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CRIME AND JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Cheating Dad Kills Family, Goes On TV, Says They Are Missing; Disturbing Pattern Emerges On Mom`s Facebook; The Murder And Deaths Of The Watts; CNN Heroes Nominee Elissa Montanti; Death Of Tyler Tessier In Prison. Aired 6-8p ET

Aired September 6, 2018 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is definitely one of those people that when she walks in the room, she was like sunshine.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, HLN CRIME AND JUSTICE: Behind the happy sound.

SHANANN WATTS, VICTIM, WIFE OF CHRIS WATTS: Do you guys have fun in the school?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BANFIELD: All the good times.

S. WATTS: I am so excited.

BANFIELD: And the uplifting words.

S. WATTS: We say, I am love.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am love.

BANFIELD: A disturbing pattern.

S. WATTS: hey, everybody. So, Chris and I are sitting here.

WATTS: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She mentioned, you know, about them having problems, she and Chris.

BANFIELD: Emerges in Shanann Watts` Facebook timeline.

S. WATTS: Wrong bowl.

WATTS: Wrong bowl. OK. Hold on.

S. WATTS: OK.

BANFIELD: Why did it suddenly slowly trickled.

WATTS: She was not here, the kids weren`t here. Nobody was here.

BANFIELD: Just before the unthinkable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three counts of murder in the first degree. After deliberation.

BANFIELD: And what about the timeline of Chris Watts appearance.

S. WATTS: Chris has lost a significant amount of weight.

BANFIELD: The before and after shots, tell a story of their own. Was his mind changing as wells as his body.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chris was very standoffish.

BANFIELD: And what it means for the murdered case against him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to see justice done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knowing that God is the ultimate judge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You can tell a lot about someone from a Facebook post and you can tell even more from a Facebook pattern. And in the run-up to the

tragic murders of Shanann Watts and her two young daughters, Facebook may well provide a critical clue as to what Shanann knew or what Shanann

suspected. In retrospect, it is all crystal clear, her husband Chris, a center of her world supposedly cheating on her with a woman at work.

Possibly other people, too, but did Shanann know this. And if she did, what might have happened the night she met such a violent death?

Welcome everyone, it is such a surprise when you look at the length of time and energy that Shanann Watts put into her Facebook posts. In fact, I just

want to show you the postings from January until she died.

In February, she fully posted 21 videos, but the pattern began to change slightly. By March, it dropped to six. Just six videos in March. Back in

April, though, it went right up. 18 videos in April. In May, 18 videos again. In June, 14 videos, but in the month before she died, that dropped

precipitously to just five. And in the month of her death, in August, she posted nothing. Not one video in August. And really just a handful of

pictures. Whereas in all those other months, scads of photographs and posts in every single month. And when you dig into those months, they are

very telling as to what she was posting and about whom and what she was saying.

Let`s start in February. That was the month she went to Vegas. She went with Chris and seemed to be completely happy. Nothing wrong in February.

In March, when there were six videos, they seemed to be pretty good videos. In fact, here she is posting a video with little Cece playing with her

dad`s hair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I do your hair?

S. WATTS: No, honey. Do daddy`s.

WATTS: Daddy is guinea pig today.

Oh, my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy, help me.

S. WATTS: You do it. You got it.

WATTS: You got it, Cece. Just don`t go through my skull.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.

WATTS: All right. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re welcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Everything seems fine in that family. In April, the video shot up to 18. This was a really big month for Shanann. She was featured in

her company magazine. Her career seemed to be fantastic.

[18:05:04] She even went to New Orleans on a business trip. There she is showing herself in this incredible feature. Her team was even honored in

New Orleans. She went to New Orleans, however, without Chris, but it didn`t seem to matter, because the next month her videos shot up to 18.

And it was a big month for her and Chris together. It was Chris` birthday.

And on May 16th, this is what she wrote in her social media. The girls want to wish you a happy birthday. They have the best daddy in the world.

You do so much every day for all of us, and you come home and play and read to them. They love you so much.

In June, 14 videos. June is the time that Shanann decides it`s time to tell Chris they are expecting. And no one will forget this video that

shows, she`s so happy to put together. She just wants him to be surprised. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATTS: We did it again.

So pink means --

S. WATTS: That is just the test.

WATTS: The pink is going to be girls?

S. WATTS: I don`t know.

WATTS: Guess when you want to, it happens. Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That was June the 11th. On June the 22nd, through until the 26th, Shanann got another one of those amazing trips from work. This time

it was San Diego. A reward trip. And she took Chris this time. And the pictures showed a couple that seemed to be nothing more than in love.

Seriously in love. Here they are in the hotel in San Diego posting a little bit about how it`s going.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S. WATTS: We`re here in San Diego. I have no idea what we`re going to do today. We might hit the pool up when it gets warmer. Hopefully it clears

up today like everyone says it does and we can go. He is helping me get the bags situated real quickly.

WATTS: What`s up? What`s going on?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: What`s going on, he says, but you saw him, didn`t you? You saw Chris in the background there in San Diego in the hotel room. That was the

last time you`d ever see Chris in her Facebook videos again. And again, this is just June 22 through 26. That is the last flash video of Chris. A

couple more photographs where he is featured in the backdrop, but no more videos of Chris being posted after that. They get back from San Diego on

the 26th. And eight hours later, Shanann is already packing for that summer trip with the kids to North Carolina where she is going to spend six

weeks with her family and he is going to come for the last week of it, but what happens four days after she gets there to North Carolina, four days

after she is there with her kids and her family enjoying her time and presumably missing her husband, right?

This is what she posts on June 30th. Chris is living the bachelor life. Ate T-bones for dinner the last three nights and bought shrimp with the

shrimp emoji and goodies. He is sleeping in and working out. Can I remind you, this is June 30th? And the arrest affidavit suggested he was actively

involved with someone from work. Who a police source tells us was a woman at work who a police source tells us admitted, that woman at work admitted

she was in that affair with Chris Watts. And "People" magazine`s source says she is helping them and that she is not considered part of this in any

other way criminally speaking.

In July, the videos drop precipitously as I showed you before. Only five. For a woman who is on vacation with her kids and her family, a summer

vacation she`d been so excited for, she is only posting five videos. Not one of them has Chris. And only on Facebook is one picture, but no mention

of him in that photo. Here`s one of the videos, one of the five. It`s Cece`s birthday party in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cece, happy birthday to you

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, that would be the last known video ever posted on her social media. That is it. And, in fact, the only thing posted after that

would be a handful of photos. Just about six or so from a woman who posted dozens upon dozens every month. In August, zero videos. Not one.

[18:10:01] And just think about how strange that is because in August, Chris finally came to join his family in North Carolina. Five weeks

they`ve been without him. Five weeks the little girls would be missing their dad. Five weeks would go by, and when dad was arriving in North

Carolina, imagine how excited those kids would be. Imagine how excited a loving wife might be. Imagine the potential for the videos and the

pictures and the Facebook posts and there`s not one. There is not one mention of daddy coming. There`s not one mention of daddy being excited to

come. There`s not one mention of the kids being excited to see daddy. And there`s certainly no mention of Shanann being excited to see daddy. And

there aren`t any pictures of him in North Carolina either. Except for someone who noticed them at a trampoline park and took a photo.

They`re in the background, but she knew it was them. There`s Shanann. There`s Shanann taking pictures of her girls in a trampoline and there is

Chris in the background, not looking. So we know they`re there. We know he is there. Shanann is posting nothing, but there`s one very strange post

on August the 4th. Very strange. And I want to read it for you while you look at the picture of Cece on the beach. Myrtle Beach with her pigtails.

She says the older she gets, the more scared I am to let her out into the real world. The world of evil. The world of hate. The world of bullying.

