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Netflix’s new special American Murder: The Family Next Door tells a story about Christopher Watts, a man who pleaded guilty to murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters, The Denver Post reported. Nichol Kessinger was his girlfriend, and he’d recently told his wife Shannan that he wanted to separate before killing her and their two children.
Watts and Kessinger met at work. Kessinger was contracted with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and met Watts sometime between May or June 2018, the Cinemaholic reported. The Denver Post reported that he came to her office to introduce himself, and Kessinger said he was not wearing a wedding ring at the time of their meeting. They were only seeing each other for a short time before the August 2018 murders of Watts’ family.
Kessinger has since deleted all social media pages and was reportedly placed in the Witness Protection program in 2018 according to the Cinemaholic.
Watts and Kessinger Worked Together
Kessinger reportedly told The Denver Post that she thought Watts was at the tail end of divorce proceedings when she began seeing him, telling them that he was a “thoughtful, soft-spoken man.”
She did not know at the time that Watts was lying to her and he had not actually started any divorce proceedings; soon after she heard his wife and children were missing, she called the police and told them what she knew.
The couple first met outside of work in June 2018, and Kessinger told The Denver Post that she was already attracted to him since the first time they met. She asked him questions about his divorce at the first outside-of-work meeting, and he informed her that the divorce was mutual and nearly final.
In July, they began meeting more often, she told The Denver Post. They would meet four or five times a week, though she said she told Watts she wanted to take their relationship slow since he had two children to focus on. That month, Watts told Kessinger his divorce had been finalized.
Kessinger Said Watts Was Calm When His Family Disappeared
On August 13, 2018, Watts texted Kessinger to say that his family was “gone,” she told The Denver Post. He reportedly told her that his ex-wife had taken their children on a play date but never returned. This caused Kessinger to worry about his family, though he seemed unconcerned at the time, she recalled.
“When I read the news, I found out he was still married and his wife was 15 weeks pregnant,” Kessinger recalled in the interview with the Denver Post. She said she was shocked and more worried at that point since he had been lying to her throughout their entire relationship.
As soon as she realized that something was off about the man she was seeing and his lies, she went to the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, she told the newspaper. She said she told them about her relationship with Watts and all the lies he had told her. She met with FBI investigators that same day, which was also the day Watts ended up being arrested.
“I just wanted to help,” she said. “With a pregnant woman and two children missing, I was going to do anything that I could.”
Now, according to The Cinemaholic, Kessinger has been placed in the witness protection program, moved to a new state, and has a new identity after receiving threats from many sources during the trial against Watts.
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