Law&Crime Sidebar - Chris Watts Blames ‘Jezebel’ Mistress for Him Killing Pregnant Wife, Kids

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

Handwritten notes found in Chris Watts’ prison cell give insight into his relationship with God and who he blames for the murders that landed him behind bars. Watts calls his former mistress, Nichol Kessinger, a “Jezebel” for tempting him into sinning. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber gets insight on Watts’ state of mind from prison consultant Justin Paperny.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. This shocked me just as much as I think it shocked the rest of the world. Chris Watts confessed to killing his young daughters and his pregnant wife in Colorado out in 2018. Since then, he's been locked up in prison, but now we're learning new details about what he's apparently saying from behind bars. We're breaking it all down with prison consultant Justin Perperney. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

In August 2018, brutal murders took place in Frederick, Colorado. A pregnant mother named Shanan Watts and her two daughters, four-year-old Bella, and three-year-old. Celeste were killed. Her husband, Chris Watts, spoke with both police and the media saying he had no idea where his family was and he just wanted them back home safe. Shanan had just returned home from a business trip the night before. Her friend got worried when Shanette didn't respond to any messages or phone calls. Watts said he had seen his wife at the house around five in the morning, but he had been at work at an oil company all day. But just two days after Shanan and the girls were reported missing. Police arrested Chris Watts when he failed a polygraph test. During his

interrogation, Watts finally started to tell the truth or a semblance of the truth. He admitted he was having an affair with a woman named Nicole Kessinger, who he'd met through work. The affair had been going on for several months. Nicole was the only one? Was there ever like a one night stand with someone else just out of blue and one and done? Okay. All right. Um, do you mind if you talk a little bit more about home so walk me through it because that was one of the things we never really got to ask you about right we didn't just kind of skipped on and you know talked about where the girls were but so what happened there so it was probably around june first or something that's when i first

met her and it was just like a word conversation that she messed with the gas meters that you know we were out in the field and i'm all messing up and then i took a door like hey you know what's going with this like I don't fix it you know after that you know we just ran into each other a few times in the office and I think it was probably the fourth time meeting she had asked me because like when I were talking back and forth I would say you know like we moved here from Colorado or from North Carolina and stuff like that and then she's like what's all this week so I become like oh I took up my phone and showed her picture like my girl's on the phone it's like oh okay

like I don't wear I didn't wear a ring of work because Like, I accepted off so it would get refitted when I got lost all that weight. So, but... You lost so much weight that your fingers lost weight? It was literally like, I was out in the snow one time. I went like that, and my ring went off on the rocks. So I was just like, I was panicking kind of fine. I was like, hey, where I was saying, you know.

But, um, so after that she left me alone for a couple days, and she texted me outside the field. And then after that, we just kept texting back and forth. And it was just, you know, just like, you know, like she used to work in a little rig out in North Dakota. thing and we just kind of straightening stories back and forth about what we did and everything and then one day just kind of went to a different different level and then I never thought it would ever go to that level but she was talking about

meeting up after we got back from San Diego yeah we were in San Diego from the 22nd to the 26th of June and we met up after after we got after we got back How did you guys meet up? I had a park in Florida. We got to go to court somewhere. And after that we just kept seeing each other pretty much whole month of July. So I'm asking this, you tell me if I'm wrong,

you strike me as somewhat of a shy person. So when you guys were meeting, it was just kind of very initiatory, like flirting at first. Okay, from both sides. Yeah. Hailing each other out. According to Chris Watts, he talked with Shinnan about a possible separation and says she became enraged.

And during his apparent confession, he told his father that he went downstairs. And when he went back upstairs, Shann had allegedly suffocated the two little girls. Watts says he then strangled Shann out of anger and took all three bodies to a remote oil storage site being used by his employer. Shanan was buried in a shallow grave. Bell and Celeste bodies were found in crude oil tanks. nearby. And in the days after the family was discovered dead, police spoke with Kessinger about her connection to the case.

