NEED TO KNOW
- Chris Watts was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2018 murders of his pregnant wife and two children
- In December 2018, he was transferred to a maximum-security prison in Wisconsin for his safety
- The convicted killer allegedly wrote letters referencing his affair with Nichol Kessinger
When his pregnant wife and two daughters went missing from their Colorado home on Aug. 13, 2018, Chris Watts played the worried father. Days later, he confessed to their murders.
Police didn’t buy Chris’ allegation that he had only killed Shanann Watts after she killed their kids — Bella and Celeste — following his request for separation. Authorities believed he murdered them all, and in November 2018, the father pleaded guilty to all charges of first-degree murder in exchange for being spared a potential death sentence, per The New York Times.
Instead, Chris was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has served that sentence primarily in Wisconsin, where his friend Kim told PEOPLE in May 2019 that he had been reflecting on his past.
“He’s sad that everyone is hurting,” she said, asking only to be identified by her first name. “He wishes he could go back in time. He wishes he had handled things differently.”
Here’s everything to know about where Chris Watts is now, and what his life behind bars has been like since he murdered his wife and children seven years ago.
Who is Chris Watts?
Chris is a former employee of a petroleum company in Colorado who was convicted in 2018 of murdering his wife and two children.
Shanann and Chris met on Facebook in 2010. They welcomed their first daughter, Bella, in December 2013 and Celeste, two years later. In 2018, Shanann found out she was pregnant with their third child, a boy she planned to name Niko.
Days before the triple homicide, Shanann had confided in a friend about problems in her marriage and said in a text that Chris had “changed” and hadn’t shown her any physical affection all week. Before his guilty plea, it was revealed that he had been having an affair with a co-worker and that Shanann had confronted him about it.
The woman, Nichol Kessinger, came forward and told authorities that she believed Chris was going through an amicable divorce during the course of their relationship.
What was Chris Watts accused of?
On Aug. 15, 2018, two days after his wife and daughters were reported missing, Chris confessed to killing Shanann. However, he claimed it was because she had smothered their two kids to death after he told her he wanted to separate.
The next day, Bella and Celeste’s bodies were found in oil tanks where Chris worked. Shanann’s body was found nearby, buried in a shallow grave, per The New York Times.
Police did not believe Chris’ account of the crime and charged him with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of tampering with a body.
What was Chris Watts convicted of?
In November 2018, Chris made a stunning reversal and pleaded guilty to killing his wife and daughters.
“The evidence against him was overwhelming,” a source close to him told PEOPLE at the time. “He had no choice, considering the evidence. It took time for him to come around, but he did.”
His guilty plea meant he was convicted of nine total charges: five counts of first-degree murder, one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy and three counts of tampering with a dead body, according to The New York Times.
Chris was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The newspaper reported that he received five life sentences.
What has Chris Watts said about the murders?
Chris’ full confession was made public in March 2019. In it, he told detectives that on the night of the murders, he had told Shanann that he didn’t love her anymore. When she threatened to leave him and take their children, he strangled and killed her.
He then admitted to driving her body to the oil field while his girls were still alive in the backseat. After burying her, he smothered his two children.
According to handwritten notes obtained by the New York Post in April 2024, Chris allegedly described Shanann as a “control freak” and said that Kessinger was “everything” his “wife wasn’t.” He also told fellow prisoner Dylan Tallman that his mistress was “the death” of him.
Where is Chris Watts now?
Although Chris was convicted and sentenced in Colorado, he was transferred in December 2018 to Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison located in Waupun, Wis. KKTV reported at the time that the move was due to security reasons.
While incarcerated, Chris has received two conduct reports, a spokesperson for Dodge told PEOPLE. One was in 2020, for “unauthorized forms of communication and unauthorized transfer of property,” and the other was in 2021, for “disobeying orders and possession of miscellaneous contraband.”
In 2019, PEOPLE reported that Chris kept photos of Shanann, Bella and Celeste in his cell. Outrage ensued, leading to an online petition that garnered more than 20,000 signatures, imploring officials to remove the photos. But the campaign was unsuccessful, with the Department of Corrections claiming there was no legal basis for removal.
In addition to exercising and working as a custodian, Chris has corresponded with multiple women during his incarceration.
“They send sexy pictures, and he responds,” the source told PEOPLE in November 2022. “There are a lot of women who think he’s handsome and misunderstood. They send a lot of letters.”
The source continued, “He’s got nothing else to do,” said the source. “So he feeds his ego in that way. Because he’s not popular at all in prison. He’s in protective custody. The only outlet he has is with these letters.”
Read the full article here
