Christopher Lee Watts, the Colorado man who strangled his pregnant wife and smothered their two young daughters in one of the most notorious family murders in history, is the subject of public scrutiny once again.
On 13 August 2018, Chris Watts strangled his 15 weeks pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, to death, before killing their children, Celeste and Bella, 3 and 4 years old. He dumped their bodies at an oil site located in a remote area.
Watts initially portrayed a grieving husband and father in interviews with the media, begging for his family's safe return. However, within days of investigation, evidence tying him to the murder of his family, including surveillance footage, digital records, and inconsistencies in his statements, led him to confess to authorities following his arrest.
Chris Watts consequently confessed to killing his pregnant wife following a marital dispute, then killing their daughters in an attempt to conceal the crime he had committed. Shanann was buried in a shallow grave in the oil site, while the girls were found submerged in oil tanks.
He pleaded guilty to all nine charges on 6 November 2018. The charges included multiple counts of first-degree murder and unlawful termination of pregnancy, in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. Watts has been serving five life sentences in a maximum-security prison in Wisconsin, the Dodge Correctional Institution.
During the investigation, the police uncovered that Chriss Watts had an extra-marital affair with a colleague at the time of the murders. The colleague was later named as Nichol Kessinger. According to Kessinger's statement to theDenver Postin November 2018, she said she had reason to believe Chris Watts was finalising a divorce, as shared byPeople.
Want some more on the Chris Watts case? I'm looking at his girlfriend Nichol Kessinger and you can imagine how this answer makes me feel.pic.twitter.com/0HWmyGKA1F
Kessinger said their extra-marital affair had begun a few months prior to the murders, and that they were meeting secretly a few times per week.
Chris allegedly asked Kessinger for help finding an apartment days before he murdered his family, as the divorce was finalising. 'He made me believe that he was doing all of the things that a rational man and good father would do,' Kessinger told the news.
Upon hearing of Chris' family's disappearance, Kessinger said she learned Chris was still married. Chris allegedly denied assaulting his family when Kessinger asked him, noting that something had 'seemed off' in his behaviour.
Source: International Business Times UK
