Secondary charges dropped for 3 suspects in Careaga family quadruple murders

Secondary charges dropped in murders of Careaga family

Three suspects had secondary charges dropped after the statute of limitations expired.

KITSAP COUNTY, Wash. - Prosecutors in Kitsap County have dropped secondary charges for three men accused of murdering a family of four.

The four members of the blended Careaga family were found executed in January 2017 — Christale Careaga (37), and two 16-year-old boys, Johnathon Higgins and Hunter Schaap, inside their burned-out home in Seabeck. Christale’s husband, John Careaga (43) was found dead in his torched pickup truck at a tree farm two days later.

Detectives believe the killings were motivated by drugs, money and personality conflicts.

RELATED: Careaga family murder: Timeline of the investigation and arrests made

Court documents say John Careaga sold large amounts of narcotics with hundreds of thousands of dollars stashed at his family's home. Investigators never found the money, but say one of the suspect's bank accounts had a suspicious increase.

Danie Kelly Jr. (43) and brothers Robert (50) and Johnny Watson (49) initially faced 16 felony charges when they were arrested in June 2022 in connection the murder of the Careaga family. Those charges ranged from aggravated murder, murder, arson, burglary and kidnapping.

Attornies for the suspects argued that the secondary charges filed were done so after the state's three-year statute of limitations hit, for certain felonies like burglary, kidnapping and assault.

Now the trio faces 10 felony charges.

A consolidated trial for the three men is set to start in September.