True Crime Case Analysis

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Chapter 10: Mistress?

“Christopher has not told the FBI, but as soon as Nikki told him she wanted to have a first with him, he started planning how he would kill the baby so he could give Nikki their first together.”

—There’s no proof of Nichol having made this statement. We are told she said this to Chris after her 2nd visit to the Watts’ home on 7/14/2018. Since these are Chris’s words and there’s no factual proof to back up that claim, let’s take it with a grain of salt. We do know he sent a card to Nichol on 7/30/18. In the card, Chris wrote, “We have a lot of firsts together Nikki,” and then, “I want to keep making them with you.” Notice the message does not say, “We will have a lot of firsts.” The phrase “we have” reveals they already had shared many first experiences together. This is accurate because their sand dunes trip was a first, camping was a first, and visiting the Shelby museum was a first.

The author’s quote is vague, as it reads, “have a first together.” She clarified later in the chapter: Chris claimed Nichol told him she wanted to give him his first boy. This card doesn’t show or confirm anything, except to convey they did share first experiences together and were planning to make more. Although Nichol could have indeed made this statement, any adult understands one cannot simply choose the sex of their baby. There’s always a 50/50 chance, so it seems odd to even say. We will never know.

Having said that, this card contradicts what the author wrote: “…kill the baby so he could give her their first together.” The card was written 2 weeks after the author claims he began planning to kill Shanann’s baby so Nichol could give him one. Killing the baby would not be giving her a first; he already had two children. The gender of Shanann’s baby was unknown at this point; so killing the baby to give her a chance to give him his first boy does not add up.

I have gone over this so many times about the baby. Let’s do it one more time in a recap for new followers.

1) There’s absolutely zero evidence Chris did or did not want the baby before or after conception. From the moment Shanann got pregnant she relentlessly said all over her Facebook that it was Chris’s idea. I always found that so strange! I have never seen someone make sure to let everyone know whose idea it was to expand the family. If it was a planned baby, why the need to let everyone know it was your husbands’ idea? I also understand it’s just shirts but, “Oops we did it again” and “All I wanted was a back rub” sure does not sound like a mutually “planned” baby to me.

2) Just a month prior to getting pregnant was when Shanann approached Chris about withdrawing money from the 401K. I have a hard time believing it was entirely Chris’s idea, at a time he knew the mortgage was not even being paid. By the looks of the announcement video, which we discussed in Part 2, enforces my belief. There’s no proof that Chris did not want the baby once he found out she was pregnant. Shocked? Surprised? Scared? I am sure all three, maybe even more.

3) There IS proof Shanann did not want the baby. She said it multiple times in several different ways, within only 2 days of Chris’s arrival to North Carolina. Cristina, her longtime close friend is the only one she told that information to. Shanann told other short term not so close friends that it was Chris that did not want the baby.

Are you following me here?

4) The only proof we have is Chris saying he was scared, one time in a text exchange with Shanann. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Who would not be scared? He could not even pay their mortgage, debt piling up, a wife pushing him to fight with his parents, kids not being allowed to see their grandparents, barely any communication with his wife, and an affair. I think it’s valid to feel scared or even hesitant about bringing a baby into that already ticking time bomb situation. Scared does not equal not wanting the baby though.

5) Shanann told several friends she inquired with Chris if she should abort the baby. Chris said NO. If he did not want the baby he had an opportunity, that he clearly did not take. Have you ever known a mother to ask if she should abort her baby, unless she truly meant it? I am a mother of three and I could not even fathom the word coming out of my mouth; let alone ask my husband that for any reason.

6) I went over the claim of (Chris) giving Shanann Oxy to cause a miscarriage possibility in the, “Where the Truth Lies (Part 1)” series: https://truecrimecaseanalysis.home.blog/2019/09/17/where-the-truth-lies/

She continued…

“How very sad that Shanann was excited to be able to give him a son.”

—Where was the excitement from Shanann? She did not even want people to think she was part of the planning of the baby. She was not excited and made that very known; even specifically said, “I am not happy.” There’s no proof that they were even having a son! Shanann cancelled and rescheduled two doctors appointments after she returned back to Colorado. Instead, Shanann & Chris went to an elective 4D ultrasound on 8/8. In the Discoveries, the ultrasound specialists wanted to speak with detectives after the tragedy occurred however, we still do not know why. If the ultrasound specialists had found anything wrong with the baby they legally would not be able to tell Shanann. The ultrasound specialists definitely would have urged Shanann to get in to see her regular OBGYN as soon as possible. Monday, August 13th was going to be when she finally went to the doctors. She had not been to one since before she left Colorado. Shanann did not even go to the doctors when she spoke of having an array of troubling symptoms. Usually, depending on the doctor, you go once a month at the beginning of a pregnancy. If her 7 health challenges were true she would have been considered high risk and definitely would have needed more frequent visits. Shanann was taking a migraine medication (Imitrex) which she feared taking whilst pregnant with Celeste due to safety concerns. It’s certainly possible something was wrong with the baby and that the appointment Monday was to check further. So the fact that she hadn’t been to one since June 19, which was before she left Colorado, is astonishing.

