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The prosecutors who charged a Frederick man with murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters requested Monday that a judge keep the victims’ autopsy reports from the public until trial, court documents show.

The bodies of Shanann Watts and her daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, were found last month on Anadarko Petroleum Corporation property in rural Weld County. The girls’ bodies were hidden in an oil tank and their mother was buried in a shallow grave nearby. Police charged Christopher Watts, Shanann’s husband and the girls’ father, in their killings.

Neither law enforcement nor prosecutors have officially released how the three died,聽though a defense motion filed last month suggested that the girls had been strangled to death. Prosecutors with the Weld County District Attorney’s Office believe the release of the autopsy reports could damage the continuing investigation.

“The disclosure of this information to the public prior to trial could result in tainting witnesses that have not yet been interviewed and impacting future jurors,” the prosecution’s motion states.

Autopsy reports are considered public records in Colorado and are generally accessible to anybody. But Colorado law states that a judge may close autopsies from the public if it would

The judge in the case, Marcelo Kopcow, chided the defense attorneys for repeatedly filing documents in the court system as suppressed, which means they are not publicly available without the permission of a judge. can be legally suppressed, like records about juveniles, mental health and some family issues.

“The recent motions filed by the defendant do not fall under the category of documents that are not accessible to the public” under Colorado law, Kopcow wrote in his Sept. 6 order.

Christopher Watts’ public defenders already believe their clients ability to have a fair trial has been impacted. In a document filed Monday, the defense cited “significant damage already done to Mr. Watts’ rights to a fair trial and a fair and impartial jury” in its argument that Watts should not have to provide swabs of his cheeks or finger and palm prints.

The defense attorneys previously asked the judge to order an investigation into whether prosecutors or law enforcement leaked information to the news media. The district attorney’s office denied any wrongdoing and the judge rejected the request.

That request was originally filed under seal, but was later made public after the prosecution filed its response.

Watts remains in the Weld County jail without bond.