Chris Watts' mistress has revealed the final text he sent her before it transpired he had committed the horrific triple murder of his wife and children.
In 2018, Watts was arrested and convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife, Shanann, while he also smothered his two toddlers, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste 'Cece'.
While the American was able to narrowly avoid the death penalty after pleading guilty, he was handed five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole and will spend the rest of his days behind bars.
Although Watts had a baby on the way, he had told his co-worker, Nichol Kessinger, that they were in the final stages of a divorce, and the two had started an affair together in the months before his malicious murders.
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In a recorded police interview from 2018, Kessinger revealed the final text that she'd received from Watts before his arrest on 15 August, suggesting that he continued to lie about his actions.
After it was confirmed that Watts' family were missing, Kessinger was unsurprisingly concerned and texted him with a warning.
In footage posted on a YouTube channel run by Shanann's brother in 2022, she told the authorities about her last contact with the now infamous murderer, whose case was detailed in the Netflix film American Murder: The Family Next Door.
She revealed: "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."
Although Watts did offer a weak apology to his former in-laws during the trial, his cellmate shared a confession letter that he had written while sharing close quarters with the killer, which suggested that he blames Kessinger for his own horrific actions.
It read: "The words of a harlot have brought me low. Her flattering speech was like drops of honey that pierced my heart and soul. Little did I know that all her guests were in the chamber of death."
In a 2018 interview with The Denver Post, Kessinger detailed the beginning of their relationship, revealing they had met at work when he walked into her office to introduce himself.
The two began chatting, with her describing Watts as 'very softspoken' and 'appeared to be a good listener'.
After telling her that he and his wife were going through a 'mutual divorce', they began a relationship in July, seeing each other four to five times a week.
However, following the disappearance of Shanann and their two daughters, Kessinger said Watts appeared casual, showed no emotion, and attempted to change the subject from his missing family, which she said 'seemed off'.
After their last text, Kessinger went to the police to tell them about their relationship, later meeting with FBI agents, adding: "I just wanted to help. With a pregnant woman and two children missing, I was going to do anything that I could."
When finding out about the murders of Shanann and the two girls on the news, she said she felt 'so, so sad'.
Meanwhile, she also told authorities in the recorded interview about his behaviour before the murders, and while she became aware of his lies, she also suggested that the killings were completely unexpected, given the way he spoke about his family.
She said: "There were several discussions that we had about his current relationship and where it had gone.
"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.'
"It wasn't anything out of the ordinary or anything that would scare me.
"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 also told The Denver Post that she didn't think 'there is a logical explanation for what he did', adding: "It’s a senseless act, and it’s horrific."
Topics: True Crime, Netflix
James Moorhouse