Chris Watts' Ex-Mistress Disappears for Eight Years With Alleged New Identity Over Safety Fears

Christopher Lee Watts, the Colorado man who strangled his pregnant wife and smothered their two young daughters in one of the most notorious family murders in history, is the subject of public scrutiny once again.

​On 13 August 2018, Chris Watts strangled his 15 weeks pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, to death, before killing their children, Celeste and Bella, 3 and 4 years old. He dumped their bodies at an oil site located in a remote area.

From Grieving Husband to Confessed Murderer

Watts initially portrayed a grieving husband and father in interviews with the media, begging for his family's safe return. However, within days of investigation, evidence tying him to the murder of his family, including surveillance footage, digital records, and inconsistencies in his statements, led him to confess to authorities following his arrest.

Chris Watts consequently confessed to killing his pregnant wife following a marital dispute, then killing their daughters in an attempt to conceal the crime he had committed. Shanann was buried in a shallow grave in the oil site, while the girls were found submerged in oil tanks.

He pleaded guilty to all nine charges on 6 November 2018. The charges included multiple counts of first-degree murder and unlawful termination of pregnancy, in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. Watts has been serving five life sentences in a maximum-security prison in Wisconsin, the Dodge Correctional Institution.

Police Discovery: An Extra-Marital Affair During the Crime

During the investigation, the police uncovered that Chriss Watts had an extra-marital affair with a colleague at the time of the murders. The colleague was later named as Nichol Kessinger. According to Kessinger's statement to the Denver Post in November 2018, she said she had reason to believe Chris Watts was finalising a divorce, as shared by People.

Kessinger said their extra-marital affair had begun a few months prior to the murders, and that they were meeting secretly a few times per week.

Chris allegedly asked Kessinger for help finding an apartment days before he murdered his family, as the divorce was finalising. 'He made me believe that he was doing all of the things that a rational man and good father would do,' Kessinger told the news.

Upon hearing of Chris' family's disappearance, Kessinger said she learned Chris was still married. Chris allegedly denied assaulting his family when Kessinger asked him, noting that something had 'seemed off' in his behaviour.​

Kessinger Vanishes To Escape Scrutiny

​According to a report, Nichol Kessinger largely disappeared from public view to avoid intense media scrutiny and personal threats that followed. Chris Watts' 37-year-old co-worker alerted authorities about Watts, and since the incident, has legally changed her name and rebuilt her life with a new career under an assumed new identity, per The Mirror.

​The report says that after the Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door in 2020, Kessinger petitioned for a legal name change in Jefferson County, Colorado. Reports that followed stated Kessinger had also moved out of Colorado, after potentially being placed in witness protection for a brief period of time.

​Kessinger shared concerns about how the public may view her in light of her involvement in Watts' life with a detective before fleeing away from the spotlight. She told the detective, 'I think a lot of people are probably gonna assume I was a catalyst.' She also said she was concerned that the next 5-10 years are not going to be easy for her.