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Published 12:40 29 Jul 2026 GMT
Chris Watts' alleged secret mistress has explained why she hid the truth about their relationship for years.
The 41-year-old murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, in August 2018 before hiding the girls' bodies inside crude oil tanks and burying Shanann in a shallow grave.
After initially appearing on television pleading for his family's safe return, Watts later admitted to the killings and is now serving multiple life sentences without parole.
Now, a woman who claims she secretly dated Watts before the murders says she hid the true extent of their relationship from police because she feared it would be used against her during her own custody battle.
Amanda McMahon told the Daily Mail she met Watts on Tinder while she was navigating a difficult divorce and custody battle.
She originally described the relationship as a one-time encounter, but now claims they allegedly saw each other over several months.
"I was so fearful of having it blow up in my face... it had to do with substances. It had to do with reckless sex, reckless behavior," she said. "Disclosing that entire web... isn't something you want to put out in the public when your ex-husband will load it into a gun and use it as ammo."
According to McMahon, Watts introduced himself simply as "Chris" and claimed he was separated from the mother of his children, alleging she was using the kids against him during a bitter custody dispute.
The story immediately resonated with her as she was experiencing something similar herself.
McMahon said the pair arranged to meet in a Chick-fil-A parking lot before driving separately to her apartment.
Although she found the killer attractive, she now believes his friendly personality was little more than an act.
"Looking back on it, I could tell any kind of sweetness he had was very fake," she said. "I won't say forced, because he was able to turn on the charm for anything he needed... but something about him felt off."
McMahon alleged their first sexual encounter became disturbing almost instantly.
She claimed Watts suddenly became aggressive, pulling her hair and wrapping his hand around her throat during sex.
"He had just this animalistic fury come over him," she alleged. "He just went into like a zone. He just didn't look the same in his eyes... in the snap of a finger, he went from normal to crazy, like brutal, almost."
McMahon said she was frightened by how quickly his behavior changed.
"I remember just kind of being scared to really say anything," she recalled. "It happened way too fast, and it threw me off."
When detectives interviewed her after the murders, McMahon described Watts as being "really fast and aggressive," saying he pulled her hair, put his arms around her neck and attempted anal sex before she pushed him away.
She now says that account was truthful but incomplete.
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McMahon alleges Watts remained in contact with her between the spring of 2017 and early 2018.
She claimed they met several more times and had sex on at least two additional occasions.
She also alleged Watts regularly asked her for prescription opioid medication.
"I had my own prescription that he would essentially beg for things out of," she claimed. "It seemed he wanted to get away from something or numb himself... and honestly, I was trying to forget things too, so I understood where he was coming from."
She insisted she never used drugs alongside Watts and never witnessed him taking the pills she claimed to have given him.
McMahon also alleged that on one occasion he asked whether she had access to stimulant medication, including Adderall.
One moment from their first meeting has become especially unsettling for McMahon.
She said Watts chose to watch Shutter Island, the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller in which a man kills his wife after discovering she murdered their children.
At the time, she thought little of it. However, in hindsight she found the choice deeply disturbing because Watts later falsely claimed to investigators that he strangled Shanann only after witnessing her kill their daughters, a version of events detectives quickly rejected.
McMahon also recalled Watts constantly criticizing Shanann throughout their alleged relationship.
"He would say the most awful things... talking her down and making her seem like a horrible, unstable person... say[ing] he wished she'd work and complain that he had to support her," she claimed. "Any shot you could take, he took... he just did not like that poor woman."
She said Watts frequently silenced his ringing phone whenever they were together, and she now believes the calls and messages were coming from Shanann.
McMahon also remembered seeing a picture of his daughters as the wallpaper on his phone, despite him rarely mentioning them or even telling her their names.
"He appeared normal... but there was something not right about him," she said.
McMahon said she recognized Watts immediately after seeing him on television appealing for information about his missing family.
She later spoke to police but claimed she downplayed their relationship because she didn't want to become publicly linked to the case.
Watts denied ever meeting McMahon, insisting his only affair was with co-worker Nichol Kessinger.
"Everything out of his mouth is a lie in some form," McMahon said.
Reflecting on the alleged encounter years later, she said Shanann's death by strangulation has left her wondering how close she may have come to suffering a similar fate.
"He's just sick," she said. "Maybe he was suppressing his urge to hurt her. And judging by how he was with me, I can see how he's capable of going into that animalistic mode."
McMahon told the outlet her alleged relationship with the convicted murderer has left her traumatized for years.
She claimed strangers continue to recognize her and she regularly receives abusive messages online because of her association with Watts.
She shared that the most troubling thing is reflecting on how her alleged experience mirrored the way Shanann was ultimately murdered.
"It's pretty terrifying," she said. "It got me thinking, if his M.O. is to just kill, it would've been easier to take me out to get that itch scratched.
