Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: Killer Dad Chris Watts Claims He Is A New Man
Date: September 14, 2025

Episode Overview

Nancy Grace and a panel of experts dissect the latest developments in the Chris Watts case, spotlighting his recent claims of being "a new man" and "forgiven by God" through letters sent from prison. The episode revisits the chilling details of his crimes, examines the fallout for those around him, and scrutinizes the attempts at self-redemption and blame-shifting in his prison correspondence. The conversation also delves into the role of his mistress, public fascination with the case, and the psychological and societal factors at play in familial homicide.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Chris Watts: Letters from Prison and Claims of Redemption

• Chris Watts's Prison Letters (02:09, 17:23, 30:30):

  • Watts has re-emerged in the headlines by sending handwritten letters, primarily to female pen pals, in which he insists he’s a "new man" and "God has forgiven" him for the murders of his pregnant wife Shanann and daughters Bella and Celeste.
  • Nancy Grace is skeptical, stating, "Go away. Go serve your life sentence and shut your pie hole...he looks like the devil to me. Absolutely. The devil killer dad" (02:09).
  • Watts claims: "I have always taken full responsibility for what I did." Nancy sharply rebuts: "That is a lie. He did not always take responsibility. In fact, he lied about it and begged for his wife's return, knowing full well he had murdered her and the two little girls" (04:13).
  • In his letters, Watts lays blame on mistress Nicole Kessinger — "even though I was misled by a wicked woman" — contradicting his supposed "full responsibility" (17:23). Nancy retorts: "Now is that taking full responsibility? No, it is not. And P.S. which mistress are we talking about? There have been so many…"

• Memorable Quote:

  • Nancy Grace: "You being forgiven by heaven is not mutually exclusive with you staying behind bars and rotting till the day you die." (30:44)

2. The Watts Family Dynamic & Financial Stressors

• Shanann’s Career and Family Life (06:34–10:45):

  • Shanann thrived in a multi-level marketing job (selling weight loss patches), enjoyed work perks (a Lexus, trips), and projected success on social media. Despite appearances, the family previously filed for bankruptcy and still faced financial pressures.
  • Conversations highlight how maintaining an aspirational image is "part of the presentation" for both her job and their lifestyle (09:18).
  • Both parents worked, but Nancy details the particular hardship of Shanann’s travel, which she "hated," as it took her away from her daughters and contributed to emotional strain at home.

• The Night Shanann Went Missing (12:03, 18:32):

  • Ellen Killoran details that after returning from a work trip late at night, Shanann had an "emotional conversation" with Chris; she’s not seen alive again. Chris leaves for work at 5 a.m., and later acts the concerned husband, pleading for help in finding his missing family.
  • Nancy: "So she came home that night…and then the husband leaves for work at 5am…so how does she turn up dead and where?" (19:23)

3. Investigating Chris Watts—The Masks and the Motive

• Initial Police Interviews & Deception (05:42, 18:32, 25:54):

  • Audio from Chris’s media appearances and statements reveals his manipulative, pleading facade.
  • Nancy Grace and panel point out the classic pattern: perpetrators dispose of bodies in familiar locations—Chris at an oil site where he worked, as was seen in the Scott Peterson case (24:42).

• Motive and Male Ego (23:49):

  • Ellen Killoran highlights Chris’s increasing stress, possibly feeling diminished due to Shanann’s professional success and his mounting personal failures—a dynamic occasionally at play in family annihilator cases.

4. The Role and Scrutiny of Nicole Kessinger

• Nicole Kessinger’s Statements and Involvement (33:29–54:33):

  • Nicole Kessinger describes the shock and betrayal she felt upon realizing Chris lied to her and his family. Though she initially deleted messages out of disgust, she cooperates with police after the truth is public (36:48).
  • Kessinger repeatedly claims her innocence, denying any knowledge of murder plans or that Chris’s family "were a problem" (42:50).
  • Inconsistencies arise in her account: her phone records show wedding dress searches and queries about “marrying your mistress,” and Amber Fry book research, which contradict her claim of wanting to keep things casual (38:11; 38:42).
  • Ellen Killoran notes: "There are a lot of inconsistencies…She did not know Shanann was pregnant, and he told her Shanann was ready to leave the marriage, which is 100% not true" (44:53).

