WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHRIS WATTS HOUSE? THE COLORADO HOME AT THE CENTER OF A FAMILY TRAGEDY

FREDERICK, COLORADO — The Colorado home where Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife and two young daughters has remained a haunting symbol of one of the most closely followed family-homicide cases in the United States.

The five-bedroom house at 2825 Saratoga Trail in Frederick was purchased by Chris and Shanann Watts in 2013. It was where the family lived with their daughters, Bella and Celeste, before the horrifying events of August 2018.

Eight years later, the property has a very different history.

A HOME THAT BECAME A CRIME SCENE

On August 13, 2018, Shanann returned home from a business trip shortly after 1:40 a.m.

Later that morning, her friend reported Shanann, Bella and Celeste missing after Shanann failed to respond to messages and missed an appointment.

Chris initially told investigators that he did not know where his family had gone. He even appeared on television asking for their safe return.

But investigators soon began uncovering evidence that contradicted his story.

Two days later, Watts confessed to killing Shanann. He initially claimed Shanann had killed their daughters, but he eventually admitted responsibility for all three deaths.

The bodies were discovered at the oil site where Watts worked.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HOUSE?

After the murders, the property became virtually impossible to sell as an ordinary family home.

The house remained tied to the case through its location, its history and the extensive media attention surrounding the murders.

The Watts family had also faced financial problems before the killings, including a bankruptcy filing in 2015. Those circumstances later became part of the broader picture investigators examined surrounding the family’s life.

The property has since been the subject of continued public fascination, with people searching for information about its ownership, condition and future.

THE MURDERS CHANGED EVERYTHING

Inside that house, Watts killed Shanann after an argument in which he revealed his affair and said he no longer wanted the marriage.

He later admitted that he transported Shanann’s body and their daughters to the oil field where he worked.

Watts eventually pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including five counts of first-degree murder, unlawful termination of a pregnancy and three counts involving tampering with human remains.

He received five life sentences without parole, plus additional prison time.

Today, Chris Watts remains incarcerated at Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.

MORE THAN A HOUSE

For outsiders, the Saratoga Trail property became known as the “Chris Watts house.”

But for Shanann’s family, it was once the home where their daughter and grandchildren lived.

That contrast is part of what makes the property so unsettling: before August 2018, it was simply a suburban family home. After the murders, its address became permanently associated with the deaths of Shanann, Bella, Celeste and Shanann’s unborn son, Nico.

People’s latest report revisits what ultimately happened to the property and why the house continues to attract attention years after the murders.

The house may have changed, but its history remains inseparable from one of America’s most infamous family murder cases.