Chris Watts learned his fate after pleading guilty to killing his pregnant wife Shan’ann and two daughters on Nov. 19. At his sentencing hearing, he was told he will serve three consecutive life sentences, without the chance of parole. That means he will never have the chance to get out of jail until the day he dies, and he probably would have gotten the death penalty if not for his plea deal. The judge, Marcelo Kopcow, actually said, “this is perhaps the most inhumane and vicious crime that I have handled out of the thousands of cases that I have seen.”

Before being sentenced for the murders, Shan’ann’s father Frank Rzucek sobbed and repeatedly called Chris a “monster.” “God only knows what happened that night but life will never be the same. They had all their lives to live,” he said. Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke also described how Chris strangled his wife and smothered his two little girls. “They were taken by a heartless one, taken by an evil monster the heartless monster. You took them out like trash, you disgust me, Mr. Rzucek continued. “They were loving and caring people. You may have taken their bodies from them, but you have never taken the love they had for me. You heartless monster, you have to live with this vision every day of your life. You have no heart or feelings, prison is too good for you.”

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Shan’ann’s mother also shared her heartbreaking testimony to the court, saying, “Your faithful wife trusted you, your daughters trusted you. I have no idea who gave you the right to take their lives, but I know God in his mighty angels were there at that moment to bring them home to paradise. Not only did you take your family of four, you took your own life. I want the world to know our daughter and her children were so loved by us.”

The sentencing hearing was certainly an emotional day for everyone, including Chris’ own parents. Though they originally didn’t want to believe it, and felt that Chris was “pressured” into a guilty plea, they have now “accepted that their son has done this.” “This is something we will never get over, we will always mourn the loss of our family. I am still struggling to understand why and how this tragedy occurred. To my son Chris, I have known you since the day you were born,” said his mom Cindy in a statement. “You were a good friend, brother, father, and son. I have loved you from the beginning and we still love you now. We love you and we forgive you son.”

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