"But I've had years to think about that, and obviously he wanted to have a new life... which is obviously more complex in that aspect," she added.
Asked what she would say if she ever came face-to-face with Watts again, McMahon said there is only one thing she wants to know.
"Was it worth it?" she questioned. "I don't think anything you can say to a monster like that will do any good. You've just got to wait and let them send him up to his creator and let him go with it."
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Published 15:57 28 Jul 2026 GMT
A woman who says she had a “secret” affair with convicted murderer Chris Watts has spoken about their alleged conversations and revealed messages she claims he sent before he killed his wife and two daughters.
Amanda McMahon claims she had a fling with the disgraced father that lasted several months and ended before he murdered pregnant Shanann Watts and their children Bella and Celeste.
According to McMahon, the pair met on Tinder in 2017, swapped numbers, and later met at a Chick-fil-A car park, where she says Watts called Shanann his “baby mama” rather than his wife.
McMahon also alleged that their first meeting led to consensual sex after they watched Shutter Island at her home.
However, she said: “in the snap of a finger, he went from normal to crazy,” and claimed she became “scared to say anything” when he started acting aggressively during sex.
She claimed: “He did not like that poor woman.”
McMahon also alleged that Watts described Shanann as a “f***ing psycho” and a “gold digger,” among other “awful things”.
One of the alleged text exchanges she shared reportedly began with her writing: “Morning bud,” to which Watts replied: “What’s new pretty lady? When can we eat tacos together?” When she responded that it “sounds like a plan,” he allegedly wrote: “This could get out of hand. I like it.”
McMahon said she kept in contact with Watts and slept with him on at least two more occasions before cutting ties in March 2018 after changing her phone number.
She added that she was going through a custody battle at the time and was trying to “numb” her emotions, while describing Watts as “sick” but saying he initially seemed normal.
Watts is serving multiple life sentences at Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin after being convicted of strangling Shanann and killing Bella, four, and Celeste, three, in August 2018, leaving the children's bodies in an oil tank.
He later confessed after failing a polygraph test and was handed five life sentences without parole in November 2018.
Published 10:29 21 Jun 2026 GMT
A woman who claims she had a secret sexual encounter with convicted family killer Chris Watts has come forward with allegations about a disturbing meeting months before he murdered his pregnant wife and two young daughters.
Per The Daily Mail, the claims are detailed in investigative documents and add another layer to one of America's most notorious murder cases. Watts is currently serving multiple life sentences after admitting to killing his wife, Shanann Watts, and daughters Bella and Celeste in August 2018.
The newly highlighted records also shed light on Shanann's final efforts to save her marriage, as well as previously reported evidence surrounding Watts's affair with co-worker Nichol Kessinger, which became a central focus of the investigation.
According to police records, a Colorado woman named Amanda McMahon told investigators she met Watts through Tinder in February or March 2018, roughly six months before the murders.
McMahon said the pair arranged to meet in a Chick-fil-A parking lot before driving separately to her home. She told detectives that Watts claimed he was separated from his "babies' momma" and said he was not allowed to see his children.
The encounter soon became unsettling, according to her account. McMahon alleged that Watts pulled her hair and wrapped his arms around her neck during sex. She described the experience as a "rape fantasy" and said she pushed him away at one point.
Despite being disturbed by what happened, she told investigators: "No radars went off or anything."
McMahon said she was "99 percent certain" the man was Watts and was able to describe his tattoos and workplace. However, she acknowledged she could not identify him with enough certainty to testify in court.
Watts denied ever meeting McMahon and maintained that his only extramarital affair was with Kessinger.
The files also reveal how investigators discovered a calculator-style app on Watts's phone that concealed photographs, videos and other private material linked to his relationship with Kessinger.
Police found evidence showing the pair exchanged intimate photographs and spent significant time together while Shanann and the children were visiting family in North Carolina during the summer of 2018.
Investigators also reviewed Kessinger's internet search history, which included searches such as "Man I'm having affair with says he will leave his wife" and "marrying your mistress."
According to the records, Kessinger also searched for Shanann Watts's name on September 1, 2017, months before she later said her relationship with Watts began. The documents do not explain why the search was conducted.
After Shanann and her daughters were reported missing, Kessinger searched terms including "Can cops trace text messages" and "How long do phone companies keep text messages." Investigators noted that some of those searches had later been deleted.
Kessinger was never accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
The documents also contain details about Shanann Watts's efforts to repair her marriage during the weeks leading up to her death.
Among the items recovered by investigators was an unopened copy of the relationship book Hold Me Tight, which Shanann had purchased for her husband. Police found it still sealed inside its Amazon box in the family garage after the murders.
Text messages reviewed during the investigation showed Shanann expressing concern about changes in her husband's behavior.
