
Evil Chris Watts is seen here being strip searched by investigators just hours before he was arrested for the murders of his pregnant wife and their two young daughters back in August. Agents photographed Watts’s chest, hands, torso, back, neck, head and legs for the purpose of the investigation. The shirtless images reveal the Colorado killer’s collection of tattoos, including a huge Metallica inking on his upper back — in tribute to his favorite band. Just two hours later Watts, 33, was formally arrested and cuffed in the same room. The images have been released by investigators in the shocking Colorado case following an open records request. Last month Watts had his sentences handed down, including three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the murder of his pregnant wife Shanann, 34 — who was carrying their unborn son — and daughters Bella, aged four, and Celeste, aged three. Prosecutors say Watts strangled his wife for two minutes, before suffocating their two children. The bodies had been dumped by Watts and were discovered on August 16 at the Anadarko oil and gas drilling site where he worked near their home in Frederick on the northern outskirts of Denver, Colorado. According to authorities Watts was having an affair with a female coworker and had told her he and his wife were separating. 06 Dec 2018 Pictured: Killer dad Chris Watts is seen being strip searched by agents shortly before he was arrested for the murder of his pregnant wife and their two young daughters on August 15, 2018. Photo credit: Weld County DA/ MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA320099_006.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]
In 2018, Chris Watts admitted to murdering his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and two daughters, Bella, 4 and Celeste, 3. Hours after the incident, however, he denied having anything to do with the family’s disappearance in texts resurfaced from his mistress at the time, Nichol Kessinger.
Kessinger, 33, told officers in a newly released police interview that she met the father of two through work and that he claimed he was separated from his wife and planning to get a divorce.
“There were several discussions that we had about his current relationship and where it had gone,” she reportedly said, according to People. “He talked about his kids from time to time. But the thing was that he was never hostile. It was never anything aggressive. It was still very kind. He was just like, ‘This is not working.’”
She went on to say that nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her about their relationship of two months. Even after learning of the murders, she still didn’t see any red flags in the way he spoke about his family. She admitted to texting Watts, 36, when she heard the news of his family’s disappearance.

“I kept asking him, ‘What did you do, Chris? What did you do?’ I asked, ‘Where’s your family?’ 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.’”
Kessinger said the last text exchange between them was Watts responding with, “I didn’t hurt my family, Nicky.”
Watts admitted to killing his wife, who was 15 weeks pregnant at the time, just hours after he told her their marriage was over and strangled her in their bed. He then drove miles away to an oil tank, and although he said he didn’t plan on killing his two daughters, he smothered them to death. He claimed to carry out the murders to be with Kessinger.
The Colorado native is currently serving five life sentences in addition to 48 years in prison without the possibility of parole at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.