FREDERICK, COLORADO: Chris Watts, a serial killer, has been writing to female pen pals while serving as a custodian at a maximum-security facility in Wisconsin.
Watts fatally choked his wife Shanann, who was carrying their kid at the time. Later, he suffocated their daughters Bella, age 4, and Celeste, age 3 in their Frederick, Colorado, home on August 13, 2018.
Where is Chris Watts now?
Shanann, 34, Chris Watt's wife was discovered in a shallow grave, and her daughters were found hidden in crude oil drums close by. The killer received a total of five consecutive life sentences at Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in Colorado.
The 36-year-old Watts is currently serving five life sentences plus 48 years in prison without a possibility of parole at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin.
Chris Watts spends his days writing to female pen pals
According to Inside Edition, Watts not only works as a custodian but also communicates often with a number of women, many of whom think he is innocent.
"In my <3 you're a great guy," penned Candace. "If you do write me back, I'd be the happiest girl alive, that's for sure." She added the hashtags "#TEAMCHRIS," "#CHRISISINNOCENT," "#ILOVEHIM," and "#TOOCUTE" to the note.
Watts received around 60 letters from total strangers in just a few weeks in prison, expressing both love and hatred for the murderer.
Tatiana reportedly wrote, "I found myself thinking a lot about you," adding a photo of herself in a bikini. Kim expressed to Watts her desire to "brighten your days," and Hannah remarked, "I feel this connection to you."
What motivated Chris Watts to commit the crime?
Watts even confirmed the gruesome details of the deaths to one of these pen friends in 2021, who spoke to Inside Edition.
The murderer earlier asserted that he killed his two girls and his pregnant wife in a fit of rage in order to be with Nichol Kessinger, his mistress and fellow employee.
Watts, however, later claimed that the murders had been planned for some time in the letter to Cadle. He stated: "August 12th when I finished putting the girls to bed, I walked away and said 'That's the last time I'm going to be tucking my babies in.' I knew what was going to happen the day before and I did nothing to stop it!"
Cadle became upset when Watts sent her a 12-page letter detailing the specifics of each homicide. "I just broke down and started bawling," Cadle admitted. "I cried and cried. I just couldn't believe what he did to those girls… It was a real shock to read his letter."
Watts now apparently keeps primarily to himself, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC). According to Dylan Tallman, a fellow prisoner at Dodge who may have formed the strongest bond with Watts over the last five years, his friend is innocent.
Cadle decided to meet Watts in prison after they exchanged numerous letters and spoke on the phone frequently.
"I hate to even admit this because he is a murderer and what he did is so horrendous, but when I first met him, he had this boyish demeanor," Cadle stated.
"He was gentle, soft-spoken and just appeared as a nice guy. And he remained that way throughout our communications. That changed when he started talking about the murders."
