FREDERICK, Colo. -- A Cumberland County native charged with murdering his pregnant wife and their two young daughters in Colorado appeared in court Tuesday. 

• Christopher Watts has been charged with the murder of his pregnant wife, Shanann, and two daughters.
• Both Christopher and Shanann have ties to North Carolina.
• PREVIOUS: Husband confesses to murder of missing woman, children with NC ties

Christopher Watts stoically answered "Yes sir" as the judge asked whether he understood the murder and other felony charges against him and the penalties they carry, including the death penalty.

Prosecutors charged 33-year-old Watts Monday.

The arrest affidavit says he confessed to strangling his wife in a rage after she strangled their daughters.

Watts claims it happened after he asked his wife for a separation.

The charges against Christopher Watts come a week after a friend reported 34-year-old Shanann Watts and the girls missing from their home in Frederick, a small town north of Denver.

Watts is also charged with unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

Shanann Watts was from Moore County.

Authorities say they found her body Thursday on property owned by the oil and gas company where her husband worked.

The bodies of 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste were found nearby.

The couple was married in Mecklenburg County in 2012.

Watts didn't enter pleas Tuesday. The judge set the next hearing for Nov. 19.

A fundraiser has been set up for Shanann Watts' family.