Hundreds of mourners assembled at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pinehurst, N.C., to pay their final respects to Shanann, her daughters, and her unborn son, Niko. "I always worried about her and the girls being so far because I couldn't protect them," Shanann's brother, Frankie Rzucek, wrote in her eulogy. Rzucek didn't mention Chris Watts in his eulogy but had previously lashed out at him, calling him a "heartless psychopath" and saying he "stole my whole world."
In a bombshell turn of events, on Nov. 6, 2018, Watts pleaded guilty to the slayings of his pregnant wife and their young children in exchange for being spared a possible death sentence. "The evidence against him was overwhelming," a legal source close to Watts told PEOPLE at the time. "He had no choice, considering the evidence. It took time for him to come around, but he did." But not everyone was happy with the plea agreement; Watts' mother, Cindy, said in several interviews that she thought the confession and the plea were "coerced."
On Nov. 19, 2018, Watts was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. "The defendant coldly and deliberately ended four lives," prosecutors said of Shanann, her girls, and her unborn child. During the victim impact statements, Shanann's father, Frank Rzucek, repeatedly referred to Watts as a monster and an evil person. "I have no idea who gave you the right to take their lives," Shanann's mother, Sandra Rzucek (pictured), said, "But I know God and his mighty angels were there in that moment to bring them home to paradise."
According to sources, Watts' life in jail is anything but stimulating. For an hour a day, he gets out of his cell for showers and exercise. He remains in the evaluation unit of the prison. In his cell, he's allowed to have a Bible, but not much more.