No one will buy the Watts murder house featured in Netflix's 'American Murder: The Family Next Door

Graig Graziosi
·2 min read
The home where Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife and children remains empty two years after the killings. The house was on the market for a full year before the lender pulled it out of foreclosure. (Weld County)
The home where Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife and children remains empty two years after the killings. The house was on the market for a full year before the lender pulled it out of foreclosure. (Weld County)

The upscale Colorado house where Chris Watts murdered his wife and children in 2018 has been on the market since the horrific murders occurred, and it appears it may sit vacant forever.

Watts strangled his pregnant wife, Shanann, on 13 August, 2018, and hid her body at a construction site. Then he smothered his two daughters, Bella, 4 and Celeste, 3.

The following day, Watts appeared on TV to beg for his wife and children to return home. However, he later failed a polygraph test and eventually confessed his crimes to the police.

He eventually pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to life in prison.

The Watts' home - the site of the murders - has eight bedrooms and is valued at $645,000. Despite its value, the house has sat empty and had no prospective buyers since 2018.

Following the murders, Watts defaulted on his mortgage and and his lender foreclosed on the home.

The house went to auction, but received no bids, likely a result of its grisly history.

The lender kept the house on the market for an entire year, but no one bid.

Last year, the house was removed from foreclosure and taken off the market. Essentially, Watts still owns the house, but because he will be in prison for the rest of his life, it will presumably sit empty forever.

If Watts can ever sell the home, it is likely the money will go towards a $6m wrongful death settlement he has with his wife's family.

Interest in the Watts murders has reignited thanks to a Netflix documentary, American Murder: The Family Next Door, which focuses on the killings.

Watts killed his wife after admitting to her that he had been cheating on her with a co-worker. He asked her for a divorce. She allegedly told him that he would never see his daughters again, which apparently prompted the murder. Later, he smothered his daughters in his car.

The bodies of the girls were found in oil tanks on Watts' work site, and Shanann's body was found buried in a shallow grave nearby.

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