Here are even more films, series, books and podcasts all about the Chris Watts case

If you were interested by American Murder, there’s much more about the story


For the past couple of weeks, everyone has been talking about American Murder: The Family Next Door on Netflix. The documentary tells the true story of the 2018 Watts family murders – where Chris Watts took the life of his pregnant wife Shanann and their two young daughters. Chris Watts is now serving five life sentences with no chance of ever leaving jail. But it’s not just the Netflix film which covers the case – there are lots of other series, movies, documentaries, podcasts and books like American Murder, which give other details and perspectives on what happened.

Here is a list of some other series, movies, podcasts and books which like American Murder: The Family Next Door, all look at the case of Chris Watts.

Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer – Movie

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The Lifetime movie / real life pictures of the Watts family

On January 26th 2020, Lifetime released a film called Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer as part of its “Ripped from the Headlines” feature film. The hour and a half movie sees Sean Kleier cast as Chris Watts and Ashley Williams as Shanann Watts.

It was described as the “creepiest film ever” but overall reviews said it was rushed, with production starting less than a year after his arrest. Shanann’s family also reportedly spoke out against the film. They said the family had not been consulted about it, and were not aware of its making until it was already in production.

Beyond the Headlines: The Watts Family Tragedy – Documentary

Shortly after making the dramatised film, Lifetime created a documentary about the case called “Beyond The Headlines: The Watts Family Tragedy”. In the documentary, law enforcement officials who interrogated Watts speak about the brutal murders. It features investigator Tammy Lee, who famously gave Chris Watts his polygraph test interview.

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via Netflix

Chris Watts: A Family Annihilator – Podcast

Chris Watts: A Family Annihilator is an episode of A Dark Tale True Crime Podcast. It’s 48-minutes-long and the description reads: “This week, Joe and James break down the case of Christopher Watts who, on August 13, 2018, killed his entire family including pregnant wife Shanann, two young daughters Bella and Celeste, and their unborn child Nico.  A modern tale in which the entire investigation from start to sentencing is recorded and allows us to break it down as Chris himself breaks down.  Watch and listen for yourself, what happens when you put a family annihilator (aka: a coward) into a corner.”

Letters from Christopher: The Tragic Confessions of the Watts Family Murders – Book

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via Amazon

An author named Cherlyn Cadle wrote to Watts in prison, as documented in her book, Letters from Christopher. In this book, it is claimed that Watts receives many letters from other women, but he believes at least some of them could actually be his mistress Nichol Kessinger. In the letters to Cadle, Chris also said he had been thinking about killing his family for “weeks” and that he in fact tried to kill his young daughters a first time at home, but they “woke back up”.

The Amazon description of the book explains: “After a few back-and-forth letters, Chris sent the paperwork to Cheryln to be put on the visitors’ list. She then visited him and they talked about her writing a book. After visiting him, he told Cheryln he wanted to tell her his confessions in writing because he felt their conversations were being recorded. He has revealed things to her that no one else knows, not even the FBI. Some of these details will be completely shocking for you to hear.

“Letters from Christopher is a true crime story with important information to put the pieces of the puzzle together for inquiring minds. Read herein the completely truthful account of what happened to Shanann, Bella, Celeste, and Nico Watts.”

Breaking The Silence: Chris Watts’ Interview From Prison – YouTube series

Another series like American Murder is Breaking The Silence: Chris Watts’ Interview From Prison on the Crime Talk YouTube channel. The playlist contains five videos, which break down his full interviews into parts. It’s hosted by Scott Reisch – who has been a criminal trial attorney for 23 years.

The full interview with Nichol Kessinger

Also by Crime Talk on YouTube, is the full police interview with Chris Watts’ other girlfriend, Nichol Kessinger. The interview lasts for over two hours.

Kessinger took part in extensive interviews to share what she knew about Chris and his current situation, and gave over her phone to be inspected. It was found that on the night of the murders, Chris Watts and Nichol Kessinger shared a 111-minute-long phone call. The conversation ended at 23:19, around the time Shanann was originally supposed to have arrived home from her work trip – but the flight had been delayed.

Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said: “Nichol Kessinger turned out to have information that I can best describe as being a bombshell.” It’s now said that due to the amount of information she provided police, Nichol is living under witness protection.

The Case of Chris Watts – YouTube series

The Case of Chris Watts is a YouTube series by Jim Can’t Swim. The channel focuses on forensic psychology, true crime, social science and behavioural science, and has 1.38 million subscribers.

There are three videos in total about the Watts family killings – part one introduces and tells the story, part two is about his polygraph test and part three is about the confession. The episodes are between 20 and 30 minutes long.

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. 

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