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Home / World

Killer dad Chris Watts used Tinder to fulfil rape fantasies before murder

By Phoebe Loomes
news.com.au·
1 Dec, 2018 09:51 PM6 mins to read

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Christopher Watts sits in court for his sentencing hearing at the Weld County Courthouse last week. Photo / AP

Christopher Watts sits in court for his sentencing hearing at the Weld County Courthouse last week. Photo / AP

WARNING: Graphic

A woman has met with investigators to explain her night with convicted killer Chris Watts after meeting him on dating app Tinder, including his predilection for "rape fantasies".

Before Watts viciously slaughtered his pregnant wife and children and dumped their bodies in oil drums and a shallow grave — crimes for which he will spend life in prison — he used the app to play out his dark sexual fantasies.

Amanda McMahon met with Watts in the carpark of a Chick-fil-A (a fast food takeaway chicken restaurant) after the two exchanged messages over the app, according to police documents, reports news.com.au.

In the report the investigator said Ms McMahon told him Watts followed her to her apartment after they left the restaurant, and when they went inside things became "really fast and aggressive". Ms McMahon told the investigator who filed the report that Watts was "very rough".

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Ms McMahon described the encounter as humiliating and uncomfortable, saying Watts tried to push her into having anal intercourse and pulled her hair. She said at one point she had to "push Watts off her".

Amanda McMahon has spoken out after speaking to authorities about her terrifying experience. Photo / Facebook
Amanda McMahon has spoken out after speaking to authorities about her terrifying experience. Photo / Facebook

Despite the rough sex and Watts' aggression, Ms McMahon said she didn't suspect he could become a murderer.

"It's kinda funny now," she said according to the report. "Because Watts is a murderer."

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Ms McMahon publicly posted about her encounter with Watts on a Facebook group for crime buffs, and attested to a similar story as that of Nichol Kessinger, another woman Watts had an affair with who said he concealed his marriage from her.

"I didn't know he was married," Ms McMahon wrote.

Amanda McMahon speaks out on Facebook. Photo / Facebook
Amanda McMahon speaks out on Facebook. Photo / Facebook

However McMahon's experiences paint a somewhat different picture than those portrayed by his Watts' mistress, Ms Kessinger. The revelations of the "rough and aggressive" one-night stand show another, disturbing side of the killer dad.

Many of his friends, family, and his former mistress have struggled to come to terms with the viciousness of his crimes and ruthlessness of his deceit.

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DISCOVERING HER TINDER DATES' CRIMES

Ms McMahon had a strange connection to the murderer's victims that ultimately led her to hearing that the man she met in a car park had callously murdered his wife and daughters.

Chris Watts murdered his daughters Bella, 4 and Celeste, 3, before dumping them in oil drums. Photo / Supplied
Chris Watts murdered his daughters Bella, 4 and Celeste, 3, before dumping them in oil drums. Photo / Supplied

A friend of Shanann Watts, Nicole Utoft, had became concerned after Ms Watts wouldn't answer her phone and the children's welfare and called the police, which eventually led to the discovery of the murders.

Ms Utoft and Ms McMahon had worked together at a budget hairdressing salon in 2013 when the pregnant Ms Watts, her daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, went missing. Ms McMahon's friends shared Facebook posts to raise awareness of her missing.

Recently revealed text messages show a disintegrating marriage, with Watts bizarre behaviour confusing his pregnant wife.

Police reports show various friends said Ms Watts had become exasperated as her husband grew more and more distant, disengaged and resentful.

While his wife attempted to reconcile the marriage with talking and intimacy, suggesting marriage counselling, Mr Watts refused to engage.

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According to friends, his wife gave him space and spent some of the summer away with her family. While she was pregnant with their third child she continued to work and texted with her husband trying to salvage their marriage.

WATTS WAS NO STRANGER TO EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIRS

Soon after his wife became pregnant with their third child he began an affair with Nichol Kessigner. Initially he wore no wedding ring and didn't tell her about the existence of his family. When he did, he told a story about a marriage over and a divorce almost finalised.

Investigators searched the phone on Nichol Kessinger with her permission, and uncovered a number of shocking Google searches. Kessinger above with Watts in mirror. Photo / Supplied
Investigators searched the phone on Nichol Kessinger with her permission, and uncovered a number of shocking Google searches. Kessinger above with Watts in mirror. Photo / Supplied

Ms Kessinger, 30, painted a picture of a man who was adept at manipulation.

"When he spoke to me he was very soft-spoken. He appeared to be a good listener," Ms Kessinger told investigators.

The two exchanged sexually explicit photos and had an intimate relationship.

In her conversations with the FBI, Ms Kessinger described him as introverted and polite. She said while he was describing his partner who he claimed to be in the process of getting separated from, "he was always kind".

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"To this day Kessinger didn't see any red lights with the way that he spoke about his family," the report said.

Two times Watts took Ms Kessinger to his home under the pretence that his marriage was all but over. He told Nichol they were taking their time selling the house.

During their short relationship the two had told one another they loved each other. Ms Kessinger told FBI interviewers she had believed him to be genuine.

In her interviews with authorities, Kessinger is regularly described as distressed.

In text messages and via phone, Watts made it clear to his mistress that he was not alarmed that his wife and children were missing.

After Ms Kessinger saw media reports about the missing woman stating Shannan was 15 weeks pregnant she realised Watts had been lying to her.

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Chris and Shanann Watts with their daughters Celeste and Bella. Photo / Supplied
Chris and Shanann Watts with their daughters Celeste and Bella. Photo / Supplied

Speaking to the Denver Post, she lambasted him as, "a liar. He lied about everything."

"I thought, 'If he was able to lie to me and hide something that big, what else was he lying about?'"

Watts was convicted for five consecutive life sentences without parole for the first-degree murder of his wife Shannan, his two daughters Bella and Celeste, the unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and tampering with a dead body. He pleaded guilty to the nine charges against him but not before initially trying to deceive detectives who identified his lies via a polygraph.

Watts cobbled together a ham-fisted defence, saying he'd entered a bedroom after a "calm" but "emotional" confrontation with his wife where they decided to separate, where he found her strangling their daughter Celeste while Bella lay "blue" on the bed. In a rage, he murdered her and put their three lifeless bodies in his truck.

He buried his wife in a shallow grave and his two young daughters in oil drums on an old worksite of his. A fellow workmate reported seeing him digging a hole on the site where there bodies were discovered.

In court he broke down as his sentence was handed down.

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Ms Watts' parents have also filed a criminal case against Chris Watts seeking further financial restitution for the murders of their daughter, two grandchildren and one unborn grandchild.

They are set to receive damages to the tune of $57,122.

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