Colorado killer dad Chris Watts' former mistress has changed her name and her appearance and is living in another part of of the state in an attempt to distance herself from her notorious ex.
Nichol Kessinger, now 35, was thrust into the spotlight of a high-profile criminal case when Watts strangled his pregnant wife and two young daughters and stashed their bodies in an oil field on Aug. 13, 2018.
More than five years later, she is still reeling from the notoriety — and has taken steps to disguise herself.
The Messenger tracked down Kessinger, who has legally changed her name.
Kessinger is working for a new company and has been dating a man younger than her.
She has also cut her long hair and lives nearly an hour away from where the murders were committed.
"Don't call me again," said a woman who answered a phone number registered to Kessinger.
When asked a follow-up question, the woman hung up and did not respond to text messages.
One of Kessinger's family members tells The Messenger that she is unlikely to speak out publicly about the case.
"She doesn't want to talk about it," says the relative. "She just wishes the whole thing would go away forever."
Despite online suspicion that Kessinger knew more about the murders, authorities have insisted that she cooperated fully and was not involved in the deaths of Watts' wife Shanann, 34, or his daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.
Kessinger told police she believed Watts had separated from his wife and that she didn't learn the truth — that they were still together — until after seeing news stories about his crimes.
"He put her through absolute hell," District Attorney Michael Rourke said last year on the podcast Survivor's Guide to True Crime, referring to Kessinger.
"She is a victim as well."
After pleading guilty in November 2018, Watts is now serving five life sentences without the possibility of parole at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.
In vivid and chilling detail he told investigators how he first strangled Shanann to death at their home on Aug. 13, 2018, then loaded her lifeless body into his truck and drove it to a job site of the oil company where he worked — with their daughters in tow.
Watts then buried his wife before smothering his girls and dumping their bodies into crude oil tanks.
His motive, according to authorities, was to be with the woman he loved: Kessinger.
Watts told investigators he was "blinded" by his love for her, and that he had feelings for her more than a year after the murders.
"She was special," he told FBI agents, according to recently released documents. "I loved her."
He even sent Kessinger love letters from prison, a former cell mate told The Messenger.
"She never acknowledged them," the inmate, Dylan Tallman, said. "He never got a reply."