• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Chris Watts' prison penpal shares what it was like meeting him for the first time

Home> News> Crime

Published 12:18 2 Sep 2024 GMT+1

Chris Watts' prison penpal shares what it was like meeting him for the first time

Chris Watts is spending life in prison after killing his pregnant wife and their two children

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

A woman who wrote to convicted killer Chris Watts after he murdered his wife and children has described meeting him for the first time.

Watts was expecting his third child with his wife, Shannan, when she and their two daughters suddenly disappeared from their Colorado home in August 2018.

The father initially denied having any idea what had happened to his family, but eventually it came out that Watts had killed all three of them, putting his children's bodies in oil tanks and Shannan in a shallow grave.

Watts pleaded guilty to their murders and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but his story intrigued members of the public and prompted people to start writing letters to him while he was behind bars.

One of Watts' penpals was Cherlyn Cadle, who went on to author two books about Watts' story and his confessions.

Advert

One of the books, titled Letters from Christopher, is described as the 'completely truthful account of what happened to Shanann, Bella, Celeste, and (unborn baby) Nico Watts'.

After initially connecting with Watts through letters, Cadle was put on the visitors' list to go and see him in prison. However, he is said to have feared their conversations were being recorded, so instead wrote his confessions down.

Chris Watts was sentenced to life in prison (RJ Sangosti - Pool/Getty Images)
Chris Watts was sentenced to life in prison (RJ Sangosti - Pool/Getty Images)

Speaking on Lifetime’s docuseries Cellmate Secrets, Cadle described her first meeting with Watts as she said: "I hate to even admit this because he is a murderer and what he did is so horrendous, but when I first met him, he had this boyish demeanor.

Advert

"He was gentle, soft-spoken and just appeared as a nice guy. And he remained that way throughout our communications. That changed when he started talking about the murders."

Cadle, who described meeting Watts to Inside Edition as 'very surreal', also recalled the look on Watts' face when he talked about what he did to his wife and young daughters.

She said: "At times when he would talk about the murders, his eyes would turn so black. He just would get a different look on his face and he talked about it so nonchalantly."

Advert

Cadle said she became interested in Watts' story from the first time he appeared on TV, explaining: "When I saw his first interview, I don’t know, I looked at him that morning and I just felt something really spoke to me.

"It was like a calling for me to contact him and see if he would share his story with me. I knew he was guilty. You could tell by the way he was talking, the body language. But it was just one of those things where I really felt like I was supposed to do it."

Featured Image Credit: RJ Sangosti - Pool/Getty Images/Inside Edition

Topics: Crime, True crime, US News

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    Cult classic film removed from Disney+ over controversial scene that had it banned from TV

    The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has long expressed its concerns about the scene in the 1989 movie

    Film & TV
  • 6 hours ago

    Vin Diesel hints Paul Walker could be in upcoming Fast and Furious movie and it's left fans very divided

    He's desperate to reunite Dom and Brian

    Film & TV
  • 7 hours ago

    Trump supporters are revealing the ‘red line’ that would make them stop supporting him and people say it’s ‘disturbing’

    President Trump's shocking approval ratings were recently released

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Starbucks customer outraged after barista allegedly wrote 'illegal' joke on her cup

    "When I read it I’m like, OK. Was I supposed to laugh?"

    News
  • Chris Watts offers disgusting excuse for why he murdered pregnant wife and two daughters
  • Police claim they've solved 1980 cold case murder after first suspect wrongly spent 20 years in prison
  • Chilling last words of Jeffrey Dahmer before he was brutally killed in prison
  • Diddy's ex-assistant who claims she was kidnapped shares shocking details of her time working for him at trial