How Kitsap detectives' investigation links 3 men to the murders of the Careaga family
PORT ORCHARD — Three men carried out a series of executions before lighting fires to both a house and a truck and taking further steps to cover the tracks of a quadruple homicide, Kitsap County Sheriff's detectives allege in their investigation of the Careaga murders.
On Monday, investigators arrested the three suspects in the Jan. 27, 2017, killings, accusing each, in court documents, of playing a role in the shooting deaths of the four members of the Careaga family — Johnny and Christale Lynn Careaga, and 16-year-olds Hunter E. Schaap and Johnathon F. Higgins, who lived at a rural home off Tenino Drive West.
About 70 officers formed three groups to make the arrests Monday morning, according to Kitsap County Sheriff's Lt. Ken Dickinson. One was arrested in a traffic stop in Gig Harbor, another at a home in Central Kitsap and the third at a residence in South Kitsap. All were taken into custody without incident, Dickinson said, in an operation he noted had been "planned for weeks."
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The three, Danie J. Kelly Jr., 43; Robert J. Watson III, 50; and Johnny J. Watson, 49, were charged Tuesday by Kitsap County prosecutors with 16 different crimes, including aggravated first-degree murder, a penalty that carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Each is being held at the Kitsap County Jail without bail.
What the detectives allege
Court documents filed by investigators say there was some kind of argument between Careaga and the suspects. No weapon was recovered. But detectives laid out a number of circumstances in which they say the three acted suspiciously in an effort to cover their tracks.
Careaga was "a family man" who "stood up for himself" and was "protective of his family," detectives said. But investigators did note that aside from the successful taqueria he owned, he was bringing a kilo of cocaine up from California to sell in Kitsap "every couple of months."
A close friend of Careaga's began selling the cocaine to suspect Robert Watson, who detectives identified as a leader in a local chapter of the Bandidos motorcycle club. But when Careaga's friend decided to stop selling, Careaga and Watson began direct communications. Detectives said that the next time Careaga went to California to get the drugs, Watson took a trip there "on John's heels," and dialogue between the two intensified until the day of the homicides.
Watson took Kelly "under his wing" as a member of the Bandidos, detectives said, and as a new member, Kelly "would have to do anything Robert asked of him."
Kelly was once very close to Careaga, even serving as the best man at Careaga's first wedding. But they'd had a "falling out," detectives said, and Careaga blamed Kelly for stealing his money. Kelly's family also once owned the Careaga home.
The Careagas had friends over the night of the killings. One friend told detectives Careaga had been in a good mood but that changed when he received a phone call. Uncharacteristic of him, he left the home to "meet someone" and told his guests he'd be back shortly. That was when he apparently went to the Camp Union Grocery, detectives said.
Officials in 2018 released a surveillance video from the grocery, taken at about 9 p.m., that shows Johnny Careaga's truck pulling up and parking next to an unidentified vehicle. After Careaga leaves the lot, the other vehicle drove to a neighboring church parking lot, parked and turned its lights off.
When a set of headlights came up their driveway, Christale Careaga said "Johnny's back," but he never came back inside, investigators said. When one of the guests went outside to check for him, he couldn't find him in an attached garage. But he heard three men talking in "raised voices," detectives said. While he couldn't make out the words, when he "accidentally made a noise," the voices stopped. The guests departed as Christale was walking to check on the garage herself, detectives said.
'Surprised the killer(s)'
Detectives described a brutal scene of executions at the home. They said Christale Careaga was shot in the head and Jonathon Higgins, who came out of his room to check on the commotion, was as well. Hunter Schaap was carrying a pizza into the home when he was ambushed by at least one gunman, detectives said.
"...It appeared, based on the evidence, that he surprised the killer(s)," detectives wrote.
A first shot missed but he was struck by two subsequent shots and Schaap was "left for dead." But he was still alive and made a 911 call. "Help! I'm dying...My family is dead! Come now!" he told 911 dispatchers at 11:28 p.m.
The line went dead after 38 seconds. Detectives believe his phone was "taken or dropped," and that "a pillow was put to the back of his head" before a third and fatal gun shot killed him.
The Kitsap County Fire Marshal's Office said fire-starting logs had been placed on beds at opposite ends of the home and were likely soaked with diesel or another accelerant. Large rocks were thrown through the home's windows to help grow the fire, and detectives tested the rocks for DNA. They said in court documents that the DNA testing ruled out Kelly and Robert Watson, but not Johnny Watson.
Two days later, Mason County deputies found Careaga dead in a burned-out truck at a tree farm at 2999 NE Dewatto Holly Road.
The aftermath
Detectives say Robert Watson showed up at the home of a fellow Bandido member in Pierce County at almost 4 a.m., roughly four hours after the killings. He was not wearing pants and asked to borrow some. He washed his hands there and said he'd been in a fight with a "homeless Black man." He left the house in a car, which was puzzling to his brief hosts who'd assumed he'd arrived on foot.
Later that evening, Watson called 911 to say his truck had been broken into "several days earlier," and a loaded Glock handgun and second loaded magazine were stolen when a thief smashed his passenger window. Watson said he'd already cleaned up the glass.
Watson, an employee for Kitsap County Public Works, stopped going to work and was ultimately fired in September 2017. Meanwhile, detectives allege that about $303,000 was deposited into his accounts that year and that there were "numerous cash deposits that the source could not be identified." Careaga reportedly had placed $200,000 underneath his home, but it was never found, his lawyer told detectives.
A neighbor thought he heard gunshots the night of the homicide, and, while outside moving his truck, watched as Careaga's truck drove "at a high rate of speed" down Tenino Drive. Detectives said the man identified the driver as Danie Kelly, whose parents he knew because they'd lived at the same residence before the Careagas moved in.
Right behind the truck was a silver car nearly "bumper to bumper," detectives wrote. "Danie and John hated each other such that Danie would have no business being at John's house or driving his truck," detectives wrote.
Meanwhile, less than a week after detectives released video of Careaga's truck and the unidentified car at the Camp Union grocery, Johnny Watson's car, a 2006 Mercedes, was found "stripped and dumped in the Puyallup River," detectives said.
"The radio, tires, airbags, and other items generally stolen were still present in the Mercedes, but porous surfaces such as carpeting, seats, headlights, seatbelts, etc., were removed," detectives said.
The vehicle was missing its plates and had not been reported stolen. But later, Robert and Johnny Watson paid $1,500 to get the car back, detectives said.
In court documents, detectives used cell phone tracking to show where Careaga and the different suspects were located before, during and after the killings. That included Danie Kelly Jr.'s purchase of a prepaid mobile "burn phone" at the Silverdale Target. The phone was used to communicate almost exclusively with John Careaga for the 10 days leading up to the killings — but not after, even though it didn't expire until April 2017, detectives said.
They also obtained a search warrant in January 2020 for Robert Watson's cell phone, at a time when the sheriff's office had released information that members of the Bandidos — in town for a funeral — were suspects in the homicides.
"A lil f***in humid today," detectives said Kelly had texted Robert Watson on Jan. 23, 2020.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Detectives' investigation links 3 men to murders of Careaga family
