It’s nothing new that a man would blame his own crime on another person, however, Chris Watts takes it to a whole new level when he first, blamed his wife for the murder of his children, then his mistress for killing his wife and children.
Why He Did It
Watts committed familicide in 2018 when he murdered his pregnant wife and children in cold blood. On August 13th, he committed the crimes, but it was later discovered that the killings were planned ahead of time. Watts had gotten into an affair in July of that same year with thirty-year-old Nichol Kessinger. Kessinger reports that he told her he was in the middle of a divorce with his wife. Watts became obsessed with Kessinger and wanted to start a new life with her, with no baggage, and so, he planned out his murders.
While his wife, thirty-four-year-old Shanann was away on a business trip, he made his plan. He knew the night before he did it that he was going to murder his daughters, Bella age four and Celeste age three. He recalls thinking that that was the last night he was going to tuck them into bed. He also reportedly did not want another child, but Shanann was fifteen weeks pregnant at the time of her death.
The Murder
When she returned early in the morning on August 13th, 2018, the two got into an argument in which he revealed his affair and plans to divorce Shanann. She was furious and he stated that she threatened him, saying that she would have full custody of their children. This led to him strangling her to death.
His daughter Bella walked in on him murdering her mother and when she asked him what he was doing, he told her that her mom was sick and that she had to go to the hospital. Watts put his wife’s body and his two daughters in the car and drove to his place of work, Anadarko Petroleum. On the drive, Bella kept asking her father to bring her mother to the hospital, but he continued driving nonetheless. When they got to the oil field where Watt’s worked, he killed Celeste by smothering her with her favorite blanket while Bella watched. She begged her father not to do the same thing to her, and tried to run away, but he then murdered her too. He buried his wife in a shallow grave and left his daughter’s bodies in an oil tanker before he drove home.
The Aftermath
Watts reported all three of them missing that same morning and even texted his wife, asking where she was. When Kessinger heard about his missing family, she asked Watts if he had anything to do with it, and he replied coolly that he hadn’t. He acted very concerned for his family, but she ended contact with him and went to the police because she felt he was lying to her. She told him that she did not want to speak to him until his wife and children were found.
This is a big change from August 11th, when Kessinger Googled wedding dresses and articles about husbands leaving their wives for their mistresses. Kessinger was reportedly helpful during the investigation, remembering that they paid for all their dates with gift cards, except for their last one which was on August 11th. This time, he paid with his credit card, Kessinger supposes because he had nothing to lose any more since he was planning to murder his family.
The Sentencing
Watts initially blamed his wife for the death of his two daughters. However, after Watts failed a polygraph test on August 15th, many suspected that he knew about their disappearance. After facing a lot of pressure from the police, he admitted to killing all three of them and told them where their bodies were. Their bodies were found the next day.
On August 21st, he was charged with first-degree murder on five counts, one for each of them, plus an additional one for each of his daughters because they were under the age of twelve. He was also charged with the illegal termination of a pregnancy and for criminally disposing of the bodies.
Watts avoided the death penalty by finally pleading guilty to the murders.
Life in Prison
Watts is in maximum security, living a very lonely life. Other inmates do not look very kindly on child murderers; therefore, he is in protective custody. He gets a lot of death threats so he can’t be around the other inmates alone. That also made it difficult for him to live with another prisoner, but eventually, he was put in a cell with fellow child murderer, Marcus “M.J” Johnson.
David Carter, an inmate, spent time with Watts as they were both unable to fit in with the general population of the prison. Carter says that one day when they were discussing the Bible and God, Carter asked him what he was in for. He said that he wasn’t able to judge Watts and just wanted to know what he was going through. Watts told Carter that his mistress killed his wife and children. Watts said that he was unable to kill his own children, so she did it and then helped dispose of their bodies.
Watts also told Carter that he did not want to pay child support for his children and that he was afraid that his wife would take all of their property in their divorce and that that is why he murdered them, though Carter didn’t believe that this was sufficient enough for Watts to want to kill his family.
Watts also believes that Kessinger has messaged him while he’s been in prison, but this is unlikely as she changed her name and moved after Watts was found guilty.
Watts’ Future
Watts apparently is working on an appeal and genuinely thinks that he might get out of prison someday. He has turned to God and is said to have felt remorse and regret over the murders. Despite having confessed to the murders and everyone having known he did it, he now maintains that he was framed. Sources say that he is in hell and even dreams of his dead daughters, but this new religious identity isn’t fooling anyone and odds are he’ll never get out of prison for his horrendous crimes.