"How many times do I have to ask you to hold me? You hate me that much?" she wrote.
Watts responded: "I don't hate you. I will fix this. It will be better."
Shanann reportedly explored marriage counseling, sought support from friends and organized a planned getaway to Aspen in an effort to reconnect with her husband.
On August 13, 2018, Watts murdered Shanann, who was pregnant with their son Nico, before killing daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three. He later disposed of their bodies at a remote oil site in Colorado.
After initially denying involvement and appearing in media interviews pleading for his family's return, Watts eventually confessed. In November 2018, he pleaded guilty to multiple murder charges, including the unlawful termination of Shanann's pregnancy and tampering with deceased bodies.
He is serving five life sentences, three of them consecutively.
Published 16:23 22 Jun 2026 GMT
New allegations have emerged suggesting that convicted family killer Chris Watts may have been involved with more than one woman before the murders of his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their two daughters in 2018.
When Shanann Watts, who was pregnant with the couple's third child, and daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three, disappeared from their Colorado home in August 2018, Chris Watts initially portrayed himself as a worried husband and father desperate for answers.
Investigators later discovered he had murdered all three. Watts eventually admitted to the killings and later indicated that his affair with Nichol Kessinger played a role in his desire to start over.
In a letter written from prison, he said: "I knew if I took my hands off of her, she would still keep me from Nikki." He also wrote: "They asked me why she couldn't fight back, it's because she couldn't fight back."
For years, Kessinger was believed to be the only woman Watts was involved with outside his marriage. However, newly highlighted information suggests there may have been others.
According to reports, a woman named Amanda McMahon told detectives that she met Watts through Tinder in either February or March 2018, several months before the murders.
McMahon claimed Watts told her he had separated from Shanann when they met in a restaurant parking lot before heading back to her home together.
She later described the encounter as deeply uncomfortable, alleging that Watts became unusually aggressive during sex.
In police interview footage, McMahon reportedly said: "He just followed me to my place." She also claimed Watts was extremely "rough" and "aggressive," alleging that he pulled her hair, put his hands around her neck and acted out what she described as a "rape fantasy".
According to her account, the situation became so intense that she had to physically push him away.
McMahon told investigators she was "99 per cent certain" the man she met was Chris Watts and was reportedly able to accurately describe his tattoos and workplace.
However, she acknowledged she could not identify him with enough certainty to testify in court. Watts later denied ever meeting her and maintained that Kessinger was his only affair.
Investigators also reportedly uncovered evidence suggesting the possibility of another woman.
Emails sent from an anonymous account referred to a woman named Heidi, who allegedly had an on-and-off relationship with "a guy named Chris" who was married with two children.
The anonymous source claimed the pair communicated through a secret messaging application disguised as a calculator. According to the email, entering a code would transform the app into a hidden messaging platform.
The tipster wrote: "She may by now have erased any messages," adding: "But if you have his phone I'd check for that app."
While no affair involving Heidi was ever confirmed, investigators reportedly found a calculator-style app on Watts' phone that concealed intimate content.
The murders and subsequent investigation were later explored in the 2020 Netflix documentary, American Murder: The Family Next Door, which detailed the events leading up to one of America's most shocking family murder cases.
Published 13:55 07 Jan 2026 GMT
The horrific murders of Shanann Watts and her two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, sent shockwaves across America.
On August 13, 2018, Chris Watts, 35, committed one of the most shocking family annihilation crimes in modern U.S. history.
After killing his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their daughters, Bella and Celeste, he disposed of their bodies at an oil site where he worked, all while publicly pretending to be a distraught husband.
But behind closed doors, Watts was hiding his affair with a woman named Nichol Kessinger, which ultimately played a role in the deadly acts.
The chilling details of Watts' behavior leading up to the murders have been revealed through various sources, including a new police interview with Nichol Kessinger, his mistress at the time.
In a heartbreaking exchange, Kessinger recounted her final conversation with Watts before she learned the truth about his crimes.
According to Kessinger, she repeatedly asked him where his family was and what had happened. "I kept asking him, ‘What did you do, Chris? What did you do?’ I asked, ‘Where’s your family?’” she recalled.
Kessinger sent him one last message, warning him that his actions would ruin both their lives: “If you did anything bad, you’re going to ruin your life and you’re going to ruin my life. I promise you that.”
Watts' response, "I didn’t hurt my family, Nicky," was the last communication Kessinger received from him. She revealed: “I never said another word to him after that.”
The day after the murders, Watts appeared on television, making a public plea for the return of his wife and children, saying: “Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you’re out there, just come back. If somebody has her, just bring her back. I need to see everybody.”
His seemingly desperate appeal to the public was a calculated deception, as he had already brutally ended the lives of his family members.