Remember Shanann said they were waiting until Monday to tell anyone the gender? So many people are now thinking maybe it was because he knew he was gonna kill her Monday. They found out Thursday evening, and Friday morning very early she left for Arizona. Shanann was all about appearance and always did special announcements for pregnancy & gender posts. She had no time to put something together to post on Facebook before she left. Shanann could have told her parents but she didn’t. It’s more believable they were waiting to make sure the baby was okay on Monday, before sharing. This would have given her time to create a scene to post to tell everyone too.

Do you recall Nickole Atkinson’s first TV interview? She said in that interview that it was a doctors appointment to check the baby’s heartbeat. If everything was fine with the baby on Wednesday night Shanann should have been able to hear the heartbeat then. Nickole then said, “see how HE or SHE were doing.” Everyone was told and knew it was a boy already when she gave that interview. Why say he or she? The ultrasound was done Wednesday evening. On Thursday evening, Shanann & Chris found out the gender together, just the two of them. The following Friday at the autopsy it was said that gender and age could not be determined. Autopsy further said it was undetermined due to it being a largely decomposed tissue.

In discussing Christopher being emasculated. “Emasculation is said to reach what is called malignancy level, hence resulting to even killing, if something devastating or bad happens to them.”

—I am not quite sure where she was going with this, but this fits flying into a rage and killing Shanann because she killed their children. It fits his second confession too however, this does not fit the theme of this book, which is that he made plans to kill his entire family.

“Shanann was the only one fighting for the marriage, all the while he was trying to destroy it.”

—In what universe was Shanann fighting for her marriage? I don’t even know where to begin with this.

Her marriage was unhealthy & unbalanced for years and she never took notice. She never saw their marriage as abnormal, even saying in her texts that everything was perfect, before she had left for North Carolina. Is Chris at fault for never speaking up & just allowing it? Yes! Is it solely his fault? No! What happened to self awareness?

She took their children across the country away from their very involved father for five weeks. I wonder if he had any say in this trip. While gone she attempted to dictate his every move from many states away. At times he said he had to pretend he wasn’t doing anything when she called because it upset her. Chris slowly stopped jumping to her endless phone calls as seen in Discoveries. It is ironic to me that’s when “Nutgate” unfolded. Coincidence or intentional?

To see about “Nutgate”, click here https://truecrimecaseanalysis.home.blog/2019/06/22/vast-reasonable-doubt-part-one/

During Nickole Atkinson’s police interview she said that when Chris arrived in N.C. Shanann texted her and said things were bad. She said the only other time he ever acted like that (cold & distant) was after they got married. Shanann told Nickole it was because his parents had not attended their wedding. Are we forgetting this? No Nichol Kessinger in 2012, no dark things going on in her apartment. Was Chris’s behavior because of his affair with Nichol or Shanann’s behavior towards his parents? Despite him acting the same way after their wedding, they conceived Bella in under four months. Which takes the focus off the family issues. Are you seeing why I have to wonder if “Nutgate” was intentional? Chris had started to ignore her calls, which you can see in texts had her on edge and snappy. There were obligations to visit with the Watts family since they were in town, and we know she said spending time with both families was hell for her. Overreacting to an incident would gain her the attention she seemed to crave. He usually always sided with her, which she expected, and he did this time too. That was until she kept pushing and pushing.

Nickole’s police interview for reference: https://youtu.be/Vv4k46E5ouk 54:40-55:15 mark.

Shanann, Bella & Celeste had been spending the weeks with her family and weekends with the Watts family. Only 13 days into their trip, “Nutgate” occurred. As I said, Chris submitted at first over the situation and called his parents on her demand. Chris claimed she told him not to talk to his parents anymore, and he complied. Not sure if that’s true or not, but going off her behavior in texts I would venture to guess probably. Shanann got pissed off again before Chris even arrived in North Carolina, after being apart for weeks. She wanted him to take an Uber to the airport and he didn’t listen. He knew he would be arriving in North Carolina to be met by an already upset Shanann. When it was recognized that he was being distant in person too and that maybe it was due to the issue with his parents; Shanann went hard and fast at Chris. Attacking him every chance she got and in every way she could. This is a woman working on saving her marriage? The only time she semi made an effort was a few days before her death because what she had been trying was not working. I can go on but, let’s discuss my next point.

