Watts faces multiple charges.
Chris Watts, who is accused of murdering his wife and two children, told police he killed her after seeing her strangle one of their daughters, according to an affidavit for his arrest obtained by KMGH-TV.
The Weld County affidavit states that the 33-year-old Colorado father of two claimed that after he told his wife, 34-year-old Shanann, that he wanted to separate, he saw her strangling one of their daughters, 3-year-old Celeste, via baby monitor. The other, Bella, 4, was already "sprawled" out on her bed and blue, apparently dead, the affidavit states.
Watts, according to the affidavit, said he "went into a rage and ultimately strangled Shanann to death."
After that, the affidavit states, he said he took all three bodies to an oil work site, where he buried Shanann and dumped the two girls' bodies inside the oil tanks.
Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.
Online, Shanann had gushed about her relationship with Watts, calling him the "best dad us girls could ask for."
But privately, she worried her husband was cheating, friends said.
According to the affidavit, Watts was having an affair with a co-worker, which he initially denied in interviews with police. The affidavit does not say how police learned Watts was being unfaithful.
Before he was arrested by police, Watts gave an emotional TV interview last Tuesday, pleading for his family's safe return when they were still missing.
“I hope she is somewhere safe right now with the kids,” Watts told KMGH-TV. “If someone has them and they are not safe, I want them back right now….”
Asked if he had argued with his wife before her disappearance, he cryptically replied, "We had an emotional conversation," and declined to elaborate further.
Watts faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder and tampering with a body, among others.
He is being held without bond and is due in court Tuesday morning. He has not yet entered a plea.
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