Shanann Watts Struggled to Conceive, Brother Reveals

In a long, emotional Facebook post, Frankie Rzucek, brother of murdered expectant mother of two Shanann Watts, revealed that his sister had had a hard time conceiving.

“When our family found out she beat all the odds and become pregnant I can’t even explain our excitement,” he posted.

“Shanann was born to be a mother and help change lives. (This I know) She was the picture perfect mother … She made being a parent look easy.”

In the post, he revealed that his sister had the auto-immune disease lupus, which an autoimmune disease which causes fertility problems and high-risk pregnancies. But despite having successfully conceived a third child, it wasn’t to be.

Christopher Watts is in court for his arraignment hearing at the Weld County Courthouse in Greeley, Colorado on Aug. 21, 2018. RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via AP

Shanann Watts and her two children, Bella, age 4, and Celeste, age 3, were found dead in barrels of refinery products on land owned by the firm that had employed husband and father Christopher Watts. Watts was arrested later that night and charged with the murders of his family members.

Shanann had been 15 weeks pregnant with the couple’s first son, whom they planned to name Nico.

A Heartbroken Brother

This was not the only emotional Facebook message posted by the murdered woman’s brother. On August 16, the day after Watts was arrested, Frankie Rzucek vented his rage at the alleged killer, who he had already suspected of being the killer.

“I just want 30 seconds alone with that heartless psychopath. May Satan have mercy on his soul. … My blood is boiling and the pain and anger and sadness I have in my heart. Nothing absolutely nothing would get in my way of taking away his life like he did mine and my ENTIRE FAMILY.”

Rzucek talked about his outburst in another post the next day: “I let my feelings and love for my family get the best of me on my post last night about that evil man. But I will never delete it or regret it. I meant every word.

“He stole my whole world and treated them like they were trash. I’ve never been so mad, sad, enraged, hurt heartbroken, lost, and shocked in all my life. So forgive me for how I went about it.

“My sister and nieces meant the absolute world to me. They made me strive to be an even better man. I wanted them to be proud of their Uncle.”

Christopher Watts glances back at a Weld County Sheriff's Deputy as he is escorted out of the courtroom at the Weld County Courthouse in Greeley, Colorado on Aug. 16, 2018. Joshua Polson/The Greeley Tribune via AP, Pool

Finances Might Have Been a Factor

Although Shanann Watts had been involved quite successfully in a multi-level market company since 2016, the Watts household seemed to have had a history of financial stresses.

Despite earning some $90,000 in 2014, the couple had to file for bankruptcy in 2015, as they faced a mountain of debt from school loans and credit cards.

Shanann Watts seemed to be extremely successful at her multi-level marketing job promoting weight-loss and health-boosting patches. She earned a car and many trips around the country to promote the product.

Even so, the couple was sued in July for unpaid Homeowners’ Association fees amounting to $1,533.80, suggesting that the couple still had cash-flow problems.

It is possible that the addition of a third child and the income lost when Shanann had to take leave to care for her children might have added to the household stress level.

Less Than Perfect Union

Reading Shanann Watts’ Facebook or Instagram pages, one would think that she and her husband had a perfect marriage.

Shanann posted on Facebook on March 10, I love this man so much! He’s my rock!” and again on May 5, even more emphatically, “I love this man! He’s my ROCK!”

However, she spent much of the summer traveling away from her husband and apparently told her mother the couple was close to breaking up.

A coworker of Shanann’s mother told WRAL that after spending some weeks with her daughter in North Carolina, Shanann had mentioned that she was considering separation.

This is bolstered by a comment Christopher Watts made to a friend of Shanann’s, who called after Shanann went missing.

Nickole Atkinson said that Shanann never mentioned marital troubles, but her husband did when Atkinson called on the morning of August 13.

“I didn’t find out that they were going to separate or anything like that until I called Chris that morning,” Atkinson said, according to The Epoch Times.

“When I called him and asked him where she was, that’s when he told me and I basically told him that that wasn’t my [concern] at that particular moment because it wasn’t and that their business was their business, that they would either work it out or they wouldn’t.”

Uncertain Past

While the couple apparently were getting their lives on track in Colorado, it seems they had a rocky history in North Carolina, where they met and married.

Website Meaww reported that Chris Watts had been arrested three times in North Carolina, and Shanann Watts 15 times. There was no mention of what the charges might have been.

According to Byron Falls, who bought the Watts’s house in North Carolina, the couple was in a huge rush to make the sale and leave the state.

Once in Colorado, the couple was still on shaky ground, with Shanann having to work nights and overtime to make extra money at her job at a children’s hospital call center. It wasn’t until the end of 2014 that Watts got hired to a $61,000 per year position with Anadarko Petroleum.

Success Dividing the Pair?

As Shanann Watts continued to rise at Le-Vel, the multi-level marketing company where she started in 2016, she earned perks and bonuses—such as frequent trips around the country. She also had to leave her husband at home to care for the kids while also working full-time.

Though the couple appeared together in a promotional article in the Le-Vel company newsletter in 2017, and Christopher Watts showed up, smiling and prominently wearing one of the company’s energy patches in multiple Instagram photos, it is possible that Shanann would have wanted a more dynamic partner who could better help keep her and her growing business in overdrive.

From NTD.tv

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