The Perfect Father: The True Story of Chris Watts, His All-American Family, and a Shocking Murder

by John Glatt

Overview

In The Perfect Father, New York Times bestselling author John Glatt reveals the tragedy of the Watts family, whose seemingly perfect lives played out on social media—but the truth would lead to a vicious and heartbreaking murder.

In the early morning hours of August 13th, 2018, Shanann Watts was dropped off at home by a colleague after returning from a business trip. It was the last time anyone would see her alive. By the next day, Shanann and her two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, had been reported missing, and her husband, Chris Watts, was appearing on the local news, pleading for his family’s safe return.

But Chris Watts already knew that he would never see his family again. Less than 24 hours after his desperate plea, Watts made a shocking confession to police: he had strangled his pregnant wife to death and smothered their daughters, dumping their bodies at a nearby oil site. Heartbroken friends and neighbors watched in shock as the movie-star handsome, devoted family man they knew was arrested and charged with first degree murder. The mask Chris had presented to the world in his TV interviews and the family’s Facebook accounts was slipping—and what lay beneath was a horrifying image of instability, infidelity, and boiling rage.

In this first major account of the case, bestselling author and journalist John Glatt reveals the truth behind the tragedy and constructs a chilling portrait of one of the most shocking family annihilator cases of the 21st century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250231628
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/21/2020
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	59,305
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

English-born JOHN GLATT is the author of more than twenty books--including Lost and Found, Secrets in the Cellar, and Playing with Fire--and has over thirty years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including Dateline NBC, Fox News, A Current Affair, BBC World News, and A&E Biography.
English-born JOHN GLATT is the author of more than thirty books including The Lost Girls and My Sweet Angel, and has over thirty years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including Dateline NBC, Fox News, ABC’s 20/20, BBC World News, and A&E Biography.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue 1

Part 1

1 A Star Pupil 7

2 "Very Insecure" 14

3 Courting 22

4 The Engagement 27

5 Moving to Colorado 30

6 2825 Saratoga Trail 37

7 Bella Marie 41

8 "You Are an Amazing Husband and Father" 45

9 Thrive 49

10 Daddy's Thrivin 54

11 #TeamRockStars 57

12 "He Completes Me" 61

13 Punta Cana 65

14 "Fat Burning Machine" 69

15 "A Very Active Father" 76

16 "I'll See You Next Year" 81

17 "Such a Beautiful Couple" 83

Part 2

18 "Oops… We Did It Again" 91

19 "My Daddy Is a Hero" 95

20 "Electric Woman That Takes My Breath Away" 102

21 Nutgate 109

22 Hie Bachelor Life 115

23 "Worst Summer Ever" 119

24 "You Fell Out of Love with Me" 128

25 Nico Lee Watts 135

26 "Sweet Dreams My Sexy Empanada" 140

27 "Felt the Baby Move Twice This Weekend!" 146

Part 3

28 Battery 155

29 "He's Not Acting Right" 164

30 "Please Pray!!" 175

31 "We Had an Emotional Conversation" 184

32 "The Tale of Two Chrises" 192

33 The Polygraph 203

34 "A Lifeline" 215

35 "They're in the Oil Tank?" 225

36 Recovery 234

37 "The Manner of Death Is Homicide" 243

38 "They Seemed like the Picture of Suburban Bliss" 249

39 The Funeral 257

40 A Plea Deal 260

41 "You Heartless Monster" 268

42 A Confession 277

Epilogue 285

Editorial Reviews

05/18/2020

On Aug. 14, 2018, Christopher Lee Watts announced to several Denver, Colo., news stations that his pregnant wife, Shanann, and two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, were missing, and he begged them to come back home. Within 24 hours, Watts, whom the police suspected was the killer, would fail a polygraph test and confess to heinous acts that sent shock waves through his community. In this gripping account, bestseller Glatt (The Family Next Door) exposes two conflicting realities: the idyllic public image of happiness and success, and the disturbing private disintegration of an eight-year relationship. Through investigative reports, interviews, and a cache of social media posts and text messages, the author pieces together the couple’s history from true love to tragedy, including physical abuse and infidelity. While his thorough reporting of repetitive patterns of marital dysfunction can border on the tedious, Glatt’s expert coverage of the investigation is riveting, especially his portrayal of the psychological approaches used to interrogate Watts, who finally admitted to smothering his wife and children and dumping their bodies in an oil tank. (Watts was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.) Police procedural fans will enjoy being immersed in the action at every critical moment. Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (July)

Publishers Weekly

“Glatt’s expert coverage of the investigation is riveting, especially his portrayal of the psychological approaches used to interrogate Watts…police procedural fans will enjoy being immersed in the action at every critical moment.” —Publishers Weekly

“Glatt thoroughly describes every detail of the case. Favoring a straight telling of the facts over analysis of the crime, Glatt leaves readers to draw their own conclusions…[a] gripping read.” —Library Journal

Praise for John Glatt:

"Chilling." —People Magazine for My Sweet Angel

"The murder case John Glatt recounts in lurid detail...is too bizarre for a work of fiction." —New York Times Book Review for The Prince of Paradise

“Thoroughly researched and thoroughly disturbing.” —Booklist for The Family Next Door

"This chilling portrayal of abuse and secrecy may leave readers looking differently at their neighbors." —Publishers Weekly for The Family Next Door

From the Publisher