Could Chris and Shanann Watts marriage have been saved?

[MzAsh]

For those of you who already know the story, Chris Watts fell infatuated with another woman that provided as the driving force to him murdering his wife and 2 daughters.

Their marriage had its flaws beforehand, mostly dealing with Chris’ irresponsible parents’ behavior and how the two reacted to that.

Shanann was the leader in the relationship, initiating resolve and other daily problem solving. Chris would adhere to his wife on many things with the exception of dealing with his toxic parents, which is what lead to putting their children at risk (one daughter was allergic to treenuts and his parents let her have food with treenuts in it) and conflict in their marriage.

However, their marriage conflicts isn’t what resulted in the murders, allegedly. Chris admitted that if he hadn’t have met his mistress, he wouldn’t have killed his family.

But I wonder if he hadn’t had killed his family, what would the future of their marriage be like?

Updates

+1 y

For those of you who don’t know: This is in regards to the American Murder docu on Netflix.

[Maxamillion61]

A similar memory comes to my mind in this case. Charles Swindol, a well know pasture and airtime CEO for Insight for Living ( Now international in many languages) is like the Paul Harvy humerous news commentator. Charles finds the most unusual topics to speak about before applying it to his sermons.
One instance he introduced the Background information of Lee Harvey Awswald explain the type of family environment raised I. Not a pleasing pleasurable growing up situation & his wife be-littled him all the time. Then he put into practice the 1 talent that stuck with him by sending a round of a shotgun into President Kennedy head in 1963 (or whenever it was) Then Charles turns the camera view from LHA, (Lee) back to us or other unknown LHA clones. The would be rapist who never had a decent intimate encounter with anyone that finally blew up. Or anyone else that possesses hidden emotional drama not dealt with in silent individuals finally come to the surface, expose themselves & go off like a huge pyrotechnics creations (fireworks) not to try & justify why they did what the did but consider and ask your self these questions & seek help if need be:
Do I have an anger management problem? Do any of my friends know what is really going on inside my head with emotional storm or do I keep it in, not talk about it and pretend there's no pro elm present? Do I really wish there was someone I could talk to about this issue or am I convinced I'm the only one thinking like this, they wouldn't understand, don't want to hear about or NO ONE ELSE has ever experienced this before or could solutions of how to fix or defuse or dissolve this problem like the one I'm dealing with. Left in attended to could I be or become a risk or concern to myself? or to others?

[Jamie05rhs]

You want to know my real opinion? Here it is:

I think if you're the type of person who is capable of murdering their own family, then you don't have the mental stability nor the emotional and relational maturity to be successful in marriage, period.

[jennifer_bloom]

He could have divorced his wife instead of killing her but he was worried that if he lost half his income and had to pay child support he would not be wealthy enough to attract the good looking woman he was interested in - his wife was gorgeous - he just got used to her over time and maybe he hated the responsibility of raising two children but pretended to love them so he could continue to have sex with his wife - he never loved either one of his two children or his two female lovers - just pretended to love them to satisfy his sexual appetite

[ragequeen]

He just fell out of love with her, and when that happens, it's hard to fix. Shannann wasn't an angel in the relationship. She was demanding, controlling and possessive, and those are traits that stay with you unless you get help. I think Chris fell in love with someone else, was tired of Shannann and that lead him to kill his family. That doesn't justify anything, though, and killing is never a solution. I'm not defending Chris, either, but it's my guess that they would have divorced regardless. It was a dead, unsavable marriage.

[sheikalana]

True, that marriage was dead way before he decided to murder Shanann and the kids. I just don't understand why didn't both sit and talk like two adults and be honest about what was going on. Shanann and the kids deserved so much better. It's heartbreaking.

[ragequeen]

@sheikalana It is. I feel so heartbroken for those two little girls. They didn`t have to be involved in this. It seemed like there were mental issues with both of them.

[ragequeen]

with chris and shannann I mean

[Apple1996]

I think if he wasn't cheating then maybe it could have been saved.

[Mickey9999]

No. Absolutely not. Normal people do not go around thinking about actually killing their children and spouse to clear the way to be happy with their side chick. He was and will always be psychotic. He was arrogant enough to think he’d get away with it too. There was no remorse and still doesn’t seem to be. He was remorseful for getting caught. For disappointing his dad. Not for smothering his daughters. If he didn’t have the balls to stick up to his wife early in their relationship, he never did... there’s probably something more there about his maternal relationship I would bet... he married someone just like his mom.

[bamesjond0069]

I mean this is typical beta male behavior. They resent the fact they are so weak that a woman is leading them or that they are unable to attract any women and they over compensate masculine behavior. They think well if other men are strong, ill be stronger and prove it with a gun or murder or whatever. Not realizing this is typical feminine behavior. To be submissive and obey a leader only to be a "brat" and test the leader or status quo however they test it in a non feminine way.

