The Unraveling of Chris Watts Before He Murdered His Family

“Every time I think about it, I’m just like, did I know I was going to do that before I got on top of her?” he said of killing Shanann. “It just felt like there was already something in my mind that was implanted that I was gonna do it and when I woke up that morning it was gonna happen and I had no control over it.”

His mother Cindy Watts told 9News in Spring Lake, N.C., after her son entered his guilty plea, the he was “not the sociopath next door,” nor was a he “a psychopath.”

She wasn’t fully convinced that he did it, despite his confession, explaining, “It scares me to death to think that he could have done all of this. And I don’t wanna go there. I don’t wanna go there now.”

In the meantime, she missed her grandchildren. “Bella was just like Chris,” Cindy said. “Shy, cautious, conservative. Cece was a ball of fire. I mean she was fearless—completely fearless. She just loved to run, run, run, run, run. They were wonderful. It breaks my heart to know that they’re not here. They were beautiful children.”

(Originally published Aug. 13, 2021, at 3 a.m. PT)