The Watts family murders occurred on the early morning of August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado, US. While being interviewed by police, Christopher Lee Watts admitted to killing his pregnant wife Shan'ann Cathryn Watts by strangulation. Their daughters, four-year-old Bella, and three-year-old Celeste, died by asphyxiation due to smothering. Watts then disposed of his daughters' bodies in oil tanks and buried his wife in a shallow grave at his work-site. He pleaded guilty on November 6, 2018, to multiple counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea deal when the death penalty was removed from sentencing. He was sentenced to five life sentences without the possibility of parole, three to be served consecutively and two to be served concurrently.