• Expert Analysis of Kessinger's Demeanor (43:36):

  • Body language expert Susan Constantine observes, "Her tone of voice is really off-putting… She quickly gets over [her tears] awfully fast. That's suspicious to me."

• Memorable Quote:

  • Nicole Kessinger: "I'm gonna wake up every day and know that, like, this mom and her unborn child and these two little girls are not around anymore. And it breaks my heart." (54:20)

5. Additional Affairs and the Pattern of Deceit

• Other Affairs (45:56, 49:46):

  • Reporter Ellen Killoran reveals Chris had at least one other mistress, "Amanda," encountered via dating apps. The trysts were characterized by disturbing sexual preferences, specifically “rape fantasy” and choking—a "tone" echoing the violence he committed (50:11).
  • Nancy and experts emphasize that, while an affair doesn’t always signal murderous intent, domestic homicides often involve a recent or ongoing affair on the part of the killer (51:43).

• Memorable Quote:

  • Vincent Hill: "I think he was kind of setting the tone of what he was going to do with his wife. And I wouldn't be surprised if more women came forward… all the signs were there this whole time." (52:48)

6. The Brutality of the Crimes

• Recap of Murders (30:30):

  • Nancy provides harrowing details: Chris loaded his dead wife and still-living daughters into his truck, drove them to the oil site, murdered his daughters one by one as they pleaded for mercy, and concealed their bodies in oil tanks.
  • Watts attempts to offload blame onto Nicole Kessinger, calling her a "harlot" and a "Jezebel who led me astray," while maintaining he’s taken full responsibility—a blatant contradiction (54:51).

• Memorable Quote:

  • Nancy Grace: “Now he’s saying she’s a Jezebel. Okay Nicole Kessinger had nothing to do with these murders. He did it all on his own. Chris Watts, you may have gotten forgiveness by the Lord, but don’t expect any special treatment from Lady Justice.” (56:11)

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Nancy Grace on Watts’s Redemption:
  • "I’m all for forgiveness. Lord knows I need it too... I do believe that he can also rot behind bars at the same time. They’re not mutually exclusive." (03:49)
• On TV’s Portrayal vs. Painful Reality:
  • "It is not glamorous... I typically get off of a plane, go straight to the work site, work late... get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to get to the airport... That’s not glamorous." (11:10)
• Watts Blames Mistress in Letter:
  • Nancy Grace: "In his letters, he says...I was misled by a wicked woman. He seems to be blaming his mistress for him murdering his family." (17:23)
• Data Search Revelations:
  • Nancy to Ellen Killoran: "Wait, is this the same woman that searched for anal sex preparation?" (38:11)
  • Ellen: "That is correct, yeah." (38:15)
• Direct Blame-Shifting in Letters:
  • "She was a harlot. A Jezebel who led me astray, who spoke sweet words of destruction. But I will let God have his justice with her." (54:51)
• On Mistress’s Emotional Response:
  • "It came on very sudden...how quickly she recovers after it...there should be remnants of [emotion] throughout. Even though she’s emotionally upset, she quickly gets over it awfully fast." (43:36)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Chris Watts’s initial statements & Nancy’s reaction: 02:09–05:42
• Background on Shanann and family finances: 06:34–10:45
• Timeline of the disappearance: 12:03–14:27
• Chris Watts’s prison letters & blame-shifting: 17:23–18:32; 30:30–33:29
• Nicole Kessinger interrogation, deleted texts: 36:01–36:48
• Computer search revelations (wedding dresses, Amber Fry): 38:11–39:05
• Analysis of Kessinger’s demeanor: 43:36
• Other mistress and sexual fantasies: 49:46–51:02

Episode Takeaways

• Nancy Grace and her panel dismantle Chris Watts’s claims of redemption, calling out the hypocrisy and self-pity in his prison communications.
• The brutality and calculation of the murders, combined with Watts’s ongoing attempts to blame others (especially women), are laid bare.
• Nicole Kessinger, while not implicated in the murders, is scrutinized for her inconsistencies and motivations; however, the focus remains squarely on Watts as the sole perpetrator.
• The episode underscores the dangers of image-focused social media culture, the warning signs of domestic homicide, and the ongoing need for justice and remembrance for Shanann, Bella, Celeste, and baby Nico.

A grim but deeply compelling episode, Nancy Grace ensures that despite Watts’s pleas for forgiveness and notoriety, the victims remain at the heart of the story—and that justice is served both in this life and the next.