I was reading a post the other day where a kid was being bullied at school, because of his nut allergies and a kid put peanut butter in his drink as a

joke. He could have died. The world is a scary place. I will do everything in my power to teach her right and protect her, advocate, stand

up for her and defend her. I pray every day she never feels any less than the rest of the world. I pray that she is protected. When I`m not around

to protect her, nothing or no one will stop me.

That was August the 4th. Shanann`s mom`s friend at work said something else in August about that visit. Shanann`s mom`s friend at work said they

were headed for separation. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was definitely one of those people that when she walked in the room, it was just like sunshine. Chris was very standoffish.

He didn`t really say anything (inaudible) kept his head down. She mentioned you know, about them having problems, she and Chris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you say they thought they are going to separate?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was the plan. That was definitely the plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So something happened in North Carolina. She stopped posting about that family. She stopped posting about her loving husband. She did

not seem excited, at least publicly about him arriving in North Carolina. There was nothing about Chris. They arrived back from North Carolina on

August the 7th after six weeks together. The next day, Shanann posts that she is packing for another work trip. This one to Arizona. This would be

the last trip. This is the final trip that she took right before she died. She posts about packing. And she seemed to have a lot of energy. Most of

it is about how much she is getting accomplished, but she points to that patch and says and all this while four months pregnant. I love my thrive

experience.

Seems to be in a good mood. Heading for that trip. She then on August the 9th posts the very last photo she would ever post publicly on Facebook, and

it is odd, to say the least. I`ve shown it to you before and I will show it to you again. We don`t know what to make of it. Don`t know anyone

knows what to make of it, but it`s a picture of one of her daughter`s dolls lying on the couch covered up with a sheet. All she can say is, I don`t

know what to think about this, but it is foreboding that that would be her last photo August 9th. She`d leave two days later for Scottsdale and her

work trip. A trip that would have her leave on a Saturday morning and arrive home late on Sunday night. A very quick work trip. The flight was

late. She got in over the midnight mark into Monday, about 2:00 in the morning, and Shanann was dead that day. Shanann would be dead on the 13th.

After a two-day trip.

And by the way, during that trip, she posted nothing. She said nothing about all those workmates and that job she loved so much. She said

nothing. She did mention at least a friend mentioned that she didn`t think she was feeling well, but that was it.

Cheryl Arutt, as a clinical and forensic psychologist, is there anything to be made of the pattern of that Facebook, so prolific, so happy, and so

excited. So effusive about her husband and the love for him and it all drained away to nothing in August.

CHERYL ARUTT, PSY.D, CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: I do think that the pattern is significant and the drop-off is significant. She seems to

be a woman who clearly really loved her children, wanted to protect them. She was excited initially about the pregnancy.

[18:15:02] And she also posted because this was her brand on Facebook. She posted for work things and also personal things. And I`m really struck by

the posts she did for Chris` birthday on May 16th where she posted that the girls want to wish you a happy birthday. The girls love you so much.

And for someone who was really love bombing her husband herself, it`s curious to me that she didn`t include herself in that and it occurs to me

that she may have -- that may have been around the time when she found out about the affair and was appealing to him, because of his family. Because

of his children and she may have been upset with him.

BANFIELD: She said you do so much for all of us. You are the best daddy in the world. You do so much for all of us. I mean, it`s not as though

these girls can read that. This is not for their benefit. It`s astounding to see. Put a pin in that for a moment, because there is the notion and,

Jenna, when we come back from the break, I am going to get you to comment on this as well. There`s that notion that the police are looking at

everything. The police aren`t missing this. The prosecutors are going to have to take a peek at all of it. Is it curious to you, or is it important

legally as this man might be facing down the death penalty? That is coming up right after the break.

[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: As Chris Watts sits in solitary, locked up 23 hours per day, he is no longer able to do all those grueling workouts that helped him chisel

50 pounds off that frame into an image that is magazine worthy. Those days, they are over. He is not even allowed to access exercise equipment

at the Weld County jail. And his only food is the same jail grub that every other inmate gets.

The chances are he may not look the same in the years to come as he prepares for a murder trial. He may. He just may end up looking more like

he used to look. And the difference is astounding. The before and after pictures make it hard to believe sometimes it`s the same person.

The body is obvious, but take a closer look as well. Even his grooming habits changed drastically, but the question is, did something else change

as Chris Watts underwent his physical transformation?

Welcome back to everybody. I`m going to get to that in a moment. When you change so profoundly on the outside, does something change on the inside?

But first to you. Jenna, we went to break saying that timeline is so critical. In just seeing where she was at, where her head was at. And Bob

Bianchi, as a defense attorney, I want the both of you to weigh in on whether a prosecutor -- you used to work for the Weld County prosecutor, so

you would know best and as a defense attorney -- can you pick anything out of that that will help or hurt a case?

JENNA ELLIS, ATTORNEY AND HOST, KLZ RADIO: You know, I think from the perspective of a prosecutor you are going to want to put into evidence

everything that you can to explain that she was so protective of her children. There was absolutely no motive for her to have committed this

atrocity like Chris is claiming. And if I`m the prosecutor, my opening statement is going to be, I cannot give you a motive sufficient enough for

you to understand how heinous this crime is, because that is what the jury is going to wants to understand. They are going to want to relate. We can

all understand how he could have been mad enough at Shanann, but they are not going to understand how he could have been mad enough to kill those two

precious little girls.

And so the prosecutor is not going to be able to explain how terrible this tragedy was. And so they`re going to want to paint her as protective of

the children and reinforcing that completely that there`s no way she could have.

BANFIELD: Bob Bianchi, by the way, Bianchi, I mispronounce your name and I will owe you forever for that, as a defense attorney, look, this is a tough

road to hoe for him and I can imagine that his defense attorneys are trying to grasp at everything they can, because this could be death penalty for

him. And so far the evidence doesn`t look good. Guy went on the porch and said help me, everybody. She is missing.

BOB BIANCHI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.

BANFIELD: And then admitted actually I threw my kids, my dead children in oil. It`s ugly. Is there anything that they can take from this that might

fit his version of events meaning it was Shanann who snapped and killed the children? Not me. Is there anything that this timeline shows of her

dropping off social media? Then the whole affair business. That the defense would actually mind.

BIANCHI: It is a great question Ashleigh. First, when I come from the perspective of a homicide prosecutor for many years. As a homicide

prosecutor, I`ve got to think of every single defense in the multiple cases up to and including death penalty cases I`ve tried. So what I`m thinking

as a prosecutor and I would elicit as the defense attorney is the fall (inaudible), just what you said. Things are going bad. This are going

squirrely. The relationship. She finds out has deteriorated. She is in a rage. She is upset. He is move on. This is what a defense attorney you

are going to be saying in response to the prosecutor`s statement. There is no indication that this man would do such a horrible, heinous and horrific

thing. And she was, in fact, killing her kids. He got angry and then, yes, folks, he did something that we`ve all done in our lives, of course

not murder, he lied about it, because he didn`t want to get in trouble and be seen as a horrible monster, but they have not proven with the forensic

evidence and with this timeline that you got here on Facebook, clearly she was agitated, overwhelmed, impassioned and she said you know what, he is

not going to get those kids. I am not going to have those kids and unfortunately she did a terrible thing. That is what I would be worried

about as a prosecutor.

[18:25:15] BANFIELD: Right.

BIANCHI: The defense arguably would say.

BANFIELD: I mean, look at that list. Look at the list in front of you. It is brazen. It`s stark. And these are just the videos, not the hundreds

and hundreds of photographs she posted and the praise that she wrote about all the time. The love, the devotion, the father`s day, the spouse`s day,

the happy husband`s day, the everything day. It`s remarkable the amount of attention that she lavished on this man. And then it went dark. I want to

show you something else.