[MzAsh]

He didn’t resent her for this. He was always quiet and shy since he was a kid according to his parents. He needed a woman like Shanann because he’s just simply not a natural leader.

[bamesjond0069]

I didn't watch the show but then why did he resent her enough to kill her? Could have been masculine and just told her the truth and walked away or better yet honored his commitments because that is the masculine ways to deal with this situation.

[MzAsh]

He said it was all because he wanted a new life with his mistress. His wife found out she was pregnant after the affair started and he saw that as a major threat to his new relationship. His exact words to a writer he was sending letters to that if he hadn’t met her, he wouldn’t have killed his family. At least, that’s what he said. He didn’t go into why exactly it happened this way, but my guess is that he got swept up in the idea of someone new that offered excitement and adventure with no responsibilities. He knew that if he just divorced, his wife would take the kids and the house (and she absolutely she have done so since she paid for most of it and he was at fault for adultery). I think he saw killing them as the easiest way out of the marriage without suffering the consequences of a custody and asset battle.

[bamesjond0069]

If he wasn't a beta he would have had more control of the situation. He also is crazy but like i said. All these guys shooting shit up and killing people in a way where its an outburst have one thing in common... they have women who control or dominate them in some way or are completely shunned by women both signs of beta maleness. This is another perfect example.

[MzAsh]

Some men are just born to be more subdued. Doesn’t mean they’re all going on a killing spree.

[bamesjond0069]

No. But only they do. And he is an example.

[Anonymous]

He was sick in the head. This macho man with no muscle on steroids. Brainless bastard. No matter what, a sociopath doesn't change, mistress or nut.

[PinkMichae]

No. I'm willing to bet he suffered from a mental disorder that caused him to be unable to truly love people. He only appeared to show love when it benefited him.

[El_Dorado]

No. Chris also mentioned (indirectly) in an interview that he didn't love his daughters. Such an a*hole. He is disturbed.

[sheikalana]

Really? Where did you see this interview?

[El_Dorado]

https://youtu.be/NB8nVk-5eh8

[El_Dorado]

He says: .. what I feel for those girls... "those", literally

[sheikalana]

I feel so pissed off when in the Netflix documentary the guy who is interviewing him says 'I know you're not a bad guy' I mean why do they say that when he killed his pregnant wife and their two daughters with his own hands? This guy is a freakin monster I don't even like to look at his face.

[El_Dorado]

Yeah same. And especially his mother is such a wh*re. She literally said: we forgive and love you.

[MzAsh]

It’s a psych tactic detectives use during interrogations to break down the suspect. They make him feel like they’re rooting for him to do the right thing without judging. When a suspect thinks he’s not being judged by the detective, he’s more likely to confess. Notice how Chris was especially concerned about being known as “a monster.” He kept saying, “I’m not a monster. I didn’t hurt those kids.” He was afraid of being judged that way.

[AmourHoney]

She deserved way better regardless of whether he had murdered her and her little girls or not. He’s nothing but a piece of mouldy dog shit who deserves to rot slowly a miserably in his cell whilst his pathetic parents watch.

[AmourHoney]

He made the choice to shut her out and bulk up for another woman, avoided her so he could be with that other woman. Their marriage was doomed the second he started making himself better for another woman.

[OddBeMe]

Nah. Chris was always a narcissist who apparently had the mental capability of planning murders of his family for weeks. Nothing can save people like that.

[EmmaMary]

I seriously haven't got the faintest idea what you're on about... Sorry.

[MzAsh]

That’s why I said, for those of you who already know the story.

[EmmaMary]

Is this for real, or just some television series?

[MzAsh]

It’s a real story that Netflix made a docu for. American Murder: The Family Next Door.

[EmmaMary]

Gosh! Thank you for the explanation.
I must try and look this up, if and when I have some free time.

[MzAsh]

If you do, let me know what you think.

[EmmaMary]

@MzAsh I most certainly will.

[mrgspoter]

Why post stuff about murderers, I don't belive be in killing or a causal chat about it I think if people stoped makeing celebrity out of them it would happen far less and making it sound normal

[sheikalana]

I think their marriage was dead long time before what happened. Shannan who deserved so much better wasn't aware of it tho.

[Syrian_survivor]

Ah yes, he couldn't just leave the marriage and go with his mistress, he had to commit family murder then go with her, good god

[COMMODOREII]

Nah. He should have just divorced. No one should have died.

[b5fan]

No. Anyone who can murder another human is fatally flawed. Not marriage material.

[Anonymous]

their marriage does not concern me. I think it would be better if they divorced.

[triff]

Every marriage can be mended but it takes two

[mamamai]

I don’t think it could have worked out

[bklynbadboy1]

I have no idea who they are

[ChefPapiChulo]

this question is disturbing.

[sunset_0098]

No. Its lost cause.