The alleged mistress of Chris Watts is speaking out for the first time.
In an interview with the Denver Post, she said it was after Watts pleaded guilty that she decided it was time to share details of their short relationship.
According to the Denver Post, Kessinger first took Watts for a “soft-spoken man and a thoughtful father.”
She also believed Watts was already divorced. It wasn’t until news broke that his family was missing that she learned Watts had been lying to her.
Kessinger met Watts when they began working for the same oil company. They had been dating for less than two months before she learned that Watts was arrested for the murders of his pregnant wife and two young daughters.
Kessinger told the Denver Post that after his arrest, she’s “never doubted” that he was responsible for the alleged triple-homicide:
“I don’t think there is a logical explanation for what he did. It’s a senseless act, and it’s horrific.”
According to the 30-year-old, Watts introduced himself on a June day when he walked into her office.
At the time, Watts wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and Kessinger “thought he was attractive.”
Watts told her that he was the father to two little girls and, after being prompted by Kessinger, told her that he was “at the end of divorce proceedings.”
As the Denver Post reports, after their relationship turned physical, they started seeing each other four to five times a week.
Posted by Shanann Watts on Sunday, March 25, 2018
They agreed to take things slow so that he could focus on his daughters. Towards the end of July, Kessinger said Watts called to tell her his divorce was final and asked for help looking for an apartment that would be suitable for him and his girls:
“He made me believe that he was doing all of the things that a rational man and good father would do.”
The morning Watts’ wife, Shan’ann, and their daughters went missing, Kessinger said they had a normal conversation.
It was around 3:45 p.m. that same day, August 13, that Watts texted Kessinger to tell her his family was “gone.”
He went on to tell her that Shan’ann took Belle and Celeste to a play date, but never returned.
Kessinger told the Denver Post that she was “very confused why the media was at his house.” Then she learned the full story:
“When I read the news, I found out he was still married and his wife was 15 weeks pregnant. …
I thought, ‘If he was able to lie to me and hide something that big, what else was he lying about?’”
The way Watts was handling the news that his family was missing and the lack of emotion he was showing “seemed off” Kessinger said.
He reportedly told her that “he would never hurt his family,” but Kessinger still felt the need to end communication with Watts:
“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.”
She later called authorities to explain her relationship with Watts and all that he lied about. She told the Post that she “just wanted to help,” knowing a pregnant woman and two children were missing, she was willing “to do anything.”
Chris Watts’ parents blame his pregnant wife for murders of family https://t.co/siWc2GUg0m pic.twitter.com/M0nLoDak6G
— New York Post (@nypost) November 14, 2018
Later that same day she went to the police about their relationship Watts was arrested for the alleged murders.
Her reaction:
“I just felt so, so sad.”
Kessinger also thinks Watts’ story that Shan’ann killed their daughters and in turn, he killed his wife in a fit of rage, is a lie:
“He’s a liar. He lied about everything.”
Watts also never introduced Kessinger to anyone he was close to.
Kessinger said the affair has turned her life upside down. She added, “We had just met. I barely knew him.”