• Nichole Kessinger born in 1988 in Colorado, USA, holds American nationality and is 31-32 years old
• Graduated from Colorado State University in 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in geology and an Associate Degree in Geosciences
• Met Chris Watts in June 2018 and started dating him
• Contacted police and FBI when she realized he lied to her about his alleged divorce
• Went into witness protection program with a new name and identity after the trial

Who is Nichole Kessinger?

Nicole Kessinger came into the center of public attention as the girlfriend of Chris Watts’, the murderer who ended the lives of his pregnant wife and their two daughters. She was born in 1988 in Colorado, the USA. Nicole holds American nationality; given that the exact date of her birth is unknown, as of 2021, she might be 31 or 32 years old.

Early life and Career

Not much is known about her early life and background. Her father’s name is Dwayne Kessinger. Nichole reportedly attended Colorado State University, from which she graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in the field of geology. Additionally, she obtained an Associate Degree in Geosciences. Nichol began her career working as a bookkeeper, slowly progressing to the position of geology engineer.

Regarding her workplaces, she was associated with Halliburton, one of the largest oil field services company and the environmental consulting and construction company Tasman Geosciences. Later, Nichole started working with Anadarko Petroleum, which is now owned by Occidental Petroleum, a company that engages in hydrocarbon explorations.

How did she meet Chris Watts?

During her employment at the Anadarko Company, Nichole met Chris Watts in June 2018.  At the time, Chris worked as an operator for the company. Reportedly he did not wear his wedding ring and claimed that he is in the middle of divorce proceedings. One month later, Nichole started the romantic relationship with Chris Watts, deeply convinced that his divorce would be soon finalized. However, in August 2018, Chris’ pregnant wife and two daughters disappeared.

Was she involved in the investigation?

At the beginning of the investigation, Chris claimed innocence and expressed concern regarding their disappearance. When the news about Shannon and the children’s disappearance made headlines, Nichole realized that Chris lied to her about his alleged divorce. Nichole rushed to contact him and clarify the situation; she later told the Post that he showed little to no concern about the disappearances saying he “seemed off” and emotionally unbothered, which prompted Nichole to get in touch with the police and FBI.

She said:” It got to a point that he was telling me so many lies that I eventually told him that I did not want to speak to him again until his family was found. With a pregnant woman and two children missing, I was going to do anything that I could.”

Nichol Kessinger

Following the aftermath of the investigation, Nichole disclosed that she was not aware that Chris was still married to Shannon, who was pregnant. Additionally, she claimed that he told her that they were separated and asked to assist him in finding a new apartment where they could start their new life with his two daughters. She disclosed that he did not show any traits of a serial killer; she described him as “soft-spoken” and “a good listener”.

Was she involved with the murders?

However, in the two-hour interview with the investigators, the fact that she deleted some messages she had sent to him came into light, casting a shadow of doubt on Nichole’s innocence.

She said: “I was just kinda grossed out by him. I didn’t know what’s going on right now. You just lied to me and I don’t wanna see this come over my phone again. So I removed it. I deleted all of his stuff because he lied to me. It was the hurt that made me delete it.” Even though there was no particular evidence tying her to the disappearances, many took her behavior during the interview as an unwritten admission of guilt. In the interview she came off as arrogant, self-centered devoid of any empathy and humility which convinced many that she was involved.

Additionally, her story had some loopholes; Nichol searched wedding dresses online even though they dated for two months, she said in the interview:” I was not ready for something serious. I need my space, you need your space”.

Nichol also claimed that she always encouraged him to work things out with his wife and spend more time with the kids. Many deemed this as a lousy attempt to portray herself as a good person rather than a heartless mistress. Despite numerous indicators, her involvement could not be proved, and most of these “theories” remain purely speculative.

On the other hand, the fact that she was not charged speaks volumes. While some jumped to point the finger at her, others claimed that during this whole ordeal, she suffered abuse from various media outlets and was portrayed as a “home-wrecker”. Nichol adamantly continued to claim that she was not aware of their marital status and Shannon’s pregnancy, which was the reason she decided to talk with the police and disclose information.

Chris Watt’s Arrested

Just a couple of hours after the interview, Chris Watt was arrested and charged with the murders of his wife and two children. After failing the lie-detector test, he confessed to the murders and subsequently disclosed the locations of their bodies. Chris buried the body of his pregnant wife in a shallow grave at the Cervi Well Site, while the bodies of his two daughters he placed in the oil wells, which contained crude oil. Initially, he claimed that he killed Shannon during a dispute after realizing that Shannon killed Bella and Celeste.

However, this theory did not hold water for long, and a couple of months later, he changed his story. In the second attempt to recount the events, Chris said that he murdered Shannon after disclosing that he wanted to separate.

