SEABECK, Wash — The three men found guilty of murdering four people in Seabeck in 2017 were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday.
In January 2017, four people in a Kitsap County family were killed by members of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, although the lead investigator said the killings were not club-related.
Danie Kelly, Jr., Robert Watson III, and Watson’s younger brother, Johnny Watson were charged in the killings. Investigators said Kelly, Jr. and Watson III are Bandidos members, and Watson is not affiliated with the club.
All three were found guilty of four counts of premeditated murder in the first degree, four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and first-degree arson.
Kelly Jr., Watson III and Watson were all sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release or parole on all four counts of aggravated first-degree murder
The bodies of Christale Careaga, her son Jonathon Higgins and stepson Hunter Schapp, 16, were found in a burned-out home near Seabeck on Jan. 27, 2017. Days later, police found the body of the Careaga’s husband, John Careaga, 43, in a car that had been set on fire in Mason County.
A 911 call made by Schaap inside the Careaga home initially led investigators to the scene.
Prosecutors said John Careaga, a family man and restaurant owner, was dealing cocaine on the side. They said his problems started when he stopped dealing drugs to club members.
Prosecutors argued the suspects planned to destroy the Careaga home by arson to get rid of any remaining evidence.
Throughout the five-month jury trial, the defense worked to cast doubt on the timeline and cellphone towers used to track the alleged killers' movements. The defense argued there was no evidence of robbery or evidence that anything was taken from the Careaga home.