On August 15th, 2018, Christopher Watts confessed to killing his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and his two children, Bella and Celeste Watts. Due to this tragic event, Jenny Popplewell made a documentary, “American Murder: The Family Next Door.”

Popplewell opens up this documentary with footage of Shanann Watts’ Facebook. These videos contained the happy family laughing and participating in activities together, but shortly after there is a shift in tone.

Nickole Atkinson, a friend of Shanann’s, made a call to the police, claiming she was worried about her friend. Usually Shanann calls or texts Nickole daily and she did not hear from her from the time she dropped her off at her house.

Jenny Popplewell made a use of body-cam footage, neighbors’ security videos, and other sources to discover what could have happened to Shanann Watts and her daughters. She makes a clear timeline of the events that occurred during the investigation process such as news reports. 

Investigations of Christopher Watts were included and had been a major part of the documentary where he took a lie detector test that revealed the truth—Christopher Watts was responsible for the death of his family.

Under questioning, Chris Watts admitted that there were marital problems just weeks prior Shanann’s death. Shanann had previously accused him of having an affair but he would constantly deny it, but later he admitted to investigators that the allegations were true.

Slowly yet surely, Popplewell builds a story and case against the horrors that were committed against Shannon Watts and her daughters. Shanann’s play-by-play texts made a clear indication that there were certainly marital problems between the two and some may believe that the reason for the murders were so he could start over with the women he was having an affair with.

This level of access to the investigation and the steps that were taken to figure out what happened to the family made the viewers of this documentary feel included and involved in the story.

This documentary captured the true horrors of these disturbing events of Shanann Watts and her three little girls.

Grade: A