Judge Kevin Hull of the Kitsap County Superior Court has had a lot on his plate over the past few months, but with the trial of the three men suspected of the Careaga killings approaching the 100-day mark in length since its Nov. 27 beginning, he may have a new problem to oversee: mitigating the frustrations of the jury.

The 18-person body, six alternates included, was selected to attend the trial and ultimately deliberate and pass judgment on suspects Danie Jay Kelly Jr., Robert James Watson III and Johnny James Watson. The three are accused of a slew of charges for their alleged roles in the quadruple murders of John Derek Careaga, Christale Lynn Careaga, Hunter Evan Schaap and Johnathon Felipe Higgins.

Prosecutors have worked since early December to gather testimony from the names on a list of over 100 witnesses, last amended by the court Feb. 13, and the grueling process is finally starting to take its toll on the jurors.

“When you started this endeavor, you certainly didn’t bite off as much time as we’re looking at now,” Hull told the jury in a Feb. 22 tentative update of the trial’s schedule, “and so it’s understandable that many of you or some of you may have issues or problems potentially continuing to serve with that revised schedule.”

The judge informed jurors in that update that prosecutors could rest their case on or before March 7 depending on the availability of remaining witnesses including FBI expert witness Jennifer Banks. Slotting in roughly two weeks for any anticipated presentation of evidence from legal councils of the defendants, he said it was now “foreseeable” that jury deliberations could begin in the first week of April.

The reactions from the jury box were mixed, some nodding their heads in satisfaction with the answer, others rolling their heads in frustration. The trial, which had already seen a fair number of health-related and holiday-related delays, has also been drawn out by the number of daily removals of the jury from the courtroom to discuss lines of questioning and point of law.

One juror informed the bailiff that any possibility of deliberations bleeding into April could prove challenging. Another made such frustrations audible before the court, saying that while the 18 are there every day in a timely manner, court proceedings rarely reflect and mimic such an effort.

Hull, while validating such frustrations, continued to make clear the need to follow the proper legal process in the courtroom. “Timeliness is important. Getting things done on time is important but not at the expense of doing the right thing in the case. That’s the priority.”

Following the dismissal of jurors for the day, Kelly’s attorney Thomas Weaver made a motion that at least one member of each legal team be present 15 minutes minutes prior to the scheduled start of the morning and post-lunch sessions of the trial on each day of court going forward. “The jury is very upset, and quite frankly, I mean, they have a right to be,” he said.

The motion was carried forward with no opposition and a willingness to “make it work” from prosecutors.