Chris Watts' house

Murder House Frederick, Colorado

This is Chris Watts' former house.

It is located at 2825 Saratoga Trail in Frederick, Colorado.

The oil field operator lived at this address with his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their two daughters, Bella (4) and Celeste (3).

The Watts family — The photographs above show the Watts family during happier times. Chris and Shanann met in 2010 after he sent her a friend request on Facebook. They were married in November 2013.

Watts strangled Shanann to death at their home during the early hours of August 13th, 2018. After killing his wife, he drove their two children to his worksite near Roggen and then murdered them.

Following the killings, he pretended as though Shanann had taken their daughters and left.

The case quickly received worldwide attention, which was further amplified after Netflix released the documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door.

Watts met a woman named Nichol Kessinger at his workplace in June 2018. Shortly afterwards, they began an affair. On the day of the murder, he texted her and said that his family had "gone."

Saratoga Trail — The house is 4,177 square feet in size. It has five bedrooms and four bathrooms. In October 2024, it sold for $650,000.

Shanann disappears

On August 13th, 2018, Shanann's friend Nickole Atkinson became concerned after she failed to show up for an appointment.

Her concern grew even further when Shannan failed to answer the door or respond to any of her text messages.

Knowing that this was extremely out of character, Atkinson decided to raise the alarm with Shannan's husband and the Frederick Police Department.

A subsequent welfare check by the police showed no sign of Shanann or the two girls.

Shanann's car was still parked in the garage. Furthermore, both her phone and medication were found inside the house.

Living room — In the bodycam footage, a police officer peers in through the window by the front door. However, the living room looked untouched, and there were no obvious signs of foul play.

The neighbor's surveillance — During the welfare check, the police officer visited Watts' next-door neighbor, Nate Trinastich. While they were reviewing surveillance footage, Watts put his hands on his head and appeared worried.
It is possible that he didn't realize the security camera reached so far into his own driveway.

As they were watching the footage, Trinastich seemed so concerned by Watts' body language that he kept looking over at him.

As soon as Trinastich was alone with the reporting officer, he pointed out that Watts "wasn't acting right" and that he was "rocking back and forth."

Nate Trinastich — Trinastich owned the security camera that captured Watts. While speaking to the responding officer, he said that it was strange how Watts pulled his truck right up to the garage. Trinastich pointed out that he never did this in the past. Instead, he would carry his toolbox out of the house and then walk back and forth if he needed to.

Chris Watts is arrested

On August 14th, Watts stood on the porch outside his house and pleaded on local television for his family to return.

sham plea — He attempted to play the role of a concerned father who wanted his family to return.

The following day, the police arrested him and convinced him to undergo a polygraph test. After failing the test, he eventually confessed to killing Shanann.

Although Watts initially tried to blame the murders of Bella and Celeste on his wife, his story did not hold up to scrutiny.

Shanann Watts' Facebook post — Approximately two months before the murders, Shanann posted a Father's Day message about Watts. In the post, she said that they were "blessed" to have him. She also spoke about how they were expecting their third child. Later, it would come to light that Watts tried to force her to have a miscarriage by secretly giving her a painkiller called OxyContin. In letters that he wrote to a pen pal from prison, he admitted he had been planning the murder for weeks.

On August 16th, 2018, the bodies of his two children were discovered in oil tanks at his worksite near Roggen. Shanann's remains were also found buried in a nearby shallow grave.

Drone footage — This is a drone image of the site. The bodies of the Watts family were discovered on August 16th, 2018, three days after they were murdered.
View Location

Burial site — The oil site was owned by Watts' employer, Anadarko Oil and Gas Company. Watts initially tried to smother Bella and Celeste at the house. However, they both "woke up." After driving out to this site in Roggen, he smothered them again and then placed their bodies in two separate crude oil tanks. Afterwards, he buried Shanann's remains in a shallow grave on the southeastern side of the property. She was found face down, lying in a fetal position. The site is roughly 40 miles away from his house in Frederick. Google Maps indicates that it would have taken him 50 minutes to drive between the two locations. He reportedly put garbage bags over Shanann's head so that the girls wouldn't be able to see her during the journey.

On November 6th, 2018, Watts pleaded guilty to multiple counts of first-degree murder.

Two weeks later, he was sentenced to five life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Address

The address and GPS coordinates for the house are as follows:

Address

2825 Saratoga Trail, Frederick, Colorado, CO 80516, USA

GPS Coordinates

40.090719, -105.000554

40°05'26.59"N 105°00'01.99"W

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Area Information

Frederick is a small town in the north of Colorado. It is about 30 miles north of Denver.

📍 It is situated at the end of Steeple Rock Drive. The entrance to the neighborhood is on Aggregate Boulevard, which is west of Frederick.

Private Property Warning

This is private property, not a public space. Please respect the owners and do not enter without permission. Entry without permission is trespassing and may be met with legal or other serious consequences.