Again, in one of those moments where Shanann is working for a company that promotes weight loss and health, etcetera, but here she is, you know, once

again praising her gorgeous husband and how great he looks and how healthy he is. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S. WATTS: Today is Sunday. Chris ran at 6:00 in the morning on a Sunday on his day off. What did you do, five miles? Well, come over. Chris has

lost a significant amount of weight since you`ve started thrive. How much?

WATTS: 50 pounds.

S. WATTS: And he is in a medium. He went from a 2x to a medium.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So does everything change when you go from big to little and all of a sudden you`re able to flex your muscles for pictures and maybe get

some women around you to bat their eyes? Maybe not just women. There are lots of reports of this man having an extracurricular life. So what

happens inside when you change outside?

Cheryl Arutt, does this tell you anything? Does this story on the outside of his body, the before and after transformation, does it tell you anything

about what a man can be like on the other side?

ARUTT: This tells me that ego may have taken over for Chris Watts. All of a sudden, he was ripped. Women may have been looking at him. He was

having financial problems with his wife, two kids, and another one on the way. He, I think, was wanting to get out there and feel attractive and

feel that excitement. And I see what Shanann was doing as a plea saying don`t destroy this family.

BANFIELD: The grooming. Look at the difference. He had a slight mustache at one point early on. And he went to a very different look completely.

Not just the muscles and the weight loss. The facial hair, too.

ARUTT: It`s like a whole makeover. It`s like the queer eye guys got him and did a makeover to make him a heartthrob.

BANFIELD: Look at your screen. You would not guess this is the same man.

ARUTT: Uh-huh. I am sure it changed the way women related to him, but, you know, there`s an interesting study about that. About the way that

women relate to married men that married men very often overestimate their attractiveness anyway because women aren`t as guarded with them because

they`re married. So a lot of married men are with women, interacting with women and they are not getting shot down. And they think that they would

just kill it out there if they were single. And very many men find that the opposite is the case because once they are single, women`s guards go

back up and they have a very different experience. So he may have been intoxicated by the attention that he was getting from women.

BANFIELD: And who knows what was going on in his mind as well with this incredible transformation and how different he felt inside as opposed to

outside? Karen Smith, I want you to join in, as a retired detective at Jacksonville Sheriff`s Office, but also as a forensic specialist, we

couldn`t help, but notice that Shanann`s family is on the witness list.

So think about this for a moment. Frank Rzucek Sr., that is Shanann`s dad, Frank Rzucek Jr. that is her beloved brother, extremely close. And Sandra

Rzucek, her mother. They did not live in this community. They lived in North Carolina. They were with her in the six weeks leading up to her

return to the home where she was killed, within weeks. Do you sense that there`s something interesting about them being on the witness list?

KAREN SMITH, RETIRED DETECTIVE, JACKSONVILLE SHERIFF`S OFFICE: I do. There`s a reason for that. And it may be because who knows you better than

family and close friends. They may have noticed something in Shanann, body language or she may have told them something in confidence that hasn`t come

out yet. Some secrets or maybe her problems with Chris. So prosecutors are going to be very interested in what these family members have to say

once this goes to court.

BANFIELD: Karen, do you see any significance in his drastic change -- his complete transformation? Let`s just put it bluntly. 50 pounds and a

complete overhaul of his outer look. The facial hair, the muscles, the tattoos, everything.

[18:30:03]

Do you see this as being significant in the investigation?

SMITH: I see this being significant to the jury. They`re going to see exactly what I am seeing as an outsider coming in and looking at this

transformation of Chris Watts. Yes, I think that your psychologist explained it extraordinarily well. He`s going to have more self-

confidence. Women are going to be more attracted to him. Did that give him the idea to stray away from Shanann?

BANFIELD: One other piece of information. And this could be a clue, and it may not be, but it`s curious nonetheless. This last trip that she took,

she returned home late, late at night. The flight was late. She ended up getting in at 2:00 in the morning on Monday, August the 13th. There was

something in the arrest warrant that was very interesting. And that is that Nicole`s friend who brought her back from the airport that night was

on the trip with her.

This is what the warrant says. Nicole stated she dropped Shanann off at her residence around 1:48 in the morning after returning from a business

trip that took place in Arizona. Nicole stated Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant and was not feeling well during the trip. Jenna Ellis, again, is

there any significance to the fact that that`s what Nicole said?

There`s no posting on that trip. And by the way, every single other work trip that she took, especially with her Lavelle colleagues, it was like a

constant advertisement for the job that she did, for the work that she did. They were all over Facebook live. They were posting, photographing,

everything. Nothing on this trip, nothing at all except this comment from her friend saying Shanann wasn`t feeling well.

JENNA ELLIS, ATTORNEY AND RADIO HOST: And I think it is interesting that the last thing is that she is showing a different pattern of behavior. And

so that can cut both ways, because the prosecution can use that to say look, she is overwhelmingly protective of her children, but the defense is

going to exploit that and say look. Now there`s a break in this pattern.

And so is it possible, is it possible that Chris` story is true and possible can sometimes negate and fulfill reasonable doubt. And so that`s

what they`re going to exploit and say look, she is now acting different.

BANFIELD: Yeah. Well, I`ll tell you what. It`s very curious to see that comment. She wasn`t feeling well and this weekend that she arrived home

and ended up murdered within hours. Was she just sick from being pregnant or was there something more? OK, hold those thoughts for a moment if you

will. The story of Chris and Shanann has just no shortage of people who are following every iteration, every development, every theory online.

There are Facebook groups reaching nearly 50,000 members, 50,000 people joining Facebook groups just to discuss this case. And you have a lot of

very, very good questions, actually more probing than most cases that I have seen before. Our Facebook community has forwarded some questions to

us. And we`ve got some answers for you. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00] BANFIELD: There`s a reason the Watts murder case has dominated the headlines. It`s an absolute mystery. Even with an alleged confession,

so many questions are still unanswered, like do the police have the proof that Chris killed the children? Are there forensics in that house that

hold the key to the case? And how much more evidence have they yet to uncover?

You have been asking a lot of good questions on Facebook. And tonight, we`ve assembled the experts to answer them. So let`s get right to it. I

want to start with Jamie Skidmore. Jamie emails this in and asks, how long will Chris Watts remain on suicide watch? Will they keep him there until

he goes to trial? Karen, you know, as a retired detective with the sheriff`s office, sheriffs usually run the jails and they usually run the

rules. How does that work if you`re on suicide watch? Is it indefinite?

SMITH: It can be. If they think that he has the potential for self-harm, they can keep him on suicide watch until he goes to trial. And obviously,

they have concerns for that. So that`s where he belongs at this point, yes.

BANFIELD: And you know I spoke with a source at the jail where he`s being held, at the Weld County Jail. And I asked is he going to be there for,

you know, the duration? Sometimes upwards of two to three years that can take to put together a murder case. And the response that I got was we

have no reason to believe that he will be transferred any time before that trial.

So it is just a fascinating piece of information, the details out of that jail. He`s checked every 5 to 10 minutes, and his bedding can be modified,

which is intriguing. All right, another question from Crystal and Randy Gay. My question that`s really been on my mind is did they find them

wearing pajamas or regular clothes? This would tell a huge part of the case.

[18:39:54] That`s pretty fascinating, if you think about it. Bob, as a defense attorney, you`re going to want to know this, because if his story

is that at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, he said 4:00 to one cop and 5:00 to another. He has this emotional conversation with his wife and says that he

wants to split, or some sources say she found out about the affair.

You would think that they`re all in jammies. You would think that Shanann who got home at 2:00 in the morning would be in pajamas, and so would the

children.

BOB BIANCHI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR, NEW JERSEY: It`s a perceptive question, but also remember. He has admitted to the fact that

he did try to cover up all of this afterwards. The bedding was off the bed. There were no serious signs of a struggle. He then took them -- and

a horrible thing, no matter whether he did this or not, and obviously, the evidence is pointing strongly that he did.

