Will Chris Watts’s house lay empty after his heinous murders?
Houses with a questionable history are a hit or a miss for real estate agents. True crime fans may feel at home living in a property where a heinous crime was committed, but that’s not the life for everyone. With Chris Watts in jail after murdering his entire family, many are wondering what will happen to the Watts family house.
American Murder: The Family Next Door producer James Marsh must of also been interested, as the Netflix documentary also looks into what is happening with the Watts house. Unsurprisingly, the bankruptcy attorney trying to sell the Watts family home found numerous difficulties trying to sell it.
So, as we learn in American Murder, Chris Watts’ former house will remain empty for the time being. Colorado bankruptcy lawyer Clark Day withdrew the home’s Notice of Election and Demand for Sale by Public Trustee. For the time being, the only people living in the home are probably the ghosts of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste Watts.
Home to a tragic murder
In case you’ve managed to miss what exactly Chris Watts did in his house, here’s the basics. Chris Watts strangled his pregnant wife Shanann back in August of 2018. Later, Watts suffocated his two daughters Bella & Celeste by smothering them with a blanket. He disposed of the bodies on the property of his former employer Anadarko Petroleum.
Initially, Watts tried to play the role of the concerned husband, worried by the disappearance of his daughters and wife. Police grew to suspect him though as he was acting strange. After giving him a polygraph test he failed, Watts confessed to murdering his family.
Chris Watts was found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder, unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. Watts was sentenced to jail for five life sentences, three served consecutively and two served concurrently. Currently, Watts is in Dodge Correctional Institution serving his five life sentences.
Struggling to sell the home
Since the only person still living who could deal with the house is Chris Watts, the house fell into the hands of the bank since Watts couldn’t keep paying his mortgage on it. Assigned to the case was bankruptcy lawyer Clark Day.
Day hoped he would be able to offload the house through a bankruptcy auction, but too many people know the story of Chris Watts. Therefore, they know what he did to his wife and daughters within those four walls. Not everyone wants to live in a home haunted by the ghosts of a family torn apart.
The house was officially pulled off the market in June 2020 due to the lack of interest from buyers. For now, Day is letting the Watts family home lay empty until some other crazy bankruptcy lawyer tries to do a foreclosure sale on the home.
Imagine living in the infamous Watts home
It’s completely understandable that no one wants to live in that home. First off, knowing the heinous acts Chris Watts committed in that house is disturbing enough. Plus, that house is all over the media and documentaries left and right when discussing the Chris Watts case.
If someone were to buy that home, they have to buy the reputation of the story behind it. This means the numerous people stopping buy to pay tribute to Bella, Celeste, and Shanann. This means people vandalizing the home in rage over what Chris did. This means even the neighbors telling stories about the Watts family before everything went down to you.
To buy the Watts family home would be to insert yourself into the story whether you like it or not. That’s a lot to ask anyone, regardless of how invested in the Chris Watts case you are. It’s completely understandable no one wants to buy the home under those circumstances. So we’ll just have to wait and see if someone ends up purchasing the home.
