Olalla double-murder suspect reportedly lived in an RV on neighboring property
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that murder suspect Shaun Rose reportedly lived in an RV on a property neighboring the victims’ home.
Kitsap County detectives investigating the murders of an Olalla couple on Thursday found their bodies with gunshot wounds inside a trash can on their property, according to charging papers.
The suspect, Shaun D. Rose, 40, lived in an RV on a property neighboring the home of victims Steven and Mina Shulz, both 51, according to charging papers Tacoma police arrested him Sunday.
Rose faces two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, both carrying penalties of up to life in prison. A Kitsap County Superior Court judge ordered he be held without bail while awaiting his trial, which was tentatively set for October.
Rose appeared to yawn multiple times during his arraignment Tuesday.
A jail officer told the judge that Rose appeared aloof and remorseless while watching proceedings for other defendants. She asked for an order that Rose remain shackled in the courtroom as a safety precaution and due to the nature of the charges against him.
Judge Melissa Hemstreet ruled Rose didn’t have a sufficient record of violence for him to remain shackled.
“This by all accounts appears to be a random act of violence,” Kitsap County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Alex Takos said in court Tuesday, arguing for Rose to be jailed without bail.
The daughter of Steven and Mina Shulz called in a welfare check Thursday after they didn’t respond to messages and she saw their vehicles at their home but not her parents, charging papers say. She said she last heard from them around 11 a.m. a day earlier.
Responding deputies saw a body in a trash can near the deck off the master bedroom, according to charging papers. Investigators found a second body in the trash can after obtaining a search warrant. An autopsy to confirm the cause of their deaths was pending.
A preliminary investigation determined Rose shot out a glass exterior door to the master bedroom in the Shulz home and fired at least one shot inside the bedroom, charging papers say. The shattered glass appeared to have blood on it.
Investigators also found blood inside the house and on the deck off the master bedroom, according to charging papers.
Numerous drawers in the master bedroom were pulled open, indicating a burglary, charging papers say. A handgun and a wallet belonging to Mina Shulz were reported to be missing.
A nearby neighbor told deputies that Rose and his girlfriend lived in an RV on their property, according to charging papers. The girlfriend said she left for work around 12:30 a.m. and dropped Rose off near Shady Glen Avenue and Burley Olalla Road.
Neighbors reported hearing gunshots around 2:30 a.m., charging papers say. Rose called his girlfriend asking for a ride around 3:20 a.m. but she declined.
A witness watched him go into a closet in his RV around 3:30 a.m. and leave in a hurry, according to charging papers. Investigators found a shirt Rose was reportedly wearing turned inside out and a pair of jeans both with blood on them outside his RV.
A vehicle was reported stolen about 2.3 miles away around 8 a.m., charging papers say.
Tacoma police located the stolen vehicle and Rose Thursday afternoon but Rose said a friend loaned him the car, according to charging documents. Police impounded the vehicle and arrested Rose but released him at the scene more than an hour before the bodies of Mina and Steven Shulz were found in Olalla.
Once the car’s owner arrived at the impound lot, police found numerous credit cards and pieces of ID belonging to Mina and Steven Shulz inside, charging papers say.
A woman called 911 Sunday, reporting she had Rose in her vehicle in Tacoma, according to charging papers.
Mason County deputies also reportedly chased Rose but lost track of his car during the pursuit.
Rose has prior convictions for burglary and first-degree theft, according to court records. He also has misdemeanor assault convictions in Pierce and Mason counties.
Before the killings last week, Rose failed to appear for a court appearance on Aug. 10 in connection to a case where he was suspected of stealing over a dozen firearms, according to court documents.
That case stemmed from a report of a burglary at another Olalla residence in July 2021, court documents say. Multiple rifles and pistols were among the missing weapons.
During the investigation, Kitsap detectives learned the truck Rose was reportedly driving was connected to another incident at a residence in Pierce County, according to court documents. When the homeowners called out to the person making noise outside their apartment, the person fled and left behind a pistol and an AR-15 rifle from the Olalla burglary.
The truck also turned out to be stolen and was recovered with an AK-47 from the Olalla case inside, court documents say. Shortly thereafter, another truck was reported stolen nearby and found abandoned with two more of the missing rifles.
Fingerprints from the first truck came back to Rose’s girlfriend who lived with him in his RV in Olalla and surveillance footage of the burglary suspect resembled Rose, according to court documents.
The girlfriend told police that Rose was in jail in Yakima in connection to another burglary and vehicle theft, court documents say. She recalled Rose picking her up in the truck that had her fingerprints on it.
At the Yakima County Jail in October, Rose admitted to the Olalla burglary and vehicle thefts, according to court documents. He said he stole a third truck to get to Yakima.
He told Kitsap County detectives he became paranoid while driving around with the guns from the Olalla burglary and likely left a trail of them at different places he visited, court documents say.
Rose told investigators his crime spree was fueled by drugs and that he was sorry.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 1:12 PM.