The temperatures were running high, and he acted in a fit of rage. His daughter witnessed the killing of their mother, and that was the reason he decided to kill both daughters. In one of the interviews with the police, Nichole mentioned that Chris told her that he and Shannon were suffering financially, which might be considered as an additional motive. Other theories suggest that he wanted to start a new life with his new girlfriend, which did not include Shannon.

In a separate interview with a media outlet, Nichol said that she was sure he was guilty beyond doubt. She said:” He’s a liar. He lied about everything. If he was able to lie to me and hide something that big, what else was he lying about?”

Chris made a plea deal with the authorities and pleaded guilty in the court: He subsequently received five life sentences without the possibility of parole.

What is her net worth?

The information about her net worth is not available. However, after her affair with Chris came into the limelight, she was fired from her workplace. She additionally said that she fears that she will never have a normal life and find employment due to the scandal.

Where is Nichol now?

Since the interview in 2018, she has not been heard or seen. During the numerous interviews with the police, she expressed her concerns about her reputation, given that most of the media outlets called her “killer’s mistress”. Additionally, she was dragged through the mud for having an affair with a married man, she said:” I would not be surprised if it’s going to be hard to go out in public sometimes for a couple of years.” Nichol retreated from public life and reportedly went into a witness protection program with a new name and identity after the trial.

Author

Robbie is currently a reporter for TheBiography based in Santa Monica, CA. Prior to joining TheBiography in December 2020, he was an entertainment reporter in People.

10 Comments

    • NEVER. The TAMBURGLER & CODER helped to cover this up! Koback and Rourke and EVERYONE else. If TAMBURGLER came for NK….she would be exposing HERSELF in the meantime.

  1. I think the FBI need to investigate on her more, I think she had something do with the murder. She should be ashamed of herself, disgusting!

  2. I definitely believe the girlfriend was in on the murders of Shannan and her daughters. Keep investigating she will breakdown.

  3. When a man says he is separated from his wife, or says he is the middle of a divorce, or is unhappy or whatever the reason, does NOT give any woman the right to jump into a relationship with him. HE iS STILL MARRIED and you should stay out of it!!!! Let them work it out and if they can’t, let him show you the divorce papers BEFORE you start ANYTHING with him.

  4. what an absurd article. one person killed HIS family … on his own, with no outside help and where no one had any outside knowledge of what he was going to do.

    his mistress had nothing to do with it. she’s a victim in this, too, even if you and the other commenters want to keep sexism alive and keep blaming the female. the only evil person in all of this was a married male who selfishly and horrifically murdered his wife and his own two daughters. he’s sick. HE HE HE. not she she she.

    • yeah really!!! NO ONE is blaming the female and no one is being sexist!! Not saying the murders were anyone’s fault but the selfish monster who committed the murders. What I am saying is that when a man tells a woman that he is separated from his wife, HE is still MARRIED and you should RUN not walk away, but RUN!!!! PERIOD!!!!! (read much!!!)

    • NK was definantly involved. She had no other reason to dump her texts other than the fact that they were incriminating. She also spent nearly 2 hours talking to him right before he killed his family and can’t remember a thing that they said. RIGHT!! You have to be pretty dumb to believe that (FBI). She may be in hiding but one thing I truly believe is that you never get away with anything. She will pay for her part in this.

  5. Nichol was not a geology engineer; she was a contracted Health and Safety rep at Anadarko.

    The data evidence indicates that Nichol knew that it was an extramarital affair and that Chris Watts was not separated from his spouse, because Nichol had googled, “Marrying your mistress,” and “Man I’m having an affair with says he will leave his wife”. Chris Watts and Nichol claimed to have only met in June 2018, but an Anadarko coworker had observed the pair interacting closely at the Platteville, Colorado office around March- April 2018, which suggests that Chris and Nichol had been interacting for longer than either affair partner later admitted to investigators.

    Nichol Kessinger’s phone also had three searches for Chris and Shanann Watts in July 2017, September 2017 and January 2018, all of which was predated Nichol’s employment at Anadarko in spring 2018 and her alleged first meeting Chris Watts. There was never any official explanation for these searches.

    Both Chris Watts and Nichol Kessinger claimed not to recollect what they discussed on an 111 minute phone call between them on the evening of August 12th, only hours before Chris murdered his spouse and daughters. Nichol chose to delete all of her texts with Chris prior to contacting investigators and also googled, “Can cops trace text messages,” “How long do phone companies keep text messages,” and “Difference between text message content and text message detail,”.

    Chris was responsible for the crime, but it appears that Nichol provided deceptive and misleading statements to investigators and was concerned about investigators gaining access to her texts. What information Nichol Kessinger might have have will never be known.

  6. This story has several inaccuracies. The worst of all is that there was a trial. Chris Watts pleaded guilty and there was no trial.

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