Court denies DA’s request to seal autospies of Shanann Watts, children

Daily Camera (Boulder): The Weld County District Court has denied the prosecution’s request to seal the autopsy reports for Shanann Watts and her children, who were killed in August, siding with the argument presented by a group of media advocacy associations.

In a court document filed Friday, the court denied Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke’s request to seal the autopsies of 34-year-old Shanann Watts, and two children, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, saying it lacked “subject matter jurisdiction” on the issue.

Chris Watts, 33, is accused of killing his wife, who was 15 weeks pregnant at the time, and two daughters. He is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree unlawful termination of pregnancy and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body.

The court ruled that the custodian of the autopsy reports — the Weld County Coroner’s Office — will need to file a separate action in court to keep the autopsies sealed.

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