Vigil tonight for slain NC native and her children as questions swirl about motive

Police said Thursday that Chris Watts is suspected of killing his wife and their two daughters.

Police have not publicly disclosed a motive in the case but the couple moved to Colorado from North Carolina about six years ago.

Court records show they filed for bankruptcy in 2015, reporting that they had less less than $10 left in their savings accounts, having amassed more than $70,000 in debt, most of it from credit card purchases. It was not know if money problems were factors in the slayings.

Christopher Watts spoke to the media just 24 hours before he was charged with the murder of his wife and children, and an expert said he exhibited some interesting behavior during the interview.

Thousands have watched the interview, including Dr. Robert Conder, a neuropsychologist who has worked on 14 capital murder cases, analyzing people accused of the most egregious crimes.

“I’m interested in the criminal mind and we’re trying to figure out why people do violent things,” Conder said.

Christopher Watts now faces three counts of first-degree murder.

Conder on Thursday watched Christopher Watts’ interview, taking note of every inflection, movement and his even skin tone to make an assessment.

“I’m looking for how he presents himself, what his face looks like,” Conder explained. “You would imagine that a husband who doesn’t know where his wife and two little girls are would be ashen-faced.”

Conder observed that, throughout the interview, Christopher Watts’ arms were crossed and he was rocking back and forth.

“It’s like he’s cradling himself. He’s trying to soothe himself a little bit, and the rocking comes from soothing. It comes from infancy, that babies rock and hold themselves to feel better. He’s trying to make himself feel better in this situation,” he said.

Conder also noted that Christopher Watts’ choice of words were stilted and “sort of intellectualized.”

“He’s what we call isolation affect. He’s cutting off his feelings and using these fancy words,” Conder said.

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Even the nuances and things that appear to be innocuous are significant when analyzing Christopher Watts.

“He’s really not blinking a lot. We blink naturally and he’s trying to control a lot of stuff and once of the things you do is control responses like blinking,” Conder said.

Ultimately, Conder believes Wednesday’s interview shows that Christopher Watts was in a difficult place emotionally.

“I think he’s really torn up and struggling with his conscience about this and the somebody who’s going to come forward is going to be him,” he said.

Conder said he did sense remorse when it came to Watts answering questions about his children.