Chris Watts has turned religious, according to cellmates and pen pals, since he was booked into prison for killing his pregnant wife, Shanann, and young daughters -Credit:Denver Post via Getty Images
 (Denver Post via Getty Images)

Killer dad Chris Watts has apparently expressed regret while behind bars – though his cellmates say it’s for the wrong thing.

Chris Watts, 41, of Fredrik, Colorado, is infamous for killing his pregnant wife Shanann, 34, and their two daughters, Celeste, 3, and Bella, 4, and playing the role of the concerned dad of a missing family to reporters. He’s currently serving five life sentences without the possibility of parole for their murders.

According to cellmates in his bible study group, Watts now expresses regret about trying to pressure his wife, Shanann, into an abortion. Watts had strangled Shanann on August 13, 2018, before loading her body into a truck and taking their young daughters to a remote oil site where he worked.

Watts then also strangled the children, before hiding their bodies in oil drums. Afterward, he went home and reported the family missing. Police found their bodies in the oil field days later. Watts confessed to the murders on August 15, 2018. He later pleaded guilty.

It turned out Watts had told his wife he was cheating with a coworker and demanded a separation on the day he eventually killed her. She reportedly reacted angrily to the news, telling him he’d never “see the children” again.

Watts has apparently expressed his regrets over trying to talk his wife into an abortion -Credit:DP

Watts’ former mistress, Nichol Kessinger, 37, reported Watts to the police. Since then, she legally changed her name and started a new career under a different identity.

Watts’ behavior while imprisoned at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun has also come under question. His bible study group mate told The Daily Mail that Watts often talks about pressuring his wife to get an abortion.

Miguel Canteros, who was in the Bible Study group with Watts last year, said “He wanted her to have an abortion. He said he really felt bad about that, asking her to get rid of the baby.”

Canteros confirmed to the Daily Mail that Watts did not talk about regretting the murders. “He’s really focused on the abortion. That’s what he confesses about, that he was ungrateful for the gift of a new baby,” Canteros added.

Watts pictured here with the wife he killed, Shanann, and two daughters, aged 3 and 4 -Credit:shanannwatts/Instagram

Apparently, in jailhouse love letters to female pen pals, Watts had said similar things. In a letter he wrote to a 43–year–old woman in 2021, who spoke to the Daily Mail on condition of anonymity, he said, “I didn’t want another child, I was selfish. I didn’t want more responsibility. It was wrong of me to tell her to do that, because that’s not what she wanted.”

Shanann was a devout Catholic and apparently refused the abortion, and Chris’ reaction to the pregnancy was cold and indifferent. She texted a friend about how it dampened her own happiness about another child only a week before she was murdered.

“Chris told me last night he’s scared to death about this third baby and he’s happy with just Bella and Celeste and doesn’t want another baby,” the text, dated August 7, 2018, read. She added, “He said we’re not compatible anymore. He refused to hug me after he said he will try to ‘work it out.'”

A photo of Shanann Watts and her daughters, Bella, 4, left, and Celeste, 3, sits at a makeshift memorial in 2018 -Credit:AP

Another message from Shanann to the friend sadly read, “I grabbed his hand during ultrasound and he didn’t grab back.”

After Watts was sentenced to prison, he underwent a religious transformation and suddenly became a devout Christian. According to a cellmate from 2020, Watts had a sudden turnaround when he saw a very special TV message from crime show host Nancy Grace that was meant for him.

Dylan Tallman, who was there when Watts suddenly had a religious turnaround, said that “[Nancy Grace] was talking about what he had done, and she was yelling. She addressed him through the TV, saying, ‘Chris Watts, I want to talk to you,'” while flashing pictures of his wife and daughters.

“It affected him. He fell to his knees and confessed his sins. It sounds weird, but that’s when he became a man of faith,” said his former cellmate.

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