BANFIELD: But if he dressed -- listen. If those children were in pajamas, and let`s just say if his story is true and he says that his wife killed

the kids, would he dress them in street clothes in order to dump them in the oil tanks?

BIANCHI: Yeah. I mean I don`t think it would make any sense to me that the kids weren`t dressed, but it`s a good question. We just don`t know the

answer.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: If they`re in street clothes, his story makes no sense.

BIANCHI: His story makes no sense. But I mean right now we just don`t any of that data. But all the forensics, all the clothing, the bodies are very

important. And unfortunately, we don`t have any of those forensics in our possession at this time.

BANFIELD: OK. Jennifer Rayburn asks this question. It`s a good one. I am still trying to figure out how someone can be having constant affairs,

possibly multiple at the same time, and no one knew. Cheryl, it`s a great question, because right now we have it in the arrest warrant that he

allegedly confessed or at least that they put it to him. We found your woman at work. We have a source that says the woman spoke with the police

that and she has been cooperating.

It`s a great question to be living these lives at the same time, especially if the other reports that law enforcement sources say are true, that there

are multiple men and women in his life.

ELLIS: Yes, Ashleigh. And denial is a very, very powerful thing. The fact is that we don`t want to believe that our partner could do something

like that. That someone we love and are invested in and have children with is really doing that. So there`s a denial and bargaining defense mechanism

that can come up where, until faced with irrefutable evidence, many partners who are being cheated on will choose to think, well, maybe this

isn`t true.

Maybe there`s a misunderstanding. Maybe he`s just distant. And will try to hang in there as if everything is OK and hold things together as long as

possible.

BANFIELD: I have another question here from Christina Davis. Christina asks how has this case affected you compared to other cases that you`ve

looked into. I think that`s a great question. I`ll be honest with you. There are a couple of cases in my 30 years that have floored me. And that

I have been unable to continue broadcasting, 9/11 for one. I lost it. There were so many deaths. It was overwhelming. And it was like the

apocalypse. Newtown, Connecticut. They were children.

They were little and there were so many of them. Most of the cases, though, Christina, that I have covered involved adults, and for some reason

I am able to compartmentalize because there have been so many. They fit into a formula, a trial formula, a prosecution formula. And many of them

are the same. In this story, though, I am mystified by the children. I am not going to lie. I get how spouses can fall apart, but I can`t understand

infanticide, I can`t.

I don`t care whose story ends up being the truth in this case. But I can`t understand how you can look at those little faces and snuff out the life

after so many videos of happiness. And I think that, Christina is why this case has affected me so much more differently. It`s just hard to look at

the pictures. There is another story that we have brought you in the past on this program that is eerily similar to this one.

And there was a huge development in that story today. Do you remember Tyler Tessier who went in from the cameras saying help me find my pregnant

girlfriend? Remember this guy? Holding the hand of that girlfriend`s mom, only to be arrested and tell all sorts of stories. Today was day one of

his trial. And you will absolutely not believe what happened in his cell after he woke up. It`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:00] BANFIELD: Shanann Watts was not the first pregnant woman to be murdered and buried in a shallow grave, while the man she loved most

appealed to television cameras to help him find her. Just last year, we told you about Tyler Tessier. It was quite a show as he begged us all to

help him find his missing pregnant girlfriend, Laura. But he didn`t fool anyone because police suspected him, and it actually arranged this press

conference to watch his every move.

Days later, he was charged with first degree murder of Laura Wallen. And today was the first day of that murder trial. But it was canceled, because

right after showering and getting dressed in his cell, he took a bed sheet and hanged himself. They found him dead before he could even walk into

court. And if you think about the parallels to Chris Watts` case, both men faced the cameras and seem to be pointing the finger at their missing loved

ones, or at least raising questions about them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:50:06] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Laura, if you`re listening, it doesn`t matter what`s happened. It doesn`t matter what type of trouble. There is

nothing we can`t fix together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean right now I don`t even want to just like throw anything out there, like I hope that she is somewhere safe right now and

with the kids. But I mean could she just have taken off? I don`t know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You don`t know, really? Not only that, but both Tessier and Watts are believed to have been cheating on their pregnant victims. Both

women buried in shallow graves, both men out on TV lying. Well, an official at the jail where Watts is on suicide watch told us that his

bedding may have been modified. While it`s also worth mentioning, Tessier killed himself with that bed sheet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today would have been a reckoning for Mr. Tessier. Today would have been a reckoning, because for the first time, an

individual who I think showed every signs of being a psychopath, he had psychopathic behavior that he carried on as he maintained a dual

relationship with two women, one for 10 years, a second for 7 years.

Lying to virtually every single person in his life, to Tyler Tessier, lying was like breathing. He lied about everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And now his lies are over for everybody. Anybody who clicks through Shanann`s Facebook feed really felt as though they got to know her

entire family, even that little family dog Dieter, adorable Dieter, the only witness to the crime and the only surviving member of that family.

And today, we have an update on his brand new home and his brand new family. We are going to show you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:00] BANFIELD: This week, CNN Heroes started bringing children to the United States for medical treatment, 20 years ago when she was working

out of her bedroom walk-in closet on Staten Island, New York. Today, she is helping more than 300 kids from 46 countries with life-changing medical

procedures. Meet Elissa Montanti.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are empowering them, because we are giving them back what they lost, a chance to stand on their own and write and go to

school and to contribute to society. They come from different corners of the Earth, and they all heal together, laugh together. They don`t speak

the same language, but love is universal. So often, people will say why can`t you help your own? Aren`t they our own? Don`t we share this Earth?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: To see more about Elissa, go to CNNHeroes.com right now. Shanann and Chris Watts were like a lot of other families. In addition to

their actual babies, they had a dog, a dachshund named Dieter. He was a fixture in all of those family photos and videos. And Dieter could have

been the only witness to the crime in that house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give Dieter kisses, girls. Give him kisses. Say happy birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Birthday, birthday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Now that Dieter`s entire family has tragically gone, he has found a new home with Shanann`s brother, Frankie. And Frankie has just

posted this update on Facebook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dieter, come here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Frankie writes alongside this post. I absolutely love this dog and how his ears flop as he runs. He fits right in with his new family.

Frankie says he is still adjusting to the humidity, the altitude change, and the new bugs, LOL, he says. But he writes, he loves it here and I

couldn`t be happier to have him be a part of our dog family. He is also cool with my cat, Caesar. I think he is still trying to figure out what

kind of dog it is, LOL.

So at least, it`s a small bright spot in what is otherwise a very, very difficult time for Shanann`s family. They now have the dog, and the dog

seems to be OK. Next hour of Crime and Justice starts right now.

[19:00:00] DANELL SEARCH, FAMILY FRIEND OF THE WATTS FAMILY: She was definitely one of those people that, when she walked into the room, it was

just like sunshine.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BELLA WATTS, MURDERED DAUGHTER OF SHANANN WATTS: You are my sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): Behind the happy sounds --

SHANANN WATTS, MURDERED WIFE OF CHRIS WATTS: Did you guys have fun at school?

B. WATTS: Yes!

CELESTE WATTS, MURDERED DAUGHTER OF SHANANN WATTS: Yes!

BANFIELD (voice-over): -- all the good times --

S. WATTS: I am so excited.

(SCREAMING)

CELESTE WATTS: We`re ready.

S. WATTS: No purse, Cece.

CHRIS WATTS, HUSBAND OF SHANANN WATTS: No purse.

S. WATTS: Hold on to daddy.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD (voice-over): -- and the uplifting words --

S. WATTS: We say I am loved.

B. WATTS: I am loved.

BANFIELD (voice-over): -- a disturbing pattern --

S. WATTS: Hey, everybody. So Chris and I are sitting here.

C. WATTS: Hello.

SEARCH: She had mentioned, you know, about them having problems, the -- Shanann and Chris.

