Chris Watts‘ alleged killing of his pregnant wife and two small children is drawing frequent comparisons to Scott Peterson‘s murder of his pregnant wife Laci in 2003. Like Peterson, who was convicted of first-degree murder in Laci’s death, and second-degree murder of their unborn son in 2004, Watts gave multiple interview pleading with the public to help find his missing family.
“If somebody has her and they’re not safe, I want them back now. That’s what is in my head. If they’re safe right now, they’re going to come back,” Chris said in an interview outside his home in Frederick, Colorado with TV station KMGH. “But if they’re not safe right now, that’s the not-knowing part. Last night I had every light in the house on, I was hoping that I would just get ran over by the kids just running in and barrel-rushing me, but it didn’t happen. And it was just a traumatic night trying to be here.”
He would be arrested on nine felony accounts, including first-degree murder, the next day after confessing to killing 34-year-old Shannan and hiding her body, as well as the bodies of daughters Bella, 3, and Celeste, 4; he claims that Shannan allegedly “strangled” their daughters, and maintains that he did not kill them. Forensic profiler Dale Yeager of SERAPH tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY, that, “there are very clear personality connections between Chris [Watts] and Scott Peterson, except for the fact that Chris seemed to be less outgoing and is not as dynamic as Scott.”
Yeager says that there are “key factors” in Watts’ case that could “lead him” to allegedly murder his family and hide the bodies. “There was an incredible amount of debt; the couple was irresponsible in the way they were spending money,” Yeager explained. “All the fundamentals are there for this kind of behavior — the financial stress and stress in the marriage.”
It was revealed in Watts’ unsealed arrest affidavit that he confessed to cheating on Shanann. Though Chris previously denied having an affair, he reportedly admitted to it during a two-day investigation, according to the affidavit. One of Shanann’s friends, Nickole Atkinson, the last person to see her before she went missing, said that Shanann and Chris were allegedly discussing a separation.
“For Chris to [allegedly] make the leap from adultery to murder [means] he had to be at a point where he could get to such a dark place, mentally, that he could justify very ugly, evil behavior,” Yeager said. “People who cheat don’t have a moral compass. If you commit adultery in a relationship, you are a vile person because you’re a liar and a con-artist. You don’t care about the people you hurt, including your own children.
People make excuses for this bad behavior and they’re so narcissistic that they don’t care who it hurts,” Yeager continued. “Narcissism is like selfishness on steroids and it includes a certain amount of delusion…He can justify it all day, but what he’s saying is he feels justified in lying and deceiving the people closest to him.”