Guest Submission: Nichole Kessinger by Jenny Sarri

 

NICHOL KESSINGER’S INTERVIEW

CONCLUSION

1. She is deceptive regarding the start of their relationship

2. She is deceptive when denying knowledge of Shannan’s pregnancy

3. She is deceptive regarding the reason she deleted texts.

“I deleted all of his stuff because he lied to me. It was the hurt that made me delete it.”

“No, no, no, no, no, it wasn’t malicious at all. It wasn’t malicious at all. He, he, he lied to me. It just hurt.

- “It was the hurt” is passive language.

- “malicious” is a word she introduced and repeated.

- “just” is used consistently in the interview. She keeps comparing thoughts.

 

4. She is lying about wanting him to be a good dad.

- Regarding his children in general: She talks about them as if they were puppies. (they’re so cute, they’re so little)

She said she was giving him advice on how to spend more time with them even though she said he was a great dad.

“ I always got the impression that he was a great father to his kids, like always. And so, you know, I was like, and be the dad that you want to be.”

There are numerous references in her interview in which she repeats that she made herself unavailable when he was with his kids, indicating that she indirectly made the kids a burden to their relationship. She planted the idea that they would be an obstacle. Some examples:

And he wanted to see me more. I was the one who wanted my space. I was, like, “Nope. Your kids are home. Go hang out with your kids.”

“Go chill with your kids.”

Um, I was always, like, really respectful of his kids.

I always try to say, you know, like, “When we get to a point where we’ve been together long enough, I would love to meet your children.” Like, I never (discluded) them from anything.

- Her use of the verb “try” is consistent when she talks about her attitude towards Watts’ family. To her, trying equals doing.

In Statement Analysis (and in everyday conversations) trying to do something equals failing to do it.

 

5. She is lying about not remembering how long Watts stayed in N. Carolina

 

6. She is lying about not remembering what they talked about on Saturday, the last day they met, had sex and went out for dinner. We would expect that day to be memorable in light of what happened.

 

7. There is sensitivity about the key or access code to the house.

 

8. There is sensitivity regarding her actions on Sunday.

 

9. It is interesting that she changes “life” to “wife” twice when she talks about him leaving his: “li-wife”.

Did she not want him to just leave his wife? Did she want him to leave his life? (including the kids)

“and I remember talking to him about it and that was the first time that I tried to actually say: What do you think about not separating from your li-wife? Like, what if you really try to work on this?”

“…being in that house I was just like, why? Fix this, find a way to fix this, make it work, you know, and I would, I would, I was like, trying to push him to do it, and he seemed pretty reluctant to do it ,he didn’t want to.”

And I was, like, “Don’t say that to me. Like, please go try to fi- and I mean it.” And that might be in the texts, too. Where it’s, like, “Don’t. Don’t. Like, don’t say those words to me and then go try to make peace with you li- wife and lay in bed with another woman.

10. She probably gave him an ultimatum that weekend or even earlier, when he went to N. Carolina.

“ I was just kind of like trying to push him to do that.” (fix things with his wife)

 

He told me, um, “We’re putting the house up for sale as soon as we get back.” And I was like, “Whoa that was quick.” And he was like, “It’s her, she’s ready to go.” And I was like, “Okay.” And so I left it at that and then, um, he got back and I started askin’ him like, “What are you gonna do?  Because the Colorado housing market is fire and you guys are gonna sell this house like real fast,”

- “trying to push him” is repeated. Was it a pattern of her attitude?

- “started asking him”: Does this mark the beginning of a more insistent demand? We note her need to explain why with the use of “because”.

 

11.  There are no evident signs of guilt in her words, only shame, embarrassment and worry about her future.

You know? They’re gonna say, “Oh, you know, you’re the woman that had an affair with this man who took out his whole family.” And I take a step back and it’s just, like, I didn’t know. Like, I - I - uh. It’s - he’s so disgusting. I am so ashamed of him and everything, and I just - oh, those little girls. They’re so little. They’re so little.

 

12. She is immature, arrogant, self -centered and she lacks any real sense of responsibility.

 

There is nothing in this interview that indicates direct involvement or guilty knowledge; however, she probably manipulated him into doing something drastic to change his life. It is of particular interest that on page 32 she says she was not affected negatively by her parents’ divorce because she was 3 or 5 years old, while her cousins who were older suffered under the same circumstances. 

She knew him well and knew how to manipulate his obsession with her. She has poor judgment though, and probably did not stop to think of the repercussions of her attempts to make him have her as a priority. She did not know he is a psychopath.

People’s obsession with her may have partly to do with her character and immature attitude. She did not appear to be devastated and her priority was her need to be his only priority in life although their relationship was a relatively new one.

She characterizes the atrocious crime as “stuff” or “mess” and minimizes it. She is not capable at the point of the interview to show any empathy about the victims. Her priority is her need.

Her focus in life could be just physical needs, not a moral stance. She characterizes Watts’ actions and him as “disgusting”, which is more of a physical revulsion than a moral repugnance and an emotional response in the context of her pattern of speech.

And he actually had me thinking that he was gonna go look at these places this week before all this sh- stuff...

This whole mess.

 

 “I don’t know. Pawn it, man.” And I was just, like - I was like, “I pawn jewelry all the time.” I was like, “I pawned jewelry a few times.” I was like, “It’s not worth shit though.” (about Shannan’s wedding ring, which she supposedly left behind. At the point of the interview she knows that Watts may have removed it from her body; it is only logical, because she knows he killed his wife.)

“I find it hard to believe that I’m the catalyst for all of this”

“I would never justify what he did. I think it’s fuckin’ disgusting. It’s - ugh. Like, he’s such a fuckin’ pig.”

“Would” is conditional. She does not tell us she is appalled by his behavior, or that she condemns him for his actions. She is not able to consider the gravity his actions had and the fatal consequences on others.

Nichol Kessinger is very talkative. She spoke in great detail about certain things that were not of significance to the case and tried to present herself in a favorable light in relation to her moral attitude. We should note that her father was present during the interview. The investigators conducted a great interview, in which they allowed her to use her own words and reveal her personality. She was deceptive and withheld information guided by her shame and worry about her image; she did not at any point give indications of guilty knowledge of the murders.