by Jennifer Knight
for Crime Curious
33-year old Christopher "Chris" Watts became entangled in a complicated web of secret desires and forbidden encounters with coworker Nichol "Nikki" Kessinger (30) during the summer of 2018 while his pregnant wife Shanann (34) and the couple's two young daughters Bella and Celeste were out of town, visiting family in another state.
Shanann and her mother-in-law, Cindy Watts, had an acrimonious relationship, to say the least. They were busy fighting like angry old women in North Carolina while Chris and his exciting new girlfriend were busy fucking like teenagers in Colorado.
Chris and Shanann were married on November 3, 2012. His parents did not attend the couple's wedding, nor did his older sister, Jamie. Chris would later tell investigators that his mom never believed that Shanann was "good enough" for him.
"I just don't think he had the right person at his side." - Cindy Watts
Shanann wanted her husband of nearly six years to stand up to his mother - to defend his wife and children against what she believed was a dangerous sort of passive aggression on Cindy's part. Shanann was also battling health concerns, financial stress, impending doom, societal pressure, weight gain, parenting issues, the challenges of self employment, and pregnancy hormones.
Meanwhile, Shanann suspected that the father of her children was actively slipping away into the arms of another woman. She wasn't wrong, but she wasn't entirely sure. Shanann Watts was a force to be reckoned with, but she was exhausted - emotionally and physically abandoned by her husband and supposed partner.
Shanann focused on the dysfunction with her mother in law. She gave Chris an ultimatum. He could either choose his mother and sister's side or he could choose his wife and children's side. Chris ignored both options and chose his relationship with mistress Nichol Kessinger instead, and then he chose to serve five life sentences plus another eighty-four years in prison for the premeditated murder and disposal of his nuclear family. Because that makes sense.
It's been said that Chris Watts chose to plead guilty on all counts in order to avoid a potential death sentence, but Colorado hasn't actually executed anyone since 1997. The state has since repealed its laws on capital punishment.
Many have speculated that Watts chose to plead guilty in order to stop authorities from conducting any further investigations, because he had help murdering his wife and children and he wanted to protect the other person or persons involved. He also wanted to avoid a painful public trial.
Chris Watts had no way out of his marriage, no way out of fatherhood, no way out of his love affair, and no way out of the harsh reality that came crashing down when his wife returned home from out of town. And now, because he chose to kill his wife and children as if that terrible option were some sort of solution, he has no way out of prison... ever.
Learn more about this case by checking out Crime A to Z on YouTube.
They've done a fantastic job of breaking this tragic case all the way down.
Chris Watts Family Murders: The FULL Truth Is Worse Than You Thought
Another fantastic documentary on this case can be found here.
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