Six years on, what Chris Watts’ awful life in prison is like as he lives every day ‘in fear’

Right now everyone is watching American Murder: Laci Peterson on Netflix – but the Netflix show first told the horrific story of the inhumane crimes committed by Chris Watts – who is now in prison for what he did. American Murder: The Family Next Door first aired in 2020.

In 2018, pregnant Shanann Watts and her two young daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste, went missing from their home. A friend informed police and they were all reported missing. In the day following Chris Watts appeared to be the loving father who just wanted to know what had happened to his family.

But, he had killed his pregnant wife, and both of their children. He had been having an affair, and whilst this hasn’t been confirmed, it’s been theorised his motivation was a want to start a new life.

On August 21st 2018, Chris Watts was charged. He then pleaded guilty to all nine counts against him: Five counts of first-degree murder (including two additional counts for his daughters because they were children under 12), one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body.

via Netflix

So, what is life in prison like for Chris Watts now?

Chris Watts is currently serving five life sentences in prison as well as 84 more years for the other crimes. Although his crimes took place in Colorado, Chris Watts is jailed at a maximum-security prison in Wisconsin. There is no way that Chris Watts will ever leave jail, he has been sentenced without any chance of parole. The district attorney eliminated the death penalty from consideration in exchange for him pleading guilty to all nine counts.

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Chris was transferred to the Wisconsin jail “for security reasons” and remains there to this day. It’s been confirmed he is in the general prison population, so is able to workout once or twice per day Monday through Friday. In 2019, People reported he keeps photos of Shanann, Bella and Celeste in his cell.

A source familiar with Chris Watts since he’s been in prison told told People Magazine that he lives a bleak life now. They said he is in lockdown for 23 hours of the day and his quality of life is very low. They added: “He has nothing to do but think. He thinks about what he did every day. He is tormented by his past and the mistakes he made.

“He’s left alone with his thoughts for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every day. Birthdays. Holidays. Special occasions. He’s there in jail, in his cell, thinking about what happened. He’s in his own private hell.”

via Netflix

After the Netflix documentary, it was revealed Chris Watts receives dozens of letters a week from women. They are reported to send him “sexy pictures” believing he his “misunderstood.” Watts is reported to have spent money on stamps and paper in jail to reply to the women, because it “feeds his ego” and he’s otherwise “not very popular in jail”.

Former inmates have spoken about how unpopular Chris Watts is in prison now, due to the nature of his awful crimes. According to former inmate Eddie Nieves, there’s a target on his back, and the other inmates strongly dislike him.

“A lot of guys would like to get their hands on him,” Nieves told the New York Post. “He killed two little girls who didn’t do nothing to deserve it. He’s the lowest of the low. A lot of people want to get their revenge for those girls.

“He’s f***ked in the head. When you’re in prison with a lot of guys who did really bad things, but you’re still considered the worst person there, you’re just evil. If the guards weren’t always around, everyone would take a swing at him.” Because of the hatred towards him, it’s believed Chris Watts lives in constant fear, so keeps to himself.

via YouTube

According to a prison spokesperson, Chris Watts has received two conduct reports whilst in jail. The first was in 2020, for “unauthorised forms of communication and unauthorised transfer of property.” Following this, he lost phone privileges for 15 days and canteen privileges for 30 days.

The second conduct report was in 2021, and was for “disobeying orders and possession of miscellaneous contraband.” Due to this, he lost access to electronics for 10 days.

The Department of Corrections told People magazine in 2023 that Watts has recently been working as a custodian in prison.

American Murder: The Family Next Door is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• American Murder: Two decades on from Laci Peterson’s death, where Scott Peterson is now

• Chris Watts says he is ‘ashamed’ of Netflix doc which ‘brings up awful memories’

• Chris Watts receives dozens of letters in prison from women every week