Am I in trouble because they're related to sex? You're not in trouble. I didn't know what was going on at that point. So, I know if, is there, does that cause question? Of course it does. There is, but is it criminal? No. Is there a concern that you're hiding something? Potentially, that's why I want, or I wouldn't asking for him and you've been up front with me about everything I don't have I don't have a concern that you know you ever told Chris I don't want you you know

go kill your wife or get rid of your kids or I don't want to date you if you have kids none of those things that ever came out of your mouth we've talked about that so but until those text messages that are deleted are there you know and all that, it's just speculation. But it's kind of like, eh, why did you do that? And I get your excuse. I understand what you're saying, that on Tuesday you realized who this man was and what you've done.

You didn't want him to be part of your life anymore, so you got rid of it. I didn't even want to see it in my phone. It was like freaking me out because I remember I had like deleted them. And then he sent me another text. And then I deleted that one too. Right. This is a sad case, but it is an important one to tell nonetheless. And one of the reasons we're able to present you stories like this and talk about the law and talk about the facts is in large part to the support we get from our sponsors.

And that includes Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Look, if you should find yourself in a position where you're hurt and you need legal representation, Morgan and Morgan may be who you want in your corner because they are specialists in this area. And they're so big because they win a lot. Verdicts and settlements in the multi-millions across this country. They make the process super easy for their clients because from starting your claim to upload. documents to signing contracts and talk to your legal team it can all be done from your smartphone so if you're injured you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar Kessinger said she knew Watts was married and

that he had two little girls but says he never spoke about hurting them or getting rid of them to be with her full time but just because I care about the him and I care about his kids and and all of that doesn't mean that I'm ready to turn around and, like, connect everything. Did he ever say anything like that? Like, do I have to get rid of my kids? No. Do I, you know?

This shocked me just as much as I think it shocked the rest of the world. All of it. Like, you lie so much now. I go back and think of all this shit, and I'm like, it's lies. Everything that they do about him is, like, lies. I mean, his friends let him stay the night at their house. He even fooled them. It's not just me.

You know, I have to everybody. I eat all of you, fool. And everybody stood up for him. His friend stood up for him. I really thought she left. I was like, let her go. You know? I'm back in a day.

She'll be alright. Let her cool down. She'll be here. It'll be okay. You know, like, how to be convinced? Like, I think she's just upset. And then, and then... Never.

What I'd guess. I mean, even now, when I go back through this stuff that I'm like, it doesn't make sense, you know, or it like seems a little off, that still doesn't send a red flag to me like, hey, this guy's going to work with his family. Sure.

I don't think there was any, you didn't have any indication in by all kinds. It doesn't seem like anybody did. No. I just, like, you know, sometimes I, like, trying to have to think what that man is thinking because, like, you don't know, you know. But it's like, how long has his brain been, like, shifting to this paradigm shift

where he feels the need to do this? It's like, I just don't believe that it's something that just happens in a day or two days. I don't think it happens in two months. I think that this is something that takes a very, very long time to develop, and I don't. Right. So that scares you when you look back at it? Yeah, because I think about it, and I'm like, he could have that capacity to do that, whether I was in his life or not. Watts ended up entering a guilty plea in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table,

and he was sentenced to five life sentences with no possibility of parole. But after he was sent to prison, Watts finally revealed to authorities what really happened that night. or at least this could be the real story. We honestly will probably never know. But he says after the argument about divorce, he strangled Shanan to death, that it wasn't her killing the kids. And when four-year-old Bella walked into the room,

seeing her mother in that state, he told her, Mommy doesn't feel good, and wrapped Shanan's body in a sheet. He put the body in his truck and drove it and the two girls to the oil side where he proceeded to smother the children to death and hid their bodies. Since he went to prison in 2018, Nicole Kessinger is basically dropped off the map,

preferring to avoid the public eye, not surprising there. Police have never said that Kessinger had any knowledge about Watts crimes. However, now it seems Chris Watts may be placing the blame on Kessinger for what happened. Because in recently published notes from Watts sell out in Wisconsin, and he was moved there. We've learned he labels Nicole Kessinger a Jezebel who destroyed his life. Watts evidently writes letters to God as a form of journaling. And one of those pages from 2020, he writes, Dear Heavenly Father, I have backslidden. I am like a sheep gone astray from the flock and have fallen into a pit. The snare of the enemy has entrapped me. The

words of a harlot have brought me low. Her flattering speech was like, drop, of honey that pierced my heart and soul. He goes on, the blessings you have bestowed upon me were right in front of me, and still I followed the perfume of a strange woman. The enemy and his Jezebel mock and scourge me as they celebrate another capture. You, O Lord, did not leave me captive or condemned. You heard the prayer of the destitute and of the prisoner appointed to death. Now, Dylan Tallman was in the cell next to Chris Watts for around a year.

