(KDVR) — The mother of a man who pleaded guilty to murdering his family is speaking to our Denver affiliate FOX31 for the very first time.
Cindy Watts says she believes her son's guilty plea was coerced.
Watts says she knows her son is guilty of murder. However, she does not believe he murdered his two young children.
"He did kill her, but the kids no. It's very difficult, very difficult. I can't imagine my son doing that. He couldn't have done that," Watts said.
Cindy Watts spoke to the FOX31 Problem Solvers from her home in North Carolina. She says her family is not being allowed to speak to Chris, and she thinks he was coerced by prosecutors into pleading guilty.
"I want to stop it before it's too late. I want to talk to him. I want to be able to talk to him. I love my son no matter what and I want to fight for him, and I don't want him to go down for something he didn't do," Watts said.
Cindy Watts says she knows her son should spend a long time in prison for murdering his wife, but she claims he was stuck in a verbally abusive relationship.
Chris Watts will avoid the death penalty in exchange for the plea deal. He pleaded guilty to nine charges: five counts of first-degree murder, one count of unlawful termination of pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a dead body.
He will be formally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on November 19th.
FOX31 has reached out to Shannan Watts' family on multiple occasions, but the family declined to comment.