How Chris Watts' guilt was exposed with a single breath after he killed wife and kids

Chris Watts, the man who brutally murdered his wife and two young daughters seven years ago, will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The 40-year-old is serving five life sentences without the possibility of parole after he confessed to killing his pregnant wife,Shanann, and their two little girls, Celeste and Bella, on August 13, 2018.

Body language expert and psychologist Bruce Durham claims that Watts' guilt was immediately apparent - but it was a single deep breath that ultimately gave him away. It comes after a man is crushed to death by his wife after she 'stumbled and fell on top of him'.

To those on the outside, Watts appeared to be the perfect father and loving husband, seemingly overjoyed at the news that his wife was expecting their third child, a boy they planned to name Nico.

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However, what Shanann didn't realise was that her husband was having an affair and had concocted a sickening plan to murder his wife and children.

It was upon Shanann's return to their Colorado home from a business trip that Watts put his horrifying plan into action.

After confessing his affair during a heated argument, Shanann told him she would retain full custody of their children. In cold blood, Watts then strangled his wife to death - but his brutal actions were witnessed.

Steven Lambert, the solicitor representing Shanann Watts' family in a wrongful death lawsuit, revealed on America's Dr Phil Show: "The night in question Shanann came home.

"She and Chris had got into a fight. They made up. They were getting along really well. Later on, they got into a fight again. In that fight, he essentially confessed to having an affair, that he wanted a divorce.

"That it was pretty much over between them, and she had said something to the effect of, 'Well, you're not going to see the kids again'.

"As a consequence of that conversation, he strangled her to death."

However, after Watts murdered her mum and was covering Shanann's body with a blanket, little Bella entered the room and asked, "What are you doing to mummy?"

The four-year-old, who was described as intelligent for her age, "knew something was up", according to Mr Lambert.

What unfolded next was absolutely horrifying.

Watts stuffed Shanann's body into the car boot, placed his two young daughters in the back seats and secured them with seatbelts.

The killer dad then travelled 45 minutes to an oil field before executing the second phase of his terrifying scheme.

Throughout the drive, Bella is reported to have begged her father to rush 34-year-old Shanann to hospital.

Upon reaching the oil field, he first suffocated Celeste using her favourite blanket.

Bella watched the killing and pleaded with her father to spare her life before attempting to flee.

Mr Lambert revealed: "At this point, Bella had unbuckled herself from the vehicle."

The prosecution during Watts' trial alleged he had murdered the young girl "deliberately and viciously". Watts buried his wife in a shallow grave and dumped his daughters' bodies in an oil tanker before returning home to report them missing.

The murderer even took to the media, begging for his family's return and claiming ignorance of their whereabouts.

After murdering her, Watts had the audacity to text his wife, asking where she was.

But the net was rapidly closing in on the killer father, and within days, he had failed a polygraph test and would then spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Body language expert Bruce Durham analysed: "He knows he's guilty - when you're trying to lie you can't kid yourself you haven't done it. Although he thinks he's in control, as soon as he starts being asked questions, he can't help but react."

Almost immediately upon the police's arrival at the Watts' residence, his behaviour began to raise suspicions.

Rather than appearing anxious or panicked, Watts hurriedly greeted the police officer with a handshake.

Bruce elaborated: "He's trying to paint a picture - he says 'all the girls blankies are gone, they never go anywhere without them', that wasn't needed, the second part.

"There's also no emotion because he's trying to control everything in his brain. There are that many plates going on inside his head and that's why that energy that you would expect in that situation isn't there.

"When Shanann's phone is found, he does something weird. He goes to pick it up and then stops himself. If I was the police officer, I would spot this. Shanann's phone was her lifeline."

It's obvious Watts is attempting to fabricate the impression that his expectant wife had chosen to take the couple's daughters and disappear.

However, when he presents Shanann's wedding ring to police, his conduct begins to become genuinely erratic.

Bruce said, "He brings in Shanann's wedding ring in such a weird presentation. It doesn't go with the situation. It's overdramatic. It's everything it shouldn't be.

"Then they move into the neighbour's house, this is a dad of two young girls, he goes in and they have CCTV. The neighbour brings it up, and he isn't even looking at it.

"You don't get any expected reactions. He's more focused because he knows he backed up the car and put the bodies in."

Watts then commits another devastating blunder when he begins explaining why he had opted to park his vehicle in a different spot than normal.

Bruce explains: "He's answering a question that no one has asked.

"When he leaves the neighbour's they say, 'it's not him, he doesn't act like this'. The policeman says he might be nervous, but he's only just started behaving like this, and it's because his neighbour knows he doesn't usually park his car there."

And when the police officer investigating Watts' family's vanishing handed over a card with his contact details on it, the killer responded with 'sweet'. Bruce observes: "Most parents in this situation would check the number works - but this sounds like he's arranging to meet someone for a beer."

Subsequently, when a journalist outside his property asks Watts whether he and Shanann had argued, he responds that they'd had "an emotional conversation".

Bruce notes: "He says 'I just want them back' but he then smiles as if he's just told a joke in a bar. No one who isn't guilty would do this. He's also hugging himself, which shows he's just trying to protect himself."

When he's brought to the police station for interrogation, the two officers handling him ensure they adopt distinct approaches.

The male detective leans back and speaks in a flat tone in an attempt to make Watts trust him and confess to the crime he's committed.

By contrast, the female interviewer who administers the polygraph test is the 'bad cop'.

Just before he undergoes the lie detector examination, she warns Watts: "It would be really stupid if you did have anything to do with Shanann and the girls' disappearance for you to be taking a polygraph test.

"Right now, there's only one person in the room who knows what the truth is, but in five minutes, it'll be two of us."

He's then questioned, "Before 2018, did you ever say anything in anger to a loved one?" He initially responds yes, and then no.

Bruce clarifies: "We've all been annoyed and frustrated and said things we didn't want to. He must be the most angelic person to have never done that."

When the polygraph test is over, the female interrogator walks out of the room and Watts tells her, "It feels very uncomfortable", to which she replies, "Yes, I know".

Bruce explains, "This is where the police take control, and now he knows he's not in control. He's failed the polygraph, she tells him he hasn't passed the test and then 'I feel you're probably ready to talk about what happened'.

"Watts tries to give a response and the male investigator tells him to stop and tell him to breathe, to take a deep breath. Watts now knows he has nowhere to run, and that's why he asks for his father."

Bruce explains: "He knew he was guilty and it's always hard to push back against that lie and that just shines through. That's why he wasn't doing what he should have been doing."

Watts has never disclosed any specifics about how he slaughtered his entire family, and because he entered a guilty plea, the horrific details weren't revealed in court.

In 2019, Watts met with agents from the FBI and CBI, as well as a member of the Frederick Police Department about the killings.

Shanann's parents, the Rzuceks, were informed about what was discussed and it has been alleged that the father killed his wife Shanann in a fit of fury after she murdered their two young daughters.

Watts had claimed he saw the couple's daughter Bella dead in her bed and Shanann in the process of strangling Celeste on the baby monitor. Local police and the FBI were unconvinced by his account, leading to the father being charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Watts is currently serving time in a Wisconsin prison, US, after receiving five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in November.

He narrowly avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to all the charges levelled against him.