Killer Chris Watts blames ‘control freak’ wife he murdered in prison letters

Chris Watts, the man who murdered his wife and daughters, has had his shocking prison letters released.

Killer dad Chris Watts continues to blame everyone but himself for his decision to murder his wife and two young daughters in August 2018.

In newly revealed letters, he labelled his pregnant wife Shanann a “control freak”, and claimed that he sought refuge with his mistress, who was “everything my wife wasn’t like with me”.

The New York Post has viewed several handwritten notes from the 39-year-old, who is serving a life sentence in a small cell at Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.

Chris Watts confessed to killing wife Shanann and daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three on August 13, 2018.

Watts has admitted to strangling Shanann, 34, in their Colorado home on August 13, 2018. He then drove her body to a job site at the oil company where he worked and dumped it.

His two daughters – Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3 – were in his truck. He suffocated them as they begged for mercy, and stashed their bodies in oil drums.

Watts’ alleged motive for the horrific killings was so that he could be with his mistress, Nichol Kessinger.

Watts and his wife Shanann.

Chris Watts and his wife Shanann.

Watts pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Colorado prison officials soon arranged to have him transferred to Wisconsin for his safety.

In addition to his handwritten letters, Watts shared most of his thoughts with Dylan Tallman, a fellow prisoner at the Wisconsin jail who befriended Watts. Tallman was in the cell next to Watts, and the two men became close. After Watts reneged on his commitment to co-write a prayer book, Tallman released a series of three books titled The Cell Next Door.

Watts confided to Tallman that his marriage to Shanann was unhappy, according to the letters.

“She was really busy with her job and everything it required,” Watts told Tallman, adding that he often was the primary caregiver to his daughters.

Dylan Tallman lived in the cell next to Watts for nearly a year. Picture: Supplied

When Watts lost weight and started working out in 2017, he said that women started paying attention to him.

“I met Nichol. She was just everything my wife wasn’t like with me. She was just nice, and not a control freak. We could make decisions together,” he said.

“We knew each other for a while, but we didn’t start messing around until 6 weeks before. I was not thinking. We worked together, we had chemistry, and I fell into temptation. She was the forbidden fruit.”

Watts with his mistress, Nichol Kessinger. Picture: Weld County District Attorney's Office

Watts went on to ridicule Kessinger in conversation with Tallman, saying she became “the death of me”.

In one letter previously obtained by The Post, he also called her a “harlot” and a “jezebel” who he said led him to destruction.

In another letter, dated March 2020, Watts wrote a prayer of confession.

“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.”

Kessinger has not responded to The Post’s request for comment.

This article originally appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission