A British Youtuber has been hit with a £40,000 libel bill for pushing ‘wholly unfounded conspiracy theories’ over the murder of a woman and her two daughters that shocked that United States.
Franklin Rzucek, the brother of murdered mother-of-two Shanann Watts, sued Devon-born Alan Vinnicombe for libel and harassment over claims he made on YouTube concerning the death of his sister and two nieces.
Mrs Watts and her daughters, Bella, four, and Celeste, three, were murdered by her husband Chris Watts in Colorado in 2018.
Mrs Watts was also pregnant with their third child at the time. Watts was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Mr Rzucek’s barristers previously told the High Court in London that Mr Vinnicombe, now in his 70s, had ‘propagated conspiracy theories’ implicating Mr Rzucek in a ‘sinister, ongoing cover-up’ around the murders.
Last February, a judge at the High Court ruled in Mr Rzucek’s favour without a trial – finding Mr Vinnicombe had not complied with court rules.
On Thursday, Deputy High Court Judge Dan Squires KC awarded Mr Rzucek £40,000 in damages for the libel claim, and also granted an injunction preventing the YouTuber from repeating the defamatory allegations.
Judge Squires said: ‘I accept that the allegations of dishonesty and harassment, repeated over a number of linked broadcasts and published, at least for some of the videos, to at least 20,000 people with a particular interest in the Watts case, are serious and have caused the claimant distress.’
Alan Vinnicombe, who has been hit with a £40k libel bill for pushing ‘wholly unfounded conspiracy theories’ about the murder of Shanann Watts and her daughters, Bella and Celeste
Shanann Watts (right) and her daughters, Bella, four, and Celeste, three, were murdered by their husband and father, Chris Watts (left) in Colorado in 2018
However, Judge Squires said Mr Rzucek’s ‘main locus of his reputation,’ is in the United States, where he resides.
He said that while that does not prevent him ‘being awarded damages’, it does mean damages would not be as high as if his ‘reputation and daily interactions’ were in Britain.
Judge Squires added that Mr Rzucek could not be given damages or an injunction in his harassment claim as he was not in the jurisdiction at the time.
Mr Rzucek, who lives in North Carolina, took legal action against Mr Vinnicombe over comments made on his ‘Armchair Detective Blue’ YouTube channel, which described itself as focusing on ‘true crime and other mysteries’.
The channel had more than 79,000 followers before being closed down in 2023.
A semi-professional poker player, Mr Vinnicombe operated several YouTube channels that purported to ‘dissect cases that have baffled the public’.
Between 2018 and March 2023, he uploaded 184 videos – most focusing on the Watts murders.
He also created films about the death of Nicola Bulley, a 45-year-old mother whose accidental drowning in Lancashire, northern England, became the focus of widespread online conspiracy theories.
Watts strangled his 34-year-old pregnant wife (pictured) in their bed, killing their unborn son, Nico. He then drove Bella and Celeste to a remote oil site where he worked and dumped them in tanks
Watts (pictured) was sentenced to five consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole
After YouTube shut down his channels, he said he depended on the revenue they generated.
Mr Vinnicombe represented himself at a previous hearing, admitting he had not adhered to court rules.
He said he had ‘no money’ to fight the legal claim and he would not be able to pay damages to Mr Rzucek.
He also alleged that his publications were ‘not a conspiracy, it’s a fact’, said Mr Rzucek was ‘a chap in America that just wants to get cash from me’, and that he had been ‘made a target for the claimant for the last six years’.
Shanann Watts, 34, and her two young daughters were reported missing on 13 August, 2018.
Three days later, the bodies of the children were discovered in oil tanks, while Mrs Watts was found buried in a shallow grave.
Chris Watts initially expressed shock at their disappearance and appeared on local television pleading for their safe return.
He later told police that, on the morning his wife went missing, he had informed her he wanted to separate.
Watts was having an affair with Nichol Kessinger (pictured), who he worked with at the time
It has since come to light that Watts was having an affair with his co-worker, Nichol Kessinger, at the time of the murders.
Watts and Kessinger met while working together at Anadarko, a petroleum company.
Kessinger told investigators they began talking in late May or early June, with their relationship turning sexual by July.
She told police that while Watts admitted he had two daughters, he claimed to have been separated from Shanann and didn’t reveal she was pregnant with their son.
Watts later pleaded guilty to nine charges, including murder, tampering with deceased bodies, and unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
Investigators said he admitted to strangling his pregnant wife and smothering their two daughters before disposing of their bodies.
A judge described the killings as perhaps ‘the most inhumane and vicious crime’ he had ever encountered.
Watts was sentenced to five consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
He avoided the death penalty as part of a plea agreement, made at the request of the victims’ family.
