Exactly two days later, the charred corpse of Johnny Careaga was uncovered in his light-duty truck off a remote road at a forest plantation in Mason County where he had been gunned down and torched.
[10] As the killings were taking place, police in Bremerton, Washington received a phone call from Hunter Schaap who informed 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers that he and his family had been shot and begging them to hurry over to the house.
[11] A few days later on January 29, Johnny Careaga was discovered dead within his burnt-out Ford F150 pickup truck on an abandoned remote tree farm in Mason County, Belfair, Washington.
[14] According to law enforcement investigative efforts, Johnny would regularly bring back a kilogram of cocaine from California every few months to sell for profit in Kitsap County, Washington.
Detectives from the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with FBI special agents, have come to the conclusion that members and associates of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club had been involved in the slaying of the Careaga family.
[16][17] The Bandidos MC are a self-proclaimed "one-percenter" outlaw motorcycle club with a global presence who have had a longstanding history of involvement in organized crime as well as other unlawful activities including drug trafficking and murder.
[21] One of Johnny Careaga's close friends started selling the cocaine he transported from California to Robert "Bobby" Watson III, a "fully-patched" (official) member of the Bandidos MC Bremerton chapter.
When Johnny would end up taking his routine trip down to California after this incident, Watson would follow closely behind him – ultimately causing an intense verbal argument between both men.
[21] The President of the Bandidos Bellingham chapter condemned the crime and cooperated with law enforcement investigators expressing his disapproval towards any club member who would kill women and/or children.