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Chris Watts ordered to pay $6M to murdered wife’s parents

Chris Watts, pictured at left during a Feb. 18, 2019, law enforcement interview at the Wisconsin prison in which he's serving multiple life sentences,offered gruesome details of the Aug. 13, 2018, murders of his wife and two daughters.

COLORADO — A North Carolina native who killed his pregnant wife and two daughters last year has been ordered to pay the parents of his wife $6 million.

Chris Watts killed his wife Shanann and their daughters, 3-year-old Celeste and 4-year-old Bella, in Colorado in August 2018.

The November ruling marks the end of the civil case against Watts.

WTVD reported it is unlikely Shanann Watts’ parents will see money from the lawsuit, but attorneys said this keeps Watts from profiting from the murders.

The $6 million figure breaks down as $1 million for each of the deaths -- Shanann, Celeste and Bella -- and $3 million for emotional pain. It is expected to grow at an eight percent annual interest rate, officials said.

Authorities said Chris Watts did not fight the lawsuit.

He pleaded guilty in November 2018 to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to five life terms, including three to be served consecutively, plus 85 years.

Chris Watts will also be the focus of a new Lifetime movie called, “Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer.”

It is set to premiere Jan. 25 at 8 p.m.

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