He was locked up on drug possession charges, and he told the Daily Mail that he and Watts became friends and studied the Bible together, the two apparently even planned to write a book together. But when Watts backed out of that deal, apparently, Tallman instead turned the writings into a series of his own books called The Cell Next Door. According to Tallman, Watts told him that Kessinger gave him an ultimatum on the night of the murders. It's your family or me. All right, so with that in mind, and clearly a lot to talk about, I want to bring in prison

consultant Justin Paperni to talk more about this. Justin, thanks for coming back here on Sidebar. First, let's, from the basic point of view, it's not uncommon for prisoners to talk to one another, let alone about their crimes, right? It's cathartic for a lot of prisoners to talk about it. Something we encourage people to do is to really talk less and do more because problems can follow. And in this case, it's a disastrous crime. And rather than try to show any acceptance of responsibility and own it, as we say. He's continuing to create more pain and shame and devastation for the people that he crushed. So he has no one to blame but himself.

And this prisoner who's electing to write these books, he's resourceful. He's been in and out of prison, as I understand, and he's looking for an avenue to bring more attention to his work and hopefully create a path to not return to prison. But it is not uncommon for people to go to prison, to form friendships, to open up, and unfortunately say things that can only make matters worse for people they've hurt. And in a high-profile case like this, it's very likely this news would get out. And sometimes worse from themselves because how many cases do we cover where there's jailhouse informants? Hey, I had a conversation with this guy and let me tell you what he said and then testifies against them at a trial.

It doesn't matter for Chris Watts because he's going to be spending the rest of his life in prison. But talk to me about the religious component of it. Do people when they go to prison, do they have a new found? on lease on religion? Do they become spiritual? Because that's what you're seeing in a sense from these Chris Watts notes. I believe he's using faith or religion is a tool to advance his agenda that this wasn't his fault. Now blaming his former mistress is is tragic. The lion's here people who go to prison and find faith use it the right way. They want to make their life better. They want to improve. They never want to return to prison. What we have with Watts is a once in a century

sociopathic, narcissistic killer. And because of that, he is incapable of reform. He is incapable of introspecting and recognizing that he alone is to blame for this. So it's easier to feel sorry for himself in that prison, blame other people and cloak it under the guise of faith. Even some of his letters stating that God has forgiven him for his infidelity misses the mark. He murdered his wife, his young children, his unborn child. He's a sociopath. And like I said, one in a century type narcissistic killer, though it was so shocking when he was in trouble because he looked fit. He looked healthy. He's a handsome guy. Married with children. It's hard for people to comprehend. This is what a killer looks like. But in this case,

this is a stone cold killer. And it's a tragedy that he's continuing to make matters worse for the victims in this case, including his mistress. And by the way, I think that's so interesting that people who are locked up and he's going to be locked up for the rest of his life they have to try to, it's easy for him to say God forgives him. It's easy to put himself as the victim in all this, right? Because he's

trying to make sense of this situation and has to make sense of his life moving forward. But he is not the first man to be convicted of killing his wife or family while having an affair. But do you see this where they usually put the blame on the mistress? That they're the ones who led me astray.

That she was the one or he was one who kind of made me feel I had no choice but to kill my family. Have you seen this before? No, that's why I said once in a century sociopathic killer. It's one thing to commit the crime, which is atrocious and awful. It's another to say, I'm going to make people suffer for my bad decisions for the rest of their lives. So what he's done inside of that cell 24 hours a day is somehow rationalized and convince himself that he too is a victim, a victim of his mistress or circumstances or pressure, right? No one can go to prison regardless of the crime unless you rationalize. The difference is people rationalize every day. He pursued an opportunity

to kill, and instead of somehow trying to make amends, he makes matters worse and uses faith where God simply as a tool to continue to advance his agenda, that he's been forgiven, which then gives him another inside lane or track to continue to blame others because of whatever he does, regardless of what he says, he's going to be forgiven. And I want to make clear to the millions of people who may watch this, most people in prison, even those who have committed violent crimes, accept responsibility and want to find a way better back and do not continue to blame. He has once in a century psychopathic killer. I was going to ask you if that's particularly frustrating.

