This is what happened to Shanann Watts’ house

Chris Watt’s Colorado home has become one of the most talked-about residences in recent years. It’s even featured on Netflix!

At first glance, however, there’s nothing that would deem it worthy of public attention. 

From pictures, it seems to have a neat lawn, and it is generally well maintained, but other than that, it doesn’t boast spectacular architecture, begging the question: what’s the big deal?

Well, one thing for sure is that its impeccable order is far from the reason why this house is so often talked about. 

watts house colorado murder
The Watts house

Instead, if the name Chris Watts has already rung a bell, then you’ll know that the home is where he murdered his pregnant wife Shanann Watts before smothering his two daughters in a different location.

Ever since the gruesome murder took place in his Colorado home, the house has been stigmatized, with people who’ve followed the story wondering if anything has come of that house since the 2018 murders. 

We reveal what happened to the home in this article.

The Watts family

Before news broke of the gruesome murder of Christopher Watts’s pregnant wife Shanann and their two daughters, Bella, four and Celeste, three, close friends and family knew the Watts family as an adorable family of four who lived pretty normal lives. 

According to reports, as families often do, Shannan documented her charming domestic activities on social media, with her, as per one video, baking up a storm for the kids and her husband agreeing to do post-baking clean-up.

They appeared to be an average family that did everyday things, and more particularly, Chris seemed to be a hands-on father who adored his wife and kids.

In fact, Shannon often displayed love and respect for her husband on social media. In April 2018, she captioned an Instagram post, “Happy Husband Appreciation Day! I couldn’t imagine a better man for us,” read the post. “You spoil us with love [and ] attention! You put up with three impatient demanding women in the house. You work so hard every day to provide for us. I love you so much.”

When sharing the Instagram post, the couple had been married for six years. After getting married, they settled in Frederick, Colorado, in a five-bedroom, which they filled up and made a home. In 2013, they welcomed their first child Bella, and two years after, they welcomed Cece. 

The family was about to get bigger when Shannon announced in 2017 that she was expecting a baby boy named Nico; however, Chris killed her before being allowed to welcome her baby boy.

How were Shannon and her children killed? 

According to Denver 7 news, Chris told the news outlet that on August 14, Shanann returned from a business trip at 2 am, and in the later hours of the morning, he went to his job at Anadarko Petroleum. 

Chris said he texted his wife a couple of times that morning, but she didn’t reply. Her friend Nickole showed up at their home, and Shanann wasn’t there. 

Chris said Nickole alerted him to her discovery, to which he went to the house to find out what was happening. 

Meanwhile, Nickole called the police, and they went to Shanann’s home to do a welfare check; she found she wasn’t there but found her cellphone in between the couch. 

Frederick Police reached out to the Colorado Burea of Investigation and FBI and opened a missing case. 

Through the search, Chris shared with news outlets that he couldn’t sleep at night and kept his lights on, hoping his baby girls would show up. He was asked if he and Shanann Watts had any marital problems, to which he said in the days leading up to her disappearance, they had emotional exchanges. 

However, messages shared in court documents revealed he might have downplayed their tension.

chis watts murder trial
Chris Watts murder trial

“Chris told me last night he’s scared to death about this third baby. And he’s happy with just Bella and Celeste and doesn’t want another baby,” read one of the messages from Shanann to a friend.

“He has changed. I don’t know who he is…He hasn’t touched me all week, kissed me, talked to me except for when I’m trying to figure out what is wrong,” she continued.

Additionally, he didn’t share that they had spent five weeks apart in the summer or that he told his wife that he longer wanted to be married to her. 

Then, law enforcement officials discovered more negative messages that painted a somewhat different picture from the ‘happy family’ Shannon ravished about on social media but instead exposed a secret life of pain, which led police to believe Chris Watts was a suspect. 

Chris was arrested on August 15, and the following day law enforcement officials found three bodies. According to reports, Shanann, who was 15 weeks pregnant, was buried in a shallow grave, and the baby girls were found in crude oil storage drums at his place of work. 

On August 21, Chris was found guilty and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of murder of a child younger than 12 while in a “position of trust,” unlawful termination of pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased body. 

When Chris got arrested, he asked to speak to his dad Ronnie Watts where he revealed that he strangled Shannon and smothered his two daughters – a revelation that left Ronnie and his wife, Cindy Watts, devastated. 

Although Watts may have easily been given the death penalty, he was sentenced to five life terms plus 48 years in prison without the possibility of parole. 

With the proceedings and conviction being too overwhelming, Shanann’s father, Frank Rzucek, wept, and her brother Frank Jr. stared at Chris throughout. 

In a week, Chris destroyed the supposedly happy family, and the once buzzing home was left empty without love and quite literally no occupants.

What happened to Chris Watts Frederick, Colorado murder house?

Its been over three years since the Watts murder story received national attention, and to date, the house remains empty. And while you might think the house has not been sold because of the stigmatization that surrounds it (after all, it’s a notorious murder we’re talking about), the realtor’s inability to sell the house stems way further than that. 

According to Realtor.com, in addition to the horror story, the house is haunted by prohibitive finances. There is a $6 million lien on the property owed to Shananns parents, Franklin Rzucek and Sandra Rzucek, which they won after filing a wrongful death lawsuit against their son-in-law. 

If anyone takes the plunge and buys the home at 2825 saratoga trail, they will incur the $350 000 principle, which makes absolutely no sense to potential home buyers as the home is only valued at $716 000. 

For the house to sell, Denver-based bankruptcy attorney Clark Dray told Realtor that the place needs to be put back on foreclosure, but this won’t extinguish the loans.

Also, the Watts murder story became the basis of a Netflix hit documentary, “American Murder: The family next door,” which exposes the house’s sordid history, which didn’t make it any easier for realtors to sell the home. 

Instead, the house became a tourist attraction, with people stopping by to take photos of the chills-inducing five-bedroom home. 

According to a resident of a property located close to the house, which features in the American Murder documentary, at least four cars drive by every hour with its occupants stopping to take pictures. 

Sometimes people try to break into the premises, with the resident calling a law enforcement official for help. According to the resident, the NetFlix documentary has exacerbated the issue, with some residents leaving the area because of the amount of attention it brings in. 

Conclusion

Apart from the stigmatization that follows the house, realtors have deemed the most significant reason the house has not been sold to date is that the property carries a $350 000 principle, which we doubt anyone will be willing to pay for before purchasing the house. 

If the home eventually gets a buyer, it would probably be transformed into a tourist attraction that generates profits. Other than that, we hardly see anyone restoring light to that home, considering the gruesome events that once took place there.