Let’s review some context of that summer real quick. Shanann was not used to being with their girls 24/7. On her typical days in Colorado according to her words, she would wake a hour before the girls to have time alone. The girls were dropped to school between 7-7:15 M-F. The girls were picked up at 4:30 and in bed by 6:30. Shanann said she would spend the rest of the evening having “me” time and working her business. She said she would go to bed about 12:30/1:00 every night. Weekends Chris was home to help. 1 hour in morning, 9 hours while they were at school, another 6 hours in the evenings, then of course sleep roughly 5-6 hours. That’s approximately 16 hours a day she had to herself. Being with the girls in North Carolina every day all day for five weeks was not something she normally experienced. Shanann had stayed in her family’s home a majority of the time which is 1100 square feet. With them staying there it was 4 adults, 2 kids, and several animals in a small space. We know according to her father and Chris that she bumped heads with her mother often. We also know that Shanann had prior issues with the Watts family and I am sure, felt obligated to visit with them. Now add in Chris starting to not jump to her every beckoning call. During the summer, she was telling Chris in text that she had been fighting with their girls daily. In the mix of it all was “Nutgate.” Who exactly was the overwhelmed party that summer? Which one was maybe in a dark or deluged place in their mind?

Let’s continue…

The author starts to talk of the 4th of July incident. “When he was up and checked his phone, there were many missed calls from Shanann. He knew she was going to be really mad. He went outside to call her, and she was beyond pissed, absolutely furious! He decided to just go home for the rest of the day. He went back inside to let Nikki know. Now it was Nikki’s turn to be angry…”

—All the way from North Carolina, Shanann’s wrath caused that man to resort back to his home leaving Nichol’s house. It goes on that Nichol said, “weren’t they going to do something later on that day? He told her no, he was just going home for the day.” The incident even caused him to not keep his plans with Nichol. He could have easily stayed at Nichol’s, Shanann was far away, but he didn’t. He probably did not want to anger Shanann any further and recognized he should be available for her calls. He did not seem affected that Nichol was angry considering he left.

The story continued and it mentions Nichol showing up to his house later that day. The author starts making assumptions about what Nichol was thinking. Here’s one thing she wrote, “She felt she couldn’t allow him to be alone. She knew if he was alone in that house, with all of the memories and pictures of his family, that he might decide his life was too good to give up.”

—I am pretty sure Nichol did not admit this or say this to Chris. This is authors’ speculation and she really has no idea what Nichol’s motives were. Remember we broke down how many days Nichol and Chris had spent together earlier in this series? This was only the 4th of July. She had been out of town from end of June until July 3rd. This was like the 2nd or 3rd time hanging out with each other outside of work. The author is writing like Nichol at this point already wanted a life with him and didn’t want him to second guess it. On my last point of this quote-what pictures? We’ve seen that house in it’s entirety, it did not look like a typical family home with children’s pictures decorating the walls. Actually, if you never left the first floor you would never really know children resided there, except for a few toys laying out.

From my recollection, Bella’s room had two pics on the wall, neither of which were of her. They were pictures of Shanann & Chris when she was pregnant with Bella. Celeste’s room? Saw none. Loft? There was a character drawing picture on the wall of Chris, Shanann & Bella, and one other pic of Shanann on a beach. In their bedroom there was only a pic of the couple on his dresser from their engagement party and one of them on her dresser from a Thrive trip. The downstairs den off the kitchen had no pictures. Only a few pictures on her desk in her office, and lastly a picture on a shelf in the main living room. That’s it! For a woman who took thousands of pictures she only seemed to want to display them where everyone could see them; Facebook. Two children in full time daycare and I never even saw a single art craft in the home on display either. Not one in any live video or body cam footage. Not even on the usual refrigerator of a home with children.

She leads into the second time Nichol was in the Watts’ home ten days later on 7/14. “There Nikki played with Deeter, the family dog, who led her upstairs. This time she could see what things were like in their life, and all the pictures of Bella, Celeste, and Shanann. She came downstairs with the most frozen, dazed, confused look on her face. She realized for the first time the life he was living, and the family that would be broken to pieces because of their affair.”