We talk about the purposes of prison, right? There's a number of different purposes. There's deterrence. There's rehabilitation. There's a lot of different reasons. but the fact that it is meant for rehabilitation purposes. Now, again, he's not going to be released back into the society, but could he accept his crimes?

Could he help other people in prison? Could he provide some sort of benefit while he's back there and take acceptance? The fact that he's saying this, and yes, some of these letters are older than others, but the fact that he has is at that point doing that, is that particularly frustrating to you that he's not accepting? Which, by the way, right, if the video of him, so he pled guilty, and he you see him crying in court during his sentencing and then he admits to investigators afterwards what he did but the fact that he's still not quite accepting his role in it that

must be very frustrating i imagine it's frustrating and sickening to me as a husband and father of two young children you can imagine the pain for the families devastated by his actions now in speaking with some victims over the years even in some white color crime cases where the losses can be devastated and people end up practically homeless. Many will say it gets to a point where I am numb. I've lost all faith in humanity. So regardless of what my victim does to me, it doesn't matter. So there's a chance that even though he is blaming the mistress who's gone into hiding and excusing his conduct under the guise of God forgiving him, there's a point that the people that he's devastated have said there's nothing more that this man can do to hurt me. And guess what? I will not let

this psychopathic killer hurt me anymore. So there can be a sense of stoicism or calm and acceptance that follows. And frankly, that would be healthy for the victims in this case. But if I'm sickened and saddened and have chills discussing it, you can imagine the people that he hurts. And further, he continues to say things that surprisingly, like Dahmer was killed in prison. It's a good thing he has a lot of security there because when you kill young children, he is a target inside of that prison. So I can assure you this great deal of scrutiny and security from staff, and if any moment they look up, someone who's looking to hold him accountable for what he did, and get in the news could look to pounce on him like they did

with White Bulger, like they did with Dahmer. And you could argue at some point it's coming if he doesn't shut up, if he doesn't continue to convey a different message. So I will tell victims of crimes, people will continue to hurt you. Primarily the person that has stolen, or in this case devastated your family. I have such empathy for the families that he continues to do this. I have such empathy for them. No, you're 100% right. You're 100% right. He can be locked up, but still continue to create harm and inflict harm and damage. But the idea of him putting the blame on this Jezebel, this mistress that he had, is that a way for him to protect himself in prison? Is that a way to say, hey, the people around him say, listen, it wasn't me. It was her.

And I was trying to understand why you would do that. It's so he can sleep. It's so he can find a way to have some meeting on the inside. There are people because of his celebrity who are enamored by him that might buy into this story. I know he receives letters from women across the country who might be sympathetic to that message. So he does it to advance his agenda to get through very long, tough days isolated in prison. But he also does it to elicit sympathy with hopes that he can create and find a romance through written letters in prison. easier to convey that this wasn't my fault. It was somebody else's fault. And there will be

gullible people out there who are in need of some meaning in their life who will take debate and fall for it. So it's simply to advance his agenda. Nothing he has done since killing these people and going to federal prison. Nothing. He has done nothing to put the victims first. It still remains about Chris. And it will probably be that way until he drops dead inside of that prison or until he's killed in there. Talk to me about Dylan Tallman. You know, you have somebody who wants to seemingly profit off of his conversations with Chris Watts. Is that unusual? It's not unusual. You had Vincent Bugliosi, an author many years ago who wrote about the, wrote about the Manson killings. I wrote a book called Lessons from Prison on the Inside. My business partner, Michael Santos, wrote more than 20 books

in prison. He had been in and out of the system. He's looking for a way to not return to provide value. Clearly, there's interest in this story. So if he's doing it in an honest way, and he's living a law-abiding life, much like a producer may make a movie about Goodfellas based on the mafia, I think he has the opportunity to share these insights and stories. I see nothing wrong with that. I don't see anything wrong with that at all. Now, some people would say he's profiting. As some people argued, I profited off my book, and I would argue I'm sharing lessons I learned from this experience with hopes of helping people. He's providing insights into the of a killer. What's it like to serve a long, serve a sentence alongside someone who shows no

