Community Police & Fire
Gig Harbor man among trio charged in quadruple murder
A Gig Harbor man is one of three who were charged Tuesday in Kitsap Superior Court in connection with the 2017 killing of four members of a Kitsap County family.
Robert J. Watson III, 50, was charged with 16 crimes, including aggravated first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Also charged with the same crimes were Danie J. Kelly Jr., 43, and Johnny J. Watson, 49, both of Bremerton. They were arrested Monday morning and were booked into Kitsap County Jail with bail set at $20 million.
On Tuesday morning, the three pleaded not guilty. Judge Kevin Hull ordered that they be held without bail because of the severity of their alleged crimes.
Suspect moved to Gig Harbor after the murders
Robert Watson lived in Bremerton when the crimes were committed on Jan. 27, 2017. He moved on Dec. 14, 2017, because he was concerned that listening devices had been placed in his home, according to court documents.
Robert Watson
It’s uncertain if that’s when he relocated to the Gig Harbor area, but he was identified as a resident when he was arrested during a traffic stop here on Monday morning.
On Jan. 27, 2017, three members of the blended Careaga family were shot at their home near Tahuya Lake in rural western Kitsap before the house was set on fire. Found dead in the home were Christale Careaga, 37, and two 16-year-olds, Hunter Schaap and Johnathon Higgins.
Johnny Careaga, 43, who detectives said was the target of the attack, was found two days later, shot and burned in his 2005 Ford F-150 truck off a remote Mason County road.
Possible dispute over cocaine sales
Detectives searching the Careaga’s Tenino Drive home found more than $40,000 in cash in a safe and $7,000 in a dresser. The Careagas owned Christale’s Java Hut and Juanito’s Taco Shop in Bremerton.
About $200,000 that was believed to be hidden under the house was missing. A marijuana grow discovered at the residence was authorized under state medical marijuana laws.
The killings were apparently the result of an argument between Johnny Careaga and the suspects over cocaine sales, according to court documents.
Careaga was bringing a kilo up from California every few months to sell in Kitsap. Robert Watson, described in documents as the vice president of the Bremerton chapter of the Bandidos motorcycle club, was a regular customer.
No specific motive for the killings is defined in the court papers. Kitsap County Sheriff’s detective Lissa Gundrum said during a press conference Tuesday that it generally involved drugs, money and personality conflicts.
The night of the murders
On the night of the murders, the Careagas had friends over to their house. Johnny Careaga got a phone call and left to meet someone, saying he’d be back shortly.
Surveillance video taken at about 9 p.m. shows him parking next to another vehicle at Camp Union Grocery near Seabeck in Kitsap County. He returned home but never came inside the house. One of the guests went to a garage to check on him and heard three men talking in raised voices.
At 11:28 p.m., Schaap called 911 and told the dispatcher, “Help! I’m dying … My family is dead! Come now! The line went dead after 38 seconds.
The Careaga family. Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office photo
Deputies responded to the house to discover it on fire. After it was extinguished, they found Christale Careaga, Higgins and Schaap dead from gunshots to the head, according to documents. Schaap had surprised them, coming home with a pizza. They shot him twice and left him for dead, according to detectives. But he was still alive and able to call 911 before being shot a third time.
The alleged killers placed fire-starting logs doused with accelerant on beds at each end of the house and broke out windows with large rocks so oxygen would fan the flames, according to the Kitsap County Fire Marshall’s Office.
Cell phone records critical to arrests
Two days later, Mason County deputies found Johnny Careaga’s body in a burned-out truck at a tree farm.
Detectives used cell phone location records, interviews and other evidence to track down the suspects.
Gundrum said there will probably be more arrests and pleaded with those with information, particularly witnesses who withheld it or lied because they were intimidated by murderers still being on the loose, to come forward.
The next court hearing for the three suspects will be on June 27.