—Nichol could have seen the playroom and the girls rooms once up there. We just discussed pictures in the house so likely it was not that. The story goes that she knew he was still married and living with Shanann. To her knowledge, the marriage was in ruins already and had nothing to do with their relationship. It does not A) make sense why she would be taken back by the home knowing they still lived together and B) That she would be in despair and thinking of her being the cause of the marriage ending. At this point they had only been physically hanging out & sexually involved less than 2 weeks. Remember we broke down the days in part 2? Recall it was not everyday. By the way it’s not “Deeter” that little cuties’ name is spelled, D-i-e-t-e-r.

According to the author Nichol was in despair so Chris took her to the couch, she was upset. He claims he told Nichol that he and Shanann decided to have a baby before he met her. Huh? She’s in despair freaking out and he tells her he tried to have another baby with his wife? The one she’s freaking out over? Strange, but okay, so she flips out. Chris attempts to talk to her to get her to stay but she leaves. Nichol went to her truck and was texting with Chris for 30 minutes.

“In his words he, “talked her off the cliff,” she wanted him to make her feel better and to come after her, but he didn’t.”

—As discussed this was under less than 2 weeks of hanging out. Here’s the author making assumptions about what Nichol was thinking again. Her speculation contradicts what Chris said. He said he talked her off the cliff; that is making her feel better. I am having a hard time believing this happened at all, but it’s possible. Sneaking a woman in the house quickly is taking a chance, and done quickly can be pulled off. To have a woman sitting out in front of your house carrying on a conversation for 30 minutes is perilous. May have happened we just do not know. Law enforcement never obtained any footage from Nathan in the time frame Shanann was in North Carolina.

“He told her the plans to have another baby was before he had met Nikki. It had been a way to possibly to save their marriage but it wasn’t working. I really don’t think Shanann was looking at it in that way. I believe she was thinking they decided together to have a third baby, and they were blessed it was going to be a boy.”

—She really doesn’t think Shanann saw it that way? A MONTH prior to her getting pregnant she went to her husband and told him to take $10,000 from his 401k! By doing that she was admitting she had not been paying their mortgage for months. Chris may have been submissive but there had to be a little worry inside of her about how he felt about having to do that. Knowing Chris loved being a father, what better distraction than to bring up having another child? Chris thought she took fertility meds with the first two babies. I have to wonder if he thought it would not be possible for her to get pregnant without those fertility meds, so was careless? But surprise! She did because, well you know, Thrive.

The author believes Shanann thought they planned together? Back to earlier in this post, then why did she repeatedly tell everyone it was Chris’s idea? Blessed to be having a boy? On July 14th which is what this quote is in reference to, neither knew the sex of the baby yet.

After this 7/14 incident they went to Nichole’s apartment and engaged in sexual activities. Chris described Nichol trying to be passionate and doing things that normally turned him on.

“…but this time their love making felt different. He felt the guilt rush back to him, and he really didn’t want to be there. When they made love, Nikki even felt it was different.”

—This is now the second time this author claims Chris had, in a way, rejected Nichol. First was on 4th of July after being scolded by Shanann. He gave up their plans, leaving her hanging, and went home. The second being after the incident at his home. Both these times are on days Nichol had visited the Watts’ home.

“After that happened, she said their sex went down to 1-2 times daily.”

The author then goes on to say that Nikki told him she was scared because she knew he had tried to have a baby with Shanann.

She ends the chapter with, “After all of that, Christopher and Nikki went to the Bendamare races on July 21st and camping in the mountains on July 28th-29th”

—July 7 they saw a movie, July 14th they went to the Shelby museum, then the races on July 21st, and finally camping July 28th-29th. Notice the dates they actually went anywhere together were on weekends. Like we discussed they both worked and the only time they had available to hang out was in the evenings of weekdays. These are the only weekends they spent together exploring common interests. That’s it!

The rest we can assume was a whole lot of sex. Was this really as deep of a relationship as the book makes it seem? Or, is it Chris wanting to make it seem that way? Less than 30 days of hanging out, only having been to four different places together besides restaurants, 2 arguments where Chris’s guilt caused him to reject her, and a decline in sex only two weeks in. I’ll let you decide…

Dear readers and listeners,

That was the entire chapter on Nichol Kessinger. By definition Nichol was technically a “mistress.” Their relationship to me feels much closer to a short term sexual escapade; a fling. I have no doubt that she validated him as a human, and as a man. I am sure it was exciting, new, adventurous, and fun. They connected over common interest and she allowed him to speak; he realized he still had a voice. I am not sold that he loved her, but that he more so loved being treated like he mattered. I’ll call their love affair simply, a dirty little secret.

Off to start Part 5. Next up the first & last family vacation. I’ll be back soon…

Part 5 can be found here: https://truecrimecaseanalysis.home.blog/2019/10/18/letters-from-true-crime-case-analysis-part-5/