remorse or shame? Criminal justice classes can learn from that. There's value that can come from that. But no, I do not have a problem with people sharing these stories about people in prison or with people that they served time. Yeah, and I would say to that also, you know, with him and particularly, I think it's a good, some of the stories we cover, I know people say you know they know somebody similar that they have a similar situation and trying to understand kind of these patterns that we see can be helpful for people kind of spot out

some things that might be happening but also i think for him and unfortunately this is the case that we see convicted killers become popular on the outside there are people who get love letters and support but if you can understand who the real chris wats is so yes he was convicted of a crime that might not be enough for people Yes, you hear what he did.

That might not be above for people. But if you hear the conversations he had in prison when he's not on television or he's not in a courtroom, that can maybe be a wake-up call to people. This is the guy who should not get any support whatsoever, right? This is the guy who what he's really about. And sometimes the people really open up in prison and in a way that they never opened up in a courtroom or on TV or anything like that, right? When you're serving time along, when you're in there 24 hours a day and you're forming

friendships in prison or you have people who are enamored by him because of the TV and you're going to find people who are sympathetic to him and you're going to find people that want to align themselves with him. I mentioned earlier when we went on air, my friend and mentor Dr. Phil before I filmed with him, he was talking about this case. You know, someone like Charlie Manson can find a young in Meyer while serving life at Corcoran or someone like Chris Watts can get letters from people in prison. There's always going to be people who are sympathetic to it. And unfortunately, it has parents are still alive and I'm sure his parents I know his mother visiting him she probably goes to see him and tries to offer as much support as she can but she goes there

knowing her son is a psychopathic killer and at work or at best he at least could have tried to make things better for his own family who like him are going to serve a life sentence as a result of his consequences it comes back to what I said earlier a once in a century psychopathic narcissistic killer who has no agenda other than his own and does not care whose lives he ruins in the process. And he does it under the guys or faith of God, which ruins the people who actually do it the right way, who do find faith, who do find God, who accept responsibility. He does a disservice to all people who truly mean it, which is most people in prison.

Hey, everybody, Jesse Weber here from Sidebar. On this next episode of prime crime, it is the mysterious killing of Samira Watkins. Different suspects, secrets, lies, getting to the truth of what, happen to this young mother is not so simple. Then, once you find that she was frightened, he was saying, like, get a voice, you know, or punching your stomach, and I ain't got nothing to do with you. It was kind of scared of me.

That's when I was like, no, man, we can't, you knew it from beginning that you want to be the one in my life. Did you ever hear William say anything about being upset with Samira or wanting to do her any kind of harm? Tune into Prime Crime Friday, July 26, that, p.m. Eastern on the Law and Crime Network. You know, there's been criticism of Nicole Kessinger online about whatever, which I think is unwarranted, but I didn't notice in any

of those letters from Chris Watts where he's like, she helped me commit the crimes. It was her fault. And so let that be clear, right? He could have easily come out and said, no, she was the one who helped me do this or X, Y, and Z. He still did it. He might say she influenced him. That's on him but what it's clear from even this especially this cannot be put on her whatsoever she had zero influence in zero influence and encouraging him to to murder his wife an unborn child and two daughters zero influence sometimes the longer someone serves in prison with people who might enable their conduct and the less they might introspect and try to understand introspecting is hard man to think about the decisions you made that killed people that's really hard work

It's easier just to blame and excuse and say it's somebody else's fault. That's the easier path, and it's clear he's taken that path rather than use his time on the inside to introspect and recognize I alone in responsibles for destroying lives. I hope he gets there at some point, though, based on the last five years that he's been in custody or six years, it's unlikely. Well, I tell you this much. I hope this is the last time we talk about Chris Watts because cover that case extensively. is so horrifying, and I don't think he deserves to be in anyone's minds moving forward. But hey, that's just me. Justin Perperney, thank you so much for coming on.

Always appreciate your insight, and look forward to talking again soon. Grateful to be back. Thank you. All right, everybody, that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series

ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.