Emotions ran high in Kitsap County Superior Court April 10 as the suspect in Port Orchard’s latest murder case entered a not-guilty plea.
Family and friends of the victim, identified as Chadwick “Alika” Rose, wiped tears away as Chet Weese, 58, was escorted into the courtroom one day after allegedly shooting and killing the victim in the 1700 block of Higgins Road.
Weese’s bail has been set for $1 million. His trial is tentatively scheduled for this summer.
Police responded at 10:30 that Easter morning, finding a woman who said she was Rose’s girlfriend. With blood on her hands, she told deputies Rose was shot while inside the suspect’s house.
Officials say Rose was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Weese was later arrested and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office additionally reported Weese allegedly admitted to the shooting.
“It still is very surreal,” said Michelle Rose, the victim’s sister-in-law. “Chet knows the man that Alika was, the father that Alika was, the brother that he was, the son that he was.”
Michelle and several others gave their testimony concerning conditions of release, bringing up Weese’s close connection to the victim several times. She said it would be ideal for Weese to remain in custody so as not to be a danger to others.
“I ask that you please take all of us into consideration and know that we truly believe, given the circumstances, that if Chet gets out that he may not come back, that we may not be able to see any day of justice,” she said.
The victim’s mother, Gidget Rose, testified that everything be done not to release him due to the close proximity of Weese’s house to their location.
“He did not deserve to be put down this way,” she said of her son. “If you happen to release him, and I have to be in this condition to live next to him, I don’t feel safe.”
Court documents indicate what may have transpired in the weeks leading up to the deadly domestic dispute at the house owned and occupied by Weese and his 23-year-old son.
Weese said in a police interview he had noticed his ex, who was living in his house at the time, spending time with Rose, who lived in a motorhome parked on his property. Suspecting and later confirming the two were in a relationship via a series of messages he uncovered, he cited those messages as the reason for kicking his ex out of the house. A police detective wrote that some of the messages may have indicated a plot against Weese, including, “Don’t tell him anything. Take it to the grave,” and “Stick to the plan.”
Court documents continue with Weese saying he informed Rose he would need to move off the property. When Rose came to the house April 9, presumably to get his things, the two men got into a verbal altercation. Weese drew a gun, backing the victim out of the house, and his son locked the door.
Rose then allegedly entered again, kicking the door down before fighting with the son. It was that action that ultimately led Weese to allegedly fire the gun once, hitting and killing Rose. When asked why allegedly he did it, Weese said it was mostly to defend his son, court records say.
