Colorado man pleads guilty to killing pregnant wife, kids
GREELEY, Colo. — A Colorado man charged with killing his pregnant wife and two daughters pleaded guilty Tuesday under a plea deal allowing him to avoid the death penalty but putting him in jail for life without a chance of parole.
Christopher Watts entered his plea Tuesday during a court hearing, replying “guilty” nine times in response to Judge Marcelo Kopcow’s reading of each charge against him in the deaths of Shanann Watts, 34, and their children, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.
Watts’ voice was shaking, and he could occasionally be heard sniffing after each time he said “guilty.” Her parents, Frank Rzucek and Sandra Onorati Rzucek, and her brother, Frankie Rzucek, watched from a front row of the packed courtroom.
The agreement also required Watts to plead guilty to unlawful termination of Shanann Watts’ pregnancy, a felony in Colorado. Family members have said she planned to name the boy Nico.