a foot away from the monitor. And can I also add, Tom, you`d have to toggle physically to get the image of the
other baby up. Would you do that if you see your baby all blue?
VERNI: No, and there -- and with infants, too, you have sudden infant death syndrome, right? Which occurs with infants under the age of 1 many
times. So -- and in that case, if you had whether it`d be that or a baby who`s actually strangled, you`d want to go and try to revive the baby.
BANFIELD: I think your instinct would be to rush in there.
VERNI: Yes, first thing first (INAUDIBLE) father.
BANFIELD: And by the way, I didn`t even mention that there`s two-way audio on these monitors. OK? You can hear what`s going on in that room. He
made no mention of hearing any screaming or struggling and you can also be heard. Now, that`s still has yet to be determined.
But there`s stills so much more in this investigation. The story of the Watts family is, by every measure, I think what you could call a classic
American tragedy. And it`s important to pause and take a look at the lives, the lives that were cut short because of this horrific crime. And
look at it through the eyes of their mother, the small life moment that these little girls shared with her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
S. WATTS: That`s the first hailstorm you witnessed, right?
BELLA WATTS, MURDER VICTIM: Yes. Mommy, can I go out there?
S. WATTS: No, you can`t. It`s thunder and lightning.
[19:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We`ll see you right back here again tomorrow night, 6:00 Eastern for CRIME & JUSTICE. Thanks for watching. "FORENSIC FILES" begins right
now.
END
