Christopher Watts Was "Smartest Student:" Former NC Teacher

FREDERICK, CO – Frederick accused murderer Christopher Lee Watts, 33, was described as a “very smart” student with a “photographic memory” by his former North Carolina high school automotive teacher.

The man accused of killing his pregnant wife and kids and dumping the children’s bodies into oil tanks, brazenly gave multiple television interviews claiming his family had simply disappeared from his home.

“I just want them back. I’d do anything to have them back,” Watts said, in one of a series of interviews where he claimed his wife and children had just vanished.

ALERT: Watts Told Police He Strangled Wife After She Strangled Daughters

The accusations against Watts came as a surprise to those who knew him in North Carolina.

“[Watts] was one of the best students I ever had. Oh, my God. This is a shock,’ retired teacher Joe Duty told the Fayetteville Observer.

Watts graduated from Pine Forest High School in 2003, according to the Observer. Watts and another senior at Pine Forest placed won $1,000 scholarships to technical institutes in their home states.

“The guy had a photographic memory,” Duty remembered. “I said, ‘Chris, if I ever had a student who was going to be tremendously successful, it’s you.’”

According to Duty’s recollection, Watts in high school aspired to be a NASCAR crew chief technician.

But instead, Watts worked, until Wednesday, at Anadarko Oil and Gas, earning around $60,000, according to bankruptcy records filed in 2015.

His wife, slain mother Shanann Watts, also had ties in North Carolina, graduating from Pinecrest High in Southern Pines.

The couple owned a house in Belmont, west of Charlotte, which Shanann had bought in 2009. The couple were married in 2012. According to the Denver Post, the new owner, Byron Falls said the Watts's were in a hurry to sell and left all the furniture behind.

Watch Chris Watts interviewed hours before his arrest, telling Denver7 he has no idea where his missing wife and daughters are here:

Read the coverage in the Fayetteville Observer here.

Related: Bodies Of Missing Colo. Girls Found In Oil Tanks: Report

Related: 5 Fast Facts About Homicide Of Shanann Watts And 2 Daughters

Related: Bodies Found On Anadarko Property May Be Missing Children, 3, 4

Image: Christopher Watts glances back at a Weld County Sheriff's Deputy as he is escorted out of the courtroom at the Weld County Courthouse Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, in Greeley, Colo. Watts, of Colorado, whose wife and daughters disappeared this week was arrested on suspicion of killing them. (Joshua Polson/The Greeley Tribune via AP, Pool)

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