Killer dad Chris Watts makes bizarre claims about his dead daughter

Chris Watts has made a shocking confession while behind bars for the brutal murder of his wife, two daughters and unborn son.

Rebekah Scanlan

@rebekahscanlan

5 min read

October 5, 2019 - 12:16PM

The chilling timeline of killer dad Chris Watts

Killer dad Chris Watts has made a bizarre and unnerving claim from behind bars, declaring his dead daughter has visited him in jail.

The 34-year-old killer from Colorado is currently serving five life sentences in Wisconsin Prison for the murder of his wife Shanann, 34 — who was carrying his unborn son, Nico at the time — and two daughters, Bella, four, and Celeste, three.

But despite ending his youngest daughter Cece’s life with his own hands, strangling her and her elder sibling to death along with their pregnant mum, Watts has told author Cherlyn Cadle he has “seen” her in his cell.

Dad killer Chris Watts has claimed his dead family, who he brutally strangled to death, have been visiting him in jail. Picture: Frederick Police Department

“I don’t know if this was a spiritual visit, but I had a dream Cece was dancing next to the chair in my cell,” he wrote in a letter shared with The Daily Mail.

“When she was dancing, all of my folders on the chair started moving and I thought she was in trouble, so I said ‘Watch out, get away, watch out!’

“Then I woke up. I’m hoping she comes back! I hope everyone comes to visit me.”

The letter is an extract from Cadle’s book Letters From Christopherwhich contains chilling admissions the murderer made to the 65-year-old grandmother from Illinois, who wrote to him earlier this year asking to put to rest any unanswered questions about the case.

Cadle said Watts has also spoken about a “visit” from his dead wife Shanann, who he claimed contacted him through a phone conversation.

But despite his bizarre claims, Cadle said his family were not worried about his mental health. “Christopher and his mother have both told me he has never been tested for mental illness,” she said.

Watts has claimed his dead wife Shanann spoke to him in a phone conversation during his time in jail. Picture: Supplied

He also claims a “darkness” came over him in the weeks before he strangled his family to death so he could be with his mistress of two months Nichol Kessinger, who had told him she wanted to give him his first son.

“Christopher told me that he had never thought of demonic things before or felt there was a demon possession,” Cadle told the publication.

“He has also talked about how he felt God gave him three chances to pull away from Nikki but he did not listen to any of those voices.”

It’s not the only confession Watts has made to Cadle, with the killer telling her he would never had killed his wife, two daughters and unborn son if he had not met his mistress.

Chris Watts with his daughters, Bella and Celeste. Picture: Supplied

“If I had not met Nikki, I would never have killed my family,” Watts told her, with Cadle revealing he was “mesmerised” by his mistress.

In August last year, Watts strangled Shanann and buried her body in a shallow grave.

He also smothered both his little girls and dumped their bodies in a separate oil tanks on a remote oilfield owned by his employer at the time, Anadarko.

Cadle claims in the book that Watts clearly remembered the look on Shanann’s face as he strangled her.

“Isn’t it weird how I look back and what I remember so much is her face getting all black with streaks of mascara?” Watts told Cadle.

“I knew if I took my hands off of her, she would still keep me from Nikki. They asked me why she couldn’t fight back; it’s because she couldn’t fight back.”

He claims to still be in love with the mistress, who he had been seeing for two months before carrying out the horrific murders.

Chris Watts with his mistress Nikki Kessinger who he met two months before carrying out the heinous crimes on his wife and children. Picture: Weld County District Attorney’s office

Watts was so enamoured with Ms Kessinger when she told him she wanted to “give him his first son”, he allegedly tried to cause his wife to miscarry by giving her a strong painkiller.

“Christopher says he loved her like he has never loved anyone else before,” Ms Cadle said. “At the same time, he loves Shanann, although he knows that she was not his soulmate and not the person he was supposed to be with.”

He told the author he felt “free” to be with Ms Kessinger and felt “no remorse” after the heinous crime.

Killer dad Chris Watts is still pining for his mistress from behind bars. Picture: Weld County District Attorney's office

“The darkness inside of me had won, it was still in me, though, I thought maybe permanently. I felt evil, swallowed up by this thing inside of me. I felt like I could kill anything and be justified for doing it,” Watts said.

Watts has also admitted he’s wondered about where Ms Kessinger is since details of his cruel crime emerged and told Cadle he had received letters and postcards, signed with different names, and wondered if they might be from her.

Among the letters the killer has also detailed how her smothered his family to death, first murdering his expectant wife at their home in Frederick, Colorado and then killing their two daughters.

He said he initially smothered the two girls first, using a pillow from their bed — but they woke up.

Watts confessed to murdering Shanann and their two little girls on August 13, 2018. Picture: Supplied

Watts previously told police how he killed his wife, and despite his attempts to smother the girls beforehand, they woke up and watched on as he wrapped their dead mum in a bedsheet.

“After Shanann had passed, Bella and Cece woke back up. I’m not sure how they woke back up, but they did,” Watts said.

“Bella’s eyes were bruised and both girls looked like they had been through trauma. That made the act that much worse knowing I went to their rooms first and knowing I still took their lives at the location of the batteries.”

He then drove his wife’s body to a remote oilfield with his daughters in the back seat of his truck.

“I dumped Shanann on the ground, then I walked back to the truck and with the blanket that Celeste was holding, I put it over her head and smothered her,” Watts said in the letter.

He squeezed her body through a hatch in one of the oil tankers before moving on to kill his eldest daughter, Bella — giving a chilling recount of how she “put up a fight”.

“Out of all three, Bella is the only one that put up a fight. I will hear her soft little voice for the rest of my life, saying, ‘Daddy, NO!!!’ She knew what I was doing to her. She may not have understood death, but she knew I was killing her.”