BANFIELD (voice-over): -- emerges in Shanann Watts` Facebook timeline.

S. WATTS: Wrong bowl.

C. WATTS: Wrong bowl. OK. Hold on.

S. WATTS: It`s OK.

BANFIELD (voice-over): Why did it suddenly slow to a trickle?

C. WATTS: She wasn`t here. The kids weren`t here. Nobody was here.

BANFIELD (voice-over): Just before the unthinkable.

MICHAEL ROURKE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR WELD COUNTY, COLORADO: Three counts of murder in the first-degree. After deliberation.

BANFIELD (voice-over): And what about the timeline of Chris Watts` appearance?

S. WATTS: Chris has lost a significant amount of weight.

BANFIELD (voice-over): The before and after shots tell a story of their own.

SEARCH: He kept his head down.

BANFIELD (voice-over): Was his mind changing as well as his body?

SEARCH: Chris was very standoffish.

BANFIELD (voice-over): And what will it mean for the murder case against him?

FR. JOHN FORBES, PASTOR, SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH, PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA: They want to see justice done. Knowing that God is the ultimate

judge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You can tell a lot about someone from a Facebook post, and you can tell even more from a Facebook pattern. And in the run-up to the

tragic murders of Shanann Watts and her two young daughters, Facebook may well provide a critical clue as to what Shanann knew or what Shanann

suspected.

In retrospect, it`s all crystal clear. Her husband, Chris, the center of her world, supposedly cheating on her with a woman at work. Possibly other

people, too. But did Shanann know this? And if she did, what might have happened the night she met such a violent death?

Welcome, everyone. It is such a surprise when you look at the length of time and energy that Shanann Watts put into her Facebook posts. In fact, I

just want to show you the postings from January until she died.

In February, she fully posted 21 videos. But the pattern began to change slightly.

By March, it dropped to six. Just six videos in March.

Back in April, though, it went right up. Eighteen videos in April. In May, 18 videos again. In June, 14 videos.

But in the month before she died, that dropped precipitously to just five. In the month of her death, in August, she posted nothing. Not one video in

August. And really just a handful of pictures, whereas in all those other months, scads of photographs and posts in every single month.

And when you dig into those months, they are very telling as to what she was posting and about whom and what she was saying.

Let`s start in February. That was the month that she went to Vegas. She went with Chris and seemed to be completely happy. Nothing wrong in

February.

In March, when there were six videos, they seemed to be pretty good videos. In fact, here she is posting a video with little Cece playing with her

dad`s hair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELESTE WATTS: Can I do his hair?

C. WATTS: Come here, Cece (ph).

S. WATTS: No, honey, do daddy`s.

C. WATTS: Daddy`s the guinea pig today, OK? Oh, my gosh, Cece. Oh, my gosh.

CELESTE WATTS: Mommy, help me.

S. WATTS: You do it.

C. WATTS: You do it.

S. WATTS: You got it.

C. WATTS: You got it, see? Just don`t go through my skull.

CELESTE WATTS: There you go.

C. WATTS: All right. Thank you.

CELESTE WATTS: You`re welcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Everything seems fine in that family. In April, the videos shot up to 18. This was a really big month for Shanann.

She was featured in her company magazine. Her career seemed to be fantastic. She even went to New Orleans on a business trip. There she is

showing herself in this incredible feature. Her team was even honored in New Orleans.

[19:05:03] She went to New Orleans, however, without Chris. But it didn`t seem to matter because the next month, her videos shot up to 18. And it

was a big month for her and Chris together. It was Chris` birthday.

And on May 16th, this is what she wrote in her social media. The girls want to wish you a happy birthday. They have the best daddy in the world.

You do so much every day for all of us, and you come home and play and read to them. They love you so much.

In June, 14 videos. June is the time that Shanann decides it`s time to tell Chris they`re expecting. And no one will forget this video that shows

she is so happy to put together. She just wants him to be surprised. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. WATTS: We did it again?

(LAUGHTER)

C. WATTS: So pink means?

S. WATTS: That`s just the test.

C. WATTS: I know. I know, I just thought that the pink is going to be girls?

S. WATTS: I don`t know.

C. WATTS: Guess when you want to, it happens. Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That was June the 11th. On June the 22nd through to the 26th, Shanann got another one of those amazing trips from work. This time it was

San Diego, a reward trip.

And she took Chris this time. And the pictures showed a couple that seemed to be nothing more than in love, seriously in love. Here they are in the

hotel in San Diego posting a little bit about how it`s going.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S. WATTS: We`re here in San Diego. I have no idea what we`re going to do today. We might hit the pool up when it gets warmer. Hopefully, it clears

up today like everyone says it does and so we can go.

He is helping me get the bags situated real quickly.

C. WATTS: What`s up? What`s going on?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: What`s going on, he says. But you saw him, didn`t you? You saw Chris in the background there in San Diego in the hotel room. That was the

last time you would ever see Chris in her Facebook videos again. And again, this is just June 22 through 26.

That`s the last flash video of Chris. A couple more photographs where he is featured in the backdrop, but no more videos of Chris being posted after

that.

They get back from San Diego on the 26th. And eight hours later, Shanann is already packing for that summer trip with the kids to North Carolina

where she is going to spend six weeks with her family, and he is going to come for the last week of it.

But what happens four days after she gets there to North Carolina? Four days after she is there with her kids and her family, enjoying her time --

and presumably missing her husband, right? This is what she posts on June 30th.

Chris is living the bachelor life. Eight T-bones for dinner the last three nights and bought shrimp with the shrimp emoji and goodies. He is sleeping

in and working out.

Can I remind you, this is June 30th? And the arrest affidavit suggested he was actively involved with someone from work who, a police source tells us,

was a woman at work; who, a police source tells us, admitted -- that woman at work admitted she was in that affair with Chris Watts. And "People"

magazine`s source says she is helping them and that she is not considered part of this in any other way, criminally speaking.

In July, the videos drop precipitously. As I showed you before, only five. For a woman who is on vacation with her kids and her family, a summer

vacation she had been so excited for, she is only posting five videos. Not one of them has Chris, and only on Facebook is one picture but no mention

of him in that photo.

Here is one of the videos, one of the five. It`s Cece`s birthday party in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Cece. Happy birthday to you.

(LAUGHTER)

CROWD: Yay!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, that would be the last known video ever posted on her social media. That`s it. And, in fact, the only thing posted after that

would be a handful of photos, just about six or so from a woman who posted dozens upon dozens every month.

In August, zero videos. Not one. And just think about how strange that is because, in August, Chris finally came to join his family in North

Carolina. Five weeks they`d been without him. Five weeks the girls would be missing their dad.

[19:10:04] Five weeks would go by and when dad was arriving in North Carolina, imagine how excited the kids would be. Imagine how excited a

loving wife might be. Imagine the potential for the videos and the pictures and the Facebook posts, and there is not one.

There is not one mention of daddy coming. There is not one mention of daddy being excited to come. There is not one mention of the kids being

excited to see daddy. And there is certainly no mention of Shanann being excited to see daddy.

And there aren`t any pictures of him in North Carolina either except for someone who noticed them at a trampoline park and took a photo. They`re in

the background, but she knew it was them.

There is Shanann taking pictures of her girls on the trampoline. There is Chris in the background, not looking. So we know they are there, we know

he is there, but Shanann is posting nothing.

But there is one very strange post on August the 4th. Very strange. And I want to read it for you while you look at the picture of Cece on the beach,

Myrtle Beach, with her pigtails.

She says, the older she gets, the more scared I am to let her out into the real world, the world of evil, the world of hate, the world of bullying. I

was reading a post the other day where a kid was being bullied at school because of his nut allergies, and a kid put peanut butter in his drink as a

joke. He could have died.

The world is a scary place. I will do everything in my power to teach her right and protect her, advocate, stand up for her, and defend her. I pray

every day that she never feels any less than the rest of the world. I pray that she is protected when I`m not around to protect her. Nothing or no

one will stop me.

That was August the 4th. Shanann`s mom`s friend at work said something else in August about that visit. Shanann`s mom`s friend at work said they

were headed for separation. Have a look.

SEARCH: She was definitely one of those people that when she walked in the room it was just like sunshine. Chris was very standoffish. He didn`t

really say anything. I said hi to him, he kept his head down. She had mentioned, you know, about them having problems, the -- Shanann and Chris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you said you thought they were going to separate?

SEARCH: Oh, they -- that was the plan. That was definitely the plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So something happened in North Carolina. She stopped posting about that family. She stopped posting about her loving husband. She did

not seem excited, at least publicly, about him arriving in North Carolina. There was nothing about Chris.

They arrived back from North Carolina on August the 7th after six weeks together. The next day, Shanann posts that she is packing for another work

trip, this one to Arizona. This would be the last trip. This is the final trip that she took right before she died.

She posts about packing, and she seemed to have a lot of energy. Most of it is about how much she is getting accomplished, but she points to that

patch and says, all this while four months pregnant. I love my Thrive experience.

She seems to be in a good mood, heading for that trip. She then on August the 9th posts the very last photo she would ever post publicly on Facebook,

and it is odd, to say the least. I have shown it to you before and I`ll show it to you again.

We don`t know what to make of it. I don`t know anyone knows what to make of it, but it`s a picture of one of her daughter`s dolls lying on the couch

covered up with a sheet. And all she can say is, I don`t know what to think about this. But it is foreboding that that would be her last photo

on August the 9th.

She would leave two days later for Scottsdale and her work trip. A trip that would have her leave on a Saturday morning and arrive home late on

Sunday night. A very quick work trip.

The flight was late. She got in over the midnight mark into Monday, about 2:00 in the morning. Then Shanann was dead that day. Shanann would be

dead on the 13th after a two-day trip.

And by the way, during that trip, she posted nothing. She said nothing about all those workmates and that job she loved so much. She said

nothing. She did mention -- at least a friend mentioned that she didn`t think she was feeling well, but that was it.

Cheryl Arutt, as a clinical and forensic psychologist, is there anything to be made of the pattern of that Facebook. So prolific, so happy, so

excited, so effusive about her husband and the love for him, and it all drained away to nothing in August.

DR. CHERYL ARUTT, CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: I do think that the pattern is significant and the drop off is significant. She seems to be a

woman who clearly really loved her children, wanted to protect them. She was excited initially about the pregnancy, and she also posted -- because

this was her brand on Facebook, she posted for work things and also personal things.

[19:14:59] And I`m really -- I`m struck by the post she did for Chris` birthday on May 16th where she posted that the girls want to wish you happy

birthday, the girls love you so much. And for someone who was really love bombing her husband herself, it`s curious to me that she didn`t include

herself in that.

And it occurs to me that she may have -- that may have been around the time when she found out about the affair, and she was appealing to him because

of his family, because of his children, and she may have upset with him.

BANFIELD: But you said -- she says you do so much for all of us. They love you so much.

ARUTT: Yes.

BANFIELD: But you`re the best daddy in the world. You do so much for all of us. I mean, it`s not as though these girls can read that. This is not

for their benefit. It`s astounding to see.

But I want to put a pin in that for a moment because there is the notion, and, Jenna, when we come back from the break, I`m going to get you to

comment on this as well.

There is that notion that the police are looking at everything. The police aren`t missing this. The prosecutors are going to have to take a peek at

all of it. Is it curious to you or is it important legally as this man might be facing down the death penalty? That`s coming up right after the

break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:51] BANFIELD: As Chris Watts sits in solitary locked up 23 hours per day, he is no longer able to do all those grueling workouts that helped

him chisel 50 pounds off that frame into an image that is magazine worthy. Those days, they are over.

He is not even allowed to access exercise equipment at the Weld County Jail, and his only food is the same jail grub that every other inmate gets.

The chances are he may not look the same in the years to come as he prepares for a murder trial.

He may -- he just may end up looking more like he used to look, and the difference is astounding. The before and after pictures make it hard to

believe sometimes it`s the same person.

The body is obvious but take a closer look as well. Even his grooming habits changed drastically. But the question is, did something else change

as Chris Watts underwent his physical transformation?

Welcome back, everybody. I`m going to get to that in a moment, when you change so profoundly on the outside, does something change on the inside?

But first to you, Jenna, we went to break saying that timeline is so critical in just seeing where she was at, where her head was at.

And, Bob Bianchi, as a defense attorney, I want the both of you to weigh in on whether a prosecutor -- you used to work for the Weld County prosecutor

so you would know best -- and as a defense attorney, can you pick anything out of that that will help or hurt a case?

JENNA ELLIS, HOST, 560 KLZ THE SOURCE: You know, I think from the perspective of a prosecutor, you are going to want to put into evidence

everything that you can to explain that she was so protective of her children. There was absolutely no motive for her to have committed this

atrocity like Chris is claiming.

And if I`m the prosecutor, my opening statement is going to be -- I cannot give you a motive sufficient enough for you to understand how heinous this

crime is. Because that`s what the jury is going to want to understand.

They`re going to want to -- really, we can all understand how he could have been mad enough at Shanann, but they`re not going to understand how he

could`ve been mad enough to kill those two precious little girls.

And so the prosecutor is not going to be able to explain how terrible this tragedy was. And so they`re going to want to paint every -- paint her as

protective of the children and reinforcing that completely that there is no way she could have possibly killed them.

BANFIELD: Bob Bianchi, I feel like -- and by the way, Bianchi. I mispronounced your name and I will owe you forever for that.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: But as a defense attorney, look, this is a tough road to hoe for him. And I can imagine that his defense attorneys are trying to grasp at

everything they can because this could be death penalty for him.

And so far, the evidence doesn`t look good. The guy went out on the porch and said, help me, everybody, she is missing.

BOB BIANCHI, FORMER HEAD PROSECUTOR, MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: Right.

BANFIELD: And then admitted, actually, I threw my kids, my dead children, in oil. It`s ugly. Is there anything that they can take from this that

might fit his version of events? Meaning, it was Shanann who snapped and killed the children, not me. Is there anything that this timeline shows of

her dropping off social media, then there is that whole affair business, that the defense would actually mine?

BIANCHI: That`s a great question, Ashleigh. First of all, I come from the perspective of a homicide prosecutor for many years. And as a homicide

prosecutor, I got to think of every single defense in the multiple cases up to and including death penalty cases I have tried.

So what I`m thinking as a prosecutor, and I would elicit as a defense attorney, is the following, just what you said. Things are going bad.

Things are going squirrely. The relationship, she finds out, has deteriorated.

She is in a rage. She is upset. He has moved on. This is what, as a defense attorney, you`re going to be saying in response to the prosecutor`s

statement. There is no indication that this man would do such a horrible, heinous, and horrific thing.

And she was, in fact, killing her kids. He got angry. And then, yes, folks, he did something that we`ve all done in our lives. Of course, not

murder. He lied about it because he didn`t want to get in trouble and be seen as a horrible monster.

But they have not proven with the forensic evidence and with this timeline that you got here in Facebook, clearly, she was agitated, overwhelmed,

impassioned and she said, you know what, he`s not going to get those kids, I`m not going to have those kids, and unfortunately, she did a terrible

thing.

[19:25:03] That`s what I would be worried about as a prosecutor the defense argument would be.

BANFIELD: Right. And I mean, look at that list. Look at the list in front of you. It is brazen. It`s stark. And these are just the videos,

not the hundreds and hundreds of photographs she posted and the effusive praise that she wrote about all the time.

The love, the devotion, the Father`s Day, the Spouse`s Day, the Happy Husband`s Day, the everything day -- it`s remarkable, the amount of

attention that she lavished on this man. And then it went dark.

