The shocking moment Chris Watts' guilt was revealed in Netflix's American Murder

Publish date: 2024-05-31

Have you watched the documentary?

Plenty of Netflix fans have been both gripped and shocked by the harrowing true crime documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door. The one-off film is a close examination of the harrowing Watts murder case that took place in 2018, following the deaths of Shanann Watts and her two daughters, at the hands of her husband Chris.

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In the documentary, social media posts, interview archives and never-before-seen home videos all contribute to telling the tragic story of Shanann's disappearance before the truth was revealed. At one point, Chris, who was eventually arrested and charged with the murders, was outed as guilty by his neighbour in a shocking turn of events in the film.

WATCH: Netflix's American Murder: The Family Next Door official trailer

Bodycam footage showed Chris pacing around his living room accompanied by his neighbour, Nate Trinastich, who was playing a home movie on the TV while police looked on.

Nate was suspicious of Chris' behaviour after he had spotted him out on his drive in the early hours one morning, stating he wasn't "acting right", but Chris was adamant that Shanann and his two daughters had gone missing on their own accord.

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Nate explained in the documentary: "He was loading tools, but I thought that was a little bit odd because I had never seen him really back the truck into the driveway ever. He always parked it out front, so I definitely thought it was kind of odd.

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He then added: "The other thing I thought that was definitely weird was he wasn't watching the footage at all." In a shocking turn of events, after the video tape was played to authorities, it transpired that Chris was in fact placing the bodies of his family in his car.

Bodycam footage is used in the documentary

Chris was subsequently arrested and questioned before being charged with their murder. He later admitted to killing Shanann and their two daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste, and he was sentenced to five life sentences, with no possibility of parole.

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