How Chris Watts' mistress Nichol Kessinger vanished into thin air amid allegations and threats
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion is advised.
FREDERICK, COLORADO: The case of Chris Watts and how he killed his pregnant wife and their two minor daughters in 2018 rocked the US, and people still talk about it whenever the topic of true crime stories is raised. Watts, who worked as an oil field operator at Anadarko Petroleum in Frederick, Colorado, strangled his wife Shannan, and suffocated their two girls – Celeste and Bella – in August 2018.
Initially, it was hard to understand how a man, who apparently loved his family so much, took their lives. But eventually, it was found out that he was having an affair with Nichol Kessinger, who he met at his work. He was planning a life with Kessinger and decided to kill his wife and children, The Mirror reported.
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Who is Nichol Kessinger?
At first, in the triple murder case, investigators thought Kessinger was an accomplice in the murders. But later it was revealed that she was as startled as others by the unraveling of the case. In a 2018 interview with the Denver Post, she said, “I don’t think there is a logical explanation for what he did. It’s a senseless act, and it’s horrific.”
About her initial interaction with the criminal, the woman shared, “We had just met. I barely knew him. When he spoke to me, he was very soft-spoken. He appeared to be a good listener.” She also stated that Watts informed her about his two children and also claimed to be amid a divorce with his wife. “I believed him. He made me believe that he was doing all of the things that a rational man and good father would do,” Kessinger told the publication.
‘I just felt so, so sad’
But things changed when suddenly on August 13, 2018, Kessinger received a text from Watts that said his wife along with the children was “gone”. The killer said that his family had gone on a play date but did not return. He seemed normal at the time, however, his mistress became doubtful when “the media was at his house”.
Kessinger said, “When I read the news, I found out he was still married and his wife was 15 weeks pregnant. I thought, ‘If he was able to lie to me and hide something that big, what else was he lying about?’ It got to a point that he was telling me so many lies that I eventually told him that I did not want to speak to him again until his family was found.”
On August 15, Watts was finally arrested for the murders. Kessinger found it from the news. She added, “I just felt so, so sad. He’s a liar. He lied about everything.”
Where is Nichol Kessinger now?
The current location of Kessinger is not known now. She is believed to be living with a new identity in a new place after moving from her house in Arvada, Colorado. She reportedly once said, “I would not be surprised if it’s going to be hard to go out in public sometimes for a couple of years.”