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Bella (4), Celeste (3), and Shanann Watts (34) went missing in Frederick, Colorado, on Aug. 13, 2018. Soon, the public would learn exactly what had happened.

Christopher Lee Watts admitted to strangling his pregnant wife, Shanann, and burying her in a shallow grave while the kids watched. He then smothered his two young daughters, Bella and Cece, and pushed their bodies through a seven-inch hole in two separate oil tanks.

Shanann was originally reported missing by her close friend, Nickole Atkinson, after she hadn’t shown up to work the following day and missed her doctor’s appointment.

In texts exchanged between Shanann and a friend, she’d explained that Chris hadn’t shown any physical affection and that “he hasn’t once [touched] my belly or asked how the pregnancy is going.” Chris was entirely focused on his new secret girlfriend, Nichol Kessinger.

During the two months leading up to the Watts family murders, Chris was having an affair with Kessinger, who was working at Anadarko Petroleum with him at the time. Chris had told Kessinger that he and Shanann were currently in the process of divorce but had already chosen to split up.

On the morning of Aug. 13, 2018, Shanann and Chris had gotten into a heated argument about their separation, which they’d been talking about for months.

According to the official confession report, Chris told Shanann that he “didn’t feel a connection with [Shanann] any longer” and that “their relationship wasn’t working and the love they had for each other in the beginning was gone.” Shanann was reportedly crying and very emotional.

Shanann asked Chris if there was someone else involved, to which he lied and said there wasn’t and that it was “just him talking to her about their relationship.” The conversation got increasingly vehement, and Chris ended up strangling Shanann.

He then backed his truck up to the garage, loaded Shanann and the (alive) girls into the back, and drove to the oil site, Cervi 319, where he killed the innocent girls and hid all three of their bodies.

Less than three months after the murders, Watts pleaded guilty to avoid a possible death sentence. Watts was given three consecutive life sentences, three counts of first-degree murder, a single count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body.