Convicted family killer Chris Watts has dumped the woman he was planning to marry behind bars – telling her that God instructed him to end their relationship, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal.
Watts, 41, called it quits with Lizzie Henderson just weeks after the Daily Mail revealed the unlikely couple were hoping to wed at the Wisconsin prison where he is serving multiple life sentences for murdering his pregnant wife Shanann and their two young daughters.
Two sources have confirmed the relationship is over, and said Watts’ family – particularly his mother, Cindy – had encouraged him to reconsider the romance.
‘She never warmed up to Lizzie,’ says a family source close to Watts. ‘But no one was on board with him having a relationship with her. And Chris listens to his family.
‘Chris would never marry someone who his mother didn’t approve of. Not even in jail.’
Cindy’s disapproval of the women in her son’s life is not new. She and Shanann never got along, with Watts later telling investigators that his mother ‘never thought she was good enough’ for him.
His parents did not attend his 2012 wedding to Shanann, and the feud between Cindy and her daughter-in-law continued until the months before the murders.
Our sources told the Daily Mail that Watts ultimately told Henderson that he no longer had ‘peace’ about their relationship and believed that God was telling him they should not be together.
The Daily Mail exclusively revealed last month that Lizzie Henderson, 39, was in a romantic relationship with Watts
But Watts has dumped her after being pressured by his family
Watts smothered his daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three before dumping their bodies in oil tanks
The abrupt breakup is a dramatic reversal for a couple who appeared to be moving rapidly toward marriage.
Henderson, 39, relocated from Ohio to Wisconsin to be closer to Watts at Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun and became a frequent visitor at the maximum-security prison.
She had even filed a confidential petition to legally change her name and had begun using the name Lizzie Watts.
Watts’ newfound conviction that God wanted him out of the relationship is particularly striking, because faith had always been central to the couple’s description of their romance.
When Daily Mail tracked Henderson down last month, she confirmed their relationship but refused to reveal exactly how she had fallen for one of America’s most notorious killers.
‘How things began is between me, him and God,’ she said.
She also described Watts as a born-again Christian.
Now, according to sources, Watts is once again invoking God – this time to explain why the relationship has to end.
Just last month, the Daily Mail exclusively revealed that Henderson had developed a relationship with Watts while he serves five life sentences without the possibility of parole for the 2018 murders of Shanann and their daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three.
Henderson had relocated with her mother from Ohio to Wisconsin to be closer to Watts’ cell
She could not be reached for comment about the breakup
The relationship was called off after pressure from Watts’ mother, Cindy, who is seen alongside his father Ronnie in 2018
Henderson, a realtor originally from the Cleveland area, moved to Wisconsin with her mother after becoming involved with the convicted killer.
Prison records showed that she visited Watts 20 times in 2025. She also spent Christmas Day with him in 2024.
But the Daily Mail has also confirmed that Henderson was not the only woman who Watts was romancing during that time period.
Other women have previously come forward with handwritten love letters that are also dated in 2025, bearing Watts’ distinctive writing style containing multiple references to God’s will.
But Watts’ relationship with Henderson seemed to have progressed far beyond that of a typical prison pen pal.
One visitor even says she witnessed the couple kissing during a prison visit in August 2025.
Lisa Johnson told the Daily Mail last month that she was stunned when she realized the man sitting nearby with Henderson was Watts.
Johnson said Watts was holding a Bible during the visit and that Henderson appeared smitten with him.
Watts has had a string of admirers and pen pal girlfriends since he was convicted in late 2018
Watts told police in 2018 that he murdered his family so he could start a new life with Nichol Kessinger, with whom he was having an affair
At the end of the visit, the pair embraced and kissed before exchanging ‘I love yous.’
And Henderson’s commitment seemed to extend well beyond regular prison visits.
In September 2025, she filed an application in Racine County to legally change her name. The details of the case were sealed, but family members said Henderson had already begun referring to herself as Lizzie Watts.
Relatives also told Daily Mail that Watts and Henderson had applied for permission to marry within the Wisconsin prison system.
When confronted by the Daily Mail about the relationship, Henderson acknowledged that outsiders would likely struggle to understand it.
Asked about Watts’ horrific crimes, she said: ‘He knows how I feel. I don’t know all the people involved but I would want to respect them.’
She described the murders as ‘something harsh for anyone to experience.’
But Watts’ mother apparently had reservations of her own about the woman hoping to become her daughter-in-law.
Religion has played an increasingly prominent role in Watts’ life since he was sent to prison.
The convicted murderer has described himself as a born-again Christian and has spent years studying the Bible behind bars.
Watts became one of America’s most notorious killers after Shanann, 34, and their daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three, disappeared from their Frederick, Colorado home in August 2018.
Watts murdered his wife Shanann and children then pretended to be a concerned husband to police and local media
Lisa Johnson claims she saw Watts and Henderson engage in a steamy embrace during a 2025 visit
Shanann was 15 weeks pregnant with the couple’s son, whom they planned to name Nico.
Watts initially portrayed himself as a distraught husband and father, appearing on local television and pleading emotionally for his family’s safe return.
But investigators quickly began to suspect him when they realized he was having an affair with his coworker Nichol Kessinger, who claimed she believed he was separated.
As the affair headed up, Watts became more distant with Shanann – and the two talked about divorcing.
Watts eventually admitted strangling Shanann inside their home before driving her body and the two girls to an oil site where he worked.
He buried Shanann in a shallow grave and then turned on his daughters, suffocating 3-year-old Celeste first while a horrified Bella, 4, looked on. Then, according to Watts, he suffocated Bella while she pleaded for her life.
Watts initially tried to blame Shanann for the girls’ deaths before ultimately admitting that he was the killer.
He pleaded guilty in November 2018 to five counts of first-degree murder and other charges in a deal that spared him the death penalty.
It is unclear what has become of the ring Henderson wore when we tracked her down last month
A judge sentenced him to five life sentences, three of them consecutive, without the possibility of parole.
Watts was later transferred from Colorado to Dodge Correctional Institution in Wisconsin because of security concerns.
The murders have continued to fascinate the public and were the subject of the 2020 Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door.
For Henderson, however, the end of the relationship marks an extraordinary reversal after she rearranged her life around a future with a man who will spend the rest of his behind bars.
Just last month, she was talking about a relationship she said existed between herself, Watts and God.
Now Watts, sources say, believes God has told him something different.
‘If Chris says that God wants him to do something, he’ll do it,’ says the family source. ‘And I guess God wanted him to remain single.’