I want to show you something else. Again, in one of those moments where Shanann -- albeit she is working for a company that promotes weight loss

and health, et cetera, but here she is, you know, once again, praising her gorgeous husband and how great he looks and how healthy he is. Take a

look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S. WATTS: Today is Sunday. Chris ran at 6:00 in the morning on a Sunday on his day off. What did you do, five miles?

Well, come over.

Chris has lost a significant amount of weight --

C. WATTS: Since I started.

S. WATTS: -- since you started Thrive.

C. WATTS: Yes.

S. WATTS: How much?

C. WATTS: Fifty pounds.

S. WATTS: And he is in a medium. He went from a 2X to a medium.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So does anything change when you go from big to little, and all of a sudden, you`re able to flex your muscles for pictures and maybe get

some women around you to bat their eyes? Maybe not just women. There are lots of reports of this man having an extracurricular life.

So what happens inside when you change outside? Cheryl Arutt, does this tell you anything? Does this story on the outside of his body, the before

and after transformation, does it tell you anything about what a man can be like on the other side?

ARUTT: This tells me that ego may have taken over for Chris Watts. All of a sudden, he was ripped. Women may have been looking at him.

He was having financial problems with his wife, two kids, another one on the way. He, I think, was wanting to, you know, get out there and feel

attractive and feel that excitement. And I see what Shanann was doing as a plea, saying don`t destroy this family.

BANFIELD: And, Cheryl, the grooming, look at the difference. He had a slight mustache at one point early on, and he went to a very different look

completely. Not just the muscles and the weight loss, the facial hair, too.

ARUTT: It`s like a whole makeover. It`s like the "Queer Eye" guys got him and did a makeover to make him --

BANFIELD: Look at the difference here.

ARUTT: -- a heartthrob.

BANFIELD: Just look at your screen. You would not guess this is the same man.

ARUTT: I am sure it changed the way women related to him, but, you know, there is an interesting study about that, about the way that women relate

to married men. That married men very often overestimate their attractiveness anyway because women aren`t as guarded with them because

they`re married.

So a lot of married men are with women, interacting with women, and they`re not getting shot down, and they think that they would just kill it out

there if they were single. And very many men find that the opposite is the case because once they are single, women`s guards go back up, and they have

a very different experience.

So he may have been intoxicated by the attention that he was getting from women.

BANFIELD: And who knows what was going on in his mind as well with this incredible transformation and how different he felt inside as opposed to

outside.

Karen Smith, I want you to join in in this as a retired detective with the Jacksonville Sheriff`s Office but also as a forensics specialist. We

couldn`t help but notice that Shanann`s family is on the witness list.

So think about this for a moment. Frank Rzucek, Sr. That`s Shanann`s dad. Frank Rzucek, Jr. That`s her beloved brother, extremely close. And Sandra

Rzucek, her mother.

They did not live in this community. They lived in North Carolina. They were with her in the six weeks leading up to her return to the home where

she was killed within weeks. Do you sense that there is something interesting about them being on the witness list?

KAREN SMITH, FORMER DETECTIVE, JACKSONVILLE SHERIFF`S OFFICE, FLORIDA: I do. There is a reason for that, and it may be because who knows you better

than family and close friends?

They may have noticed something in Shanann, body language, or she may have told them something in confidence that hasn`t come out yet, some secrets,

or maybe her problems with Chris. So prosecutors are going to be very interested in what these family members have to say once this goes to

court.

BANFIELD: Yes. Karen, do you see any significance in his drastic change of -- his complete transformation, let`s just put it bluntly? Fifty pounds

and a complete overhaul of his outer look, the facial hair, the muscles, the tattoos, everything -- do you see these as being significant in the

investigation?

SMITH: I see it as being significant to the jury. They`re going to see exactly what I`m seeing as an outsider coming in and looking at this

transformation of Chris Watts.

[19:30:05] Yes, I think that your psychologist explained it extraordinarily well. He`s going to have more self-confidence, women are going to be more

attracted to him. Did that give him the idea to stray away from Shanann?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST: One other piece of information. And this could be a clue and it may not be, but it`s curious, nonetheless. This

last trip that she took, she returned home late, late at night. The flight was late. She ended up getting in at 2:00 in the morning on Monday, August

13th. There was something in the arrest warrant that was interesting. And that is that Nicole`s friend who brought her back from the airport that

night was on the trip with her. This is what warrant says, "Nicole stated she dropped Shanann off at her residence around 1:48 in the morning, after

returning from a business trip that took place in Arizona. Nicole stated Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant and was not feeling well during the trip."

Jenna Ellis, again, is there any significance to the fact that that`s what Nicole said? There`s no posting on that trip. And by the way, every

single other work trip that she took, especially with her Le-Vel colleagues, it was like a constant advertisement for the job that she did,

for the work that she did. They were all over Facebook Live. They were posting, photographing everything. Nothing on this trip, nothing at all

except this comment from her friend saying Shanann wasn`t feeling well.

JENNA ELLIS, ATTORNEY AND RADIO HOST: And I think it is interesting that the last thing is that she is showing a different pattern of behavior. And

so, that can cut both ways because the prosecution can use that to say, look, she is overwhelmingly protective of her children, but the defense is

going to exploit that and say, look, now, there is a break in this pattern. And so, is it possible -- is it possible that Chris` story is true and

possible can sometimes negate and fulfill reasonable doubt. And so, that`s what they`re going to exploit and say, look, she is now acting different.

BANFIELD: Yes. Well, I`ll tell you what, (INAUDIBLE) it`s very curious to see that comment. She wasn`t feeling well on this weekend that she arrived

home and ended up murdered within hours. Was she just sick from being pregnant or was there something more? OK. Hold those thoughts for a

moment if you will. The story of Chris and Shanann has just no shortage of people who are following every iteration, every development, every theory

online. There are Facebook groups reaching nearly 50,000 members. 50,000 people joining Facebook groups just to discuss this case. And you have a

lot of very, very good questions. Actually, more probing than most cases that I`ve seen before. Our Facebook community has forwarded some questions

to us, and we`ve got some answers for you. That`s next.

[19:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: There`s a reason the Watts murder case has dominated the headlines. It`s an absolute mystery. Even with an alleged confession, so

many questions are still unanswered, like do the police have the proof that Chris killed the children? Are there forensics in that house that hold the

key to the case? And how much more evidence have they yet to uncover? You have been asking a lot of good questions on Facebook, and tonight, we`ve

assembled the experts to answer them.

So, let`s get right to it. I want to start with Jamie Skidmore. Jamie emails this in to us and asks, "How long will Chris Watts remain on suicide

watch? Will they keep him there until he goes to trial?" Karen, you know, as a -- as a retired detective with the sheriff`s office, sheriff`s usually

run the jails and they usually run the rules. How does that work if you`re on suicide watch? Is it indefinite?

SMITH: It can be. If they think that he has the potential for self-harm, they can keep him on suicide watch until he goes to trial. And obviously,

they have concerns for that. So, that`s where he belongs at this point, yes.

BANFIELD: And you know, I spoke with a source at the jail where he`s being held, at the Weld County Jail, and I asked, is he going to be there for

the, you know, duration, sometimes upwards of two to three years that can take to put together a murder case, and the response that I got was we have

no reason to believe that he will be transferred any time before that trial. So, it is just a fascinating piece of information, the details out

of that jail. He`s checked every five to 10 minutes, and his bedding can be modified, which is intriguing.

All right. Another question from Crystal and Randy Gay, "My question that`s really been on my mind is did they find them wearing pajamas or

regular clothes? This would tell a huge part of the case." That`s pretty fascinating if you think about it. Bob, as a defense attorney, you`re

going to want to know this because if his story is that at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, he said 4:00 to one cop and 5:00 to another, he has this

emotional conversation with his wife, says that he wants to split, or on some sources say, she found out about the affair, you would think that

they`re all in jamis (ph). You would think that Shanann, who got home at, you know, 2:00 in the morning, would be in pajamas and so are the children.

