Shan’ann Watts wastes no time alerting everyone about her debacle. She starts off Wednesday morning venting almost hysterically about her situation. She tells Sara Nudd she tried to have sex with her husband [presumably after they arrived home from the airport], and Watts rejected her. Again, this event will later play into the psychology of his fictional versions after-the-fact. It’s also a major blunder of the cops that they didn’t question Watts at length on exactly what happened when he arrived home with Shan’ann on the night of August 7th, in order to set a general precedent.
Shan’ann’s admission that she’s not “cried this hard ever” provides perspective on just how emotionally compromised she was, and who wouldn’t be, given the stakes: drowning in debt, battling her in laws, pregnant, sick, husband possibly cheating and he doesn’t want the third baby, and two temperamental young children to look after…
The tantrums aren’t pleasant either. Shan’ann has fought back by reviewing her own phone data and holding this up as evidence; interrogating him, asking him to explain it. This too is going to turn the lights in his cockpit red.
Shan’ann refers to 12 separate texts where she begged him to talk to her but instead he was “asleep” at 19:00 or 20:00. In fact, he wasn’t asleep, he was at Kessinger’s home throughout the month of July.
Shan’ann sending him “evidence” off her phone would also have vividly alerted Watts to a narrative – about him – that he had very little control over. And this was the thing he was becoming increasingly anxious about – how to make sure he stayed on top of his narrative. It was important his mistress didn’t get a different impression of him, especially not from his pregnant wife.
The arguing between the two also doesn’t sound as mild as it was in North Carolina, when they shared their living quarters with her folks. With them out of the way, Shan’ann is free to let rip on Watts, and she does:
“I tried talking to him after rejection last night, and me crying alone for an hour on the couch – he slept. I kicked his sorry ass out of bed and I refuse to sleep on the couch anymore this week. Told him to not come home today if he can’t tell me the damn truth on what the hell is wrong!”
Make no mistake, this is Shan’ann no holds barred, passive [crying] aggressive [threatening], putting her foot down, laying down the law. It’s unclear where Watts was sleeping in bed, whether it was the basement or in her bed. If he was in the basement why would she be on the couch?
Consider the irony of her telling him “not to come home if he can’t tell me the damn truth” and what he elected to do with her. He made her disappear, not come home, so that she couldn’t tell anyone the truth.
Also, consider the irony of Watts – for five weeks prior – having the run of “his house”, and the first night back his wife bullies him, threatens him, kicks him out of bed, all the while wishing he could be with Kessinger, but knowing he can’t because she’s around. In these emotionally fraught moment, the thought has to be clanging in his head:
I just wish I could get rid of her.
Shan’ann also acknowledges for the first time that it’s not just a case that Watts doesn’t want the baby, he’d be prepared to kill the child – through an abortion.
At 08:06 we get a peek on Shan’ann’s intuition regarding the affair. It’s on her mind, but she’s not certain. One of the reasons for this is a pretty good reason Watts offers in his defense:
And hence, Shan’ann also told Amanda Thayer she wasn’t too concerned about an affair, because she knew, and he knew, “he had no game”. But this was a critical error on her part. It was also a neat psychological manipulation from him to goad her towards her own familiar contempt for him.
When Josh Rosenberg [Cassie’s husband] contacted Watts to ask about the baby’s gender, Watts must have felt his ears burning. Clearly, Shan’ann was waking up the neighborhood talking about them, and the baby.
Cassie would later tell the cops that Shan’ann only texted her because she didn’t want Watts to hear her talking about him. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be discussing their problems with others. More than likely, Watts have been clear that he didn’t want her to air their dirty laundry in public, especially after what happened during Nut Gate with his folks. Shan’ann agreed, but then went behind his back and communicated anyway. Josh asking him about the baby proved that Shan’ann had broken her word to him, and this made him vulnerable in his affair.
This…I have to put a stop to this. How do I put a stop to this?
At 15:11 Watts made a change to Shan’ann’s contact details, perhaps to prevent Kessinger from seeing anything on his phone. Given what was happening, there was likely to be a flurry of histrionic traffic between him and his wife.
At 19:25, Kessinger Googles “marrying your mistress”. This day was also a rendezvous with her at the office, and a break at long last from the loveless drama and bitter feuding after the last week. Watts also apparently told her then – immediately after arriving back – we’re getting a divorce. At this point, he had told Shan’ann that they were incompatible and didn’t want the baby. It’s also on this day that she tells Nickole Atkinson and Cassie Rosenberg she will fight for full custody. August 8th is thus the first time he mentions divorce, but also tells her he’s not in a hurry.
In the Phone Data Review cursory remarks are made about a critical conversation Shan’ann has with Nickole and Cassie at 22:19 on August 8th, littered with expletives. Part of this conversation includes Shan’ann asking for the pregnancy reveal Taylor Welsch is organizing, to be cancelled – as per Watts’ instructions. This is obviously an issue for him. Shan’ann also asks her friends not to post anything on Facebook. [This is the day prior to Watts scrubbing his Facebook profile].
I have mentioned in the past that if Watts saw this particular exchange, where both Shan’ann and Cassie say “fuck him” and conspire to take his house, this more than anything else would have prompted him to take the gloves off. It’s also possible he did see it if they had shared access to the iCloud, as many couples do. From the discovery we know that at a certain point they did share access.
It’s unfortunate that Shan’ann was indiscreet about the private issues of their marriage. Watts had only just confided in her, and he did so reluctantly and with difficulty. She could be discreet about certain issues when she wanted to be, such as their money troubles. If it suited her, Shan’ann could keep secrets. But even if her husband asked her to do so Shan’ann didn’t seem to have any qualms about going behind his back, after all, fuck him, she wore the pants, she was the one in control. Below is a sample of some of the actual text messages sent between Shan’ann, Nickole and Cassie on August 8th.
After a long day of venting and whatnot, by the end of it Shan’ann seemed to have a change of heart. She realized she didn’t have a choice in the matter. She couldn’t afford to be a single mother without his full salary, and three kids to raise in Colorado. The in Colorado bit is especially telling. It suggests she’d considered living with the kids elsewhere, where it was cheaper.
Presumably that night Watts slept in the bed in the basement. Bear in mind Shan’ann had told him earlier that day not to bother to come home unless he told her the truth that night. Well he had. He wanted a divorce. Didn’t want the baby. And didn’t want her to do a baby reveal, or talk about it on social media. They also discussed the house and their financial constraints. Maybe Shan’ann provided a sticky solution. If the Rosenbergs moved in, they didn’t need to move out, did they?
Probably that same day at work [and later that night, from the bed in the basement] he let Kessinger know how serious he still was about her. How serious was he? He was getting a divorce and loved her, and wanted to marry her. Shan’ann – he told her – had already called the realtor. It’s happening. For her part, Kessinger elected to help find him an apartment to facilitate the separation/divorce.
Page 570 of the Discovery Documents appears to refer to this aspect of the timeline – August 8th. Kessinger started looking for apartments from this day, the day after his return from North Carolina.
At 23:08, a few hours after returning from the Ultrasound, Shan’ann is alone in bed, looking for reading material for her husband. He just needs therapy, and some counselling.
More: “Fuck him!” “Fuck you and fuck you and fuck you.”
True Crime Rocket Science II 