Chris Watts’ Mistress Reveals Text Message He Sent After Killing Wife & Children In Newly Released Police Footage
She didn't suspect him at all.
Facebook While police were desperately searching for Shanann Watts and her two daughters when they disappeared in August 2018, Chris Watts was covering his tracks by lying to both police and his mistress about what happened to his family.
Watts is currently serving five consecutive life sentences after being found guilty of murdering 34-year-old Shanann, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.
Now, newly released police footage shows just how far Watts was willing to go to maintain his innocence after his crimes.
Chris Watts sent Nichol Kessinger a text in which he denied the murders.
The footage shows Kessinger, who was having an affair with Watts prior to the murders, detailing their relationship in a 3-hour interview with investigators.
She recalls frantically contacting Watts after the news of his family’s disappearance hit the news.
"I kept asking him, 'What did you do, Chris? What did you do?'" she recalls. "I asked, 'Where's your family?'"
"I was still in my head. I was stressed out," she says to the police. "So I texted Chris one last time, and I told him, 'If you did anything bad, you're going to ruin your life and you're going to ruin my life. I promise you that.'”
“And he responded, 'I didn't hurt my family, Nicky.' And that was the last text. I never said another word to him after that."
Nichol Kessinger detailed her relationship with Chris Watts from start to finish.
Kessinger, who met Watts through work, believe he was separated and was planning to divorce Shanann.
"There were several discussions that we had about his current relationship and where it had gone," she reveals in the video.
"He talked about his kids from time to time. But the thing was that he was never hostile. It was never anything aggressive. It was still very kind. He was just like, 'This is not working.'"
She said his comments were never “out of the ordinary” nor did they “scare” her.
"Even to this day, even after everything that I've found out, I still look back at that, and I don't see any red lights about the way he spoke about his family."
Kessinger recalled Watts making strange comments after killing his wife.
She claims he told her that Shanann had left her wedding ring at the couple’s home.
“How much do you think it's worth?” he allegedly asked.
Kessinger said she suggested he pawn it but Watts said he would probably get it appraised before selling it.
Chris Watts was arrested two days after murdering his family.
After two days of claiming he knew nothing about what happened to Shanann and his kids, including a now-infamous television interview, investigators closed in on the father.
After failing a polygraph test and admitting to murdering his wife, Watts was arrested on August 15, 2018.
He initially claimed Shanann had strangled the couple’s two children after he asked her for a divorce and said he then strangled his wife in a fit of rage.
It was later determined that Watts had strangled Shanann before driving her body, and his two daughters, to the oil company where he worked.
He buried Shanann in a shallow grave before smothering his children and putting their bodies in an oil tank.
Since the murders, Kessinger has reportedly changed her name and has not been seen.
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.