Photo: YouTube
This was unexpected.
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Written on Oct 08, 2020
The Watts family murders is one of the most high-profile murder cases of the 2010s, and thanks to Netflix's new documentary, American Murder: The Family Next Door, a renewed interest in the horrifying crimes Chris Watts committed has swept over the nation. While the documentary explores the tragic and unnecessary murders of his wife, Shanann Watts, their unborn baby, and their two little girls, Celeste (3) and Bella (4), it's hard to brush over the fact that not one, but two people came forward with stories of their alleged affairs with Watts; one of those people was Nichol Kessinger, a former colleague of Watts's, and the other is a man named Trent Bolte.
Who is Chris Watts's male lover, Trent Bolte?
Trent Bolte originally wanted to stay anonymous.
The man, who was later revealed to be Trent Bolte came forward after being tracked down by producers of HLN’s Crime & Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. His face was obscured and he withheld his name.
While it's normal to want to keep your name out of the headlines in a case like this, could his choice to remain anonymous mean more than we might think? Either he fears Chris, the limelight, or being caught out telling massive lies — and only one of those options is remotely comforting.
However, in 2019, Bolte did an interview and spilled details about his and Chris' alleged relationship, saying he "got him into Orange is the New Black." Bolte also claimed that after hearing Watts and Shanann argue on the phone, Watts said, "There's gotta be some way to get this effing [b****] out of my life."
They didn't work together.
Bolte claims that while he and Chris did enjoy a relationship in the past, they were not together or in contact during the time of the murders, and split in 2018.
Much has also been made of the affair Chris Watts is rumored to have enjoyed with his co-worker, Nichol Kessinger.
They allegedly met online.
Trent Bolte and Chris Watts allegedly met on the internet in June of 2017, and that they met in real life not long thereafter. "He said he didn't know if he was bisexual or gay," Bolte recalled.
The pair enjoyed a hot and steamy affair for the better part of a year — 10 months before ending things in April or May of 2018. Botle claimed that Chris Watts told him that his marriage was loveless and that he felt trapped. He also shared with different news outlets that he was emotionally abused by Chris, saying:
"Let's go on record saying I don't know if any of it is the truth, but he told me he was the victim of emotional and verbal abuse and he was trapped in a loveless marriage and he didn't know any way out because of the kids."
Is the Trent Bolte affair real?
There's no real reason as of yet to doubt Trent Bolte's claims about his alleged relationship with Chris Watts. Why? Because he has information about Chris Watts and his family that haven't been revealed in the news and isn't readily available online.
However, fans of HLN's show, who heard the interview at the time, weren't convinced and quickly took to Twitter to sound off:
Another Tweeted:
Where is Chris Watts now?
On November 6, 2018, Chris Watts pleaded guilty to five-counts of first-degree murder. He is currently serving time at Dodge Correctional Facility in Waupun, Wisconsin, which is a maximum security prison.
Where is Nichol Kessinger today?
Nichol Kessinger, Chris Watts's mistress, reportedly moved out of Colorado after Chris Watt's trial, although, her location is unknown. In an interview after the murders, Nichol said, “My name is about to be, like, slandered, for probably a while. I don't know how long it's gonna take to heal but I would not be surprised if it's gonna be hard to go out in public sometimes for a couple of years.”
“And that really hurts me,” she added. “I'm just like, this is a horrible, horrible thing. Like, how dare you. And people aren't gonna understand that. They're gonna say, ‘Oh you know, you're the woman that had an affair with this man who took out his whole family.'”
In a Chris Watts interview, he wished Nichol well.
“I’m sorry this all happened,” he said. “I’m not sure what you [Nichol] went through afterward, if you had like counseling, if you’re in a different state, if you had to leave everything behind.”
“I just hope there’s normalcy for her since she’s on the outside,” he added. “I’m hoping it could get that way at some point.”
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a true crime writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margo.