Investigators: $60,000 in cash, pot plants at homicide site

BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) – Investigators found about $60,000 in cash and 33 mature marijuana plants at a Kitsap County property where three victims of a quadruple homicide were found in a burning home, court records say.

More than $50,000 was found in a safe under the master bedroom bed and $7,000 was found in a bank bag in a dresser, the Kitsap Sun reported Friday ((https://goo.gl/VsV4Ie ), citing search warrant returns filed in Kitsap County Superior Court. The marijuana plants were found in a garage.

In addition, detectives discovered shell casings, mostly 9 mm, on a back deck and in the driveway.

Firefighters found the three victims Saturday after someone called 911 late Friday night to report violence at the home. They were identified as Christale Lynn Careaga, 43, and Hunter Schaap and Johnathon Higgins, both 16.

Careaga’s husband, John Careaga, was found dead Sunday in his burned-out pickup truck at a tree farm about 15 miles away. Schaap and Higgins were the couple’s sons in a blended family.

The court documents don’t say whether investigators believe the money or marijuana provided a motive for the killings. The Careagas owned a combined coffee stand and taco shop, and it is not uncommon for small-business owners to keep cash on hand.

No arrests have been made, and detectives have not revealed how the victims were killed. Investigators do not believe the deaths were random and say John Careaga might have been the prime target.

“I think (the killer or killers) had more interest in him only because he was isolated and not found at the residence like the others were,” said Kitsap County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Earl Smith.

The entire detective division of the sheriff’s office is working on the case, and authorities have met and spoken with agents of the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Smith said.