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Family Of Shanann Watts Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Chris Watts
Shanann Watts’ parents are suing their daughter’s killer for more than $100,000.
The parents of Shanann Watts have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Christopher Watts, the Colorado man responsible for the deaths of their daughter and three grandchildren.
Watts was sentenced to life in prison last week after pleading guilty to murdering his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste. On the day of Watts' sentencing, Shanann’s parents, Frank and Sandra Rzucek, sued their former son-in-law for the wrongful deaths of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste, as well as for unlawful termination of a pregnancy, according to KDVR, a Denver-based Fox affiliate.
The Rzuceks are seeking upward of $100,000, according to court documents obtained by the outlet. The filing also accuses Watts of attempting to “maliciously and fraudulently” “mislead investigators” by pretending that he did not know the whereabouts of his seemingly missing family and, later, claiming in his confession that he’d only killed his wife after catching her murdering their daughters, KDVR reports.
A judge handed Watts three consecutive life sentences on November 19, one each for his wife and two daughters, as well as 48 years for the child Shanann was carrying, a boy that family members have said she was planning to name Nico.
Shanann’s surviving family delivered heartwrenching victim impact statements during his sentencing.
“You don’t know what love is... you monster... You carry them out like trash... you heartless monster,” Shanann’s father, Frank Rzucek, said in his address to the court.
Watts initially tried to maintain the illusion that he didn’t know the whereabouts of his wife and children after they were declared missing in August, even making heartfelt pleas for their safe return during interviews with various media outlets. Shanann’s body was later found in a shallow grave on the property of Anadarko Petroleum, a company that previously employed Watts, while his daughters were found hidden in oil and gas tanks nearby. Watts was charged with nine felonies in connection to the killings, and he later, in order to avoid the death penalty, admitted to killing his family,
Prosecutors have claimed that Watts, who was cheating on his wife with a co-worker, murdered his family for a “new start.”
[Photo: Facebook]