[19:40:10] BOB BIANCHI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY It`s a perceptive question but also remember, he has admitted to the fact that he did try to cover up all

of this afterwards. The bedding was off the bed, there were no serious signs of a struggle. He then took them and a horrible thing, no matter

whether he did this or not, and obviously, the evidence is pointing strongly that he did --

BANFIELD: But if he dressed the -- listen, if those children were in pajamas and let`s just say, if his story is true and he says that his wife

killed the kids, would he dress them in street clothes in order to dump them in the oil tanks?

BIANCHI: Yes. I mean, I don`t think it would make any sense to me that the kids weren`t dress. But it`s a good question, we just don`t know the

answer to it yet.

BANFIELD: But if they`re in street clothes, his story makes no sense.

BIANCHI: His stories would make no sense. But I mean, right now, we just don`t know any of that data. But all of the forensics, all the clothing,

the bodies are very important, and unfortunately, we don`t have any of those forensics in our possession at this time.

BANFIELD: OK. Jennifer Ribbon -- Raburn -- Jennifer Raburn asked this question, it`s a good one, "I`m still trying to figure out how someone can

be having constant affairs, possibly multiple at the same time and no one knew." Cheryl, it`s a great question because right now, we have it in the

arrest warrant that he allegedly confessed or at least that they put it to him, we found your woman at work. We have a source that says the woman who

spoke with the police and that she has been cooperating. It is a great question though to be living these lives at the same time, especially if

the other reports that law enforcement sources say are true that there are multiple men and women in his life.

CHERYL ARUTT, CLINICAL & FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, Ashleigh. And denial is a very, very powerful thing. The fact is that we don`t want to believe

that our partner could do something like that, that someone we love and are invested in and have children with is really doing that. So, there`s a --

there`s a denial and bargaining defense mechanism that can come up where until faced with irrefutable evidence, many partners who are being cheated

on will choose to think, well, maybe this isn`t true, maybe there`s a misunderstanding, maybe he`s just distant, and will try to hang in there as

if everything is OK and hold things together as long as possible.

BANFIELD: I have another question here from Christina Davis. Christina asks, "How has this case affected you compared to other cases that you`ve

looked in to? I think that`s a great question. I`ll be honest with you, there are a couple of cases in my 30 years that have floored me and that

I`ve been unable to continue broadcasting. 9/11, for one, I lost it. There were so many deaths, it was overwhelming. And it was like the

apocalypse. Newtown, Connecticut -- they were children, they were little, and there were so many of them. Most of the cases, though, Christina that

I`ve covered involve adults, and for some reason, I`m able to compartmentalize because there have been so many, they fit into a formula,

a trial formula, a prosecution formula, and many of them are the same.

In this story, though, I am mystified by the children. I`m not going to lie. I get how spouses can fall apart, but I can`t understand infanticide.

I can`t -- I don`t care whose story ends up being the truth in this -- in this particular case, but I can`t understand how you can look at those

little faces and snuff out the life after so many videos of happiness. And I think that, Christina, is why this case has affected me so much more

differently. It`s just hard to look at the pictures.

There is another story that we have brought you in the past on this program that is eerily similar to this one. And there was a huge development in

that story today. Do you remember Tyler Tessier who went in front of the camera saying, help me find my pregnant girlfriend? Remember this guy,

holding the hand of that girlfriend`s mom only to be arrested, and tell all sorts of stories? Today was day one of his trial, and you will absolutely

not believe what happened in his cell after he woke up, that`s next.

[19:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Shanann Watts was not the first pregnant woman to be murdered and buried in a shallow grave, while the man she loved most appeal to

television cameras to help him find her. Just last year we told you about Tyler Tessier. It was quite a show, as he begged us all to help him find

his missing pregnant girlfriend Laura. But he didn`t fool anyone because police suspected him, and had actually arranged this press conference to

watch his every move. Days later, he was charged with the first-degree murder of Laura Wallen. And today was the first day of that murder trial.

But it was canceled because right after showering and getting dressed in his cell, he took a bedsheet and he hanged himself. They found him dead

before he could even walk into court. And if you think about the parallels to Chris Watts` case, both men faced the cameras and seemed to be pointing

a finger at their missing loved ones, or at least raising questions about them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:50:14] TYLER TESSIER, MURDER SUSPECT: Laura, if you`re listening, it doesn`t matter what`s happened, it doesn`t matter -- doesn`t matter what

type of trouble, there`s nothing we can`t fix together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think she just took off?

CHRIS WATTS, MURDER SUSPECT: I mean, right now, I don`t even want to just like throw anything out there. Like, I hope that she`s somewhere safe

right now and with the kids. But I mean, could she have been -- could she just taken off? I don`t know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You don`t know? Really? Not only that but both Tessier and Watts are believed to have been cheating on their pregnant victims. Both

women buried in shallow graves, both men out on T.V. lying. Well, an official at the jail where Watts is on suicide watch told us that his

bedding may have been modified. While it`s also worth mentioning, Tessier killed himself with that bed sheet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCCARTHY, STATE ATTORNEY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY: Today would have been a reckoning. Because for the first time, an individual who I think showed

every signs of being a psychopath. He had psychopathic behaviour that he carried on as he maintained a dual relationship with two women, one for 10

years, a second for seven years, lying to virtually every single person in his life, to Tyler Tessier, lying was like breathing. He lied about

everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And now, his lies are over for everybody. Anybody who clicks through Shanann`s Facebook -- Shanann`s Facebook feed really felt as though

they got to know her entire family, even that little family dog Dieter, adorable Dieter, the only witness to the crime and the only surviving

member of that family. And today, we have an update on his brand-new home and his brand-new family. We`re going to show you, next.

[19:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: This week`s CNN Hero started bringing children to the United States for medical treatment 20 years ago, when she was working out of her

bedroom walk-in closet on Staten Island. Today, she`s helping more than 300 children from 46 different countries with life-changing medical

procedures. Meet Elissa Montanti.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISSA MONTANTI, CNN HERO: We`re empowering them because we`re giving them back what they lost, a chance to stand on their own and write and go to

school and to contribute to society. They come from different corners of the earth, and they all heal together, laugh together. They don`t speak

the same language, but love is universal. So often, people will say why can`t you help your own? Aren`t they our own? Don`t we share this earth?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: For more on Elissa, you can go to cnnheroes.com.

Shanann and Chris Watts were like a lot of other families, in addition to their actual babies, they had a dog. Their dog named Dieter. He seemed to

be a fixture in all those family videos and photos and Dieter just might have been the only witness to the crime that happened in that house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANANN WATTS, MURDER VICTIM: Give Dieter kisses, girls. Give him kisses. Say happy birthday.

C. WATTS: Birthday, birthday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Now, that Dieter`s entire family is tragically gone, he has found a brand-new home with Shanann`s brother, Frankie. And Frankie has

just posted this update on Facebook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKIE RZUCEK, SHANANN WATTS` BROTHER: Come here, buddy. Dieter, come here. Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Frankie Rzucek says I absolutely love this dog and how his ears flop as he runs. He fits right in with his new family. He`s still

adjusting to the humidity, the altitude change, and the new bugs, LOL. But he loves it here, and I couldn`t be happier to have him be part of our dog

family. He`s also cool with my cat, Cesar. I think he`s still trying to figure out what kind of dog it is, LOL. But it`s a bright spot for a

family that has endured such a terrible loss. They at least have Shanann and Bella and Cece`s dog. We`ll see you right back here on Monday night at

6:00 Eastern. Thanks so much for watching, everyone. "FORENSIC FILES" starts right now.

END