Despite his repeated denials to Kessinger, Watts had already begun to unravel his own dark truths, which ultimately led to his confession.
He later pleaded guilty to nine charges, including murder and the unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and was sentenced to five life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.
While Watts' life behind bars may have seemed like a new chapter for him, disturbing details have surfaced about his behavior and mindset during his imprisonment.
Former cellmate Dylan Tallman, who spent seven months in an adjacent cell to Watts in 2020, has revealed unsettling aspects of Watts' character, particularly his obsession with women.
Tallman explained that Watts’ infatuation with women was a recurring theme even while incarcerated. “He will talk to a girl and she becomes his everything really fast,” Tallman said.
“He becomes obsessed with a woman and she becomes all he can think of - and he’ll do whatever they ask him to do.” Watts would allegedly often spend hours on the phone, writing long letters, and calling women incessantly.
Despite his monstrous past, Watts continued to receive attention from women, many of whom wrote to him in prison. Tallman noted that Watts' obsession with women didn’t stop behind bars.
"A lot of women write him in prison," Tallman added. "He talks to them a lot." In a twisted pattern, Watts' fixation on women reportedly persisted, even after he had already destroyed the lives of his own family.
Even more disturbing is how Watts attempted to justify his brutal actions by blaming his affair with Nichol Kessinger.
In letters from 2020, Watts referred to Kessinger as a "seductress" who led him astray.
Using Biblical language, he tried to paint her as the root cause of his crimes.
"The words of a harlot have brought me low," Watts wrote in one letter, confessing that Kessinger's “flattering speech was like drops of honey that pierced my heart and soul. Little did I know that all her guests were in the chamber of death.”
Tallman, who described himself as Watts' "spiritual twin," said that Watts' tendency to blame others was evident in his discussions about Kessinger.
Watts sought solace in religion, trying to reconcile his actions with his newfound faith. However, his attempts to excuse his crimes by blaming others seemingly show a lack of true remorse for his actions.
Published 09:35 22 Aug 2025 GMT
Chris Watts' mistress has shared the haunting final text message he sent her after murdering his wife and kids.
On August 13, 2018, Watts, 35, committed one of the most horrifying crimes in modern American history.
Watts strangled his 15-weeks-pregnant wife, Shanann, before killing their daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. He then dumped their bodies at an oil site where he worked, but publicly posed as a grieving husband.
“Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you’re out there, just come back,” he said in a televised plea the next day. “If somebody has her, just bring her back. I need to see everybody.”
It wasn’t just the public that Watts was deceiving. In a newly surfaced police interview, Nichol Kessinger - his mistress at the time - recalled the final exchange she had with him before learning the truth.
“I kept asking him, ‘What did you do, Chris? What did you do?’ I asked, ‘Where’s your family?’” she said, per E! News.
“So I texted Chris one last time, and I told him, ‘If you did anything bad, you’re going to ruin your life and you’re going to ruin my life. I promise you that.’ And he responded, ‘I didn’t hurt my family, Nicky,’” she revealed.
According to Nichol, that was the last text she got from him. "I never said another word to him after that," she added.
The chilling interview, verified by People, shows Kessinger grappling with the horrifying revelation that the man she had dated was a family annihilator.
“There were several discussions that we had about his current relationship and where it had gone,” she said. “It was never anything aggressive. It was still very kind. He was just like, ‘This is not working.’”
Even with hindsight, she admitted, “His behavior wasn’t anything out of the ordinary or anything that would scare me... Even to this day, even after everything that I’ve found out, I still look back at that, and I don’t see any red lights about the way he spoke about his family.”
Watts ultimately pleaded guilty to nine charges, including murder and the unlawful termination of a pregnancy, on November 6, 2018. He is currently serving five life sentences without parole in Wisconsin.
The 2020 Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door shocked millions, but several disturbing details were left out.
Among them was that Kessinger had searched for wedding dresses and “marrying your mistress” on Google just nine days before the brutal murders. She later filed to change her name, per Business Insider.
Watts’ alleged affairs didn’t end with Nichol. A woman named Amanda McMahon said she had a violent one-night stand with him in March 2018, describing the encounter as “really fast and aggressive.”
A male escort, Trent Bolte, also claimed a 10-month affair with Watts, although investigators questioned the claim and Watts denied it, saying, “I’ve never been with a guy.”
Even after his arrest, Watts had a steady prison visitor. Between March and December 2019, Anna Nowak visited him 31 times, according to visitation records.
The documentary also failed to mention that Shanann hadn’t given up on her marriage to Watts. Per the Daily Mail, she looked for travel deals on Groupon and had arranged childcare for Bella and Celeste.
Legal analyst Joey Jackson summarized the case's disturbing contrast between appearance and reality: “You look at a family so in love... and to think about how you can portray that in such a vile way is just totally remarkable.”
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