This is everything Shanann Watts’ family has said about Netflix’s American Murder

‘This documentary gives my sister a voice’

4 years ago

American Murder: The Family Next Door is Netflix’s latest true crime documentary that has shocked and horrified everyone who’s watched it. The 80 minute film covers the murders of Shanann Watts and her children by her husband and the children’s father Chris Watts in 2018.

Chris Watts is now in prison after confessing to their murders and the documentary covers the police investigation into what happened to Shanann and her two daughters Bella and Celeste, as well as their unborn son Nico.

The documentary is primarily made up of unseen police footage and videos and pictures from Shanann’s personal Facebook account, making the documentary even more chilling to watch. The images from her personal social media along with private text messages were provided by Shanann’s family who were heavily involved in the creation of the film with Netflix.

They had previously spoken out against the Lifetime movie of the Watts murders, which came out earlier this year. Shanann’s family, which includes her mother Sandra, her father Frank and her brother Frankie, were never contacted or involved in the film. They were worried about its release sparking more conspiracy theories and a rise in online harassment that they had already suffered during the trial.

via Netflix

Netflix however consulted the family and worked with them to create the documentary. Since the film came out this is everything the families and friends have to had to say about American Murder: The Family Next Door:

What has Shanann Watts’ family said about the documentary?

Shanann’s family have very few social media accounts, however her brother Frankie appears to be the spokesperson for the family on Facebook where he has shared a number of thoughts from himself and his family surrounding the documentary.

When the documentary was first released Frankie praised Netflix for giving his sister a voice and for working with them whilst making it.

He wrote: “I highly recommend watching this. It’s on Netflix. The director made sure we were a part of the whole process and we met the whole team personally. They made sure we were ok with them making this before they even started, unlike Lifetimes horrible movie. This documentary gives my sister a voice and she speaks throughout it.

“It also shows what her life was like before he came along and how happy she was with her beautiful family until he cheated and turned into a different person and became that monster.”

via Netflix

Frankie also addressed the high level of attention the film is getting and called his sister an “inspiration”.

He wrote: “How crazy that even Kylie Jenner watched it and shared this on her Instagram. My sister is an inspiration to millions of people all over the world and i’m honoured to be her little brother. She’s still changing lives and I couldn’t be more proud.”

In the last few days, as the documentary has picked up attention across the world, including being number one on Netflix in the UK and US, Frankie has again praised his sister and expressed how much he misses and loves her and the children.

In a post on Facebook he wrote: “The documentary is Number 1 in the USA and the UK after only being out for a little over 24 hours. Thats my sister, always on top. I love you Shanann. We miss you, you’re truly an inspiration to millions of women.

“You’re a hero to me and many others. God bless you Shanann, Bella, Celeste and Nico. We love you and we wish you were here.”

What has Chris’ family said about the documentary?

Currently Chris’ parents Ronnie and Cindy Watts have not commented on the Netflix film. After Chris confessed to the murders his family read statements in court expressing their love and support for him.Ronnie and Cindy also said how they forgave their son.

via Netflix

It was reported that Cindy was working on a book about the case and a few chapters were leaked on Reddit and Facebook. The book is thought to be called “All My Broken Pieces”, but no book has actually been confirmed as of yet.

What has Shanann’s friend Nickole said about the documentary?

Shanann’s friend Nickole Atkinson was instrumental in raising the alarm about Shanann’s disappearance. She was the friend who dropped Shanann off home the night before her death and who had become increasingly worried about Shanann when she didn’t answer her text messages.

Nickole called the police and Chris to find out where Shanann was and during the investigation was incredibly honest about Chris and Shanann’s relationship.

via Netflix

She has sadly been diagnosed with breast cancer since Shanann’s murder and often updates her social media to let her followers know how her treatment is going. She posted on her Facebook a few days after the documentary came out that she had needed a social media timeout and was presumably offline for a number of days.

In the post she wrote: “So I needed to do social media timeout… Bear with me while in getting back to messages.” Whilst it’s not confirmed Nickole is referring the documentary, the many comments on the post seem to indicate a support and love for all that Nickole did in the case.

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.