Ex-teacher: Accused murderer 'one of the best students ...'
Retired teacher Joe Duty was shocked Thursday when he heard that Chris Watts, one of his former Pine Forest High School automotive students, was charged with murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters in Colorado.
"I haven't heard anything from Chris in a long time," Duty said. "In fact, he was one of the best students I ever had. Oh, my God. This is a shock."
Watts has confessed to killing his 34-year-old wife, Shanann, and daughters Bella, 3, and Celeste, 4. The three had been reported missing from their home in Frederick, Colorado, since Monday.
Shanann Watts lived in Moore County when she was younger and attended Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines.
The case has gripped the nation's since Chris Watts, 33, appeared on television pleading for help finding his family. Only hours after police held a news conference asking for the public's help, a Denver ABC television channel reported that Watts had confessed to killing them.
Authorities say they have found the body of Shanann Watts, and believe they know the location of the girls’ bodies and are working to recover them.
Chris Watts and his family had lived in Frederick since 2013. The town of about 12,000 people is about 30 miles north of Denver.
No one came to the door Thursday at the home just outside Spring Lake where the Watts family has lived. A neighbor declined to speak to a reporter, saying he didn't want to get involved. He added that he believed members of the Watts family had probably left to go to Colorado.
Those who know Watts described him as a remarkably intelligent youth. In 2003, hes and another senior at Pine Forest placed third at the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association competition in Winston-Salem, receiving a certificate and a $1,000 scholarship to Universal Technical Institute and NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville.
Duty, their teacher, stood on the sidelines and watched.
"This was one of the smartest students I ever had. The guy had a photographic memory," he said. "His biggest passion outside of automotive was NASCAR. He knew chapter and verse, everything you could ask about NASCAR. Anything. In fact, I told him before he graduated, I said, 'Chris, if I ever had a student who was going to be tremendously successful, it's you.' He wanted to work his way up and be on a NASCAR team. Probably a crew chief."
Duty said he believed that Watts attended the NASCAR Technical Institute. A representative said she could not comment.
Others who remember Watts from high school described him as a boy that every girl had a crush on, but shy and awkward.
Duty said most of his students, in particular the good ones, have kept in constant contact with him.
That was not the case with Watts.
"I really wondered why I never heard from him," Duty said.
He remembered his former student as extremely introverted and quiet. Watts would sit in class and hardly say a word, Duty said.
"If you talked to him," he added, "he would talk to you. Often, I wondered why he was so withdrawn. He was very clean-cut, very respectful, very smart."
He remembers Watts as a great student because he could look at anything in the classroom, anything he was supposed to be learning, "and he had it. It didn't take but one time, and he had it. Didn't matter what it was."
Three years ago, Duty retired from public education after a 35-year teaching career, with his last stop at Lee County High School.
"This is just a shock," he said. "This is the most stunning thing I've heard since I left Fayetteville."
Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at mfutch@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3529.
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